AMERICAN REVOLUTION VOCAB #1

APPRENTICE

• A person under a legal agreement to work for a specific time to learn a craft or skill from a master craftsman. Most apprentices were boys.

BROADSIDE

Gentlemen
A man born belonging to the upper class of polite society or a man of high social standingy

Liberty
To be free of government interference

LIBERTY POLE OR TREE
A centrally located poll or tree the Patriots used to post announcements or rally to for protest.

Loyalist/Tory
An American who did not support revaluation against Great Britain and was loyal to King George 3.

Mechanic
A tradesman or other craftsman who worked with his or her hands, such as a printer, bricklayer or blacksmith.

Memorabilia
A collection of memorable or valued items from the past

Merchant
A person whose business was trading with other countries such as Great Britain (many loyalists where merchants.)

Patriots
An American who supported the cause of the revolution

Smallpox
A very contagious
measles-like desease that killed and scarred many people in the eighteenth century.

Tavern
An Inn or meeting place that offered lodging and sold food and drinks for both travelers and regular customers in the colonial era.

SPEECHES/QUOTES

JOIN OR DIE

• Patriots slogan
• 1754

THERE WAS NEVER A GOOD WAR OR A BAD PEASE

• Ben Franklin
• 1757

"Then join hand in hand,brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, but divided we fall”

John Dickinson
1768

"Give me liberty or give me death "

Patrick Henry
1775

"Don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes then fire low!"

Colonel William Prescott
1775

"One if by land, two if by sea"

Patriots leader
1775

HIAKU DECK 2

CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

• A assembly of representatives from the American colonies witch operates as a legislative body during the Revolutionary period.

CONTINENTAL

• A solder of the American army during the Revolution

FACSIMILE

• A reproduction of a document,book, painting, or item

MILITIA

• Citizen soldiers who were called out for emergencies to defend their homes and villages

MINUTEMEN

• Colonial militia who had pledged to fight the British "at a minutes notice."

MOB

• An undisciplined group of protesters that often take the law into their own hands

PARLAMENT

• The official governing body of Great Britain made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons

PRIVATEER

• Small, privately owned merchant ships that were fitted out with weapons to capture British merchant shipping

REBEL

• British slang term for an American not loyal to Britain

REDCOATS

• British soldier who wore a scarlet red uniform jacket

SONS OF LIBERTY

• Secret group of radicals formed by Sam Adams to protest the Stamp Act

THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

• Famous phrase from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem about the first shot of the Revolutionary War.

“One if by land, two if by sea”
Patriot leaders 1775

“When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen.”
George Washington, 1775

“Turn out, turn out! The British are coming. The British are coming!
Paul Revere 1775

“Hold your fire men, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!”
Colonel John Parker 1775

“What a glorious morning for America.”
Sam Adams 1775

HIAKU DECK 3

INDENTURED SERVANT

• A person, who in exchange for free passage to the American colonies, worked for master for period of from four to seven years

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

• The formal statement that declared the United States free from Great Britain

TRICORN

• A three sided hat of both civilian and military fashion

LOYALIST

• An American who was loyal to Great Britain during the Revolution.

DELEGATES

• A person authorized or sent as a representative of others

DIPLOMACY

• The artful handling of international relations

TRAITORS

• A person that betrayed his or her country

TYRANNY

• An oppressive and unjust government ruled by a tyrant, or absolute ruler.

YANKEES

• Slang term used to describe a person from New England

QUOTES

When in the course of human events

Declaration of Independence 1776

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal
Declaration of Independence 1776

I only regret that I have but one life to give for my Country.
Nathan Hale
1776

These are times that try men’s souls
Thomas Paine
1776

You might have tracked the army... to Valley Forge by the blood of their feet
George Washington
1779-1778

4

BOUNTY

• A payment of $10 to $200 to recruit in return for enlisting in the army during the Revolution

FIRECAKE

• The sparse food item made of flour and water, cooked on a flat rock near a campfire

HUNTING SHIRT

• Linen fringed shirt or light jacket worn by most American soldiers during the Revolution

TREATY

• A formal, binding agreement between two or more countries usually sealed by signatures of representatives

CAMPAIGN

• A series of military maneuvers lasting a few weeks or months against an opposing army

FLINTLOCK MUSKET

• A muzzle loading musket or long firearm that uses a flint in the hammer to strike a spark and ignite the black powder

STRATEGY

• The art of military command as to an overall plan to war

VICTUALS

• Common eighteenth-century term for food, or rations

FIFE

• A high pitched flute that both armies used for military style music

FORTNIGHT

• Old English term mean 14 days, or two weeks time

TOMAHAWK

• The light ax carried by Continental soldiers

WINTER QUARTERS

• The static winter camp of army during the winter months

QUOTES

I have just begun to fight.
John Paul Jones 1779

We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.
General Nathaniel Greene
1781

The play, sir, is over.

Lafayette at Yorktown 1781

The late affair almost broke my heart
General Charles Cornwallis 1781

Oh God, the war is over!
Lord North 1781

Where liberty is, there is my country
James Otis 1783