Study Guide for U
Study Guide for U.S. History
American Revolution
Chapter 2, Sections 1, 4, & 5; Chapter 3, sections 1 – 4
I. Colonial America
A. social classes (see class handout)
1. Aristocracy or Upper Class
a. Only white males with property allowed to vote
2. Middle Class
3. Lower Class
4. Indentured Servants
5. Slaves
B. Southern Colonies
1. Economy based on agriculture
2. Cash crops: Indigo, rice, tobacco
C. New England Colonies
1. Economy based on industry
2. Part of Triangular Trade
a. Received sugar and molasses from the West Indies, made rum
II. Triangular Trade
A. West Indies (also known as the Sugar Islands)
1. Grew sugar on large plantations (large farms requiring a large labor force, mostly
slaves)
2. Used slaves to grow and harvest sugar
3. Received slaves from West Africa
4. Shipped sugar and molasses to New England
5. West Indies and Brazil received most of the slaves sent to the Western Hemisphere
B. New England
1. Received sugar and molasses from the West Indies from which they made rum
2. Shipped rum and guns to West Africa
C. West Africa
1. Received rum and guns from New England
2. Shipped slaves to West Indies and Brazil
D. Slave Trade
1. Africans enslaved other Africans
2. Most slaves were shipped to the West Indies and Brazil to work on sugar plantations
3. 5% of the slaves from Africa ended up in the North American colonies
4. Middle Passage – name given to the voyage that brought the slaves from Africa to
North and South America
III. Expanding the Colonies
A. French and Indian War (1754 – 1763 )
1. Causes
a. British and French both claimed the Ohio River Valley and Great Lakes
b. French wanted to protect their fur trade
c. French and Indians made alliances
d. British wanted more land for the colonies
e. Colonists wanted to move westward into the Ohio River Valley which was
primarily Indian land
2. Battle of Quebec (1759)
a. Led by British General James Wolfe
b. British won the battle and most of the important battles that followed
3. Treaty of Paris (1763)
a. Officially ended the French and Indian War
b. After this treaty, France is no longer a power in North America
c. Britain gained all land east of the Mississippi River
B. Pontiac’s Rebellion (p.167)
1. Led by Ottawa Chief Pontiac, several Indian tribes banded together to attack forts on
the frontier.
2. Caused by settlers moving onto Indian lands in the Ohio River Valley
C. Proclamation Line of 1763
1. What did it say?
No settlement allowed west of the Appalachian Mountains
2. Purpose
a. Prevent Indian uprisings and the death of settlers
b. Helped Britain to tax and control the colonists
IV. British and Colonial Relations
A. Mercantilism – economic policy which reflected the belief of Great Britain (England) that the
colonies existed for the benefit of the Mother Country (England).
1. Navigation Acts – a series of acts or laws passed by England’s Parliament that
required the colonists to transport goods only on British ships,
through British ports, only to British territories.
a. The Navigation Acts are an example of mercantilism
b. The purpose of the acts was to ensure all trade with the colonies benefitted
England.
B. After the French and Indian War
1. More tension because of stricter enforcement of mercantilist policies
2. Tension increased when Lord Grenville, the Prime Minister of England, said the
colonists must pay taxes to help pay for the war. Parliament passed the Sugar Act.
C. Parliament passes acts to tax colonies (see chart on page 176 in your text)
1. Taxes
a. direct taxes – paid by the consumer when they buy the goods.
Examples: Stamp Act, Sales Tax
b. indirect taxes – not paid up front by the consumer
Examples: Import Tax, Sugar Act, Townshend Act
c. import tax – tax charged on goods coming into the country
D. Colonists Reaction to Taxes
1. Smuggling – to avoid paying import taxes the colonist smuggled sugar
2. boycotts (a form of protest in which certain goods are not bought) – the colonists
boycotted (refused to buy) sugar.
3. “No taxation without representation” – slogan started in the colonies to protest being
taxed without having any representatives for the colonies in the Parliament.
4. Sons of Liberty – secret societies formed by colonists to protest taxes and frighten tax
collectors. Samuel Adams was the founder.
5. Boston Tea Party – protest against the Tea Act by the Sons of Liberty. A group of
colonists dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor. Showed the anger of the
colonists.
6. The results of the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Act, Coercive Acts was the
uniting of the colonists
E. British Reaction to Colonial Protests
1. Writs of Assistance – warrants that allowed British tax collectors/soldiers to search any
property for smuggled goods.
2. British Admiralty Courts – accused smugglers were tried in these courts. The accused
were denied the right of a TRIAL BY JURY!.
3. After the Boston Tea Party the British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts. The
colonists called these acts the Intolerable Acts
V. Revolutionary War
A. Patriots – colonists who wanted independence from Great Britain
1. Thomas Paine – wrote “Common Sense”, a pamphlet of reasons not to remain loyal to
King George of England. “Common Sense” was written in basic English which could
be understood by everyone.
2. Thomas Jefferson
a. main author of the Declaration of Independence
b. influenced by John Locke, an Enlightenment philosopher
3. George Rogers Clarke – won battles on the Illinois frontier against the Indians
B. Loyalists – colonists who wanted to remain a part of Great Britain
C. Military
1. Minutemen – colonial militia members (ready to act on a minutes notice)
2. Continental Army – colonial army
3. Redcoats – name given to the British soldiers
D. Battles (see handout on battles)
1. Lexington and Concord
a. first battles of the war occurred when the British marched to these towns
searching for weapons.
2. Battle of Trenton – Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River at night on
Christmas Eve and surprised the British troops.
3. Battle of Saratoga – major battle won by the patriots, the turning point of the war.
After this battle France openly declared its support of the
American patriots.
4. Yorktown – the last major battle of the war
E. Colonial advantages (see handout on British/American advantages and disadvantages)
1. fighting for their freedom
2. fighting on their own soil
a. logistics or line of supply (easy access to supplies)
F. British Advantages
1. well organized army
2. world’s best navy
3. loyalists helped them
G. Treaty of Paris 1783
1. ended the Revolutionary War
2. Terms of the Treaty
a. Established the boundaries of the United States (new nation):
Northern boundary – the Great Lakes
Western boundary – the Mississippi River
Southern boundary – Florida
Eastern boundary – the Atlantic Ocean
b. Americans had the right to settle and trade on land west of the original thirteen
colonies.
H. Second Continental Congress (May 1775)
1. Achievements
a. voted to organize and fund a Continental Army
b. chose George Washington as commander of the Continental Army
c. arranged a military alliance with France
d. issued the Declaration of Independence
e. proposed the Articles of Confederation
f. held the colonies together
I. America won the war due to
1. French help
2. Other foreign help
3. Foreign individual volunteers like Lafayette and Von Steuben
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