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What was the make up of the American population like in
the 1760s?
How did King George III anger parliamentarians and
confuse British policy?
What were some of the reasons for Britain’s uncooperative
attitude toward the colonies?
How did the American view of representative democracy
differ from the British view?
What did the Americans like about John Locke’s writings?
What was the purpose of ‘virtue’ in American public life?
Why did Britain maintain a standing army in North
America?
How did American and British attitudes towards Native’s
change after the Seven Years’ War?
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Who was Pontiac and how did he expose the limited
value of British troops in the colonies?
What did the Pontiac uprising mean for natives all
over the frontier?
What was the Proclamation of 1763?
What was Grenville’s Sugar Act and what was its
purpose?
What was the Stamp Act?
What was the “Virginia Resolves”?
What was the nature of the conflict according to
Patrick Henry?
Which meeting took place in New York City in
October 1765? Why was is significant?
What type of reaction did the Stamp Act receive from
the general public? Why?
What was the Declaratory Act and how was it a
response to colonial concerns?
Who was Charles Townshend and how did he
contribute to the decline of British-Colonial relations?
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What was the Quartering Act and how did it
affect New York’s governor?
Why did the number 92 become a symbol of
colonial defiance for British policies?
Why did Bostonians resent the presence of
4000 British troops in the city in 1770?
How did those opposed to British policy
portray the “Boston Massacre” and how was
their portrayal received by the people of the
colonies?
Who was Lord North?
How did customs commissioners antagonize
colonials during the early 1770s?
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What did Samuel Adams propose in 1772 that
received widespread support across the
colonies? Why was this important?
What was the Tea Act and why was it created?
How did Americans respond to the Tea Act?
Why?
What were the Coercive Acts and what were
they called in the colonies?
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Which types of “extralegal” bodies were
formed by colonials to compensate for the
lack of true popular government?
Where did the call for a Continental Congress
originate?
Where was the Congress held and which
colonies attended?
What decisions were reached during this first
Congress?
What was a “minuteman”?
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Why did General Gage send 1,000 soldiers
toward Concord on the night of April 18,
1775?
What happened?
When and where did the Second Continental
Congress meet?
What decisions did the Congress make with
regards to conducting the war?
What was the Prohibitory Act?
Who was Thomas Paine and how did he affect
the decision to declare independence?
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What was the Olive Branch Petition and what
was its purpose?
In the early stages of the war what did most
Americans believe they were fighting for?
What caused them to change their opinoins?
What evidence was there that the Second
Continental Congress was taking steps
towards an open declaration of independence
from Britain?
Why is the Declaration of Independence
considered one of the most influential
political documents in history?
How did the Declaration of Independence
actually help with the Colonial’s war efforts?
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Describe the historiography of the causes of
the Revolution.
What were the Articles of Confederation?
What was the central weakness of the
Articles?
Why did the Continental army have to rely on
British and French weapons and equipment?
What challenges did Congress face in paying
for the war?
What measures did they implement to try and
solve the problem?
What were the results?
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Describe the situation in Boston following the
fighting at Lexington and Concord.
What happened at Bunker Hill?
Why did the British decide to evacuate Boston
on March 17, 1776?
Why did Benedict Arnold lead an American
invasion of Canada and lay siege to Quebec?
What was the result of Benjamin Franklin’s
attempt to convince the Canadian colonies to
join the rebellion?
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What was General Howe’s attitude toward the
colonials?
Which city did the British target for invasion in
the summer of 1776?
How large was the force they assembled and of
what quality was the force George Washington
brought to oppose them?
Was Washington’s defense of New York
successful?
Why was he criticized for the attempt to hold Fort
Washington?
Why did Paine refer to the late fall and early
winter of 1776 as the “times that try men’s
souls”?
What took place at Trenton New Jersey on
Christmas night 1776?
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What was the significance of the victory at Trenton,
combined with the wide release of Paine’s
American Crisis?
What was the British strategy for 1777?
How did Howe change the strategy?
What was his purpose in attacking Philadelphia?
What was the impact of Howe’s change of plans on
General Burgoyne’s operations in the north?
What was the actual and perceived importance of
the American victory at Saratoga?
Who was to blame for Britain’s failure to achieve
victory during this stage of the war?
What role did the native population play in this
stage of the war?
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What were some of the challenges that faced
some of America’s ‘amateur’ diplomats?
When and why did France recognize the
United States as a sovereign nation?
What role had Benjamin Franklin played in
this diplomatic victory?
What were the terms of the Treaty of Alliance?
What did France contribute to the war effort?
Why did Great Britain shift its military efforts
to the southern colonies?
Who replaced General Howe as commander of
British forces in America?
What did he do with his army?
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Did the British have any success in their war in
the south?
What challenges did they face from patriot
forces?
Why did the British not gain effective support
from Loyalist militias in the South?
How did the British promise of emancipation for
runaway slaves affect the war?
What happened to General Gates?
Who replaced him?
How did Greene “confuse and exasperate”
General Cornwallis?
Why were the battles of the Cowpens and
Guilford Courthouse important?
Why did Cornwallis retreat to Yorktown?
What was Washington’s plan for Cornwallis?
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How was Cornwallis forced to surrender at
Yorktown on October 19, 1781?
What role did the French play at Yorktown?
What was the main reason for France’s delay in
reaching a settlement with Britain?
How did the American representatives manage to
get around the French reluctance?
What were the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris?
Which types of people were the Loyalists?
What happened to the Loyalists during and after
the war?
Which religious groups suffered as a result of the
war?
Which religion gained strength because of the
war?
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How had the war changed the demographics of
the southern states such as South Carolina?
How did the Revolutionary rhetoric about
freedom impact the African American population
of the United States?
How did this affect southern slave owners?
Was there a contradiction between the rhetoric
and the actions of Patriots regarding slavery?
What role did most Native American tribes play in
the war?
Of those that did get involved, which side did the
usually support and why?
How did the Patriot victory impact the Native
American population?
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How did the war affect the lives of many
colonial women?
What view did General Washington and many
of his officers have of the female “camp
followers”?
What was their overall effect?
Did the war change the fundamental nature
of family dynamics in American households?
Did it have any impact on gender relations?
Did the importance of women as mothers
change as a result of the war? Why?
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What is a privateer and how did Americans
make use of them during the war?
How did the war both hinder and help the
growth of the American economy?
Why were the Thirteen Colonies able to win
their independence from Great Britain?
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Why did the states feel the need to draft
constitutions to replace their old colonial
charters?
Why did the states feel it essential that these
constitutions be explicitly worded
documents?
What three fundamental freedoms did most
states specifically affirm?
How did the role of governor fair in many new
constitutions?
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Where did most states concentrate
governmental power? Why?
How were the elected members of the
assemblies of the newly constituted states
differ from previous assemblies?
Why was the Massachusetts constitution
exceptional?
What sort of plan for confederation did John
Dickinson’s committee present on July 12,
1776?
How did the Articles of Confederation
compare to Dickinson’s original plan?
How did the population at large feel about
the idea of central government?
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Contrast the attitudes of “landless” states with
those that claimed vast western territories? What
was their main point of contention?
In 1781 the states settled their dispute over
western lands. How did they do it, and what
arrangement did they come up with?
What was Thomas Jefferson’s plan to solve the
Northwest Territory issue?
What role did land speculators play in trying to
solve the problem of the territories?
What were the challenges surrounding the
orderly development of the western frontier?
Ultimately, what were the provisions of the
Northwest Ordinance?
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How did the American economic situation lead to
criticism of the Confederation?
Who were the most prominent nationalists and
what did they want?
Did they meet with much success in the early
1780s?
What was the Newburgh Conspiracy and how did
it end?
Why did Great Britain refuse to evacuate its
soldiers from the Northwest Territory?
Why did Spain close the Mississippi to American
trade? What was the impact?
What were some of the symptoms of Congress’
lack of power through the mid 1780s?
How did many Revolutionary leaders’ opinions
about the nature of government change in the
1780s?
How did James Madison’s vision of a federal
republic differ from Montesquieu’s?
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How did nationalists finagle Congress into
calling a constitutional convention in May
1787?
What was Shay’s Rebellion and how did it give
Madison ammunition for his argument for a
strong national government?
What sorts of men attended the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia?
What important procedural decisions did the
members of the Constitutional Conventions
make?
What was the Virginia Plan? What was the New
Jersey Plan? How did they differ?
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How did the “grand committee” solve the
impasse between large and small states?
What was the “three-fifths” rule?
How did the convention deal with the issue of
slavery?
What was the job of the Committee of Detail?
How did the electoral college work?
How did the Convention get around the
possibility of state houses blocking passage
of the constitution?
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What clever decision did the proponents of
the constitution make with regards to naming
their group?
What other advantages did the Federalists
possess over their opponents?
What was the “localist perspective” of the
Antifederalists?
By which date had all the states ratified the
new constitution?
How did the Bill of Rights come into
existence?
What rights does it protect?