Chapter 8: America Secedes from the Empire 1775-1783

Question 1

mercenary

Answer 1

A professional soldier who serves in a foreign army for pay. “Why bring in outside mercenaries . . . ?”

Question 2

indictment

Answer 2

A formal written accusation charging someone with a crime. “The overdrawn bill of indictment included imposing taxes without consent. . . .”

Question 3

dictatorship

Answer 3

A form of government characterized by absolute state power and the unlimited authority of the ruler. “The [charges] included . . . establishing a military dictatorship. . . .”

Question 4

neutral

Answer 4

A nation or person not taking sides in a war. “Many colonists were apathetic or neutral. . . .”

Question 5

civilian

Answer 5

A citizen not in military service. “The opposing forces contended . . . for the allegiance . . . of the civilian population.”
traitor One who betrays a country by aiding an enemy. “. . . they regarded their opponents, not themselves, as traitors.”

Question 6

confiscate

Answer 6

To seize private property for public use, often as a penalty. “The estates of many of the fugitives were confiscated. . . .”

Question 7

envoy

Answer 7

A messenger or agent sent by a government on official business. “Benjamin Franklin, recently sent to Paris as an envoy, jested [about] Howe. . . .”

Question 8

rabble

Answer 8

A mass of disorderly and crude common people. “This rabble was nevertheless whipped into a professional army. . . .”
arsenal A place for making or storing weapons and ammunition. “About 90 percent of all the gunpowder . . . came from French arsenals.”

Question 9

isolationist

Answer 9

Concerning the belief that a country should take little or no part in foreign affairs, especially through alliances or wars. “The American people, with ingrained isolationist tendencies, accepted the French entanglement with distaste.”

Question 10

hereditary

Answer 10

Passed down from generation to generation. “[The alliance] involved a hereditary foe. . . ..”

Question 11

blockade

Answer 11

The isolation of a place by hostile ships or troops. “Now the French had powerful fleets. . . in a position to jeopardize Britain’s blockade. . . .”

Question 12

privateer

Answer 12

A private vessel temporarily authorized to capture or plunder enemy ships in wartime. “More numerous and damaging than ships of the regular American navy were swift privateers.”

Question 13

graft

Answer 13

Taking advantage of one’s official position to gain money or property by illegal means. “It had the unfortunate effect of . . . involving Americans . . . in speculation and graft.”