Vocabulary

Allies – countries, nations, or states that unite on a common cause or issue

Approbation – the act of approving; expressing a favorable opinion

Aristocracy – a government in which power is vested in a minority consisting of those believed to be best qualified; a governing body or upper class usually made up of an hereditary nobility

Aspire – to seek to attain or accomplish a particular goal

Asunder – into parts; to break apart  

Autonomous – having the right or power of self-government; self-contained system; responding, reacting, or developing independently of the whole

Boycott – a refusal as part of an organized group to buy from, or deal with a store, company, person, or nation

Casualties – losses in warfare through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, capture; missing in action

Citizenship – the status of being a citizen, owing allegiance to a state in which sovereign power is retained by the people and sharing in the political rights of those people  

Cohesive – the act or state of sticking together tightly; unity

Common Good – to attend to the interests of the community

Compromise –- the settlement of differences by negotiation or by consent

Cumbersome – difficult; troublesome; unwieldy because of heaviness and bulk

Cultivation – to prepare the soil for the raising of crops; tilling the ground; to loosen or break up the soil around growing plants

Divergence – difference, disagreement  

Diversity – differing from one another; variety; unlike

Emancipation – to free from restraint, control, or the power of another

Excavating –  to dig out and remove from the ground

Execution – putting to death especially as a legal penalty  

Exhumation – dig up out of the earth

Faction – a party or group  

Flail – a hand threshing implement consisting of a wooden handle at the end of which a stouter and shorter stick is so hung as to swing freely

Foreign incursion – a hostile entrance into a state, nation, or territory by a foreign state, nation, or country

Formulate – to develop, form, create

Grievance – a cause of distress felt to afford reason for complaint or resistance; an injustice

Heroism – the act of being brave; courage  

Industrious – persistently active, zealous; constantly, regularly, or habitually occupied; diligent

Insurrection – an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government; an uprising

Joists – any of the small timbers arranged parallel from wall to wall in a structure to support a floor or ceiling

Judiciary – a system of courts of law

Laborious – involving hard or difficult effort or work

Legacy – something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

Linen – cloth made from flax

Loyalists – people who remained loyal to the British government during the American Revolution

Manufactured – to create a product from raw material(s) such as cloth, wood, metal, etc.  

Matross – a soldier in the artillery who swabbed, loaded, and fired a cannon

Militia – a group of able-bodied male citizens called to fight only in emergencies

Monarchy – a government headed by a king or queen  

Necessity – the quality or state of being in need

Neutrality – the quality or state of being neutral; refusal to take sides

Parliament – an assemblage of the nobility, clergy, and commons called together by the British sovereign as the supreme legislative body in Great Britain; a similar assemblage in other nations or states

Patent – a writing securing to an inventor for a term of years the exclusive right to make, use, or sell an invention; a written document making a conveyance or transfer of public lands

Patriotism – love or support for one's country

Patriots – people who loved, supported, and defended their land and fought for their rights to become an independent country

Pension – a sum of money given to people after they retire from service at any profession

Petitioned – to request formally in an oral or written form

Plantation – several fields that are under cultivation; a large plot of land owned and cultivated by a family

Perseverance – to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement; to go on determinedly or stubbornly in spite of opposition or warning  

Precedence – to establish a custom, ritual, or event that is carried on by others

Preservation – to keep or save from ruin; to restore

Preside – to exercise guidance, direction, or control; to occupy the place of authority; to be in charge of

Productivity – yielding results, benefits, or profits  

Proficiency – having great knowledge and experience in a trade or profession

Progressive – making use of or interested in new ideas; advanced

Rations – a fixed portion of food allotted to a person in times when supplies are low

Repeal – to cancel, to withdraw

Republic – a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law

Redcoats – British soldiers during the American Revolution

Redress – to set right; to make up for; to remove the cause of a grievance or complaint  

Resolution – to solve; a formal expression of opinion, will, or intent voted by an official body or assembled group

Responsibilities – duties; roles that a person is required to fill

Retaliate – punishment in kind; to return an injury, wrong for one given

Revolution – a complete change in government or rule

Satirized – to exaggerate or poke fun at; to attack the weakness or mistakes of people

Self-government – government under the control and direction of the people

Slave – a person who works for another without pay; one who is not free

Splayed – to cause to spread outward; to slope or slant

Spy – a person who obtains secret information from the enemy, usually in disguise  

Standard – a conspicuous object (as a banner) formerly carried at the top of a pole and used to mark a rallying point especially in battle or to serve as an emblem; the personal flag of the head of a state or of a member of a royal family; an organization flag carried by a mounted or motorized military unit; something established by authority, custom, or general consent as a model or example

Starvation – to perish from lack of food; to suffer extreme hunger;
to die or suffer greatly from cold

Station – a place where one is located or sent to

Strategy – the science and art of military command exercised to meet the enemy in combat under favorable conditions

Suspicious – suspect of doing wrong; distrustful

Tedious – boring, dull, tiresome  

Threshing – to separate seed from (a harvested plant) mechanically; to strike repeatedly

Tories – a political party that believed the king should keep firm control of the colonies  

Treading – to beat or press by trampling with the feet

Vigilance – watchful, alert, aware, paying attention

Virtues – qualities