| A | B |
|---|
| Boston Tea Party | a 1773 protest against British taxes in which colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor |
| boycott | to refuse to do business or have contact with a person, group, country, or product |
| Committees of Correspondence | groups organized in the 1700s to keep colonists informed of important events |
| Continental Army | the army created by the Second Continental Congress with George Washington as commander-in-chief |
| Declaration of Independence | the official document by the Second Continental Congress explaining why the colonies were breaking away from England |
| delegate | a member of an elected assembly |
| Intolerable Acts | laws passed by Parliament that closed Boston Harbor, ended the Massachusetts assembly, and forced colonists to quarter British soldiers |
| liberty | freedom |
| Loyalist | a colonist who supported Great Britain in the American Revolution |
| mercenary | a soldier paid to fight for another country |
| militia | a group of volunteers who fought in times of emergency during the colonial period and the Revolutionary War |
| minutemen | well-trained volunteer soldiers who defended the American colonies at a minute's notice |
| Patriot | an American colonist who supported the fight for independence |
| petition | a written request signed by many people |
| rebel | to oppose those in charge because of different ideas of what is right |
| repeal | to withdraw or cancel |
| Sons of Liberty | groups of colonists who organized themselves to protest against the British government |
| Stamp Act | a law passed by Parliament requiring colonists to pay a tax on all paper products |
| Townshend Acts | taxes passed by Parliament in 1767 for goods brought into the colonies |
| treason | the betrayal of one's country by giving help to the enemy |
| traitor | someone who turns against his or her country |
| Tory | another word for Loyalist |
| Redcoat | a term for a British soldier |
