American Revolution Study Guide

Causes
● French and Indian War - After the war, Britain started taxing the colonists to pay back war debt
● “No Taxation without Representation”- The colonists felt that the British government had no right to tax them
because there were not any representatives of the colonies in the British Parliament. The colonies had no say in
how much the taxes should be or what they should pay for.
○ Sugar Act- placed a tax on sugar and raised the taxes on coffee and indigo
○ Stamp Act- placed a tax on all paper documents/printed materials (letters, newspapers, legal
documents, pamphlets, etc). Colonist had to pay the taxes to get the stamp.
○ Townshend Act- tax on glass, led, paints, paper, and tea
○ Tea Act- colonists were still being taxed for tea and colonists forced to buy tea from only one company
● Boston Massacre - Fight between British soldiers and colonists started by snowballs; 5 colonists were killed
● Boston Tea Party - Dozens of Sons of Liberty dressed up as Mohawk Indians and boarded ships in the Boston
Harbor illegally. They threw the unwanted tea into the Boston Harbor.
● Intolerable Acts - After the Boston Tea Party, to Intolerable (or Coercive Acts) were passed to punish the
colonists. These included the Quartering Act, which made the colonists quarter soldiers in their homes.
● First Continental Congress - delegates, or representatives, from each colony met in Philadelphia to discuss how
to deal with the Intolerable Acts

Battles
● Battle of Lexington & Concord:
This was considered the first major battle of the Revolutionary War. British learned that the Patriots were storing
gunpowder and ammunition in Concord, Massachusetts. They sent soldiers to destroy the supplies, reaching Lexington
just before sunrise. They were met by a small army of minutemen. A shot was fired (no one knows who fired first), and
both sides began shooting.

● Battle of Saratoga:
This was considered a turning point in the war. Benjamin Franklin had been trying to get help with the war from France.
After the victory at Saratoga, France was convinced that the Americans could win this war. Therefore, they sent money,
soldiers, and a navy to help the Americans’ fight for independence.

● Battle of Yorktown:
The French Navy blocked Yorktown Harbor, so Cornwallis could not be rescued by British ships. Cornwallis was trapped.
The British army surrendered at Yorktown. The Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle of the War for
Independence.

Influential Leaders - use the text resources in the OneNote to study the contributions of these people.

George Washington Benjamin Franklin Patrick Henry

Thomas Jefferson Benedict Arnold Black Regiments

John Adams King George III Samuel Adams