Study Guide and Learning Resources

Study Guide and Learning Resources

Short Answers:

As you read the chapter and view the videos, take notes on the following questions. Be sure to provide specific examples from this text in your responses. Responses should be at least 1-2 paragraphs:

  1. What problems did the British government face at the conclusion of the French-Indian War in 1763? How would these problems influence how the British dealt with their American colonies after 1763?

  2. American colonists considered themselves loyal British citizens in 1763. In what political and economic ways were the colonies connected to Britain in 1763?

  3. Discuss the Enlightenment and Great Awakening. How did these intellectual and religious movements influence how Americans thought about concepts such as liberty and individualism.

  4. Describe legislation passed by the British parliament between 1765 and 1770 such as the Sugar Act, Currency Act, Declaratory Act and Townshend Acts? What did these acts tax and declare?

  5. Why did many American colonists disagree with British taxes placed on them between 1765 and 1770? What sorts of ways did they express their displeasure with these taxes?

  6. The American colonies were separate colonies that rarely worked together or same themselves as one entity prior to 1765. How did that change? In what ways did the colonies work together between 1765 and 1776 to oppose British policies?

  7. Describe the Boston Tea Party. What was the British reaction to this event? How did the other American colonies react to what the British did?

  8. How did fighting break in Massachusetts during the spring of 1775 between the Massachusetts militia? What events between the spring of 1775 and summer of 1776 pushed the American colonists to finally declare their independence from Britain?

  9. What sorts of people living in the American colonists were either neutral during the American Revolutionary War or were Loyalists who opposed independence from Britain?

  10. Compare and contrast how the American Revolution affected women, Native Americans and African-Americans, both free and enslaved.

  11. What sorts of political changes occurred in the states during the American Revolution? And what sort of national government did the Articles of Confederation create?

  12. The British had the most powerful navy in the world and a highly trained professional army. Britain sent a huge invasion fleet to New York in the summer of 1776 to squash the American independence movement. Yet by 1781, the British had largely lost the war. What factors accounted for this seemingly unlikely turn of affairs?

Key Terms

As you read and view the videos, use the following terms to help you take notes.


  • John Locke

  • King George III

  • Sugar Act and Currency Act

  • Stamp Act

  • Townshend Acts

  • homespun

  • Committees of Correspondence

  • Boston Massacre

  • Boston Tea Party

  • Coercive Acts

  • Continental Congress

  • Lexington and Concord

  • George Washington

  • Common Sense

  • Lord Dunmore

  • Declaration of Independence

  • Battle of Saratoga

  • Battle of Yorktown

  • Articles of Confederation

  • Loyalist