people
George Washington
First President. Served 1789-1797. A land surveyor from Virginia, he led colonial militia as an officer in the French and Indian War. Led the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War at battles such as Valley Forge and Yorktown. Later presided over the Continental Congress. Among many other acts, he established the informal two-term limit for presidents by declining to run for reelection in 1796.
Treaty which capped off the French and Indian War. The British took control of French Canada and Spanish Florida, effectively removing France's presence from North America
Treaty of Paris (1763)
Sugar Act
A 1764 law which raised the previous amount demanded on sweeteners (molasses and sugar). Part of British attempts to pay off debt from the French and Indian War.
A group of Patriot activists who intimidated tax collectors by attacking their homes, burning them in effigy, and even tarring and feathering them. They also ransacked warehouses that held stamps and burned them to the ground.
Sons and Daughters of Liberty
A landmark incident on March 5, 1770 that helped alienate the American people from Parliament and King George III. Angered by the Quartering Act, a crowd of Bostonians harassed the British troops guarding a local customs house. The guards fired upon the crowd, killing five and wounding six protesters. John Adams would defend the guards tried for this incident and secure their acquittal.
Boston Massacre
Founding Father. Young Virginian lawyer and Patriot. In reaction to the Stamp Act, he accused the British government of usurping the rights guaranteed to colonists as Englishmen. He encouraged his fellow leaders to insist that Virginians be taxed only by Virginians, not by some distant royal authority. Later an Anti-Federalist.
Patrick Henry
In reaction to Pontiac's Rebellion, King George III barred American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. The British saw this as a quick and easy way to make peace while securing the fur trade. Colonists, however, were incensed by the crown's interference in their ability to settle land they had won in the French and Indian War. The colonists often ignored it. An important contributing factor to the American Revolution.
Proclamation of 1763
A law passed by Parliament in 1764. It limited the use of colonial paper money, in order to protect British merchants from depreciation. While not a major contributing factor to the American Revolution, it did signify growing British interest in regulating the colonies.
Currency Act
Organized in 1774 as a response to the Intolerable Acts, colonial leaders managed to urge their colonies to expand military reserves and organize boycotts of British goods in the meantime.
First Continental Congress
The American Revolution
An anti-colonial revolt (1765-1773) where the Thirteen Colonies threw off the yoke of the British Empire and established the United States of America. Distinct from but related to the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Its beginning is traced to the aftermath of the French and Indian War, when Britain sought to resolve the debt that war had created.
Founding Father. Led the Sons and Daughters of Liberty. Also penned Massachusetts Circular Letter in 1768, which demanded that the Townshend Act be repealed.
Samuel Adams
Penned by Samuel Adams, it was a response to the Townshend Acts and the resulting writs of assistance. It demanded the Townshend Act be immediately repealed. Widely circulated, it rejuvenated boycotts of British goods.
Massachusetts Circular Letter
A 1765 act of Parliament that required colonial citizens to provide room and board for British soldiers stationed in America. Wildly unpopular. This practice was later banned by the Third Amendment to the Constitution.
Quartering Act
Patriots
Activists for independence from the British Empire. Mostly young New Englanders and Virginians. Often did not have significant status in society. Many volunteered their time to the Continental Army, typically without pay.
An enlightenment-century philosophical and intellectual movement which prized reason. It challenged traditional notions of reflexive obedience to the Church and to monarchy, and laid the groundwork for the scientific revolution and the Industrial Revolution.
Enlightenment
Thomas Jefferson
Founding Father. Authored the Declaration of Independence. First Secretary of State (1779-1781). Second Vice President (1797-1801). Helped found the Democratic-Republican Party in 1794. Co-authored the Kentucky and Virginia Resolution.
The first constitution of the U.S., drafted alongside the Declaration of Independence but by a separate committee. It strongly favored states' rights and forbid Congress from levying taxes. Ratified in 1781. Replaced by the Constitution following Shays' Rebellion.
Articles of Confederation
Stamp Act
A pivotal 1765 law. It required that all paper in the colonies, from death and marriage certificates to newspapers, have a stamp affixed signifying that the required tax had been paid. See: Stamp Act Congress.
A British political party which controlled Parliament through the American Revolutionary War. Led by Lord North. Lost a vote of no confidence in March 1782 following the British defeat at the Siege of Yorktown. Power was transferred to the Whigs.
Tories
Declaration of Independence
Announced the colonies’ official break from England, making the United States a country in its own right. It contained a preamble that heavily reflected Enlightenment philosophy regarding natural rights, as well as 27 grievances and charges of wrongdoing directed at the crown.
Benedict Arnold
A general in the American Revolutionary War. He participated in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Saratoga. Most infamously remembered for defection to the British, which caused his name to become a byword for treason.
Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking up Arms
A document published by the Continental Congress on July 6, 1775. It justified the raising of a professional colonial military force and urged King George III a second time to consider colonial grievances.
A revenue plan passed by Parliament in 1767. It imposed harsher taxes on the purveyors of imported goods such as glass, paper, and tea. In addition, a special board of customs officials was appointed to enforce writs of assistance. Repealed 1770.
Townshend Acts
Second Continental Congress
An assembly of delegates from across the thirteen colonies (1775-1781). It passed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.
Seneca Falls Convention 1848
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first woman's rights convention. It advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman". Held in the Wesleyan Chapel of the town of Seneca Falls, New York, it spanned two days over July 19–20, 1848.