APUSH Chapter 8 of American Pageant

The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that met beginning on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met briefly during 1774, also in Philadelphia. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties, the Congress acted as the de facto national government of what became the United States.[1] With the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, the Congress became known as the Congress of the Confederation.

George Washington is called "the father of his country" for his crucial role in fighting for, creating and leading the United States of America in its earliest days. Washington was a surveyor, farmer and soldier who rose to command the Colonial forces in the Revolutionary War. He held the ragtag Continental Army together -- most famously during a frigid encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania during the winter of 1777-78 -- and eventually led them to victory over the British.

He fought in the French and Indian Wars, was a surveyor and a commanding presence.

Ethan Allen fought during the American Revolution as the leader of the Green Mountain Boys, a ragtag militia made up of settlers of what it now the state of Vermont.

One of history's best-known traitors, Benedict Arnold was a successful general from Connecticut during the American Revolutionary War -- until he switched sides and was caught trying to help the British in 1780.

A stronghold during the Revolutionary War, in New York on Lake Champlain. It was built by the French in 1755, during the French and Indian War (1754-63), on a vital inland water route to Canada. The French first named it Fort Vaudreuil, but soon changed the name to Fort Carillon. The fort was captured in 1759 by the British and renamed Fort Ticonderoga. In 1775, during the Revolutionary War, it was seized from the British by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys (Vermont troops) in a surprise attack. The British recaptured Fort Ticonderoga in 1777 but abandoned it in 1780. The fort was rebuilt in 1908, and a museum was opened there

(June 17, 1775) First major battle of the American Revolution. Within two months after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, more than 15,000 colonial troops assembled near Boston to prevent the British army from occupying several hills around the city, including Bunker and Breed's hills. The colonists fortified Breed's Hill in Charlestown, across the Charles River from Boston. They withstood a cannonade from British ships in Boston Harbor and fought off assaults by 2,300 British troops but were eventually forced to retreat. Although the British won the battle, it was a Pyrrhic victory that lent considerable encouragement to the revolutionary cause. British casualties (about 1,000) and the colonists' fierce resistance convinced the British that subduing the rebels would be difficult.

A British soldier, especially one serving during the American Revolution.

A document of American colonial grievances addressed to King George III and signed by members of the Continental Congress in July 1775. It was delivered by Richard Penn to the King in London in August 1775. The King refused to see him or the document. It was an effort by the Americans to resolve differences with Britain and to avert the Revolutionary War.

German mercenaries who fought with the British forces in North America during the Revolutionary War. The 29, 000 German mercenaries represented about one-third of all British forces in America. Only some 17, 000 were actually subjects of the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel (i.e., genuine Hessians), the remainder came from other German principalities. They served in almost all the campaigns of the Revolutionary War suffering notable defeats at Trenton (1776) and during the Saratoga campaign (1777). A large number of Hessians remained in North America after the Revolutionary War.

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(1738-75) officer in the Continental army, born at Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. Montgomery captured Montreal but was killed in the subsequent attack on Quebec. Montgomery had been in America with the British army during the French and Indian War (1754-63), when he took part in the siege of Louisbourg (1758) and in the expedition against Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point (1759). In 1772 he sold his commission in the British army and moved to New York.

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Thomas Paine was one of the great fiery voices of the American Revolution. Paine emigrated from England to Philadelphia in 1774. Two years later he published Common Sense, a popular pamphlet that argued for complete American independence from Britain. Later that year in his pamphlet The American Crisis he penned his famous line, "These are the times that try men's souls." The revolution won, Paine returned to England in 1787, and in 1791 he published The Rights of Man, which opposed the idea of monarchy and defended the French Revolution. To escape being tried for treason, he fled to Paris, where he wrote The Age of Reason. In 1802 he returned to America, only to find himself outcast and poverty-stricken in his final years.

A pamphlet written in America by Englishman Thomas Paine, published on January 10, 1776. It called for American independence and a union of the American colonies, and as propaganda, it influenced colonists to pursue both in the Revolutionary War.

A political order whose head of state is not a monarch and in modern times is usually a president. A nation that has such a political order. A political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them. A nation that has such a political order.

Rule by the members of a long-established ruling class distinguished by ability, property, and a privileged education which instils a high sense of honour, responsibility, and public duty. Some thinkers, especially Burke , believe in the natural aristocracy of those whose place in the social fabric has been established by stable hierarchical values hallowed by time.

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(born Jan. 20, 1732, Stratford, Va. — died June 19, 1794, Chantilly, Va., U.S.) U.S. statesman. As a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1758 - 75), he opposed the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. He helped initiate the Committees of Correspondence and was active in the First and Second Continental Congress. On June 7, 1776, he introduced a resolution calling for independence from Britain. Its adoption led to the Declaration of Independence, which he signed, as he did the Articles of Confederation. He again served in Congress from 1784 to 1787, acting as its president in 1784. He opposed ratification of the Constitution of the United States because it lacked a bill of rights. He later served in the first U.S. Senate (1789 - 92).

Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson served as vice-president, secretary of state, minister to France, congressman, governor of Virginia; he also founded the University of Virginia and served as president of the American Philosophical Society. For all that, Jefferson is best remembered as a champion of human rights and the lead draftsman of the Declaration of Independence. High points of his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon and the exploration of the west by Lewis and Clark. The third person to be president, Jefferson followed John Adams as president and was succeeded by James Madison.

(July 4, 1776) Document approved by the Continental Congress that announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Britain. The armed conflict during the American Revolution gradually convinced the colonists that separation from Britain was essential.

Rights which persons possess by nature: that is, without the intervention of agreement, or in the absence of political and legal institutions. Natural rights are therefore attributable to individuals without distinction of time or place.

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Patrick Henry was the American orator who urged colonists to take up arms against the British, proclaiming, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me... give me liberty or give me death!"

An American who, during the period of the American Revolution, favored the British side. Also called Tory

A name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation. Their rebellion was based on the political philosophy of republicanism, as expressed by pamphleteers, such as Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Paine.

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Moved mostly to Canada

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British military commander. The brother of Adm. Richard Howe, he fought in the last French and Indian War (1754 - 63), in which he earned a reputation as one of the army's most brilliant young generals. In the American Revolution, he succeeded Thomas Gage as supreme commander of British forces in North America in 1776. He soon captured New York City and the surrounding area, and in 1777 he led British troops to victories at the Battles of the Brandywine and of Germantown. Moving his forces to Philadelphia, he left troops under John Burgoyne vulnerable in New York state, thus contributing to the British defeat at the Battles of Saratoga. He resigned in 1778 and was succeeded by Henry Clinton.

A battle of the Revolutionary War following a surprise attack of Continental troops under the command of George Washington on British and Hessian troops at Trenton, New Jersey. Washington and his men crossed the icy Delaware River on Christmas Day, 1776, and attacked the next day, completely surprising the British. It was the first American victory of the war, and helped to restore American morale.

On January 3, 1777, George Washington having drawn back across the Delaware after Trenton) again crossed into New Jersey, this time outflanking British forces in Princeton. The American army, reduced to 1, 200 men, attacked disorganized British troops at Princeton with modest success. The victories at Trenton and Princeton helped foil the British conquest of northern New Jersey and marked the turning point of the Revolutionary War.

Answer in your own words Moving his forces to Philadelphia, he left troops under John Burgoyne vulnerable in New York state, thus contributing to the British defeat at the Battles of Saratoga. He resigned in 1778 and was succeeded by Henry Clinton.

British general. After serving in the Seven Years' War he was elected to the British House of Commons in 1761 and 1768. Assigned to Canada in 1776, he began a campaign to join British forces from the north, south, and west to isolate the rebellious New England colonies. In 1777 his army captured Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y., but was stopped at the Hudson River by a larger army of colonists under Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold. After several months of fighting, he surrendered to Gates at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; he returned to England to face criticism for his defeat.

(1777) Engagements in the American Revolution. British troops under John Burgoyne marched from Canada to join with other British troops, and, after camping at Saratoga, N.Y., engaged the Continental Army under Horatio Gates at the First Battle of Saratoga (September 19), also known as the Battle of Freeman's Farm. Failing to break the American lines, the British faced a counterattack led by Benedict Arnold at the Second Battle of Saratoga (October 7), or the Battle of Bemis Heights. With his forces reduced to 5,000 men, Burgoyne began to retreat, but Gates, with 20,000 men, surrounded the British at Saratoga and forced their surrender (October 17). The American victory induced the French to offer open recognition and military aid.

English-born American general. He served in the British army during the French and Indian War. In 1772 he immigrated to Virginia, where he sided with colonial interests. He was made adjutant general of the Continental Army (1775) and succeeded Gen. Philip Schuyler in New York (1777). Assisted by Benedict Arnold, he forced the surrender of British forces under John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga (1777). Congress then chose Gates as president of the Board of War. Supporters, including Thomas Conway, sought to have Gates replace George Washington, but the plan failed, and Gates returned to his New York command. In 1780 he was transferred to the South, where he attempted to oust the British forces under Charles Cornwallis but was defeated at the Battle of Camden, S.C. An official inquiry was ordered, but charges never were pressed. He retired to Virginia, then freed his slaves in 1790 and moved to New York.

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He served in the colonial legislature and as commander of the colonial militia (1775). He led troops in the Continental Army at Boston and New York, then fought in the battles at Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown. He succeeded Gen. Horatio Gates as commander in chief of the southern army (1778), and his strategy so weakened the British troops that Gen. Charles Cornwallis abandoned plans to conquer North Carolina (1781). Greene began the reconquest of inner South Carolina, and by late June 1781 he had forced the British back to Charleston. He presided at the court-martial of John André in the Benedict Arnold affair (1780).

British soldier and statesman. In 1780, during the American Revolution, he was appointed British commander in the American South. He defeated Horatio Gates at Camden, S.C., then marched into Virginia and encamped at Yorktown (see Siege of Yorktown). Trapped and besieged there, he was forced to surrender his army (1781), a defeat that effectively ended military operations in the war.

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A Native American confederacy inhabiting New York State and originally composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca peoples, known as the Five Nations. After 1722 the confederacy was joined by the Tuscaroras to form the Six Nations. Also called Iroquois League.

A fort in the Mohawk Valley of New York that was the site of a twenty-day siege by British forces during the Saratoga campaign in August 1777. The siege ended with the arrival of forces under the command of Benedict Arnold.

Frontier military leader in the American Revolution. The brother of William Clark, he worked as a surveyor in Kentucky in the mid-1770s. During the Revolution he raised troops and defended the region against the British and Indians. He captured settlements along the Mississippi River in the Old Northwest (Illinois), and in 1780 he helped defeat a British attempt to capture St. Louis. Appointed an Indian commissioner, he helped conclude a treaty with the Shawnee.

American naval hero. He went to sea at age 12 and became a ship's master at age 21. He joined his brother in Virginia in 1775. When the American Revolution began, he joined the new Continental Navy under Esek Hopkins. In 1776 he sailed the Providence along the Atlantic coast, capturing eight British ships and sinking eight more. Appointed by Congress to the newly built Ranger, he made a spectacular cruise through St. George's Channel and the Irish Sea (1777 - 78), where he took a number of prizes. In 1779 he commanded the Bonhomme Richard and intercepted a merchant fleet. Though outgunned by an escort ship, the Serapis, he forced its surrender after a fierce battle, answering its challenge to surrender with "I have not yet begun to fight!" His ship sank soon after, and he sailed two British prizes to the Netherlands. In 1790 he retired, in ill health, to France.

A ship privately owned and crewed but authorized by a government during wartime to attack and capture enemy vessels

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The plan's key element was de Grasse's fleet, which arrived on 26 August from the West Indies, established control of the coastal waters inside the Capes of Virginia, and contributed 4,800 more men to the besieging force. Ten days later, de Grasse fought a strategically decisive engagement with a British squadron sent by Clinton to evacuate Cornwallis's force. The British failure to penetrate past de Grasse, plus Cornwallis's inertia, allowed Washington and Rochambeau to spring their trap. The allies closed in on Yorktown on 28 September, and on 6 October began formal siege operations, which would have been impossible without French heavy artillery. By 14 October, the cannonade had weakened British positions sufficiently to allow the allies to capture key outposts: 400 American light infantry, led by Alexander Hamilton, took the smaller Redoubt No. 10 sooner and with fewer casualties than the French at Redoubt No. 9. Cornwallis and 8,000 men surrendered on 17 October.

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Benjamin Franklin was a hero of Colonial America and a man of amazing talents. His achievements are too varied to sum up easily; they include signing the Declaration of Independence, publishing the famous Poor Richard's Almanack, serving as postmaster of Philadelphia. He was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress, then spent much of the war in France as a diplomat, charming America's French allies. He helped negotiate and write the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, and in 1787 he signed the new U.S. Constitution.

John Jay was one of the heavy-hitters in the early days of the United States, a "founding father" who was a member of the Continental Congress and the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Jay was a lawyer from New York whose service in drawing up the state constitution led to his appointment as a delegate and, later, president of the Continental Congress.

John Adams followed George Washington as president of the United States, becoming the country's second chief executive. An early colonist agitator against the Stamp Act of 1765, John Adams helped draft the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He served as an all-purpose diplomat for the new republic during the Revolutionary War, and after the war, in 1785, he became the first American Minister to London. He served two terms as vice-president under Washington (1789-97), and beat Thomas Jefferson in 1796 to become president himself.

The Treaty of Paris, signed on 3 September 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War and represented a major diplomatic triumph for the young nation. Following the decisive victory of the American and French forces at the Battle of Yorktown (1781), the British recognized that they could not defeat the rebellious colonists on the battlefield. After a change of government brought in a ministry devoted to ending the conflict, the British opened talks with the delegates from the Continental Congress: John Adams, John Jay, and Benjamin Franklin. The Americans declined the guidance of their French allies and negotiated their own settlement, signing the initial articles on 30 November 1782. The final document was agreed to by all parties in September 1783. The treaty recognized the independence of the United States, generously fixed its western boundary at the Mississippi River (a move that doubled the size of the United States), and gave the new country fishing rights off Newfoundland. The United States agreed to terminate reprisals against loyalists and to return their property. The Continental Congress ratified the pact in 1784. Issues arising from the treaty would trouble Anglo‐American relations in the 1790s, but the team of Adams, Franklin, and Jay had made the most of what their countrymen had won in the battles of the Revolution.

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A supporter of the war against England during the American Revolution

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