republicanism
Political theory of representative government, based on the principle of popular sovereignty, with a strong empha- sis on liberty and civic virtue. Influential in eighteenth-century American political thought, it stood as an alternative to monarchi- cal r
radical Whigs
Eighteenth-century British political commentators who agitated against political corruption and emphasized the threat to liberty posed by arbitrary power. Their writings shaped American political thought and made colonists especially alert to encroachment
mercantilism
Economic theory that closely linked a nation's politi- cal and military power to its bullion reserves. Mercantilists gener- ally favored protectionism and colonial acquisition as means to increase exports.
Sugar Act
(1764): Duty on imported sugar from the West Indies. It was the first tax levied on the colonists by the crown and was low- ered substantially in response to widespread protests.
Quartering Act
(1765): Required colonies to provide food and quar- ters for British troops. Many colonists resented the act, which they perceived as an encroachment on their rights.
stamp tax
(1765): Widely unpopular tax on an array of paper goods, repealed in 1766 after mass protests erupted across the colonies. Colonists developed the principle of "no taxation without represen- tation" which questioned Parliament's authority over the colonie
admiralty courts
Used to try offenders for violating the various Navigation Acts passed by the crown after the French and Indian War. Colonists argued that the courts encroached on their rights as Englishmen since they lacked juries and placed the burden of proof on the a
Stamp Act Congress
(1765): Assembly of delegates from nine colo- nies who met in New York City to draft a petition for the repeal of the Stamp Act. Helped ease sectional suspicions and promote inter- colonial unity.
nonimportation agreements
(1765 and after): Boycotts against British goods adopted in response to the Stamp Act and, later, the Townshend and Intolerable Acts. The agreements were the most effective form of protest against British policies in the colonies.
Sons of Liberty
Patriotic groups that played a central role in agitat- ing against the Stamp Act and enforcing non-importation agree- ments. (See also Daughters of Liberty)
Daughters of Liberty
Patriotic groups that played a central role in agitating against the Stamp Act and enforcing non-importation agreements. (See also Sons of Liberty)
Declaratory Act
(1766): Passed alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act, it reaffirmed Parliament's unqualified sovereignty over the North American colonies.
Townshend Acts
(1767): External, or indirect, levies on glass, white lead, paper, paint and tea, the proceeds of which were used to pay colonial governors, who had previously been paid directly by colo- nial assemblies. Sparked another round of protests in the colonies.
Boston Massacre
(1770): Clash between unruly Bostonian protes- tors and locally-stationed British redcoats, who fired on the jeering crowd, killing or wounding eleven citizens.
committees of correspondence
(1772 and after): Local committees established across Massachusetts, and later in each of the thirteen colonies, to maintain colonial opposition to British policies through the exchange of letters and pamphlets
Boston Tea Party
(1773): Rowdy protest against the British East India Company's newly acquired monopoly on the tea trade. Colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor, prompting harsh sanctions from the British Parliament.
Intolerable Acts
(1774): Series of punitive measures passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, closing the Port of Boston, revoking a number of rights in the Massachusetts colonial charter, and expanding the Quartering Act to allow for the lodging of sol- diers in p
Quebec Act
(1774): Allowed the French residents of Que?bec to retain their traditional political and religious institutions, and extended the boundaries of the province southward to the Ohio River. Mistakenly perceived by the colonists to be part of Parliament's res
First Continental Congress
(1774): Convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that convened in Philadelphia to craft a response to the Intolerable Acts. Delegates established Association, which called for a complete boycott of British goods.
The Association
(1774): Non-importation agreement crafted during the First Continental Congress calling for the complete boycott of British goods.
Battles of Lexington and Concord
(April 1775): First battles of the Revolutionary War, fought outside of Boston. The colonial militia successfully defended their stores of munitions, forcing the British to retreat to Boston.
Valley Forge
(1777-1778): Encampment where George Washington's poorly-equipped army spent a wretched, freezing winter. Hundreds of men died and more than a thousand deserted. The plight of the starving, shivering soldiers reflected the main weakness of the American ar
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John Hancock
(1737-1793): Boston smuggler and prominent leader of the colonial resistance, who served as president of the Second Continental Congress. In 1780 Hancock became the first governor of Massachusetts, a post he held with only a brief inter- mission until his
George Grenville
(1712-1770): British prime minister who fueled tensions between Britain and her North American colonies through his strict enforcement of navigation laws and his support for the Sugar and Stamp Acts.
Charles ("Champagne Charley") Townshend
(1725-1767): British prime minister whose ill-conceived duties on the colonies, the Townshend Acts, sparked fierce protests in the colonies and esca- lated the imperial conflict.
Crispus Attucks
(1723-1770): Runaway slave and leader of the Boston protests that resulted in the "Boston Massacre," in which Attucks was first to die.
George III
(1738-1820): British monarch during the run-up to the American Revolution, George III contributed to the imperial crisis with his dogged insistence on asserting Britain's power over her colonial possessions.
Lord North
(1732-1792): Tory prime minister and pliant aide to George III from 1770 to 1782. North's ineffective leadership and dogged insistence on colonial subordination contributed to the American Revolution.
Samuel Adams
(1722-1803): Boston revolutionary who organized Massachusetts' committees of correspondence to help sustain opposition to British policies. A delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, Adams continued to play a key role throughout the revolu
Thomas Hutchinson
(1711-1780): Royal governor of Massachu- setts during the run-up to the Revolution, Hutchinson misjudged colonial zeal during the Tea Act controversy and insisted that East India Company ships unload in Boston Harbor, thereby prompting the Boston Tea Part
Marquis de Lafayette
(1757-1834): French nobleman who served as major general in the colonial army during the American Revolution and aided the newly-independent colonies in securing French support.
Baron von Steuben
(1730-1794): German-born inspector general of the Continental army, who helped train the novice colonial mili- tia in the art of warfare.
Lord Dunmore
(c.1730-1809): Royal governor of Virginia who, in 1775, promised freedom to runaway slaves who joined the British army.