U.S Vocabulary Flashcards
Power
The ability to control or direct someone or something
Authority
Power combined with the right to use it
Customs
Traditions or practices; doing dishes every night, going out every Friday
Principles of Morality
Basic ideas about what’s right or wrong
Lexington/Concord
The two places where the rebels and the British first fought, starting the Revolutionary War
Boycott
To refuse to buy a product
King George III
The king of England at that time, who made unfair laws that angered the colonists
The Boston Massacre
In 1770 British troops clashed with a group of Bostonians resulting in the death of 5 colonists
Proclamation of 1763
The British decree outlawing any colonies west of the Appilations
Parliament
The assembly of representatives that make laws in Britain
Declaration of Independence
The document that declared our independence from Britain, signed on July 4th, 1776
Plymouth Colony
The small group of people who landed in the New World in 1620 searching for religious freedom and no taxes
Roanoke
The first failed attempt for the English to colonize the New World
Quartering Act
It required the colonies to quarter British soldiers
Boston Tea Party
Angered by the tax on tea, colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians dumped tons of tea overboard into the Boston Harbor
Stamp Act
The 1765 British decree taxing all legal papers in the colonies
Manifest Destiny
The belief that is was the destiny of America to expand to its natural borders
Jamestown
First successful colony in the new world in Jamestown, Virginia
Treaty of Paris
Treaty ending the Revolutionary War in 1783
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, protects Americans’ basic rights
Constitution
The document organizing the framework of government. Includes all the branches and their checks and balances. Signed in 1783
Amendments
Changes or additions to a document, like the Constitution
Compromise
Solution that pleases both sides
Congress
Group of officials that pass laws and debate issues