Vocabulary

=Return to Women of the Revolution Home Page= =Glossary=


 * apprentice -** A person who works for another to learn a trade.


 * boycott -** To refuse to buy or use a product, often as a form of protest.


 * camp follower -** A woman or child who traveled with the army, often providing valuable services such as cooking and washing clothes.


 * cash crops -** Crops grown to be sold rather than for farmers own consumption.


 * coerce -** To make someone do something by force or the threat of force.


 * colony -** settlement, area, or country owned or controlled by another nation.


 * congress -** meeting. The name "congress" was given to the first meetings of delegates from the British colonies and was then adopted as the name of the U. S. legislature when the United States formed a national government.


 * constitution -** A document creating a government. The U.S. Constitution outlines the government's powers and lists some of the people's rights.


 * cooper -** A person who makes or repairs casks or barrels.


 * customs -** Government body that collects duties or taxes due on imports and exports.


 * declaration -** A formal statement. The Declaration of Independence announced America's break from England.


 * delegate -** A person chosen to represent a group at a meeting or in making decisions.


 * depot -** A place where arms or supplies are stored.


 * dispute -** A disagreement between people or nations.


 * dodging -** Avoiding something by moving away quickly.


 * economic -** Having to do with the economy, which is the system of producing and distributing goods and services.


 * effigy -** Image or figure representing a person who is disliked.


 * empire -** Political power that controls large territory of colonies or other nations.


 * Enlightenment -** Intellectual movement of the 1600s and 1700s that valued reason, individual liberties and the people's right to determine their own form of government.


 * enlistment -** The period of time a person is signed up for military service.


 * firearms -** Various types of guns.


 * Hessians -** German professional soldiers hired by the British.


 * imported -** Brought in from another source, usually another country.


 * intollerable -** Impossible to accept or bear.


 * legislature -** A group of officials that makes laws.


 * looting -** The taking of goods from an enemy during war: also, any form of stealing.


 * loyalist -** An American who supported the British during the Revolutionary War.


 * massacre -** The act of killing a number pof people, especially when they are helpless or not resisting.


 * militia -** Citizens who train as soldiers from time to time and are available to serve in an emergency.


 * minutemen -** Massachusetts soldiers during the American Revolution who were ready to fight in a minute.


 * monarch -** A king, queen or emperor, who rules a kingdom or an empire. Monarchs are not elected.


 * patriots -** Americans who supported independence from Great Britain.


 * Parliament -** The legislative, or lawmaking, body of Great Britain. The ruling government in Britain.


 * pension -** A fixed amount paid at regular times for past service.


 * petition -** A formal written request.


 * plantation -** A large farm or estate on which crops such as cotton or tobacco are grown.


 * proclamation -** An official public announcement.


 * Puritan -** A person belonging to a Protestant Christian group that wanted to purify the Church of England.


 * Quaker - ** A member of the Society of Friends, a Christian group that has no ministers or rituals and opposes all war and violence.


 * rebel -** To fight against: also, a person involved in a fight against a government.


 * redcoat -** A British soldier


 * repeal -** To withdraw or cancel a law.


 * representation -** In government, the practice of having members of an assembly or lawmaking body act on behalf of other citizens.


 * republic -** A nation that is led by elected officials and that has no monarch.


 * resolution -** A statement of principle by a legislative assembly.


 * retreat -** To go back or leave a battle.


 * saber -** A heavy one-edged sword.


 * sabotage -** Destruction or other hurtful act intended to cause problems for an enemy.


 * siege -** Military operation in which a group of attackers surrender a target and either attacks it or keeps it trapped in an attempt to fore it to surrender.


 * silversmith -** Someone who makes items out of silver.


 * skirmish -** A fight between small units of armies, as opposed to a full battle.


 * smuggle -** To illegally bring goods into a place.


 * spinster -** An unmarried woman, usually beyond the age when most women are married.


 * stockpile -** Stored supplies.


 * surrender -** To give up.


 * tax -** A sum charged by the government on purchases, property ownership or income and used to pay for public services or the cost of governing.


 * Tories** - Americans who supported the British during the Revolutionary War.


 * wounded -** Hurt or injured, as in battle.