Chapter 6 - The War for Independence 1774-1783 Flashcards
Conciliatory Proposition: who introduced it and where? What did it say?
- Introduced by British Parliament by Lord North.
- Intent was to reconcile relations with colonists: they would withhold taxing (outside of taxes necessary for the regulation of commerce) the colonies as long as they contributed to the defense of the empire and the budget of the colonial policies—both extents of these provisions were, however, determined by Parliament.
Committee of Safety: what was it? When was it established? Who headed it? And what did it do?
- Executive body appointed by the Provincial Congress (defacto America gov’t).
- Established October 1774.
- Headed by John Hancock.
- Gathered weapons and ammo and organized militia volunteers for the revolution.
Minute Men: what were they?
• Special companies of soldiers formed by localities; they were supposed to be ready at a “minute’s warning.”
Battles of Lexington and Concord: what were they and how many losses were there?
- First 2 battles of the American Revolution.
* 273 British losses, 100 American.
Second Continental Congress: where did the convene? When? What did they do?
- Convened in Philadelphia.
- On May 10, 1775.
- Sporadic local forces -> Continental Army.
- Authorized the formation of a navy, established a post office, and printed paper continental dollars to meet their expenses.
Continental Army: what was it and who authorized it? Who commanded it? During what?
- Regular/professional army authorized by the SCC.
- Commanded by General George Washington.
- (During the Revolutionary War.)
Olive Branch Petition
- A last effort for peace from the colonists (specifically the SCC); avowed their loyalty to King George III
- Requested that George III protect colonists from Parliament’s treatment of them—the British army’s aggression overall being a result of Parliament’s actions.
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms: when was it adopted? What did it say?
- Was adopted by the SCC.
- On July 6, 1775.
- Listed colonial grievances and asserted that colonists would “die freemen, rather than live slaves.”
- Formally rejected North’s Conciliatory Proposition.
Declaration of Independence: who wrote it? When was it adopted? What did it say?
- Produced by Thomas Jefferson.
- Adopted on July 4, 1776.
- Document announced and justified the colonists’ decision to renounce their allegiance to the British government.
- Also purported the contract theory of government.
contract theory of government
- Belief that gov’t is established by humans to protect certain rights: to life, liberty, and property. Said rights are ‘innate.’
- When the gov’t protects these rights, the people are obliged to obey it.
republican: derived from what? What does it assert? What did it influence in America?
- A theory derived from the political ideas of classical antiquity, Renaissance Europe, and early modern England.
- Asserts that self-government by the citizens of a country, or their representatives, provided a more reliable foundation of a society and individual freedoms than rule by kings.
- Republican thought influenced the sources of debate that influenced the writing of the state and federal constitutions as well as the development of political parties.
Valley Forge: where? What was its significance to the Revolutionary War and George Washington (also when)?
• Area of Pennsylvania approx. 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia where General George Washington’s Continental troops were quartered from December 1777 to June 1778 while British forces occupied Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War.
Peace of Paris: when was it signed and by what nations? What did it do?
• Treaties signed in 1783 by Great Britain, the United States, France, Spain, and the Netherlands that ended the Revolutionary War.
