"No taxation w/o representation": The assertion that Great Britain had no right to tax the American colonies as long as they did not have their own representatives in the British Parliament.

Albany Plan of Union: plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown

Battle of Bunker Hill: First major battle of the Revolutions. It showed that the Americans could hold their own, but the British were also not easy to defeat. Ultimately, the Americans were forced to withdraw after running out of ammunition, and Bunker Hill was in British hands. However, the British suffered more deaths.

Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge: Called the Southern Lexington and Concord this battle on February 27, 1776 prevented loyalist forces from linking with regular British troops to invade South Carolina.

Battle of Quebec: (1759) British victory over French forces on the outskirts of Quebec. The surrender of Quebec marked the beginning of the end of French rule in North America.

Boston Massacre 1770: The Massacre was the 1770, pre-Revolutionary incident growing out of the anger against the British troops sent to Boston to maintain order and to enforce the Townshend Acts. The troops, constantly tormented by irresponsible gangs, finally on March 5, 1770, fired into a rioting crowd and killed five men: three on the spot, two of wounds later. The funeral of the victims was the occasion for a great patriot demonstration. The British captain, Thomas Preston, and his men were tried for murder, with Robert Treat Paine as prosecutor, John Adams and Josiah Quincy as lawyers for the defense. Preston and six of his men were acquitted; two others were found guilty of manslaughter, punished, and discharged from the army.

Boston Tea Party 1773: American colonists calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Native Americans, boarded three British ships and dumped British tea into the Boston harbor.

Coercive Acts 1774 (Intolerable Acts): a series of laws passed by the British in 1774 in an attempt to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party:

closed Boston harbor

initiated martial law

disallowed town meetings

strict enforcement of the Quartering Act

Committee of Correspondence: A 21 member committee responsible for keeping the colonies and the rest of the world informed about the injustices Great Britain was making on her colonies.

Common Sense: A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that claimed the colonies had a right to be an independent nation

Currency Act 1764: British legislation which banned the production of paper money in the colonies in an effort to combat the inflation caused by Virginia's decision to get itself out of debt by issuing more paper money.

Daughters of Liberty: This organization supported the boycott of British goods. They urged Americans to wear homemade fabrics and produce other goods that were previously available only from Britain. They believed that way, the American colonies would become economically independent.

Declaration of Independence: the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain

Edward Braddock: A British commander during the French and Indian War. He attempted to capture Fort Duquesne in 1755. He was defeated by the French and the Indians.

Edmund Andros: He was the royal governor of the Dominion of New England. Colonists resented his enforcement of the Navigation Acts and the attempt to abolish the colonial assembly.

First Continental Congress: September 1774, delegates from twelve colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia to discuss a response to the Intolerable Acts

Fort Ticonderoga: patriots led by Ethan Allen surprise an outpost on Lake Champlain and capture cannon for the Americans

Gaspee Incident: In June, 1772, the British customs ship ran around off the colonial coast. When the British went ashore for help, colonials boarded the ship and burned it. They were sent to Britain for trial. Colonial outrage led to the widespread formation of Committees of Correspondence.

George Grenville: Became the Prime Minister of England in 1763; proposed the Sugar & Stamp Acts to raise revenue in the colonies in order to defray the expenses of the French & Indian War & to maintain Britain's expanded empire in America.

George Washington: Commander of the Continental Army

Geroge III: King of England, blamed by the colonists (especially in the Declaration of Independence) for his actions and all of the laws he implemented.

Glorious Revolution 1688: The bloodless coup in 1688 in England when James II (a Catholic) gave up the throne and his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange (of the Netherlands) - both Protestants - replaced James II to reign jointly. No Catholic monarch has reigned in England since.

House of Burgesses: the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes but England could veto its legistlative acts.

John Locke: English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property.

John Parker: Captain of the Lexington minutemen; leader at the Battle of Lexington in April 1775, where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired.

Lexington and Concord: April 8, 1775: Gage leads 700 soldiers to confiscate colonial weapons and arrest Adam, and Hancock; April 19, 1775: 70 armed militia face British at Lexington (shot heard around the world); British retreat to Boston, suffer nearly 300 casualties along the way (concord)

Louis XIV: This French king ruled for the longest time ever in Europe. He issued several economic policies and costly wars. He was the prime example of absolutism in France.

Loyalists: American colonists who remained loyal to Britain and opposed the war for independence

mercantilism: An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought

natural rights: the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property

Navigation Acts 1651, 1660, 1663: British Parliamentary laws ordering that American colonies only trade within the British Empire, furthering the economic policy of mercantilism. These laws were loosely enforced at best.

Patrick Henry: a leader of the American Revolution and a famous orator who spoke out against British rule of the American colonies (1736-1799)

Paul Revere: Boston silversmith who rode into the countryside to spread news of British troop movement.

Paxton Boys: They were a group of Scots-Irish men living in the Appalachian hills that wanted protection from Indian attacks. They made an armed march on Philadelphia in 1764. They protested the lenient way that the Quakers treated the Indians. Their ideas started the Regulator Movement in North Carolina.

Pennsylvania Gazette: newspaper in which the "Join or Die" cartoon was published by Benjamin Franklin

Pontiac's Rebellion: 1763 - An Indian uprising after the French and Indian War, led by an Ottowa chief. They opposed British expansion into the western Ohio Valley and began destroying British forts in the area. The attacks ended when Pontiac was killed.

Robert Walpole: Prime minister of Great Britain in the first half of the 1700s. His position towards the colonies was salutary neglect.

Royal Proclamation of 1763: A proclamation to where the colonists couldn't move and expand to the west of the Appalachian mountains. That was preserved for the Native Americans.

salutary neglect: an English policy of relaxing the enforcement of regulations in its colonies in return for the colonies' continued economic loyalty

Samuel Adams: American Revolutionary leader and patriot, Founder of the Sons of Liberty and one of the most vocal patriots for independence; signed the Declaration of Independence

Samuel de Champlain: French explorer in Nova Scotia who established a settlement on the site of modern Quebec (1567-1635)

Seven Year's War 1756-1763: global conflict between the European great powers; the French and Indian War was part of this larger conflict.

Sons of Liberty: A radical political organization for colonial independence which formed in 1765 after the passage of the Stamp Act. They incited riots and burned the customs houses where the stamped British paper was kept. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, many of the local chapters formed the Committees of Correspondence which continued to promote opposition to British policies towards the colonies. The Sons leaders included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere.

Stamp Act 1765: This act required colonists to pay for an official stamp, or seal, when they bought paper items.

Sugar Act 1764: An act that raised tax revenue in the colonies for the crown. It also increased the duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies.

The Act to Prevent Frauds and Abuses 1696: required royal governors to enforce the Navigation Acts, allowed customs officials in America to use "writs of assistance", and ordered that accused smugglers be tried in royal admiralty courts

Townshend Acts: A tax that the British Parliament passed in 1767 that was placed on leads, glass, paint and tea

Treaty of Paris 1763: Ended the French and Indian War and effectively kicked the French out of North America

virtual representation: British governmental theory that Parliament spoke for all British subjects, including Americans, even if they did not vote for its members

Whig: an American colonist who supported the American Revolution

William Pitt: The Prime Minister of England during the French and Indian War. He increased the British troops and military supplies in the colonies, and this is why England won the war.

Writ of Assistance: court document allowing customs officers to enter any location to search for smuggled goods