US History (AP)-American Revolution

Terms associated with American Revolution for AP US History students

214092334	French and Indian War	Was a war fought by French and English on American soil over control of the Ohio River Valley-- English defeated French in 1763. Historical Significance: established England as number one world power and began to gradually change attitudes of the colonists toward England for the worse. (1754-1763)
214092335	Albany Plan of Union	Plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown.
214092336	Navigation Acts	Laws that governed trade between England and its colonies. Colonists were required to ship certain products exclusively to England. These acts made colonists very angry because they were forbidden from trading with other countries.
214092337	Proclamation of 1763	Prohitibted colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. the law hoped to prevent future hostilities between colonists and Native Americans. Colonists reacted with anger and defiance.
214092338	Salutary Neglect	Prime Minister Robert Walpole's policy in dealing with the American colonies. He was primarily concerned with British affairs and believed that unrestricted trade in the colonies would be more profitable for England than would taxation of the colonies.
214092339	Sugar Act	Law passed in 1764 that modified the 1733 Molasses Act thus reducing the amount of taxes collected on molasses and sugar, but increasing the measures to enforce the Act.
214092340	George Grenville	British Prime Minister Architect of the Sugar Act; his method of taxation and crackdown on colonial smuggling were widely disliked by Americans. He passed the Stamp Act arguing that colonists received virtual representation in Parliament. His assumption of power marked the end of salutary neglect in the colonies.
214092341	Virtual representation	The British argument that the American colonies were represented in Parliament, since the members of Parliament represented all Englishmen in the empire.
214092342	Stamp Act	An act passed by the British Parliament in 1756 that raised revenue from the American colonies by a duty in the form of a stamp required on all newspapers and legal or commercial documents.
214097876	Townshend Acts	Charles Townshend's tax for the Americans on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. The colonists protested again as a result.
214097877	Tea Act	Act eliminated import duties entering England, lowering the selling price to consumers, also allowing selling directly to consumers, hurting middlemen. It angered the colonies since it gave a monopoly to the British East India Tea Company, thus forcing local tea sellers out of business. It ultimately caused the Boston Tea Party.
215785011	George Grenville	Appointed by King George III as the Prime Minister, he had the opinion that the colonists should obey the laws and pay a part of the cost of defending and administering the British empire; passed the Sugar and Stamp Acts. He marked the end of salutary neglect.
215785012	Peace of Paris	This ended the Seven Years War/French and Indian war between Britain and her allies and France and her allies. The result was the acquisition of all land east of the Mississippi plus Canada for Britain, and the removal of the French from mainland North America.
215785013	Peace of Paris	Signed on September 3, 1783, the treaty ending the Revolutionary war and recognizing American independence from Britain. It also established the border between Canada and the United States, fixed the western border at the Mississippi River, and ceded Florida to Spain. Britain kept Canada but gave up all land from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. The treaty allowed both British and American ships to sail the Mississippi River. America had to protect loyalists and recognize them as citizens. America promised that the British would be allowed to collect money owed to them by America merchants and Congress agreed to recommend that loyalists' land be given. These last two were face-saving gestures that allowed the British to keep troops nearby with the excuse of waiting for debts to be repaid. Congress had no real power to give the land back to loyalists.
215785014	Mercantilism	An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought.
215785015	Currency Act	This act applied to all of the colonies. It banned the production of paper money in the colonies in an effort to combat the inflation caused by Virginia's decision to get itself out of debt by issuing more paper money.
215785016	Stamp Act	A law passed by the British Parliament in 1765 requiring colonists to pay a tax on newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, and even playing cards.
215785017	Stamp Act Congress	A meeting of delegations from many of the colonies, the congress was formed to protest the newly passed Stamp Act in 1765. It adopted a declaration of rights as well as sent letters of complaints to the king and parliament; the first sign of colonial unity and organized resistance.
215785018	Virtual representation	The British argument that the American colonies were represented in Parliament, since the members of Parliament represented all Englishmen in the empire.
215785019	Sons of Liberty	A radical political organization formed after the passage of the Stamp Act to protest various British acts; organization used both peaceful and violent means of protest
215785020	Samuel Adams	Founder of the Sons of Liberty and one of the most vocal patriots for independence; signed the Declaration of Independence
215785021	Declaratory Act	Act passed in 1766 right after the repeal of the Stamp Act; stated that Parliament could legislate for the colonies in all cases.
215785022	Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania	1767, Pamphlet by John Dickinson that argued against Taxation Without Representation, and that the only way that the colonies could properly be represented by the British government was if they had members in it. They were important in uniting the colonists against the Townshend Acts.
215785023	Boston Massacre	a riot in Boston (March 5, 1770) arising from the resentment of Boston colonists toward British troops quartered in the city, in which the troops fired on the mob and killed several persons.
215785024	Quartering Act	March 24, 1765 - Required the colonials to provide food, lodging, and supplies for the British troops in the colonies.
215785025	Committees of Correspondence	Organization founded by Samuel Adams consisting of a system of communication by interchanging letters Soon, an inter-colonial system was set up between patriot leaders in New England and throughout the colonies
215785026	Tea Act	1773-Act which eliminated import tariffs on tea entering England and allowed the British East India Company to sell directly to consumers rather than through merchants. Led to the Boston Tea Party.
215785027	Intolerable Act	Laws made to punish Massachusetts because of the Boston tea party and because the colonists were getting out of control. 1. Boston Harbor was closed until Boston paid for the lost tea 2. The Massachusetts charter was cancelled. The government decided if and when the legislature could meet. 3. Royal officials accused of crimes were sent to Britain for trial. This let them face a more friendly judge and jury. 5. General Thomas Gage became the new governor of Massachusetts.
215795978	First Continental Congress	Convened on September 5, 1774, to protest the Intolerable Acts. The congress endorsed the Suffolk Resolves, voted for a boycott of British imports, and sent a petition to King George III, conceding to Parliament the power of regulation of commerce but stringently objecting to its arbitrary taxation and unfair judicial system.
215795979	Olive Branch Petition	Still pledge loyalty to King George III but are still asking Britain to respect the rights and liberties of the colonies, repeal oppressive legislation, and British troops out of the colonies; George III didn't want anything to do with them and declared all colonies in a state of rebellion.
215797137	Common Sense	A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that criticized monarchies and convinced many American colonists of the need to break away from Britain
215797138	Declaration of Independence	This document was adopted on July 4, 1776. It established the 13 American colonies as independent states, free from rule by Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson wrote the majority of this document.