American Revolution Unit Test Review
1. What was the Proclamation of 1763?
It created a line around the 13 colonies that forbid colonists from moving into Ohio Territory
2. Why did Parliament decided to tax the colonists?
They wanted help paying for the French and Indian War
3. Why did the colonists think the taxes were unfair?
They were being taxed without their consent (taxation without representation)
4. Be able to explain the following laws passed by Parliament (from scale):
A. Sugar Act- a tax on sugar products like syrup and molasses
B. Stamp Act- tax on paper products
C. Tea Act- Colonists could only buy tea from the East India Company
D. Quartering Act- Colonists had to feed and house British soldiers
E. Coercive Acts (known as the “Intolerable Acts”)- Quartering Act passed again, Boston Harbor
closed, Massachusetts put under martial law (military control)
5. Who organized the Sons of Liberty and what did they do?
Samuel Adams organized it to protest British laws
6. What did the Daughters of Liberty do?
Made tea and wove cloth to support colonial boycotts
7. Be able to describe the following events and what caused them:
A. Boston Tea Party- Colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor because of the Tea Act
B. Boston Massacre- British soldiers fired into a colonial crowd and killed 5
8. Explain the purpose of the Committees of Correspondence.
They wrote letters to spread news quickly between the colonies
9. What caused the Intolerable (Coercive) Acts?
Boston Tea Party
10. What 3 decisions did the First Continental Congress make?
1. Create militias
2. boycott all British goods
3. Meet again in 1 year
11. Who were “minute men”?
Militia men who were ready to fight at a minute’s notice
12. Describe the following battles:
-Lexington – first battle of the war; started with the “shot heard round the world”, British victory
-Concord- first colonial victory; colonists chased the British back to Boston
-Siege of Boston – Americans surrounded the British in Boston; British finally retreated by sea after
11 months
-Trenton- Americans crossed the icy Delaware River on Christmas night to surprise the Hessians;
American victory; gave the Americans hope that they could win
-Saratoga- Turning point in the war; the French decided to come help because of the victory
-Yorktown –Americans and French surrounded the British in Yorktown; Cornwallis surrendered; last
battle of the Revolutionary War
13. What 2 decisions did the Second Continental Congress make?
1. Chose George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army
2. Declared independence
14. Be able to explain the purpose of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.
Explain why America should be independent
15. What was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence?
To declare independence and explain why they were doing it
16. List the 4 parts of the Declaration of Independence
1. Preamble (states purpose: explain reasons for independence)
2 Declaration of rights (unalienable rights: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness)
3. grievances (complaints against the King)
4 Declaring independence
17. The Declaration of Independence says the governments should get their power from the “consent of
the governed”. What does that mean?
Consent of the governed means permission of the people. The founding fathers thought that all true
governments ruled with the people’s approval.
18. Who wrote the Declaration? When was it shared with the public?
Thomas Jefferson wrote it. It was shared on July 4, 1776
19. What happened at Valley Forge?
It was the Americans’ winter camp during one winter of the war where large numbers of the soldiers died
from cold, sickness, and lack of food. They were also trained by Friedrich Von Steuben to be a better army.
20. What was the result of the Treaty of Paris?
The Revolutionary War ended and the United States became an official country
21. Be able to match the following important people with their description:
A. Patrick Henry: Member of Virginia House of Burgesses, governor of Virginia, said “Give me liberty or give
me death”
B. Sam Adams: Leader/organizer of the Sons of Liberty in Boston
C. John Adams: Cousin of Sam Adams, Patriot from Boston, defended British soldiers that were involved in
the Boston Massacre, became the 2nd president
D. Abigail Adams: Wife of John Adams, supporter of the Patriot cause
E. Paul Revere: silversmith from Boston, express rider for the Committee of Correspondence, rode to
Lexington to tell them the British were coming
F. Benjamin Franklin: newspaper owner and inventor from Philadelphia, helped convince the French to join
the Americans, signer of the Declaration of Independence
G. Thomas Jefferson: member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, writer of the Declaration of
Independence, 3rd president of the United States
H. Mercy Otis Warren: Massachusetts woman who supported the Patriot cause by writing things like plays
I. Phillis Wheatley: slave woman who wrote poems that supported the Patriot cause
J. George Washington: member of Virginia House of Burgesses, commander-in-chief of the Continental
Army, 1st president