Chapter 5

Question 1

When did the First Continental Congress take place?

Answer 1

In September of 1774

Question 2

What was the purpose of the First Continental Congress?

Answer 2

To respond to what delegates viewed as Britain’s alarming threats to their liberties

Question 3

During the First Continental Congress, did the colonies plan for independence?

Answer 3

No, they simply wanted to protest the parliamentary infringements of their rights

Question 4

What came from the First Continental Congress? (Part 1)

Answer 4

It endorsed the Suffolk Resolves, which called for the immediate repeal of the Intolerable Acts and boycotting of these acts

Question 5

What came from the First Continental Congress? (Part 2)

Answer 5

It passed the Declaration and Resolves, which urged the king to redress colonial grievances

Question 6

What came from the First Continental Congress? (Part 3)

Answer 6

It declared that if colonial rights were not recognized, delegates would meet again in May of 1775

Question 7

What was Britain’s response to the petition created by the First Continental Congress?

Answer 7

The king’s government dismissed it and sent additional troops to Massachusetts to put down any further disorders

Question 8

What happened on April 18, 1775? (Part 1)

Answer 8

General Thomas Gage sent a large force to seize colonial military supplies in Concord

Question 9

What happened on April 18, 1775? (Part 2)

Answer 9

Hearing of the British march from Paul Revere and William Dawes, the militia assembled but were forced to retreat;
However, they later came back to fire at the British troops after they did their damage in Concord

Question 10

Who was General Thomas Gage?

Answer 10

The commander of the British toorps in Boston

Question 11

What happened in the Battle of Bunker Hill?

Answer 11

A colonial militia from Massachusetts fortified Breed’s Hill, next to Bunker Hill, and inflicted heavy losses on the attacking British army;
However, the British army managed to take the hill

Question 12

Where was the Second Continental Congress held?

Answer 12

In Philadelphia

Question 13

When was the Second Continental Congress held?

Answer 13

May of 1775

Question 14

What document did the US Congress adopt in response to the fighting in the Massachusetts?

Answer 14

The Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms

Question 15

What military actions did the US Congress do after the start of the American Revolution?

Answer 15

-George Washington was appointed the commander-in-chief of a new colonial army
-Benedict Arnold was authorized a force to raid Quebec

Question 16

What did the colonists do as a peace effort to settle tensions in the early American Revolution?

Answer 16

They sent an “Olive Branch Petition” to King George III, in which they asked the king and the Parliament to secure the protection of colonial rights

Question 17

How did King George III react to the “Olive Branch Petition”?

Answer 17

He dismissed the plea and declared the colonies in rebellion;
A few months later, Parliament forbade all commerce between Britain and the colonies

Question 18

What did Thomas Paine’s essay “Common Sense” do for the American Revolution?

Answer 18

It strongly advocated for the colonies becoming independent states because it was contrary to common sense that such a large continent be ruled by a small island and for people to pledge loyalty to a king with a corrupt government and unreasonable laws

Question 19

What was written in the Declaration of Independence?

Answer 19

It listed specific grievances against King George III’s government and expressed the basic principles that justified revolution (i.e., the lacking provision of unalienable rights)

Question 20

Who were the Patriots?

Answer 20

Actively participated in the struggle against Britain

Question 21

Who were the Loyalists?

Answer 21

They stayed loyal to the king during the Revolution

Question 22

From where were the Patriots usually from?

Answer 22

New England states and Virginia

Question 23

Was Washington’s army short of supplies, poorly equipped, and rarely paid?

Answer 23

Yes

Question 24

When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?

Answer 24

July 4, 1776

Question 25

How were African Americans introduced in the war?

Answer 25

At first, George Washington rejected the idea, but when the British began promising freedom to the enslaved people who joined their side, Washington began making the same offer

Question 26

What demographic were the African Americans who fought as Patriots in the war?

Answer 26

Most of them were free citizens from the North

Question 27

What was the synonym of loyalists?

Answer 27

Tories

Question 28

What are some things the American Tories did?

Answer 28

They fought alongside British soldiers and assisted them in their raids;
They also supplied British forces with arms and food

Question 29

Why did the American Indians eventualy join the war and fight for the British?

Answer 29

Because they were promised limited colonial settlement in the West;
And because of the attacks led by the colonists against American Indian settlements

Question 30

How were the first three years of the war for Washington’s army?

Answer 30

It didn’t go well;
By the end of the three-year span, the British occupied New Jersey and Philadelphia, and there were a lot of economic troubles because British occupation of American ports led to a decline in trade

Question 31

What was the turning point at the American Revolution?

Answer 31

The Battle of Saratoga

Question 32

What happened in the Battle of Saratoga (1777)?

Answer 32

American troops led by Gates and Arnold attacked Burgoyne’s troops as they were attempting to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies

Question 33

What effect did the Batte of Saratoga have?

Answer 33

It persuaded France to join the war against Britain

Question 34

Why did France join the American Revolution?

Answer 34

Becuase it wanted to weaken its foe, Great Britain, by undermining its colonia empire

Question 35

Who else came to the Americans’ aid during the American Revolution?

Answer 35

Spain and Holland (the Netherlands)

Question 36

What was the last battle of the American Revolution?

Answer 36

The Battle of Yorktown (1781)

Question 37

How did French alliance help the Americans in the American Revolution?

Answer 37

It widened the war and forced the British to divert military resources away from America

Question 38

What did the Treaty of Paris do? (Part 1)

Answer 38

1. Britain would recognize the existence of the United States as an independent nation
2. The Mississippi River would be the western boundary of that nation

Question 39

What did the Treaty of Paris do? (Part 2)

Answer 39

3. Americans would have fishing rights off the coast of Canada
4. Americans would pay debts owed to British merchants and honor Loyalist claims for property condiscated during the war

Question 40

By what year did ten of the thirteen former colonies have new constitutions?

Answer 40

1777

Question 41

What were some things state constitutions in this era have in common?

Answer 41

Each had a list of rights, like jury trial and freedom of religion, that state officials could not infringe;
A separation of powers system was implemented (i.e., legislative, executive, and judicial branches);
The right to vote was extended to all white males with some property

Question 42

Who wrote the Articles of Confederation, and when?

Answer 42

John Dickinson;
1776 (adopted in 1777)

Question 43

What did the Articles of Confederation do?

Answer 43

It made a central government with only one body, a congress;
A uniamous vote was required to amend the articles;
Each state was given one vote

Question 44

What did the Articles of Confederation lack?

Answer 44

The executive power to enforce laws;
Congress had no taxing power, so most war debts went unpaid;
Rebellions occured against the high state taexs and the lack of paper money (Rebellion of Shays)

Question 45

What did the congress under the Articles of Confederation accomplish?

Answer 45

Winning the war;
Establishing the Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Question 46

What social changes were brought about because of the American Revolution? (Part 1)

Answer 46

The abolition of aristocratic titles, practice of primogeniture, and other old institutions that had originated in medieval Europe;
The separation of Church and state (in most colonies) like how the Anglican Church lost state support in the South

Question 47

How did women help out during the American Revolution?

Answer 47

They maintained the colonial economy (i.e., ran family farms and businesses while fathers, husbands, and sons were away fighting)

Question 48

Did slavery carry on after the American Revolution?

Answer 48

Yes