American Revolution Vocabulary

Learn American Revolution vocabulary! Match terms, define key concepts, and master Revolutionary War history.

Matching Terms Match each term to its description Quartering Act This law forced the colonists to house troops in their homes surrender to give up, as in a battle or war impose to force something to be put in place Patrick Henry Patriot who encouraged war by saying "Give me liberty or give me death!" King George III The leader of England who imposed harsh laws and taxes on the colonies Crispus Attucks An American sailor who was the first person shot to death by the Redcoats at the Boston Massacre Benjamin Franklin Founding father who invented bifocals and was a major part of the Enlightenment Samuel Adams The leader of the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence John Adams The second president of the US who was the defense attorney for the Redcoats from the Boston Massacre Mercantilism An economic theory that said the colonies could only trade with and benefit the Mother Country (England) Intolerable Acts A series of laws passed by the British to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. These acts closed Boston harbor, limited town meetings, and forced colonists to house Redcoats Proclamation of 1763 with this, the King prohibited the colonists from moving past the Appalachian Mountains Matching Terms Match each term to its description 1787 The year of the creation of the US Constitution 1620 The year of the creation of the Mayflower Compact 1607 The year of the founding of the colony of Jamestown, Virginia 1776 Year that the Declaration of Independence was signed Taxation without Representation The phrase used by the colonists when they were being treated unfairly by the British Declaration of Independence a statement announcing that the 13 colonies believed themselves to no longer be a part of Britain Redcoat Nickname for British soldiers Minutement American soldiers who were ready to fight at a minute's notice Stamp Act Passed by Parliament to tax the colonists on paper goods like newspapers and marriage licenses tyranny a government in which a single ruler has all the power and abuses it treason betrayal of one's country, especially by giving aid to an enemy in wartime or plotting to overthrow the government Parliament British government The Sons of Libertyprotested the Tea Act by dumping tea in the harbor at the Boston Tea Party. Patriot was the name for colonists who wanted independence from Britain. Loyalist was the name for a colonist who supported King George III and Britain. The first battle of the revolution was at Lexington and Concord, and was also known as the Shot Heard 'Round the World.