Module 5.2: American Revolution
Created By: Nino T
Common Sense: Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet in 1775-76 that inspired the colonists to fight and declare their independence from Great Britain. Using clear, simple language the advantages and the need for immediate independence was explained. It was published anonymously at the beginning of the American revolution and became an immediate sensation.
Declaration of Independence
Statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776, which announced the colonies as 13 independent sovereign states. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.
Boston Massacre
An incident on King Street on March 5th, 1770, in which the British army soldiers injured six civilians and killed five of them. Troops stationed in Boston, and tense relations created a mob to form around the British sentry. The Troops fired into the crowd, without orders, instantly killing three people and wounding others.
Boston Tea Party
A political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16, 1773. Demonstrators, some dressed as American Indians, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company, in defiance to the Tea Act. They boarded the ships and threw the chests into the Boston harbour, Ruining the tea.
Loyalists
American Colonists who remained loyal to the British Empire during the Revolutionary War. They were opposed by the patriots, those who supported the revolution. When their cause was defeated, about 15% fled to other parts of the British empire.