Chapter 5: American Revolution Flashcards
Empire
A single political authority that has a large number of external regions or territories and different peoples under its sovereignty
Revolution
Public seizure of the state in order to overturn the existing government and regime
Boston Tea Party
Dramatic attempt by Boston leaders to show colonial contempt for the Tea Act; Sons of Liberty, dressed as Mohawk Indians dumped British tea into Boston Harbor; triggered similar actions across the colonies
Direct Democracy
Democracy that allows the public to participate directly in government decision making
Treaty of Paris
Signed Sept 3, 1783, the treaty that ended the Revolutiuonary War, recognized American independence from Britain, established the border between Canada and the United States, fixed the Western border at the Mississippi River, and ceded Florida to Spain
Great Awakening
The first major series of American religious revivals; began in the 1720s and and ended in the 1750s
Sons of Liberty
Groups of male colonists who organized against England’s enforcement of the Stamp Act, didstributed anti-British propaganda, and occasionally harassed and attacked colonial officials
First Continental Congress
Early gathering of colonial delegates in 1774 that called for the repeal of all oppressive parliamentary laws since 1763
Radicalism
Political ideology that favors dramatic, often revolutionary change
Non-Importation Movement
The effort to protest parliamentary legislation by boycotting British goods. This occurred in 1766, in response to the Stamp Act; 1768, after the Townshend duties; and in 1774, after the Coercive Acts.
Coercive Acts
British Parliament’s retalitation against the Boston Tea Party that was meant to coerce Boston colonists by reducing the colony’s rights to self-governance. Closed the port of Boston until residents paid for the damaged property and moved Massachusetts court cases against royal officials back to England in a bid to weaken colonial authority.
Presidential system
A political system in which the roles of head of state and head of government are combined in one executive office
Political Economy
The power relations that mutually constitute the production, distribution and consumption of resources in a given society
Articles of Confederation
First frame of government for the United States; in effect from 1781-1788, it provided for a weak central authority and was soon replaced by the Constitution
Nation-State
A geographically bounded space encompassing one dominant nation that it claims to embody and represent
Republicanism
Political theory om 18the Century Englanf and America that celebrated active participation ni public lifeby economically independent citizens as central to freedom
Lexington & Concord
The first shots fired in the Revolutionary War, an April 9, 1775, near Boston; approximately 100 Minutemen and 250 British soldiers were killed
Olive Branch Petition
(1775) Petition drafted by moderates in Congress to the the King George to avert full-on with the British. Stated that the colonists wished to remain part of Great Britain, but with full rights of citizenship. Was received after King George had already declared war on the colonies.
Dunmore’s Proclamation
1775 Proclamation issued by the British commander Lord Dunmore that offered freedom to all enslaved African Americans who joined the British Army. The proclamation heightened concerns among some patriots about the consequesnces of independence.
Paul Revere
Prominent member of the Sons of Liberty. Circulated famous engraving of the Boston Massacre that became a crucial piece of propaganda for the Independence movmement.
Virginia Resolves
Resolutions passed by the Virginia legislature declaring only the colonies’ governments had the right to tax colonists; first appearance of the notion of “taxation without representation”
Political Ideology
The basic values held by an individual about the fundamental goals of politics and the ideal balance of freedom and equality
Globalization
The process of interaction and exchange between peoples and ideas from different parts of the globe, the extension of economic, political, and cultural relationships among nations, through commerce, migration, and communication.
Battle of Saratoga
A multi-stage battle in New York ending with the surrender of British general John Burgoyne. The victory ensured the diplomatic success of American representatives in Paris, who won a military alliance with France, that became the deciding factor of US victory.
Reactionary
Person or group who seek to restore the institutions of a real or imagined earlier order
Conservatism
A political ideology that is skeptical of change and supports the current order (status quo)
Nation
A group of people bound together by by a common set of linguistic, historical, and cultural characteristics, as well as political aspirations, the most important of which is self-government
Popular Sovereignty
The principle that ultimate power lies in the hands of the electorate.
John Locke
French Enlightenment who argued for the doctrine of Natural Rights: the rights to life, liberty, and property. Argued that political authority was not given by God or a monarch, but was instead derived from social compacts that people entered into to preserve their natural rights. Argued that individuals were were formed primarily by their environment, not by inherent, or God-given qualities, and that education, both civic and academic, was key to the formation of a funtioning society of rational citizens. These ideas were among the most influential in the founding documents of the United States.
Civil Society
Organizations outside of the state that help people define and advance their own interests
Minutemen
Colonial militiamen ready to mobilize on short notice during the eriod of imperial crisis of the 1770s. These volunteers formed the core of the citizens’ army that met British troops at Lexington & Concord in April 1775.
Sovereignty
The ability of a state to carry out actions or policies within a territory independently from external actors or internal rivals
Society
Complex human organizatoin, a collection of people bound by shared institutions that defined how human relations should be conducted
Sugar Act
The British act of 1764 designed to stop sugar smuggling in the colonies by lowering taxes on molasses but enforcing their payment and forcing compliance with trade laws
Indirect Democracy
Democracy in which representatives of the public are responsible for government decision making
Republic
Representative political system in which citizens govern themselves by electing representatives, or legislators, to make key decisions on the citizens’ behalf
Manumission
The act of directly freeing one’s own slave.
Politics
The struggle in any group for power that will give on e or more persons the ability to make decisions for the larger group
Government
The leadership or elite in charge of running the state
Stamp Act
Deeply unpopular act passed by English Prime Minister Grenville that required an official stamp on all paper documents in the colonies and united the colonies against England. United the colonial opposition to British rule along both geographical and class lines.
Theocracy
A non-democratic form of rule where religion is the foundation for the regime
Age of Revolutions
The period of history from 1774 to 1849 that saw large scale revolutionary movements in Europe and the American colonies. Contributed to the shape of the modern international system by replacing absolutist monarchies with representative governments grounded in a written constitution of rights, as well as the construction of nation states based around the ideas of shared cultures and history.
Seven Years War
(1754-1763) A global conflict between England, France, and Spain. Began in the colonies, where it was known as the French & Indian War, erupted in Europe in 1756, and ended with a French voctory in 1763. France ultimately ceded all of its North American territories to England and Spain, but the enormous cost of the war crippled the British economy, leading to increased taxation on its colonies.
Crispus Attucks
Former slave turned dockworker. During the Boston Massacre, was allegedly at the head of the crowd of hecklers who baited the British troops, was killed when the British troops fired on the crowd.
John Adams
Prominent Massachussetts statesman, patriot and defense attorney, who both defended the British troops involved in the Boston Massacre and later signed the Declaration of Independence.
Loyalists
Colonial supporters of the British during the American Revolution
Parliamentary system
A political system in which the roles of head of state and head of government are assigned to seperate executive offices (ex., King & Prime Minister)
Constituency
A geographical area that an elected official represents
Coercion
The act of compelling behavior by threatening harm
Civil Rights
Idividual rights regarding equality that are created by a constitution and a political regime
Tea Act
A 1773 act passed by England that gave the British East India Co. the right to export tea to the colonies without paying the same taxes that were imposed on colonial merchants; the act enraged American merchants and colonists boycotted tea
Civil liberties
Individual rights regarding freedom that are created by a constitution and a political regime
Common Sense
Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in Jan 1776 that attacked the English principles of hereditary rule, monrachical government, and the legitimacy of an entire contintent being ruled by an island.
Republican Motherhood
the ideology that emerged as a result of American independence where women played an indispensable role by training future citizens.
Coup d’etat
A move in which military forces take control of the government by force
Continental Association
Document drafted by the First Continental Congress. Sought to unite and direct 12 revolutionary governments, establish economic and moral policies, and empower common colonists by giving them an important and unprecedented degree of on-the-ground political power
Committees of Correspondence
First called by Samuel Adams; formed in Boston, spread throughout the colonies to share information about British abuses of power, particulaly in response to the Sugar Act
Market
The Interaction between the forces of supply and demand that allocates resources
Colonialism
An imperialist system of physically occupying a foreign territory using military, economic institutions, or settlers
Citizenship
An individual’s relatoinship to the state, wherein citizens swear allegiance to that state, and the state in return is obligated to provide rights to those citizens
Liberalism
1) A political tendency that favors evolutionary transformation; 2) (Classical liberalism) An ideological and political system that favors a limited state role in society and the economy, and places a high priority on individual and economic freedom
Intolerable Acts
The name by which colonists referred to the Coercive Acts
Glorious Revolution
1688 English rebellion in which members of Parliament ousted James II from the English throne and replaced him with WIlliam and Mary, and imposed the Declaration of Rights, creating a contitutional monarchy that enhanced the popular sovereignty at the expense of the Crown. The Glorious Revolution led to greater political and commerical autonomy for the British colonies, and served as an inspiration for the movement for American independence.
Townshend Act
External taxes passed by England’s Charles Townshend that taxed goods imported to the colonies such as glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea; hated by the colonists, the taxes prompted violent protests and boycotts of Britsh goods, and were later repealed after a colonial boycott of British goods
Enlightentment
European intellectual movement from the late 17th Century to the end of the 18th Century that stressed the importance of rational scientific thining and reason, over traditonal religion and superstition, in the pursuit of ultimate truth.
Liberal Democracy
A political system that promotes participation, competition, and liberty while emphasizing individual freedom and civil rights
Tariff
A tax on imported goods
Virtual Representation
British political theory holding that members of Parliament represented all British subjects, not just those from the specific region that had elected them
Imperialism
A system in which a state extends its power to directly control territory, resources, and people beyond its borders
Declaratory Act
1766 act announcing Parliament’s authority to pass any law “to bind the colonies and peoples of North America closer to Britain”
Democracy
A politcal system in which political power is excercised either directly or indirectly by the people
Suffrage
The right to vote
Saluatory Neglect
British colonial policy from around 1700-1760 that relaxed supervision of internal colonial affairs. Inadvertently assisted the rise of self-government in North America
