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| First Continental Congress |
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| (1774) a meeting of colonial delegates in Philadelphia to decide how to respond to the closing of Boston Harbor, increased taxes, and abuses of authority by the British government; delegates petitioned King George III, listing the freedoms they believed colonists should enjoy |
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| American colonial militia members ready to fight at a minute’s notice |
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| British soldiers who fought against the colonists in the American Revolution; so called because of their bright red uniforms |
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| Second Continental Congress |
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| (1775) a meeting of colonial delegates in Philadelphia to decide how to react to fighting at Lexington and Concord |
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| (1732–1799) Revolutionary War hero and Patriot leader, he served as a representative to the Continental Congresses, commanded the Continental Army, and was unanimously elected to two terms as president of the United States |
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| (1775) a Revolutionary War battle in Boston that demonstrated that the colonists could fight well against the British army |
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| (1737–1809) American political philosopher and author, he urged an immediate declaration of independence from England in his anonymously and simply written pamphlet, Common Sense |
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| (1743–1826) American statesman, and member of two Continental Congresses, chairman of the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration’s main author and one of its signers, and the third president of the United States |
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| Declaration of Independence |
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| (1776) the document written to declare the colonies free from British rule |
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| American colonists who fought for independence from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War |
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| colonists who sided with Britain in the American Revolution |
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| (1781) the last major battle of the Revolutionary War; site of British general Charles Cornwallis’s surrender to the Patriots in Virginia |
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| (1776) a Revolutionary War battle in New Jersey in which Patriot forces captured more than 900 Hessian troops |
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| (1777) a Revolutionary War battle in New York that resulted in a major defeat of British troops; marked the Patriots’ greatest victory up to that point in the war |
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| (1757–1834) French statesman and officer who viewed the American Revolution as important to the world, he helped finance the Revolution and served as major general |
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| (1746–1786) Governor of Spanish Louisiana, he captured key cities from the British, greatly aiding the American Patriot movement and enabling the Spanish acquisition of Florida |
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| (1747–1792) American naval officer famed for bravery, his most famous victory was the defeat of the British warship Serapis, during which he declared, “I have not yet begun to fight!” |
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| (1752–1818) American Revolutionary soldier and frontier leader, he captured the British trading village of Kaskaskia during the Revolution and encouraged Indian leaders to remain neutral |
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| (1732?–1795) Revolutionary War commander of Marion’s Brigade, a group of guerrilla soldiers in South Carolina that used surprise raids against British communications and supply lines |
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| a peace agreement that officially ended the Revolutionary War and established British recognition of the independence of the United States |
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| Commander of the French forces at the Battle of Yorktown |
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| a plan for fighting a battle or war |
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