Chapter 5: The American Revolution

Question 1

Tyranny

Answer 1

Definition: Cruel and oppressive government or rule (Google Definition)

• Americans proclaimed the tyranny of the British government in the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775) Pg.132
• Ex. of oppressive government: the Prohibitory Act which closed the colonies off to overseas trade (Pg.132), the enforcement of the Navigation Acts (Pg.123), and the Townshend Duties, which disbanded the New York Assembly (Pg.167)

Question 2

The Olive Branch Petition

Answer 2

Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-adopts-olive-branch-petition

• Written by John Dickson in 1775
• Was an effort to express the Americans’ grievances with Parliaments policies and was not aimed at the king, George III
• Was ultimately rejected by the king, resulting in colonial uproar and with grievances now aimed at the George III (ex.: Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, The Declaration of Independence, and Paine’s Common Sense)

Question 3

Loyalists

Answer 3

1. Colonists who either didn’t approve of the war from the beginning or didn’t want to break ties with the king and Great Britain.
2. These were the minority of colonists, as compared to the Patriots; most were often found in the Southern colonies
3. They were often called Tories by their enemies, the Patriots.
4. They were often subjected to public humiliation and terror, harassment, and seizure of property from the Sons of Liberty and angry patriots. (Ex. Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, whose house was pillaged and burned to the ground by the Sons of Liberty)
5. Pg. 119 and 133

Question 4

Judith Sargent Murray

Answer 4

Brinkley, pg. 150

1) Believed that women’s minds were as good as men’s and that girls as well as boys therefore deserved access to education
2) Was one of the leading essayists of the late 18th century
3) Was a supporter of the expansion of women’s rights

Question 5

Molly Pitcher

Answer 5

Brinkley, pg. 150

1) One of many women who became involved, at least intermittently in combat during the American Revolution
2) Helped to provide water to soldiers in the battlefield
3) Watched her husband fall during one encounter and immediately took his place at a field gun

Question 6

National government

Answer 6

1. No formal government as a nation. (Page 126)
   - In 1768, in Massachusetts Samuel Adams called a convention of delegates from the towns of the colony to sit in place of the General Court.
   - The Sons of Liberty became another source of power.
   - Most colonies had committees of prominent citizens who performed additional political functions.
2. Most effective group formed by Samuel Adams in Massachusetts in 1772.
3. On September 1774 the First Continental Congress convened in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia to make five major decisions. They included: rejecting a plan by Joseph Galloway, endorsed a statement of grievances, they approved a series of resolutions, they found means to stop all trade with Great Britain, and they agreed to meet next spring.

Question 7

Land Ordinances of 1784 and 1785 (Pg. 156)

Answer 7

1. In the Ordinance of 1784, based upon a proposal made by Thomas Jefferson, the western territories were divided into self-governing districts which could petition Congress for statehood once their population expanded to the size of the smallest current state based upon population.
2. In the Ordinance of 1785, Congress created a system to survey and and sell this western land; the territory north of the Ohio River, for example, was divided into rectangular plots of land which were sub-divided into thirty-six sections of equal land available for sale.

Question 8

Female Camp Followers

Answer 8

• Page 150-151
  1. Women who followed both Patriot and British military units who performed chores, cooking, cleaning, and nursing to try to help the soldiers.
  2. Often followed relatives, but were looked down upon, as they were not seen as womanly but as “sluttish”(150).
  3. Were also seen as disrupting gender roles as some followers tended to become involved in combat (Example: Molly Pitcher, who fought for dead husband)
  4. Roles as followers had no impact on women’s roles after the war.

Question 9

Anglican Church

Answer 9

• Page 148
  1. Suffered most after Revolutionary War, because most Anglicans were Tories.
  2. Church taxes were eliminated and the church itself disestablished.
  3. After the war, almost no Anglican clergy was left in America.

Question 10

Iroquois Confederacy

Answer 10

Page-142

1. composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Tuscarora, Cayuga, and Seneca nations. (wiki)
2. declared themselves neutral in the war in 1776
3. Mohawk nation contributed to the British cause and gained the support of Seneca, and Cayuga nations.
4. since the three were the only one to support the British, the Oneida and Tuscarora backed the Americans,and the Onondaga split into factions; the Iroquois confederacy ended.

Question 11

Militia Diplomats

Answer 11

Page-142

1) “militia diplomats” is what John Adams referred the early Americans representatives as
2) they had little experience with the formal art and etiquette of Old World diplomacy
3) since transatlantic communication was slow (1-3monthsto send a message), they had to interpret Congress freely and make crucial decisions on their own

Question 12

Bunker Hill

Answer 12

Page 138

1. Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought on Breed’s Hill.
2. Took place on June 17, 1775
3. American forces besieged the army of General Thomas Gage in Boston after the British withdrawal from Lexington and Concord in 1775.
4. The Patriots suffered severe casualties and were driven from there position.
5. However, the British suffered their heaviest casualties of the entire war and Bunker Hill.
6. After the battle, the Patriots continued to tighten the siege.

Question 13

Saratoga

Answer 13

Page 142

1. Burgoyne, short of materials, fought several costly engagements and then withdrew to Saratoga after Bunker Hill veteran John Stark severely mauled a British detachment that Burgoyne had sent out to seek supplies.
2. At Saratoga, Gates surrounded Burgoyne and on October 17, 1777, Burgoyne ordered what was left of his army, nearly 5,000 men, to surrender to the Americans.
3. The British surrender at Saratoga became a major turning point in the war.
4. The victory led to a direct alliance between the Untied States and France.