American Revolution Quiz and Flashcards

The American Revolution occurred between 1765 and 1791.
The Thirteen Colonies formed independent states and defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War.
The United States was founded on Enlightenment principles of constitutionalism and liberal democracy.
American colonists objected to being taxed by the British Parliament without direct representation.
Tensions escalated with the passage of various acts and events such as the Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, and Boston Massacre.
The Continental Congress was formed in 1774 to coordinate resistance to Britain.
Open warfare erupted in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.
The British captured New York City but the Continental Army captured a British army at the Battle of Saratoga.
France entered the war as an ally of the United States, expanding the war into a global conflict.
The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, formally ending the conflict and confirming the new nation's complete separation from the British Empire.
In the 1680s, the New England colonies came under more centralized English control, triggering fierce opposition from colonists.
The Crown nullified their colonial charters and established the Dominion of New England, triggering resentment and anger among colonists.
Dominion rule was overthrown in 1689 through a populist uprising, and local democratic self-government was restored.
Subsequent British governments continued to tax certain goods, including molasses, damaging the New England economy and resulting in smuggling and bribery.
Colonial wars fought in America also caused tension, with New England colonists resenting losses of lives and expenditure.
In 1763, the Royal Proclamation redrew boundaries of lands west of Quebec and west of the Allegheny Mountains, making them indigenous territory and barred to colonial settlement for two years.
In 1764, Parliament passed the Sugar Act, decreasing existing customs duties on sugar and molasses but providing stricter measures of enforcement and collection.
In 1765, the Stamp Act was passed, imposing direct taxes on the colonies for the first time, leading to protests and boycotts by colonists.
The Townshend Acts were passed in 1767, placing duties on staple goods and establishing a Board of Customs in Boston to more rigorously execute trade regulations.
Colonists organized boycotts of British goods in response to the new taxes, with the Assembly of Massachusetts Bay issuing a circular letter to other colonies urging them to coordinate resistance.
Tensions between British colonizers and American Patriots began in 1768 over the seizure of a sloop owned by John Hancock.
The deployment of British troops to Boston and the reactivation of the Treason Act in 1769 caused widespread outrage.
The Boston Massacre, in which British soldiers fired into a crowd, accelerated the downward spiral in the relationship between Britain and Massachusetts.
In 1770, Parliament withdrew all taxes except the tax on tea, temporarily resolving the crisis.
The Gaspee Affair in 1772 involved American patriots burning a British warship enforcing unpopular trade regulations.
The Crown intended to pay fixed salaries to governors and judges in Massachusetts in 1772, reducing the influence of colonial representatives over their government.
Committees of Correspondence were created to link Patriots in all 13 colonies and provide the framework for a rebel government.
The Tea Act of 1773, which lowered the price of taxed tea exported to the colonies, was opposed by those who resisted the taxes and smugglers.
The Intolerable Acts of 1774, which included closing the port of Boston and allowing British troops to be housed in citizens' homes, further darkened colonial opinion towards England.
The Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 marked the beginning of military hostilities and the American Revolutionary War.
In 1776, New Hampshire ratified the first state constitution, followed by other states.
The new states were committed to republicanism and decided on their form of government and how to select those who would craft the constitutions.
The Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776.
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were approved by Congress in 1777 and ratified in 1781.
The British returned in force in July 1776 and landed in New York, defeating Washington's Continental Army in August at the Battle of Brooklyn.
Washington crossed the Delaware River back into New Jersey in a surprise attack in late December 1776 and defeated the Hessian and British armies at Trenton and Princeton.
In 1777, the British sent Burgoyne's invasion force from Canada south to New York to seal off New England but became trapped in northern New York state.
The capture of a British army at Saratoga encouraged the French to formally enter the war in support of Congress in 1778.
The British strategy in America concentrated on a campaign in the southern states, beginning in late December 1778 with the capture of Savannah.
The war ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris, which recognized the independence of the United States.