Commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary

war and the first president of the United States

George Washington

A professional soldier hired to fight for a foreign country

mercenary

Overall plan of action

strategy

A prearranged meeting, often an assembly point for troops

rendezvous

A series of conflicts that ended in victory for the Continental

Army, and a turning point in the Revolutionary war

Battles of Saratoga

A country that agrees to help another country achieve a

common goal

ally

A French nobleman who believed in the American cause

and served as a commander under Washington

Marquis deLafayette

A long steel knife attached to the end of a gun for hand-to-hand

combat

bayonet

Camp where Washington’s army suffered from cold and

hunger; became a symbol of the hardships of the war

Valley Forge

To abandon military duty without intending to return

desert

A privately owned ship that has governmental permission to attack an enemy’s merchant

ships

privateer

Continental Naval officer who patrolled the English coast and won a battle against the British

warship Serapis

John Paul Jones

British General who fought in the South during the Revolutionary

War and who surrendered in 1781

Lord Cornwallis

Soldiers who weaken the enemy with surprise raids and hit-and-

run attacks

guerillas

A person morally opposed to war

pacifist

The last major battle of the Revolutionary War which

resulted in the surrender of the British forces in 1781

Battle of Yorktown

The treaty that ended the Revolutionary War, confirmed the independence of the U.S.,

and set its boundaries

Treaty of Paris of 1783

The belief in a government in which decisions are made by elected or appointed officials

republicanism

In 1781 she helped to end slavery in Massachusetts by suing for her freedom in court

and winning

Elizabeth Freeman

Preacher who helped start the Free African Society; founded

the first African Methodist Episcopal Church

Richard Allen