Second Continental Congress

Representative body of delegates from all thirteen colonies. Drafted the Declaration of Independence and managed the colonial war effort.

Battle of Bunker Hill

Fought on the outskirts of Boston, on Breed's Hill, the battle ended in the colonial militia's retreat, though at a heavy cost to the British.

Olive Branch Petition

Conciliatory measure adopted by the Continental Congress, professing American loyalty and seeking an end to the hostilities. King George rejected the petition and proclaimed the colonies in rebellion.

Hessians

German troops hired from their princes by George III to aid in putting down the colonial insurrection. This hardened the resolve of American colonists, who resented the use of paid foreign fighters.

Common Sense

(1737-1809) Thomas Paine's pamphlet urging the colonies to declare independence and establish a republican government. The widely read pamphlet helped convince colonists to support the Revolution.

Declaration of Independence

Formal pronouncement of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by Congress. The declaration allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and served as an inspiration for later revolutionary movements worldwide.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

Declaration of rights adopted during the French Revolution. Modeled after the American Declaration of Independence.

Loyalists

American colonists who opposed the Revolution and maintained their loyalty to the King; sometimes referred to as "Tories."

Patriots

Colonists who supported the American Revolution; they were also known as "Whigs."

Battle of Saratoga

Decisive colonial victory in upstate New York, which helped secure French support for the Revolutionary cause.

Battle of Trenton

George Washington surprised and captured a garrison of sleeping German Hessians, raising the morale of his crestfallen army and setting the stage for his victory at Princeton a week later.

Model Treaty

Sample treaty drafted by the Continental Congress as a guide for American diplomats. Reflected the Americans' desire to foster commercial partnerships rather than political or military entanglements.

Battle of Yorktown

George Washington, with the aid of the French Army, besieged Cornwallis at this place, while the French naval fleet prevented British reinforcements from coming ashore. Cornwallis surrendered, dealing a heavy blow to the British war effort and paving the way for an eventual peace.

Treaty of Paris

Peace treaty signed by Britain and the United States ending the Revolutionary War. The British formally recognized American independence and ceded territory east of the Mississippi while the Americans, in turn, promised to restore Loyalist property and repay debts to British creditors.

Ethan Allen

(1738-1789) Revolutionary War officer who, along with Benedict Arnold, fought British and Indian forces in frontier New York and Vermont.

Benedict Arnold

(1741-1801) Revolutionary War general turned traitor who valiantly held off a British invasion of upstate New York at Lake Champlain but later switched sides, plotting to sell out the Continental stronghold at West Point to the redcoats. His scheme was discovered and the disgraced general fled to British lines.

Richard Montgomery

(1738-1775) Irish-born British army veteran who served as a general in the Continental army during the Revolution. He joined Benedict Arnold in a failed attempt to seize Québec in 1775.

Thomas Paine

(1737-1809) British-born pamphleteer and author of Common Sense, a fiery tract that laid out the case for American independence. Later an ardent supporter of the French Revolution, he became increasingly radical in his views, publishing the anti-clerical The Age of Reason in 1794, which cost him the support of his American allies.

Abigail Adams

(1744-1818) The wife of President John Adams. she had her own opinions about the course of the American Revolution and urged her husband to take the needs and rights of women into consideration in the construction of the new government.

Richard Henry Lee

(1733-1794) Virginia planter and revolutionary who served as a member of the Continental Congress. He first introduced the motion asserting America's independence from Britain, which was later supplanted by Thomas Jefferson's more formal and rhetorically moving declaration. He went on to become the first U.S. senator from Virginia under the new constitution.

Lord Charles Cornwallis

(1738-1805) British general during the Revolutionary War who, having failed to crush Greene's forces in South Carolina, retreated to Virginia, where his defeat at Yorktown marked the beginning of the end for Britain's efforts to suppress the colonial rebellion.

William Howe

(1729-1814) British general who, despite victories on the battlefield, failed to deal a crushing blow to Washington's Continental army. By attacking Philadelphia instead of reinforcing General Burgoyne at Saratoga, he also inadvertently contributed to that crucial American victory.

John Burgoyne

(1722-1792) British general who led an ill-fated invasion of upstate New York, suffering a crushing defeat and surrendered to the American general Horatio Gates at Saratoga.

Benjamin Franklin

(1706-1790) American printer, inventor, statesman, and revolutionary. He first established himself in Philadelphia as a leading newspaper printer, inventor, and author of Poor Richard's Almanac. He later became a leading revolutionary and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolutionary War, he served as commissioner to France, securing that nation's support for the American cause.

Comte de Rochambeau

(1725-1807) General in command of French forces during the American Revolution, he fought alongside George Washington at Yorktown.

Nathanael Greene

(1742-1786) General in command of the Continental army in the Carolina campaign of 1781. The "Fighting Quaker" successfully cleared most of Georgia and South Carolina of British troops despite losing a string of minor battles.

Joseph Brant

(1743-1807) Mohawk chief and Anglican convert who sided with the British during the Revolutionary War, believing that only a British victory could halt American westward expansion.

Admiral de Grasse

(1722-1788) French admiral whose fleet blocked British reinforcements, allowing Washington and Rochambeau to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown.