Chapter 8 American Revolution

                                                                                                                                                     

Lord Dunmore• Last British colonial governor of

Virginia. • (offered to free slaves who joined

the British side)

George Washington• Military leader who commanded

American forces (Continental Army) in the Revolution. Called “The father of the country.” He served as the first U.S. President.

George Mason• Member of the Virginia Convention

who created Virginia’s Declaration of Rights to protect personal liberties (This influenced the Declaration of Independence).

Richard Henry• Presented the Virginia

Convention’s statement urging the colonies to unite and break from Britain. The Declaration of Independence came two days later.

King George III• King of England during the

Revolution. The colonies won freedom from the taxation, trade restrictions, and frontier barriers he made.

                 

    

Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee

• American cavalry officer during the Revolution.

George Rogers Clark• Military leader during the

Revolution. His troops captured British forts in the Northwest Territory (Ohio).

James Armistead• A slave who won his freedom by

spying for Lafayette (Patriot).

Jack Jouett• Patriot who rode through the night

to warn Thomas Jefferson and other leaders in Charlottesville that the British were coming.

Lord Charles Cornwallis• Commander of British Army. He

surrendered at Yorktown (the last battle on the Revolution).

                                         

       

Great Bridge• The sight of a Revolutionary War

battle between Virginia Patriots and British forces near Norfolk. The Patriots won!

                                                                                              

                                                               

Philadelphia• Located in the Pennsylvania

colony, where the Second Continental Congress met and Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Richmond• Became Virginia’s capital city after

it was moved from Williamsburg. Virginians thought the capital would be safer from the British here.

Yorktown• Site of the last major battle of the

Revolution. Cornwallis surrendered allowing the Continental Army to win the war.

Continental Army• Patriot troops who fought under

George Washington for their freedom against England.

Loyalist• A colonist who remained faithful to

the British during the Revolution.

                      

                                                                                          

                                                                   

Patriot• A person who supported the

colonists in the Revolutionary War.

convention• A meeting or assembly called

together for a particular purpose.

                                                                                                     

                                                        

Virginia Convention• A meeting held in Williamsburg in

1776 to work for colonial independence.

Virginia Declaration of Rights

• A document written by George Mason listing freedoms that he felt all people should have . These included freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom to choose a government through elections. (Used the help write the Declaration of Independence).

Declaration of Independence

• A document officially declaring that the American colonies were breaking away from Great Britain to form a new nation.

constitution• The principals and laws that

govern a nation, state or social group.

                                                                                            

                                                                 

Revolutionary War• The war the American colonies

fought to win freedom from Great Britain.

                       

 

                                                                                      

   

cavalry• Soldiers who fight on horseback.