The American Revolution, 1772-1789

Question 1

Governor Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts

Answer 1

A Boston-born merchant who served as the Royal Governor of Massachusetts from 1771 to 1774. Even before becoming Governor, Hutchinson had been a supporter of Parliament’s right to tax the colonies, and his home had been burned by a mob during the Stamp Acts riots in 1765. In 1773 his refusal to comply with demands to prohibit an East India Company ship from unloading its cargo precipitated the Boston Tea Party. He fled to England in 1774, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Question 2

Committees of Correspondence

Answer 2

These started as groups of private citizens in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York who, in 1763, began circulating information about opposition to British trade measures. The first government-organized committee appeared in Massachusetts in 1764. Other colonies created their own committees in order to exchange information and organize protests to British trade regulations. The Committees became particularly active following the Gaspee Incident.

Question 3

Lord North

Answer 3

Prime Minister of England from 1770 to 1782. Although he repealed the Townshend Acts, he generally went along with King George III’s repressive policies towards the colonies even though he personally considered them wrong. He hoped for an early peace during the Revolutionary War and resigned after Cornwallis’ surrender in 1781.

Question 4

Tea Act, East India Company

Answer 4

The Tea Act gave the East India Company a monopoly on the trade in tea, made it illegal for the colonies to buy non-British tea, and forced the colonies to pay the tea tax of 3 cents/pound.

Question 5

Boston Tea Party, 1773

Answer 5

British ships carrying tea sailed into Boston Harbor and refused to leave until the colonials took their tea. Boston was boycotting the tea in protest of the Tea Act and would not let the ships bring the tea ashore. Finally, on the night of December 16, 1773, colonials disguised as Indians boarded the ships and threw the tea overboard. They did so because they were afraid that Governor Hutchinson would secretly unload the tea because he owned a share in the cargo.

Question 6

Coercive Acts / Intolerable Acts / Repressive Acts

Answer 6

All of these names refer to the same acts, passed in 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party, and which included the Boston Port Act, which shut down Boston Harbor; the Massachusetts Government Act, which disbanded the Boston Assembly (but it soon reinstated itself); the Quartering Act, which required the colony to provide provisions for British soldiers; and the Administration of Justice Act, which removed the power of colonial courts to arrest royal officers.

Question 7

Boston Port Ac

Answer 7

This was one of the Coercive Acts, which shut down Boston Harbor until Boston repaid the East India Company for the lost tea.

Question 8

160. Massachusetts Government Act

Answer 8

This was another of the Coercive Acts, which said that members of the Massachusetts assembly would no longer be elected, but instead would be appointed by the king. In response, the colonists elected a their own legislature which met in the interior of the colony.

Question 9

Quebec Act, First Continental Congress, 1774

Answer 9

The Quebec Act, passed by Parliament, alarmed the colonies because it recognized the Roman- Catholic Church in Quebec. Some colonials took it as a sign that Britain was planning to impose Catholicism upon the colonies. The First Continental Congress met to discuss their concerns over Parliament’s dissolution’s of the New York (for refusing to pay to quarter troops), Massachusetts (for the Boston Tea Party), and Virginia Assemblies. The First Continental Congress rejected the plan for a unified colonial government, stated grievances against the crown called the Declaration of Rights, resolved to prepare militias, and created the Continental Association to enforce a new non-importation agreement through Committees of Vigilance. In response, in February, 1775, Parliament declared the colonies to be in rebellion.

Question 10

Suffolk Resolves

Answer 10

Agreed to by delegates from Suffolk county, Massachusetts, and approved by the First Continental Congress on October 8, 1774. Nullified the Coercive Acts, closed royal courts, ordered taxes to be paid to colonial governments instead of the royal government, and prepared local militias.

Question 11

Galloway Plan

Answer 11

A plan proposed at the First Continental Congress which would have created an American parliament appointed by colonial legislatures. It was defeated by one vote.

Question 12

164. Continental Association

Answer 12

Created by the First Continental Congress, it enforced the non-importation of British goods by empowering local Committees of Vigilance in each colony to fine or arrest violators. It was meant to pressure Britain to repeal the Coercive Acts.

Question 13

Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1774

Answer 13

General Gage, stationed in Boston, was ordered by King George III to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The British marched on Lexington, where they believed the colonials had a cache of weapons. The colonial militias, warned beforehand by Paul Revere and William Dawes, attempted to block the progress of the troops and were fired on by the British at Lexington. The British continued to Concord, where they believed Adams and Hancock were hiding, and they were again attacked by the colonial militia. As the British retreated to Boston, the colonials continued to shoot at them from behind cover on the sides of the road. This was the start of the Revolutionary War.

Question 14

Paul Revere, William Dawes

Answer 14

They rode through the countryside warning local militias of the approach of the British troops prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord, although Revere was detained by the British shortly after setting out, and never completed his portion of the planned ride. Thanks to the advance warning, the militias were able to take the British by surprise.

Question 15

Second Continental Congress

Answer 15

It met in 1776 and drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence, which justified the Revolutionary War and declared that the colonies should be independent of Britain.

Question 16

George Washington

Answer 16

He had led troops (rather unsuccessfully) during the French and Indian War, and had surrendered Fort Necessity to the French. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and was much more successful in this second command.

Question 17

Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill)

Answer 17

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the British troops were based in Boston. The British army had begun to fortify the Dorchester Heights near Boston, and so the Continental Army fortified Breed’s Hill, north of Boston, to counter the British plan. British general Gage led two unsuccessful attempts to take this hill, before he finally seized it with the third assault. The British suffered heavy losses and lost any hope for a quick victory against the colonies. Although the battle centered around Breed’s Hill, it was mistakenly named for nearby Bunker Hill.

Question 18

Olive Branch Petition

Answer 18

On July 8, 1775, the colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain, agreeing to be loyal to the British government if it addressed their grievances (repealed the Coercive Acts, ended the taxation without representation policies). It was rejected by Parliament, which in December 1775 passed the American Prohibitory Act forbidding all further trade with the colonies.

Question 19

Thomas Paine: Common Sense

Answer 19

A British citizen, he wrote Common Sense, published on January 1, 1776, to encourage the colonies to seek independence. It spoke out against the unfair treatment of the colonies by the British government and was instrumental in turning public opinion in favor of the Revolution.

Question 20

Natural Rights Philosophy

Answer 20

Proposed by John Locke, it said that human beings had by nature certain rights, such as the rights to life, liberty, and property.

Question 21

John Locke, Second Treatise of Government

Answer 21

He wrote that all human beings have a right to life, liberty, and property and that governments exist to protect those rights. He rejected the theory of the Divine Right of the monarchy, and believed that government was based upon a “social contract” that existed between a government and its people. If the government failed to uphold its end of the contract by protecting those rights, the people could rebel and institute a new government.

Question 22

George III

Answer 22

Became King of England in 1760, and reigned during the American Revolution.

Question 23

Richard Henry Lee’s Resolution of June 7, 1776

Answer 23

Stated that the colonies should be independent and sever all political ties with Britain. It was adopted by Congress and was the first step towards independence.

Question 24

Thomas Jefferson

Answer 24

He was a delegate from Virginia at the Second Continental Congress and wrote the Declaration of Independence. He later served as the third President of the United States.

Question 25

Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livington

Answer 25

These men, along with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, made up the committee which drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Question 26

July 4, 1776 and the Declaration of Independence

Answer 26

The Declaration of Independence was signed by the Second Continental Congress on July 4. It dissolved the colonies’ ties with Britain, listed grievances against King George III, and declared the colonies to be an independent nation.

Question 27

Abigail Adams

Answer 27

Wife of John Adams. During the Revolutionary War, she wrote letters to her husband describing life on the homefront. She urged her husband to remember America’s women in the new government he was helping to create.

Question 28

Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

Answer 28

A conservative British politician who was generally sympathetic to the colonists’ grievances, and who felt that Britain’s colonial policies were misguided. He also opposed the early feminist movements. He once said, “A woman is but an animal, and not an animal of the highest order.”

Question 29

Lafayette

Answer 29

Marquis de Lafayette was a French major general who aided the colonies during the Revolutionary War. He and Baron von Steuben (a Prussian general) were the two major foreign military experts who helped train the colonial armies.

Question 30

Benedict Arnold

Answer 30

He had been a Colonel in the Connecticut militia at the outbreak of the Revolution and soon became a General in the Continental Army. He won key victories for the colonies in the battles in upstate New York in 1777, and was instrumental in General Gates victory over the British at Saratoga. After becoming Commander of Philadelphia in 1778, he went heavily into debt, and in 1780, he was caught plotting to surrender the key Hudson River fortress of West Point to the British in exchange for a commission in the royal army. He is the most famous traitor in American history.

Question 31

Robert Morris (1734-1806)

Answer 31

A delegate to the Second Continental Congress. He agreed that Britain had treated the colonies unfairly, but he didn’t believe that the colonies should dissolve ties with Britain. He argued against the Declaration of Independence.

Question 32

John Paul Jones (1747-1792)

Answer 32

Revolutionary War naval officer. His ship, the Bonhomme Richard, was sunk in a battle with the British ship Serapis, but he managed to board and gain control of the Serapis.

Question 33

Conway Cabal

Answer 33

The name given to the New England delegates in the Continental Congress who tried to wrest control of the Continental Army and the Revolution away from George Washington. Named after Major General Thomas Conway.

Question 34

French Alliance of 1778, reasons for it

Answer 34

The colonies needed help from Europe in their war against Britain. France was Britain’s rival and hoped to weaken Britain by causing her to lose the American colonies. The French were persuaded to support the colonists by news of the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga.

Question 35

Battle of Saratoga

Answer 35

In 1777, British General John Burgoyne attacked southward from Canada along the Hudson Valley in New York, hoping to link up with General Howe in New York City, thereby cutting the colonies in half. Burgoyne was defeated by American General Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777, at the Battle of Saratoga, surrendering the entire British Army of the North.

Question 36

Valley Forge

Answer 36

Valley Forge was not a battle; it was the site where the Continental Army camped during the winter of 1777- ’78, after its defeats at the Battles of the Brandywine and Germantown. The Continental Army suffered further casualties at Valley Forge due to cold and disease. Washington chose the site because it allowed him to defend the Continental Congress if necessary, which was then meeting in York, Pennsylvania after the British capture of Philadelphia.

Question 37

Yorktown, Lord Cornwallis

Answer 37

Because of their lack of success in suppressing the Revolution in the northern colonies, in early 1780 the British switched their strategy and undertook a series of campaigns through the southern colonies. This strategy was equally unsuccessful, and the British decided to return to their main headquarters in New York City. While marching from Virginia to New York, British commander Lord Cornwallis became trapped in Yorktown on the Chesapeake Bay. His troops fortified the town and waited for reinforcements. The French navy, led by DeGrasse, blocked their escape. After a series of battles, Cornwallis surrendered to the Continental Army on October 19, 1781, which ended all major fighting in the Revolutionary War.

Question 38

League of Armed Neutrality

Answer 38

Catherine I of Russia declared that the Russian navy would defend neutral trade throughout the world. They were not successful.

Question 39

Treaty of Paris, 1783

Answer 39

This treaty ended the Revolutionary War, recognized the independence of the American colonies, and granted the colonies the territory from the southern border of Canada to the northern border of Florida, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River.

Question 40

Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay

Answer 40

They were the American delegates who signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Question 41

French and British Intrigue over U.S. boundaries

Answer 41

The Treaty of Paris set the colonial boundaries as being the southern border of Canada, the northern border of Florida, the Atlantic coast, and the Mississippi River.

Question 42

Social impact of the war

Answer 42

The Revolutionary War saw the emergence of the first anti-slavery groups, and many of the northern states abolished slavery after the war. Women gained a small status increase for their efforts in the war, but they were primarily valued as mothers of future patriots.

Question 43

Disestablishment, Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom

Answer 43

1779 - Written by Thomas Jefferson, this statute outlawed an established church and called for separation of Church and State.

Question 44

New state constitutions (Massachusetts adopted by popular vote)

Answer 44

The first set of constitutions drafted by the individual states placed most of the government’s power in the legislature, and almost none in the executive in order to promote democracy and avoid tyranny. However, without the strong leadership of the executive, the state legislatures argued among themselves and couldn’t get anything done. After the Constitution was written, the states abandoned these old constitutions and wrote new ones that better balanced the power between the legislative and the executive.

Question 45

Newburgh Conspiracy

Answer 45

The officers of the Continental Army had long gone without pay, and they met in Newburgh, New York to address Congress about their pay. Unfortunately, the American government had little money after the Revolutionary War. They also considered staging a coup and seizing control of the new government, but the plotting ceased when George Washington refused to support the plan.

Question 46

Articles of Confederation: powers, weaknesses, successes

Answer 46

The Articles of Confederation delegated most of the powers (the power to tax, to regulate trade, and to draft troops) to the individual states, but left the federal government power over war, foreign policy, and issuing money. The Articles’ weakness was that they gave the federal government so little power that it couldn’t keep the country united. The Articles’ only major success was that they settled western land claims with the Northwest Ordinance. The Articles were abandoned for the Constitution.