Boston Massacre:
March 5, 1770, a crowd of people were taunting, jeering, pushing, shoving, and even hitting a group of about 10 British soldiers. The British soldiers fired into the crowd, killing or wounding eleven people. In the subsequent trial, John
Adams defended the British soldiers. Two soldiers were branded on the hand and released after they were found guilty of manslaughter.

Boston Tea Party:
The British government awarded the British East India Company a monopoly on tea imported into the American British colonies. Although the tea was offered at a cheaper price, the monopoly eliminated free competition and the Americans view this action as an attempt to trick them into paying the hated tea tax. When the first shipment arrived at Boston harbor, a group of men disguised as Indians boarded three ships and tossed the shipments of tea into the harbor.

Boycott:
organized protest carried on by a refusal to buy or sell an opponent's goods or products in order to influence his/her behavior.

Charter:
written government approval to establish a corporation; includes company name, address, purpose of business, number of shares of stock, and other features of the business. (Note: Joint stock companies financed the settlement of the Charter colonies. English investors bought shares of stock in hopes of making a profit on their investment).

Committees of Correspondence:
Organized groups of individuals who exchanged ideas, information, and propaganda designed to encourage opposition to British policy. Samuel Adams organized the first committees of correspondence in Massachusetts. Eventually, every colony established a central correspondence committee.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut:
Established the procedures for electing government representatives, set meeting dates, and defined government officials' responsibilities.

General Lafayette:
French Marquis supported the American cause by providing and leading a large contingent of French troops. He contributed more than two hundred thousand dollars of his private funds to the Revolutionary cause.

Gifts of nature:
natural resources not created by human effort. These include land, forests, mineral deposits, cattle, wild life, climate necessary to grow crops, etc.

Intolerable Acts:
A series of Acts passed by the British Parliament to force the American colonists to obey British law. Under these acts the British Government closed the Port of Boston.

Magna Carta:
English document that is the foundation for British Common Law and United States Constitutional law. Established the principles of rule of law, trial by jury, and power of Parliament.

Mayflower Compact:
official agreement by colonial settlers to establish a government.

Shot heard 'round the world:
Famous line from Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem. Concord Hymn, commemorating the battle at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, Refers to the impact that the American idea of democracy had on other nations.

The Declaration of Independence:
Statement of American political philosophy and an explanation of the reasons the American's were declaring themselves independent from England. The primary author is Thomas Jefferson