Key Terms Definitions Causes Effects

French and Indian ● 1750’s war between ● Fighting for empire ● The British ended up taking much of
War Britain and France and ● Both nations wanted to expand the French’s land and power,
their American Indians toward the Ohio river for resources becoming the dominant European
allies and land for trade and farming. power in America.
● For more empire. ● French are moving west and English ● Led to more land in Europe and
are moving west, inevitably leading to Asia.
them meeting. ● But the British ended up in a lot of
● Both also wanted to control the fur debt, so they raised taxes.
trade. ● The French and Indian war also led
to a larger Seven Years War.

Albany Plan of ● A meeting in 1754 to ● The French and British were fighting ● No one voted for the plan
Union cement the British ● The French became strong allies with ● Because they don’t want to give up
colonies alliance with some Indian tribes. their power.
the Iroquois ● As to gain more power over the ● Raised awareness for unity and
● Proposed by Benjamin French and in America, the British general government in the colonies.
Franklin wanted to have their own allies.
● Franklin wanted the colonies to unite
to be stronger to help England.

● Treaty that marked the ● The fall of Quebec in New France, ● End of French power in North
Treaty of Paris of end of French power in captured by General Wolfe. America.
1763 North America ● Lasting fighting in Europe. ● The British gained Canada and all
● Between France, ● France and Britain wanted to bring French lands east of the Mississippi
Britain, and Spain the fighting to an end. river except New Orlean.
● Wanted power in the Americas: ● France kept two small islands and its
Mercantilism. sugar growing islands.
● Spain, who was on France’s side in
the war, gave up Florida to Britain.
● In return, Spain gained all the
French land west of the Mississippi
and New Orleans
 Pontiac’s war ● A war between the ● Lord Jeffery Amherst, a British military ● Pontiac led violent raids against the
Native American tribes commander and governor general, British forts.
in the Ohio valley and was sent to keep the tribes in order. ● Many British were tortured and
the British Colonies ● He raised the price of goods traded to killed, leading some officials to fear
● Pontiac is a Ottawa them and allowed the settlers to build for the safety of colonists near the
chief who fought on the farms and forts on their land. tribe's land.
French side of the ● Pontiac demanded more respect from ● The natives captured most of the
French and Indian war. the British. British forts in the Ohio valley, but
soon the British took them back.
● Prohibition of British subjects from
settling beyond the western frontier
for their own safety.
● Led to the issuing of the
Proclamation of 1763
● Eventually leading to Britain's victory

Proclamation of ● Forbid the colonists ● The British were getting violently ● Created four new places where
1763 from settling west of the tortured and killed in raids sent by colonists could settle:
crest of the Appalachian Pontiac and the Natives. ○ Quebec
Mountains. ● Officials wanted to ensure the British ○ East Florida
● All settlers already there settlers' safety. ○ West Florida
had to leave ● Also so that Britain doesn’t have to ○ Granada
immediately. keep sending soldiers to the colonies. ● Many settlers ignored the
Proclamation and settled in the west
anyways.
● Continued to cause problems,
because the colonists wanted
freedom, up to the American
Revolution from the tension it
caused between the colonists and
Britain.

Mercantilism ● A system in which a ● Because the British were in debt from ● They needed to tax the colonists to
country attempts to the Seven Years War, they raised recover from their debt.
amass wealth through taxes on trades and goods. ● Colonists thought that it was unfair
trade with other ● Countries in Europe explored America to raise the price of goods
 countries, exporting to find wealth in gold and silver. ● Eventually led to conflict that would
more than it imports ● Five European powers were fighting divide the colonies and England.
and increasing stores of for power; caused wars ● Not used to paying taxes, causing
gold and precious revolts, even though the taxes do
metals. not affect them too much
● Colonies were expected
to serve the colonial
power
● Wealth was measured
in gold and silver

Sugar Act ● An act which put a new ● The British needed to lower the debt ● Lowered the tax on molasses
tax on sugar molasses from the Seven years war. ● Made it easier for British officials to
● Passed in 1764 ● Colonists and merchants did not bring colonial smugglers to trial
● Form of the Navigation purchase molasses before the Sugar
act act because of how expensive the tax
\ was
● Colonists would smuggle molasses in

Stamp Act ● An act that placed new ● The British needed to lower the debt ● Colonists resisted and would not pay
duties on legal from the Seven years war. the tax
documents such as ● They were willing to harm the British
wills, diplomas, officials who collected the tax.
marriage papers, ● No taxation without representation”
newspapers, almanacs, they wanted representatives in
playing cards, and even Parliament to help make decisions.
dice. ● Signed petitions to remove the
● All items named in the stamp act.
law had to carry a ● Boycotted and stopped trading to
stamp showing that the Britain as much
tax had been paid
 Townshend Acts ● Tax on goods such as ● In May of 1767, Parliament reopened ● Allowed British officers to inspect a
glass, paper, paint, the debate over taxing the colonies. ship’s cargo without giving a reason
lead, and tea George Grenville, now a member of by using legal documents, called
● Set up new ways to Parliament, clashed with Charles writs of assistance.
collect taxes Townshend, the official in charge of ● Colonial planters throughout all the
the British treasury colonies signed agreements
● In debt, so had to recover. They felt promising to stop importing goods
justification because the British taxed by the Townshend acts,
protected them in war. boycotting in hopes the British would
● In the next month, Parliament passed repeal the act.
the Townshend acts. ● Built unity in the colonies because
● Colonists objected the stamp act and they all worked together,
laws underground to fight.

Writs of assistance ● Legal documents that ● These documents were created in the ● Caused the colonists to protest that
allowed British officers Townshend acts because the the W.O.A. violated their rights as
to inspect a ship’s cargo colonists were smuggling items into British citizens.
without giving a reason the colonies so they wouldn’t be ○ In Britain, it is illegal for an
● Started in the taxed. officer to search someone’s
Townshend act ● Also can sell the items they smuggle property without a reason,
to anywhere. With the navigation acts, yet it is fine in the colonies
they could only export to Britain. with the WOA. This upset the
○ This obviously hurt the British colonists and they felt under
economy, so the British had to control.
act upon it. ● Colonial merchants and planters
signed agreements to stop importing
goods taxed by the acts.

Son/Daughters of ● The group of angry ● Colonists were angry from the ● The Sons and Daughters of Liberty
Liberty colonists who protested British’s increasingly oppressive played a huge role in planning,
the taxes. treatment. spreading, and making resistance to
● Daughters: British rules stronger.
○ Paraded, signed ● Preformed mock hangings to scare
petitions, and the tax collectors
 organized a ● Become activists and unify.
boycott of fine
British cloth
○ Urged women to
make their own
cloth from hand.

Quartering Act ● Under law, colonists ● The British government wanted to ● Britain had to send two regiments to
had to provide housing, enforce its control over the colonies, Boston to protect customs officers
candles, bedding, and especially as tensions rose. from local citizens.
beverages to soldiers Stationing soldiers in the colonies ○ Citizens often insulted and
stationed in the allowed Britain to maintain a military beat up soldiers whenever
colonies. presence and suppress any potential they saw them.
● Soldiers were Redcoats unrest or rebellion. ○ This was because the
stationed in Boston. ● The colonists felt like their rights were Bostonians believed the
being taken away. British were always trying to
● They didn't even want the soldiers in bully them into paying unjust
the colonies in the first place. taxes.
● In Boston because Boston was the ● Britain dismissed the assembly in
most rebellious. 1767.
○ Protests included tarring and ● Led to more protests, eventually
feathering. leading up to the Boston Massacre.

Boston Massacre ● March 5, 1770 ● Tensions between colonists and ● The event got a lot of attention and
● The killing of 5 colonists British soldiers stationed in Boston was used by colonial leaders like
by a British customs had been rising because of British Paul Revere and Sam Adams to
officer. taxes, military presence, and local create more dislike for the British
● Outside the Boston resentment. and protest.
customs house ● A crowd of colonists gathered near ● They made it seem like the soldiers
the Customs House, taunting and attacked the colonists without cause,
throwing snowballs and other objects which made people even more upset
at a small group of British soldiers. with British rule.
● The situation escalated when the ● This helped bring the colonies
soldiers felt threatened and opened together and made more people
fire on the crowd. want to stand up to the Crown and
eventually start the American
 Revolution.

Committees of ● Group of people who ● The Colonists wanted to take action ● The committee brought the colonies
Correspondence regularly wrote letters on the unfair taxes the British were together and helped unify the
and pamphlets making them pay colonies
reporting to the other ● Because the colonies could not easily ● Colonists could spread their
colonies on events in communicate with each other, the frustration and encourage others to
Massachusetts. committee made sure everyone was join to fight for independence
● Founded by Samuel up to date with the events and could ● Helped set up the first continental
Adams react quickly. congress, a crucial starting point for
the Revolution
● Gives the Bostonians allies because
they are sending letters to other
colonies.

Tea Act ● Passed by parliament in ● The act was passed to help the British ● Gave the British an unfair advantage
1773 East India Company in selling tea in america
● This act let the East ○ The colonists refused to buy ● Many colonists protested the Tea
India Tea company the tea because of the tax on Act, being opposed to the British
bypass colonial tea it, rebelling the British. mercantilist policies that were
merchants and sell ○ The British put a tax on tea to supposed to generate wealth for
directly to the colonists maintain power over the England by taxing the colonies.
● The act also gave the colonists, after they removed ● Merchants were upset because they
British East India the Townshend acts. were cut off of the tea trade (They
Company a rebate on were the middle-man before)
tea taxes ● Led to the Boston tea party.

Boston Tea Party ● Sons of Liberty dressed ● To protest and rebel against the ● It directly targeted the British's
up as Mohawk Native British’s continuous acts and pocketbooks, going against the
Americans and headed restriction of their rights. mercantilist ideas of the British,
to the Boston harbor, ● The tea act finally pushed the pushing the colonists and the British
where the boats with Bostonians over the edge, since it even closer to war.
tea cargo were parked. took away the American merchant's ○ Raised tensions by a way the
● The Bostonians threw middle man role, further hurting the British had never seen
342 crates of tea into colonists financially. before.
 the Boston harbor, ○ This riled up the Colonists
wasting 10,000 pounds and caused them to unite
against the British. They are
now working together toward
something they believe in.
● The British suffered financially.
● Britain shut down the harbor

Civil Disobedience ● Nonviolent refusal to ● The colonists wanted to voice their ● The impact was greater than they
obey laws that one discontent to the British without expected
considers unjust hurting anyone. ● Harsh punishment would come from
● They wanted to stop the tea from Britain.
entering Boston
Intolerable acts ● Four laws passed in ● The British were outraged by what ● The acts pushed the Colonists and
1774, encouraged by they saw as Boston’s lawless Britain closer to revolution
King George III behavior ○ The colonies start to unite to
● Parliament wanted to ○ The Boston Tea Party for fight against the British
punish Massachusetts example ● Parliament shut down a port in
Boston, making it so no ship, no
matter the size, could enter or leave
the harbor.
○ The harbor would remain closed
until the colonists paid for the
tea they had destroyed in the
Boston Tea party and repaid by
British officials.
○ This severely hurt the colonies
economy, for merchants could
no longer sell their goods
● The second law forbade
Massachusetts colonists to hold
town meetings more than once a
year without the governor's
permission.
○ The colonists' public officials
would now be elected by the
king's governor, not by the
colonists anymore.
● The third rule allowed British officers
in Massachusetts to be trialed in
Canada or Britain
○ Now the unlawful British official
may not receive punishment
because they could be tried
before a sympathetic jury.
● Parliament passed a new Quartering
Act.
○ Colonists would have to house
British soldiers in their homes
when no other housing was
available
○ They had to house and feed the
 Patriots ● Colonists who favored ● People favored war against Britain ● Sparked the American Revolution
war against Britain. because they thought the British rule ● Encouraged and Led the Boycotts of
● 1/3rd of the colonists was too harsh British Goods
were Patriots ● Few colonists wanted to enlist in the ● Helped Establish the U.S.
Continental Army for long terms of Government
service ● Disrupted British Authority in the
● Led by George Washington Colonies

Loyalists ● American colonists who ● Sided with the British and wanted to ● The Patriots tarred and feathered
remained loyal to Britain stay loyal to the crown, hence the people know to favor the British
● About 1/3rd of all name Loyalist. ● Many Loyalists fled to england or
colonists ● Probably wanted to come out on top Canada, or found shelter in cities
● They included wealth because they believed Britain would controlled by the British
merchants and formal defeat the Patriots.
officials of the royal
government
● Also some farmers and
craftworkers
● There were more
Loyalists in the middle
Colonies and the South
rather than in New
England

The Battles of ● The fight between the ● British troops were sent to go to the ● Marked the beginning of the
Lexington and British troops and the colonists’ homes in Lexington to seize Revolutionary war
Concord local colonists and the colonists’ weapons ○ Led to America's
minutemen in Lexington ● The Sons of liberty, though, were independence from Britain
and Concord. waiting, and Paul revere passed ● 8 colonists were killed in Lexington.
through the town and warned the ● 73 of the redcoats were killed
people, “The redcoats are coming.” ● After the British troops moved onto
○ This prepared 70 minutemen Concord, 200 colonists, including the
to meet the British in locals in Concord, were injured or
Lexington missing after the battle.
● 300 minutemen faced the British as ● 60 years after the battles, Ralph
the British were trying to go back to Waldo Emerson, a well known New
 Boston, right outside Concord. England Writer wrote a poem
named, “Concord Hymn,” Which
created a vivid image of the fight
scene.

Common Sense ● A pamphlet about the ● It was written to change the colonist’s ● Helped encourage the Revolution
battles of Lexington and attitudes toward Britain and the king ● Incentivized people to want
Concord, written by ● He said the idea of having a king or independence from Britain
Thomas Paine. queen was wrong. ● Inspired Patriotism, even for British
○ Thomas Paine loyalists
was a British ○ Paine was British and
writer and editor advocated for Independence
who lived in from Britain.
Philadelphia. ● 500,000 copies were sold in 6
months

First Continental ● The meeting of ● The colonies wanted to unite to help ● They decide to boycott British goods
Congress delegates from twelve get rid of the taxes, as they feared until Britain repeals the intolerable
colonies, excluding they would receive harsh taxes/acts acts.
Georgia, in Philadelphia just like Massachusetts ● They have to choose whether or not
in September 1774. to support militias

Moderates ● British colonists in North ● Their religion prevents them from ● Delaying Revolution: Moderates in
America, many of who fighting in war. the 1770s sought reconciliation with
are supportive of the ○ They would rather peacefully Britain and advocated for peaceful
idea of rebelling, protest resistance, like petitions and
however, unwilling to go boycotts, rather than immediate
to war rebellion.
○ Many are from ● Influence on Early Congresses
Pennsylvania, ● Shift Toward Independence
where quakers ● Moderates worked to maintain unity
are also from. among the colonies and avoided
● The Moderates do not extremes, helping to organize
want to fight and want resistance efforts like boycotts and
to win peacefully, like committees of correspondence.
quakers.
The Declaration of ● A document explaining ● Many colonial leaders were ● Once the declaration was written,
Independence why the colonies were persuaded by “Common Sense” to the Colonies could not turn back and
breaking away from move toward declaring independence they were officially in a war.
Britain. ● The colonies were fed up with all the ○ They were traitors for turning
● Written by Thomas harsh punishments and tension against their country.
Jefferson gradually rose until it became time for
● John Adams, Benjamin a war to resolve the problem.
Franklin, Thomas
Jefferson, Robert
Livingston, and Roger
Sherman made up the
committee that drafted
the declaration
● Includes three main
parts:
○ Unalienable
rights
○ Colonial
Grievances
○ Independence

● A few women took part ● Many women believed in helping the ● Women thought differently about
Women’s in the battle country fight for what was right their rights after participating in the
involvement in the ● Many women joined the ● They knew the colonies needed all war
Revolutionary men at the front the help they could get ● The women who took charge of their
War ○ They cared for ● The women, just like the men, were husband’s businesses or farms
the wounded, fed up with the harsh treatment from became more confident and willing
washed clothes, Britain like any person would be and to speak out
and cooked wanted to take action as well. ● The revolution established important
● Betsy Ross sewed the ideals of liberty and equality
first American flag with ○ Those ideals helped
stars and stripes encourage women to
● Mary Ludwig Hays fired campaign for equal treatment
the cannon in her
husband's place after
he was wounded and
 carried water to soldiers

● Washington let Africans ● At first, the continental congress ● Africans who joined the American
African American fight in the war refused to let Africans join the army. army or continued to work no
involvement in the ● A total of 7000 African The British, though, offered freedom plantations faced the risk of being
Revolutionary Americans served in the to enslaved Africans who would serve captured and sold by the British
War army and navy. the king, which would help the British ● If they fled to the British, they could
● 9 minutemen at greatly in war, so Washington allowed be hung by patriots.
lexington and Concord Africans to join the army. ● Many slaves escaped to the coast
were african. ● Some Africans were patriots from the and offered their service to the
● Some africans formed start British
special regiments ○ They were motivated by the
● Some served in white fact that the declaration said
regiments as that all men were created
drummers, fifers, spies, equal, believing they also
and guides. deserved freedom.

● The British were more ● They fought for the British because ● the Iroquois raided settlements in
Native American successful in they believed a patriot victory would Pennsylvania and New York
Involvement in the persuading the result in more white settlers crossing ● The Cherokee raided dozens of
Revolutionary American Indians to the Appalachians and taking their settlements
War serve them and created land. ● The Miami Indians captured British
alliances. ● The British encouraged the Cherokee forts at Kaskaskia and Cahokia near
to attack dozens of settlements. the Mississippi River.
● Loyalists allied with the Iroquois
● Virginia got the Miami Indians to side
with them.