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Quarter 2 Study Guide

Today’s Learning Target

Take a “Quarter 2 Review Notes” sheet off the kidney table. Please make sure that you have written your name, then write the learning target below on the back:

I can deepen my understanding of important topics from Quarter 2 learning.

Part I: Road to RevolutionAfter the French and Indian War, Britain was in _debt_ due to the amount of money and resources they spent on winning the war.

This led the British Parliament to begin imposing __taxes__ on the colonies to help pay for the debts.

The colonists did not mind being taxed, but they were very angry that they were not being _represented__ in the British government.

A man named James Otis was so angry that he published articles which argued that colonies should not have _taxation___ without __representation___. This became a famous slogan of the Revolution.

Part I: Road to RevolutionBritain began implementing laws like the Sugar Act and the _Stamp_ Act. The colonists did opposed these acts because they felt that if they were going to be taxed then they deserved to be _represented_ in the British government.

James Otis also made many speeches opposing _British_ government intruding on the rights of the colonists. In one such instance, Otis claimed that colonists had natural _rights__ that the British could not take away. He worked hard to convince the colonists that they needed to demand rights from the British government.

Part I: Road to RevolutionThe colonists boycotted many of the new laws. Britain responded by changing or even _repealing_ some of the acts. But then they passed one act which gave them the power to control the colonies even more.

The _Declaratory__ Act of 1766 was an act that gave British government the right to pass laws on the colonists. This act was passed so that Britain could put _taxes_ on the colonies.

Part I: Road to RevolutionOne of the most famous protests against tax policies was organized by Sons of Liberty founder, Samuel Adams. It was the _Boston_Tea _Party__. In this protest, colonists boarded British ships and threw boxes and containers filled with _tea_ into the Boston Harbor.

After the Boston Tea Party, the British government had had enough. They passed the _Intolerable_ Acts which gave Britain even greater control of the colonies. This caused the colonists to form a committee called the First Continental Congress

Part I: Road to RevolutionOne of the most influential delegates in the First Continental Congress was John _Adams_, a man who worked hard to show the colonists that they needed independence. He later became the first Vice President of the United States under first President George Washington – a man who John Adams greatly respected and _supported__.

Another very influential man during the _Revolution__was Thomas Paine, whose _pamphlets_ (Common Sense and The Crisis) served to motivate colonists to fight for their _independence_.

Part II: The Revolution BeginsNegotiations were not going well and the colonists formed a Second Continental Congress which they hoped would result in a definitive solution to the ongoing problems between Britain and America. The King of England had _taxed_ colonists, taken away their rights, and ended colonial __legislatures________ (governments).

In April of 1775, Paul Revere rode to __Lexington_____to warn colonists that the British were planning to attack, and on April 19th 1775, the Battles of Lexington and __Concord___ occurred. During these battles, the first gunfire was exchanged between the colonists and the British, which started the ____Revolutionary____War.

Part II: The Revolution BeginsAfter Lexington and Concord, the __Continental___Congress delegates knew there was no going back. On _July__4th, 1776, the Second Continental Congress delegates approved the __Declaration___of _Independence___– a document in which the colonies declared themselves an independent nation, free from British _rule__.

Key Ideas of the Declaration of Independence: • The Declaration of Independence named key

_complaints__, one being that the King of England had _interfered___with and compromised the colonies’ way of governing themselves.

• Thomas Jefferson, the main author of the Declaration, used many of the ideals from the _Enlightenment___ period including that all men had certain _inalienable__rights.

• The Declaration of Independence was significant not only in America, but in _other__countries because it made other nations begin to question their own way of _governing__.

Part III: The Revolutionary War

At first, it seemed as though the British were significantly _favored__to defeat the colonists in the war. They were one of the most _powerful__ nations in the world. The colonists fought many _battles___ against the British.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZDo7tIqMCw

Part III: The Revolutionary WarKey Notes:

• Battle of Trenton: Washington pushed through and __forced_ his troops to fight. Because the British and Hessians were not worried about the colonists, they were not prepared to fight and lost the battle. General Washington and his troops captured _Hessian__ forces at Trenton.

• Battle of Saratoga: A “_turning__ _point__” in the war. Washington’s troops used guerilla warfare to defeat the British. This victory convinced the __French__to form an alliance with the colonies and send troops, ammunition, ships, and other supplies to the __colonies___.– This alliance is in great part thanks to _Benjamin_ _Franklin__, who first

convinced French _Aristocrats__to give loans to the colonies which eventually led to the French government _allying__with the colonies.

• Valley Forge: The winter camp which started so _miserably_, but ended up being a turnaround point for the _Patriot_troops. This is where the troops were trained to work as an organized, skilled, and _unified__ _force_.

Part III: The Revolutionary War

In _1781__, General Washington and his troops met the British at Yorktown, VA. The battle of Yorktown was the __last__battle of the Revolutionary War, where British General Cornwalis surrenderred to General George Washington, essentially ending the _war_; though it would be two more years before the _Treaty_of _Paris__was signed, officially forcing Britain to recognize the United States as an independent nation.