Chapter 8
1. When the Second Continental Congress met in 1775, it resolved to keep fighting in the hope that the
British would redress the colonist’s grievances
2. Perhaps the most important single action of the Second Continental Congress was to select George
Washington to head the army
3. As commander of America’s Revolutionary army, George Washington exhibited all of the following
traits: a sense of justice; courage; moral force, and patience
4. George Washington’s selection to lead the colonial army was largely political
5. GW was chosen commander of the colonial armies because he was from a southern colony, was a
colonial aristocrat, and was a symbol and rallying point
6. In 1775, once fighting bt the colonies and GB began, the colonists affirmed their loyalty to the King
7. The colonial army eventually lost the Battle of Bunker Hill because its troops were short of gunpowder.
8. King George III officially declared the colonies in rebellion just after the Battle of BH
9. The Olive Branch Petition professed American loyalty to the crown
10. With the Am invasion of Canada in 1775, the colonials’ claim that they were merely fighting
defensively for a redress of grievances was contradicted
11. The colonists’ invasion of Canada in 1775 was unsuccessful
12. The colonists delayed declaring their independence until July 4, 1776, for all of the following reasons:
fear of Brit mil reprisals; a continued belief that America was part of the transatlantic community; the
realization that the colonies were not united; and support for the tradition of loyalty to the empire
13. When the Second Continental Congress convened, delegates attended from all thirteen colonies, it
adopted measures to raise money and create an army and navy, it drafted new written appeals to the
king, and the conservatives remained a strong force
14. One purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to explain to the rest of the world why the colonies
had revolted.
15. In a republic, power comes from the people themselves.
16. American colonists had experience with republicanism in New England town meetings, and in the
committees of correspondence
17. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense called for a democratic republic
18. Paine argued that all govt officials should derive their authority from popular consent
19. The resolution that “These United Colonies are, and of right out to be, free and independent states…”
was introduced into the Second Continental Congress by BA delegate Richard Henry Lee
20. The feasibility of representative govt had been demonstrated in the committees of correspondence
21. Examples of colonial experience with self-governance, which prepeared Americans for a republic,
included all of the following: committees of correspondence; the relative equality of landowning
farmers; the absence of a hereditary aristocracy; and New England town meetings
22. Most Americans considered citizen virtue to be fundamental for any successful republican government?
23. When America became a republic and political power no longer rested with an all-powerful king,
individuals needed to sacrifice their own self-interest to the public good
24. Abigail Adams privately advocated equality for women
25. The Declaration of Independence did all of the following: invoke the natural rights of humankind to
justify revolt, catalog the tyrannical actions of King George III, condemn the abolition of valued laws,
and argue that royal tyranny justified revolt
26. Americans who opposed independence for the colonies were labeled Loyalists or Tories, and the
independence seeking Patriots were also known as Whigs
27. Like many revolutions, the AR was a minority movement
28. The Patriot militia played a crucial role in the Revolution in all of the following ways: taking up the task
of “political” education, convincing people that the British army was an unreliable friend, mercilessly
harassing small British detachments, and as effective agents of Revolutionary ideas
29. The Americans who continued to support the crown after independence had been declared were more
likely to be all of the following: wealthy, affiliated witht the Anglican church, well educated, and from
among the older generation
30. Many Ams remained loyalists during the Rev for all of the following reasons: they believed in Brit
military superiority, some were promised freedom, they believed a Patriot victory would lead to
anarchy, and they believed the British would preserve religious toleration
31. The following fates befell Loyalists after the Rev War: some had their property confiscated, some reestablished themselves in America, some fled to England, and some were exiled
32. All of the following fates befell colonial Loyalists: imprisonment, riding astride fence rails, tarring and
feather, and exile
33. Loyalists were least numerous in New England
-To help the British, colonial Loyalists did all of the following: fight for the British; keep Patriot soldiers at
home to protect their families; incite the Indians; and serve as spies.
- General William Howe did not pursue and defeat George Washington's army after the Battle of Long Island
for all of the following reasons: he remembered the slaughter of Bunker Hill; the country was rough; supplies
were slow in coming; and he did not relish the rigors of a winter campaign.
-New York was chosen as the base of British operations because of its splendid seaport, of its central location,
and of the probability of support there from colonists who opposed independence.
-During the Revolutionary War, the British captured and occupied New York City,
Charleston, and Philadelphia.
-In late 1776 and early 1777, George Washington helped restore confidence in
America's military by defeating the Hessians at Trenton and the British at Princeton.
-The basic strategy of the British in 1777 was to try to isolate New England.
-After the humiliating defeat at Saratoga in 1777, the British Parliament passed a bill that offered Americans
home rule.
-The Battle of Saratoga was a key victory for the Americans because it brought the colonists much-needed aid
and a formal alliance with France.
-France waited to give open assistance to America until after the victory at Saratoga because the French thought
the colonists' chances of winning slim before the victory.
-France came to America's aid in the Revolution because it wanted revenge against Britain.
-America's first entangling alliance was with France.
-America's alliance with France was accepted by the American people with distaste.
-The Armed Neutrality League was started by Catherine the Great of Russia.
-When the alliance with France was formalized, the Americans were able to, double the size of their fighting
forces, gain access to large sums of money, gain immense amounts of equipment, and avail themselves of
French naval strength.
-The commander of French troops in America was Rochambeau.
-French aid to the colonies was motivated by what the French considered to be their own national interests,
greatly aided America's struggle for independence, helped them protect their own West Indies islands, and
forced the British to change their military strategy in America.
-Shortly after French troops arrived in America, the resulting improvement in morale staggered when General
Benedict Arnold turned traitor.
-The colonists suffered their heaviest losses of the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Charleston.
-Some Indian nations joined the British during the Revolutionary War because they believed that a British
victory would restrain American expansion into the West.
-The "Fighting Quaker" who cleared most of Georgia and South Carolina was Nathanael Greene.
-The Indian chief who fought for the British in New York and Pennsylvania was Joseph Brant.
-The Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the first treaty between the United States and an Indian nation, resulted in the
ceding of most of the Iroquois' land.
-During the Revolution, the frontier saw much fighting, which failed to stem the tide of westward-moving
pioneers.
-The most important contribution of the seagoing "privateers" during the Revolutionary War was that they
captured hundreds of British merchant ships.
-After the British defeat at Yorktown, the fighting continued for more than a year.
-It is legitimate to claim that the triumph at Yorktown "was no less French than American" because the French
supplied all the seapower, and French troops made up half the besieging army.
-The British decided to negotiate an end to the Revolutionary War because they were crushed by the failure of
their army at Yorktown, they were suffering heavy
military losses against the French and Spanish elsewhere, and the new British
ministry now in power was more pro-American.
-American diplomats to the peace negotiations in Paris in 1782-1783 were instructed by the Second Continental
Congress to consult with the colonies' French allies and make no separate peace arrangements with the British.
-Britain gave America generous terms in the Treaty of Paris because British leaders were trying to persuade
America to abandon its alliance with France.
-Regarding the provisions of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the
Revolution, America, broke the assurances regarding treatment of the Loyalists.
-The Treaty of Paris in 1783 stipulated British recognition of American independence, establishment of the
boundaries of the new United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River between the Great Lakes
and Spanish Florida, that Americans allow British collection of prewar debts from colonists, that Americans
cease persecution of Loyalists, and that Loyalists should have their confiscated property restored.