Causes of the American Revolution Study Guide

1. Albany Plan of the Union – Ben Franklin – What does it mean? – Written by Ben Franklin. Join or Die Flag. Colonies needed to join together against France if they wanted to survive the French & Indian War.

2. Results of the French & Indian War, what caused them & which causes were examples of Civil Disobedience. – Results of the F & I War: England is now the dominant power in North America (gained new land). France lost land and power. Boycott, Smuggling, Navigation Acts, Proclamation of 1763, Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Declaratory Act, writs of Assistance, Townshend Acts, Boston Massacre, Tea Act, Boston Tea Party, Intolerable Acts(Coercive Acts). (The Underlined are examples of Civil Disobedience)

3. Which Indians fought with which side during the F & I War & Why – Iroquois – English…French had many other smaller tribes. The smaller tribes sided with the French, as the French weren’t as mean to the Indians (taking their land and killing them). The English got the Iroquois, b/c they were the largest and most powerful Indian tribe and they were enemies of the smaller tribes.

4. Paul Revere’s Boston Massacre engraving – who is in it? What was it used for? Who was Paul Revere? –Left our Crispus Attucks. Paul Revere was a patriot/Son of Liberty that created this engraving to show the colonist point of view. It was used as Propaganda.

5. Patriot vs. Loyalist – know definitions. – Patriots were those colonists against the king. Loyalists were those colonists that were for the kings.

6. Propaganda – definition. Give Examples. – Propaganda is the telling of something from one side. When you try to use just one side of the story to persuade people. Boston Massacre engraving from Paul Revere.

7. Lexington & Concord – What happened? Causes & effects. – Shot heard round the world. Started the Revolution. British tried to capture colonial leaders and ammunition. Colonists fought back and drove the British army back to Boston.

8. Geography of the colonies – Geography played an important role in the expansion westward after the F& I War. The Appalachian Mountains were a geographical obstacle b/c of the Proclamation of 1763.

9. Washington’s experiences in the French & Indian War & their impact. – Washington wasn’t very good in the French & Indian war. He learned from his mistakes and thus became better the more he fought. As he fought for the British, he knew their plans of attack. Both things will help the Americans as they fight against the British for their Independence.

10. Patrick Henry – speech & its impact, what it meant. – If this be treason, then let us be treasonous. (Means if we are going to be accused of being a traitor, then let’s do traitor type stuff.) Give me liberty or give me death. (Means If I can’t be free, then I might as well be put to death; b/c freedom is worth fighting for.) Patrick Henry was a fiery speech giver that influenced the colonists to join the patriot cause.

11. Sons of Liberty – definition, what caused this group to form? – Secret society created to help the colonists protest the king’s taxes. Used boycott and tarring and feathering to make their point. Came about b/c of the Stamp Act.

12. Intolerable Acts (coercive Acts) – definition, what caused it, impact of it. – Punishment passed by the King towards the colonist’s b/c of the Boston tea party. Closed the port of Boston & passed a Quartering Act until the colonists could pay back the money they cost the king. One of the Final Straws that led to the American Revolution.

13. Taxation without Representation – what it means. Where it came from. – Slogan created by James Otis that said (due to the English Bill of Rights), the King had no right to tax us (as English citizens) unless he allowed us the opportunity to have representation in Parliament.

14. Mercantilism – definition, why king used the colonies like this. – Economic theory that said that the mother country should control trade with its colonies so that it could make the most money it could. By gaining gold and money from its colonies, the mother country would grow strong. Led to the Navigation Acts, and other controlling laws.

15. Proclamation of 1763 – definition, what the king was trying to do. – Line drawn by the king over the Appalachian Mountains. Colonists could not go west over the Appalachian mountains onto the new land that they had won from the French during the F & I war. Made colonists mad, as they saw the land as theirs. King eventually had to put troops on the line to keep colonists from crossing into Indian Territory. Taxes were raised to help pay for those troops.

16. Sam Adams – what did he do? What did he start? – Committees of Correspondence. Enabled the colonies to communicate with each other in regards to what was going on in general and with the British taxes.

17. Shot heard round the world – what was it? Significance. – Start of the Revolution. First time a colony had rebelled against its mother country. Began the idea of rebellion by colonies all over the world. Battles of Lexington & Concord.

18. Wentworth Cheswell – what he did. His story & what it is related to. – rode through Massachusetts telling the colonists that the British were coming. Led up to the battles @ Lexington & Concord. His story is the same as Paul Revere & William Dawes.

19. Mercy Otis Warren – what she did. The cause she worked for. – She was a poet and a playwright. She wrote plays that made fun of the British. Her plays were used as tools of Propaganda to influence colonists to join the Patriot cause.

20. Haym Saloman – role in the Revolution. – $$$ - He was a financier for the colonists during the revolution. He helped the US government gain money from foreign countries so that it could fight the war against the British.

21. French & Indian War – How it lead to the American Revolution. – The F & I war led to the King of England spending lots of money to protect the colonies. That led to lots of taxes to try and get back money for the king. Those taxes created much tension and eventually led to an armed conflict between the colonists and the British.

22. Lexington & Concord – definition. What it started. - “Shot heard round the world”. Started the revolution. First shots of Revolution. British were coming to look for colonial leaders and colonial guns/ammo. Colonists fought against the British and drove them back to Boston. Wentworth Cheswell, Paul Revere, & William Dawes rode to tell colonists that the British were coming.

23. Quartering Act – define it. – To house soldiers in your home. They could take your food, drink, bed…etc. Very unpopular to the colonists.

24. Crispus Attucks – why is he famous? What was he left out of? - Famous for being the first person killed at the Boston Massacre. He was a black Son of Liberty. He was left off of the Boston Massacre Engraving.