Using Context Clues
NAME________________________________
1. When you come across words that you do not know, you can use context clues to help you infer and clarify
the meaning of the words. You examine the passage for clues that help you to define or explain the word.
The colonists had pledged to boycott English goods. They would refuse to buy anything made in
England, especially cloth, a mainstay of the British economy.
Highlight the part of this passage that explains what boycott means.
***HINT: sometimes the word is defined for you in the passage.
Define boycott: ___________________________________________________________________
2. Not all context clues are as obvious as those that give a definition or explanation (as with boycott).
Sometimes the clues will give you just enough information to infer the meaning of a word.
To ease the friction, King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763 which announced to all the
boundaries for territories and set limits on where English colonists could settle.
Highlight the part of this sentence you used to infer the meaning of proclamation.
***HINT: phrases that begin with the words who, which, that, whose or whom usually provide context clues.
Define proclamation: ______________________________________________________________
3. Sometimes, you can look at conjunctions in the sentence to see how the ideas in the sentence are
connected.
The British repealed the Townshend Acts that same year, but later passed the Tea Act in 1773.
Highlight the part of this sentence that helped you figure out what repealed means.
***HINT: conjunctions such as and, but, or, because, since, or if connect ideas in a sentence.
Define repealed: __________________________________________________________________
4. Another strategy to use to figure out unfamiliar words is to try replacing the unfamiliar word with a
synonym you think might be correct based on the context clues.
After the French and Indian War, the British government needed to increase their revenue in order to
pay for the war, so they taxed the colonies.
Highlight the part of this sentence that helped you figure out what revenue means.
What is a synonym or short phrase you could use in its place?
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***HINT: replacing the unfamiliar word with a synonym can help clarify its meaning.
Define revenue: ___________________________________________________________________
Read each of the following sentences and use what you have learned about Context Clues to infer or clarify
the meaning of the underlined words. Highlight the part of the sentence that helps you figure out what the
word means. Then, write your definition of the word.
5. Following the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 which ended the French and Indian War, there was
an immediate uprising of Native American tribes which caused great friction between the British
colonists and the Native Americans who were competing for the same land.
Define friction: ___________________________________________________________________
6. Many colonists were in opposition to the proclamation because they had already purchased land in the
areas that they were now forbidden to settle.
Define opposition: ___________________________________________________________________
7. The colonists were angry about all the taxes Parliament heaped on them especially since they had no
members of Parliament to represent them. These acts prompted James Otis, a Massachusetts lawyer, to
famously proclaim, “Taxation without representation is tyranny!”
Define taxation without representation:
________________________________________________________________________________
8. Because they felt the taxes were unfair, citizens started smuggling goods into the colonies to avoid the
taxes that they were opposed to paying. But the British passed another set of new taxes on imports like
glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea. It also allowed British officers to search homes and businesses for
smuggled goods.
Define smuggled: ___________________________________________________________________
9. In October of 1774, the First Continental Congress officially petitioned King George III to resolve their
grievances by sending him a list of their complaints.
Define petitioned: ___________________________________________________________________
10. The colonists protested this act bitterly. Some groups, such as the Sons of Liberty, burned any stamped
paper they could find and even tarred and feathered British officials.
Define protested: ___________________________________________________________________
Causes of the American Revolution – a Brief Overview NAME_________________________________
1 - Following the signing of the Treaty of Paris which ended the French and
Indian War, there was an immediate uprising of Native American tribes which
caused great friction between the British colonists and the Native Americans
who were competing for the same land. The Native Americans wanted to
repel colonists who settled in what they thought was Native American
territory. To ease the friction, King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763
which announced to all the boundaries for territories and set limits on where
English colonists could settle. Many colonists were in opposition to the
proclamation because they had already purchased land in the areas that they
were now forbidden to settle.
2 - After the French and Indian War, the British government needed to
increase their revenue in order to pay for the war, so they taxed the colonies.
Even though the original 13 colonies didn’t like being ruled by a king, King
George III of England, that alone probably wouldn’t have been enough to
spark the American Revolution. What really got the colonists angry was not
having any representation in Parliament, the British version of Congress. The
Parliament could pass laws affecting American colonists, even though none of
the colonists voted. These laws included taxes imposed on the colonists.
3 - Parliament passed the Quartering Act in 1765. It said that British soldiers in
the colonies could stay in any private home they wanted. The families living
there would have to house and feed them!
4 - The colonists were especially angry about all the taxes Parliament heaped
on them especially since they had no members of Parliament to represent
them. The first of these was the Sugar Act of 1764. It was a tax on sugar,
molasses, and other stuff the colonies imported. This act prompted James
Otis, a Massachusetts lawyer, to famously proclaim, “Taxation without
representation is tyranny!” It also caused citizens to start smuggling goods
into the colonies to avoid the taxes that they were opposed to paying.
“No taxation without representation” became the battle cry of the colonists.
5 - But Parliament didn’t listen to the colonists. They just kept adding more
taxes. The Stamp Act of 1765 taxed all legal and commercial documents,
including diplomas, contracts, newspapers, and even playing cards! The
colonists protested this act bitterly. They organized the Stamp Act Congress in
New York City to decide what to do. This congress issued many resolutions
such as declaring that the colonists have the same rights as natural born
Englishmen and that they cannot be taxed without representation in
Parliament.
6 - Local leaders like Samuel Adams of Boston organized chapters of the Sons
of Liberty. This group was pretty rough. They burned any stamped paper they
could find and even tarred and feathered British officials.
7 - Many colonists boycotted British goods – that means they stopped buying
them. The Daughters of Liberty helped by creating some of the things that
people were no longer buying from the British, like clothing. The boycott hurt
British trade, and parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766.
8 - But the British passed another set of new taxes with the Townshend Acts
in 1767. These acts taxed imports like glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea. It also
allowed British officers to search homes and businesses for smuggled goods.
All they would need were search warrants, called Writs of Assistance. Again,
the colonists responded with boycotts and protests.
9 - Eventually, the anger boiled over in the Boston Massacre. That was an
incident in 1770 where British troops opened fire on rioting colonists. Five of
the colonists were killed.
10 - The British repealed the Townshend Acts that same year, but later passed
the Tea Act in 1773. The Tea Act said that colonists had to buy all their tea
from England. The colonists responded with the Boston Tea Party on
December 16th, 1773. A group of men disguised as American Indians boarded
three tea ships docked in the Boston harbor. They broke open the tea chests
and threw them overboard.
11 - King George III and the British Parliament knew that they couldn’t back
down at this point. So they passed the Coercive Acts in 1774. The acts called
for a naval blockade of Boston harbor until the tea from the Boston Tea Party
was paid for. No ships were allowed in or out. The Coercive Acts were known
to the colonists as the Intolerable Acts.
12 - In response to the Intolerable Acts, all of the colonies, except Georgia,
met in the First Continental Congress. The Congress decided to ban all trade
with England until the acts were repealed. It also called on each colony to
begin training militias, or armies. In October of 1774, the First Continental
Congress officially petitioned King George III to resolve their grievances by
sending him a list of their complaints.
13 -But this did not work and fighting broke out between British and colonial
soldiers in Lexington, Massachusetts. It was April 19, 1775: the beginning of
the Revolutionary War.