Democracy in the colonies
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Proclamation of 1763
A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east.
Albany Plan of Union
Plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies, especially to defend against the French in the French and Indian War; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown (varying levels of independence.)
Treaty of Paris (1763)
Ended French and Indian War, France lost Canada, land east of the Mississippi, to British, New Orleans and west of Mississippi to Spain
William Pitt
English statesman who brought the Seven Years' War to an end (1708-1778)
Pontiac's Rebellion
1763- conflict between Native Americans and the British over settlement of Indian lands in the Great Lakes area. (Native American's allies with losing French. Important because it was a large coordinated revolt between tribes--> caused a backlash in GB wh
Writs of Assistance
It was part of the Townshend Acts. It said that the customs officers could inspect a ship's cargo without giving a reason. Colonists protested that the Writs violated their rights as British citizens.
James Otis
a young lawyer in Boston, argued that colonists should not be taxed by Parliament because they could not vote for members of Parliament. His idea: "No taxation without representation!
Paxton Boys
They were a group of Scots-Irish men living in the Appalachian hills that wanted protection from Indian attacks. They made an armed march on Philadelphia in 1764. They protested the lenient way that the Quakers treated the Indians. Their ideas started the
Mercantilism
According to this doctrine, the colonies existed for the benefit of the mother country; they should add to its wealth, prosperity, and self-sufficiency. The settlers were regarded more or less as tenants. They were expected to produce tobacco and other pr
George Grenville
George Grenville was the British Prime Minister from 1763-1765. To obtain funds for Britain after the costly 7-Years War, in 1763 he ordered the Navy to enforce the unpopular Navigation Laws, and in 1764 he got Parliament to pass the Sugar Act, which incr
Navigation Acts
Between late 1600s and the early 1700s, the British passed a series of laws to put pressure on the colonists (mostly tax laws). These laws are known as the Navigation Acts. Example: 1651- All goods must be shipped in colonial or English ships, and all imp
Sugar Act
1764. Updated Molasses Act. The act was put in place for raising revenue in the colonies for the crown. It increased the duties on foreign sugar, mainly from the West Indies. After protests from the colonists, the duties were lowered. Smugglers were tried
Molasses Act
A law that imposed a tax on molasses, sugar, and rum imported from non-British foreign colonies into the North American colonies; it was aimed to reserve a monopoly of the colonies. This caused anger among colonials due to the fear of increased prices of
Currency Act
Limited amount of paper money the colonies could produce--> colonists had to trade w/ gold and silver--> goes to Great Britain.
Admiralty Courts
British courts originally established to try cases involving smuggling or violations of the Navigation Acts which the British government sometimes used to try American criminals in the colonies. Trials in Admiralty Courts were heard by judges without a ju
Non-Importation Agreements
Agreements not to import goods from Great Britain. They were designed to put pressure on the British economy and force the repeal of unpopular parliamentary acts.
Virtual Representation
Theory that claimed that every member of Parliament represented all British subjects, even those Americanswho had never voted for a member of the London Parliament.
Virginia Resolves
In response to the 1765 Stamp Act, Patrick Henry persuaded the Virginia House of Burgesses to adopt several strongly worded resolutions that denied Parliament's right to tax the colonies. Known as the Virginia Resolves, these resolutions persuaded many ot
Stamp Act
an act passed by the British parliament in 1756 that raised revenue from the American colonies by a duty in the form of a stamp required on all newspapers and legal or commercial documents
Stamp Act Congress
met in New York City with twenty-seven delegates from nine colonies in 1765; had little effect at the time but broke barriers and helped toward colonial unity; the act caused an uprising because there was no one to sell the stamps and the British did not
Patrick Henry
Outspoken member of House of Burgesses; inspired colonial patriotism with "Give me liberty or give me death" speech. (See Virginia Resolves.)
Sons of Liberty
A radical political organization for colonial independence which formed in 1765 after the passage of the Stamp Act. They incited riots and burned the customs houses where the stamped British paper was kept. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, many of the l
Internal/External Taxes
Internal taxation taxed goods within the colonies and acted much like a sales tax. The Stamp Act of 1765 is an example of internal taxation. External taxation applied to imports into the colonies. The merchant importing the good paid the tax on it, much l
Declaratory Act
In 1766, the English Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and at the same time signed the Declaratory Act. This document stated that Parliament had the right "to bind" the colonies "in all cases whatsoever." It is important in history because it stopped the
Quartering Act
Law passed by Britain to force colonists to pay taxes to house and feed British soldiers. Passed in the same few years as the Navigation Laws of 1763, the Sugar Act of 1764, and the Stamp Act of 1765 Stirred up even more resentment for the British. The Le
Townsend Acts
In 1767 "Champagne Charley" Townshend persuaded Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts. These acts put a light import duty on such things as glass, lead, paper, and tea. The acts met slight protest from the colonists, who found ways around the taxes such a
John Dickinson
Drafted a declaration of colonial rights and grievances, and also wrote the series of "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" in 1767 to protest the Townshend Acts. Although an outspoken critic of British policies towards the colonies, Dickinson opposed t
Massachusetts Circular Letter
The work primarily of Boston radical Samuel Adams, this was a plea to all colonial assemblies to unite in their protests against the hated Townshend Acts (1767). The British government viewed the letter as a direct challenge to Parliament's authority to r
Samuel Adams
Often called the "Penman of the Revolution" He was a Master propagandist and an engineer of rebellion. Though very weak and feeble in appearance, he was a strong politician and leader that was very aware and sensitive to the rights of the colonists. He or
The Association
A document produced by the Continental Congress in 1775 that called for a complete boycott of British goods. This included non-importation, non-exportation and non-consumption. It was the closest approach to a written constitution yet from the colonies. I
Boston Massacre
British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists who were provoking and taunting them. Five colonists (incl Crispus Attucks) were killed. The colonists blamed the British (tried and defended by John Adams, found guilty) and the Sons of Liberty and used th
John Adams
patriot of the American Revolution, second president of the US; president from 1796-1800; attended the Continental Congress in 1774 as a delegate from Georgia; swayed his countrymen to take revolutionary action against England which later gained America i
Crispus Attucks
A free black man who was the first person killed in the Revolution at the Boston Massacre.
Gaspee Incident
The Gasp�e Affair was a significant event in the American Revolution. HMS Gasp�e, a British revenue schooner that had been vigorously enforcing unpopular trade regulations, ran aground in shallow water, on June 9, 1772 near what is now known as Gaspee Poi
Thomas Hutchinson
Believed the tea tax was unjust, but disagreed that the colonists had a right to rebel. He angered Bostons radicals when he ordered the tea ships not to clear the Boston harbor until they had unloaded their cargoes.
Committees of Correspondence
Samuel Adams started the first committee in Boston in 1772 to spread propaganda and secret information by way of letters. They were used to sustain opposition to British policy. The committees were extremely effective and a few years later almost every co
Lord North
1770's-1782 King George III's stout prime minister (governor during Boston Tea Party) in the 1770's. Lord North's rule fell in March of 1782, which therefore ended the rule of George III for a short while.
Tea Act
Law passed by parliament allowing the British East India Company to sell its low-cost tea directly to the colonies - undermining colonial tea merchants; led to the Boston Tea Party.
Boston Tea Party
Boston patriots organized the Boston Tea Party to protest the 1773 Tea Act. In December 1773, Samuel Adams warned Boston residents of the consequences of the Tea Act. Boston was boycotting the tea in protest of the Tea Act and would not let the ships brin
Coercive/Intolerable Acts
The Acts passed in 1774, following the Boston Tea Party, that were considered unfair because they were designed to chastise Boston in particular, yet effected all the colonies by the Boston Port Act which closed Boston Harbor until damages were paid.
Boston Port Act
This was one of the Coercive Acts, which shut down Boston Harbor until Boston repaid the East India Company for the lost tea.
Quebec Act
After the French and Indian War, the English had claim the Quebec Region, a French speaking colony. Because of the cultural difference, English had a dilemma on what to do with the region. The Quebec Act, passed in 1774, allow the French Colonist to go ba
First Continental Congress
a convention and a consultative body that met for seven weeks, from September 5 to October 26, 1774, in Philadelphia; it was the American's response to the Intolerable Acts; considered ways of redressing colonial grievances; all colonies except Georgia se
Suffolk Resolves
Agreed to by delegates from Suffolk county, Massachusetts, and approved by the First Continental Congress on October 8, 1774. Nullified the Coercive Acts, closed royal courts, ordered taxes to be paid to colonial governments instead of the royal governmen
Galloway Plan
1774 proposed the formation of a colonial union under a royally appointed president-general and popularly elected council. This colonial union would be able to pass laws subject to the approval of the the president-general and parliament. This plan was re
Continental
The name Continental is associated to two congresses. The first is in 1774 and the second is in 1775. They both take place in Philadelphia. the Continental Congress brought the leaders of the thirteen colonies together. This was the beginning of our natio
boycott
To abstain from using, buying, or dealing with; happens all of the time everywhere all over the world; labor unions, consumer groups, countries boycott products to force a company or government to change its politics.
The Boards of Trade
An English legislative body, based in London, that was instituted for the governing and economic controlling of the American colonies. It lacked many powers, but kept the colonies functioning under the mercantile system while its influence lasted. The hei
No Taxation without Representation
This is a theory of popular government that developed in England. This doctrine was used by the colonists to protest the Stamp Act of 1765. The colonists declared that they had no one representing them in Parliament, so Parliament had no right to tax them
John Hancock
Nicknamed "King of the Smugglers" ; He was a wealthy Massachusetts merchant in 1776 who was important in persuading the American colonies to declare their independence from England. He was the ring leader in the plot to store gunpowder which resulted in t
Major Themes
The over-arching theme of chapter 7 is how England repeatedly forced its laws and regulations down the unappreciative Americans' throats; and eventually led to bloodshed.
1. Following the French and Indian War, the British crown needed money and figured t