Chapter 8: America Secedes From the Empire: 1775-1783

Question 1

Second Continental Congress

Answer 1

• met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775
• delegates from all 13 colonies
• selected George Washington to command the army
• Drafted the Declaratin of Indepedence

Question 2

George Washington

Answer 2

• tall figure chosen for his social abilities to command colonial army
• member of congress from Virginia

Question 3

Ethan Allen

Answer 3

• led a tiny American force called the Green Mountain Boys with Benedict Arnold
• captured British garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown Point at upstate NY

Question 4

Benedict Arnold

Answer 4

• led a tiny American force called the Green Mountain Boys with Ethan Allen
• captured British garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown Point at upstate NY
• later he to help the British take West Point and the Hudson River; he was found out and declared a traitor

Question 5

Fort Ticonderoga

Answer 5

*Ethan Allen and Benidict Arnold suprised and captured this and gained gunpowder and artillery for the siege of Boston

Question 6

Bunker Hill

Answer 6

• June 1775
• first major battle of the Revolution
• the battle ended in the colonial militia’s retreat (out of ammo), though at a heavy cost to the Bristish

Question 7

Redcoats

Answer 7

*Loyalists/Tories who were in the British armies

Question 8

Olive Branch Petition

Answer 8

• July 1775
• colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain
• officially proclaimed the colonies in rebellion

Question 9

Hessians

Answer 9

• German mercenaries hired by the King

* most were drawn by the colonies’ spirit and decided to coexist peacefully

Question 10

Richard Montgomery

Answer 10

• Irish-born general formerly of the British army
• pushed up the Lake Champlain route and captured Montreal
• was killed in the Assult of Quebec

Question 11

Republic

Answer 11

*a form of government in which citizens choose their leaders by voting

Question 12

Natural Aristocracy

Answer 12

*an aristocracy that comes from work and competition rather than birth, education, or special privilege

Question 13

Richard Henry Lee

Answer 13

*introduced resolution declaring the colonies to be independent

Question 14

Thomas Jefferson

Answer 14

• wrote Declaration of Independence & signed on July 4,1776

* accused George III of establishing a military dictatorship

Question 15

Declaration of Independence

Answer 15

• formal publication of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson & approved by Congress
• allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and inspiraton for later revolutions

Question 16

Natural Rights

Answer 16

*Thomas Jefferson’s idea of rights given to all mankind, not just the rights of the British

Question 17

Patrick Henry

Answer 17

• leader of the American Revolution and a famous orator who spoke out against British rule of the American colonies
• “Give me liberty or give me death!”

Question 18

William Howe

Answer 18

• commander of the British army that followed Washington during the Battle of Long Island
• didn’t like the idea of winter campaigning and decided to let Washington cross the Delaware river without chase

Question 19

Trenton

Answer 19

• December 1776
• Washington crosses Delaware River and takes advantage of he Hessians celebrating Christmas
• victory for the Continental Army

Question 20

Princeton

Answer 20

*week after Trenton, Washington made another surprise attack on a British detachment at Princeton

Question 21

John Burgoyne

Answer 21

• commander of British army and German mercenaries
• marched from Canada into colonies
• defeated at Battle of Saratoga

Question 22

Saratoga

Answer 22

• turning point of the war

* led to France, Spain, and Holland joining the war.(1777)

Question 23

Horatio Gates

Answer 23

• the man Burgoyne was forced to surrender his entire command at Saratoga to on October 17th,1777
• an American General

Question 24

Armed Neutrality

Answer 24

• loose alliance of cooperative naval powers

* organized by Russia’s Catherine the Great, to protect neutral trading rights during the war

Question 25

Nathaniel Greene

Answer 25

• famous Patriot General,”The Fighting Quaker”
• led outnumbered and outgunned Patriots in a long strategic retreat; this strategy of running away confused Cornwallis, and his forces were defeated by the Patriots at the battle of Cowpens

Question 26

Charles Cornwallis

Answer 26

• British general who fought the Patriots in the south

* surrounded at Yorktown and surrendered to George Washington

Question 27

Iriquois Confederacy

Answer 27

• split into two parts:
• Oneidas; Tuscaroras sided with America
• Senecas, Mohawks, Cayugas, and Onondagas joined the British

Question 28

Fort Stanwix

Answer 28

• 1784
• treaty signed by Americans and pro-British Iroquois granting Ohio country to the Americans
• 1st treaty signed between the two

Question 29

George Rogers Clarke

Answer 29

• fronteirsman

* floated down Ohio river and seized the forts: Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes

Question 30

John Paul Jones

Answer 30

• Patriot naval leader who commanded the American ship Bonhomme Richard
• defeated the British ship Serapis in 1779

Question 31

Privateers

Answer 31

• privately owned & armed ships authorized by Congress to watch on enemy shipping during the War
• inflicted heavy damages on British ships

Question 32

Yorktown

Answer 32

• October 1781
• George Washington, with French aid, surrounded Cornwallis while the French navy prevented British reinforcements from coming ashore
• Cornwallis surrendered
• final battle of the war

Question 33

Ben Franklin

Answer 33

• went to Paris to discuss Treaty of Paris with John Adams & John Jay
• eventually signed the Declaration of Independence

Question 34

John Adams

Answer 34

*went to Paris to discuss Treaty of Paris with Ben Franklin & John Jay

Question 35

John Jay

Answer 35

• went to Paris to discuss Treaty of Paris with John Adams & Ben Franklin
• made a separate peace with people in London (secret handshakes) without consulting anyone

Question 36

Treaty of Paris

Answer 36

• 3 American delegates: Joh Jay, Ben Franklin, & John Adams, went to Paris to discuss
• Britain formally recognized U.S. independence and granted generous boundaries

Question 37

Whigs

Answer 37

• Patriots

* colonists who supported Ameican Revolution