American Revolution Flashcards
(Statistics) French and Indian War
10 000 British soldiers were sent to America to fight the French and Indian War.
(Historical evidence) Royal Proclamation of 1763 - George Washington
The royal proclamation was a “temporary expedient”.
(Historical interpretation) Colonist reaction to British victory in French and Indian War - Carol Berkin
“In the mainland colonies, people lit bonfires and stated parades to celebrate Britain’s victory and the safety of their borders.”
(Historical perspective) Writs of Assistance - James Otis
The writs were “against the fundamental principles of law” and were an overt breach of “English Rights” that dated back to Magna Carta.
(Historical perspective) Colonial perspective of writs - Massachusetts Assembly
“The civil rights of the colonies are affected by it, by their being deprived, in all cases of seizures, of that inestimable privilege and characteristics of English liberty.”
(Historical perspective) Writs of Assistance - Samuel Adams
“The child independence was then and there born… ready to take up arms against the writs of assistance.”
(Historical perspective) Sugar Act - John Adams
“Molasses were an essential ingredient in American independence.”
(Historical interpretation) Sugar Act - John Findling and Frank Thackery
The Sugar Act was “the point when British colonial policy regarding the North American colonies altered.”
(Statistics) British debt from the French and Indian War
Britain incurred a deficit of 130 million pounds during the French and Indian War.
(Historical perspective) Colonial scrip - George Washington
“In the colonies, we make our own money. It is called colonial scrip. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry… in this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power and have no interest to pay no one.”
(Historical interpretation) Reaction to the Currency Act - Marc Egnal and Joseph Ernst
“The reaction to the Currency Act… reflected a new and extreme phase of a long struggle of this aspect of economic sovereignty.”
(Statistics) Revenue generated from stamp duties
Stamp duties were predicted to generate 60 000 pounds.
(Statistics) Stamp Act voting proportions
In the House of Commons, the Stamp Act was repealed on a 276 to 168 vote, in a 105 to 71 vote in the House of Lords.
(Historical perspective) Taxation on the colonies - Thomas Hutchinson
“It cannot be good to tax the Americans… you will lose more than you gain.”
(Historical perspective) Stamp Act - George Washington
“The Stamp Act imposed on the colonies by the Parliament of Great Britain is an ill-judged measure. Parliament has no right to put its hands into our pockets without our consent.”
(Historical evidence) Rights of king and parliament - Declaratory Act
The king and parliament “had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes… to bind the colonies and people of America in all cased whatsoever.”
(Historical interpretation) Declaratory Act - Randall Miller
“The Declaratory Act… among other events, combined to persuade many Americans that the English ministry regarded the colonies with contempt.”
(Historical interpretation) Stamp Act Crisis - Alan Taylor
“The Stamp Act Crisis taught the colonists… the three forms of resistance: protest resolutions by elite writers, violent intimidation by common mobs, and economic boycotts by everyone.”
(Statistics) Duties collected under the Townshend Act
Duties collected under the Townshend Act were estimated to be around 40 000 pounds annually.
(Historical evidence) Circular Letter
“It is [the colonists’] humble opinion, which they express with the greatest deference to the wisdom of the parliament, that the acts made there imposing duties on the people of this province, with the sole and express purpose of raising revenue, are infringements of their natural and constitutional rights.”
(Statistics) Soldiers stationed in Boston
2 000 soldiers were stationed in Boston, where the population was just over 15 000.
(Statistics) Boston massacre
Over 300 common people were present at the Boston massacre, where 5 of whom were killed.
(Historical perspective) Nickname for British soldiers
Soldiers were called “lobsterbacks” in Boston because of their red coats.
(Historical perspective) Provoking crowds in Boston Massacre - Patrick Carr (victim who would later die)
Attested that he was “a native of Ireland, [and that he] had frequently seen mobs and soldiers called upon to quell them… [he had seen] soldiers often fire on the people in Ireland but [had] never seen them bear half so much before they fired in his life.”
(Historical perspective) Cause of Boston Massacre - Benjamin Franklin
“The madness of mobs or the insolence of soldiers, or both, when too near to each other, occasion some mischief.”
(Historical interpretation) Colonial view of British soldiers - Dean Martin
“The citizens viewed the British soldiers as potential oppressors, competitors for jobs, and a threat to social mores.”
(Statistics) Chests of Tea (Boston Tea Party)
342 chests of tea were dumped in the water on 16th December 1773
(Statistics) Worth of tea in Boston Tea Party
The tea was worth a staggering 10 000 pounds sterling.
(Historical perspective) Imported tea name
Imported tea was called “the king’s brew”
(Historical perspective) Witness on December 16 - George Hewes
“During the time we were throwing the tea overboard there were several attempts made by some of the citizens of Boston and its vicinity to carry off small quantities of it for their family use.”
(Historical perspective) Name used in reference to the raiding of ships
“Tea dunking” was used in reference to the raiding to tea ships.
(Historical perspective) Raiding of ships - Benjamin Franklin
The raiding of ships was “an act of violent injustice.”
(Historical interpretation) Coercive Acts - Gordon Wood
“These acts convinced Americans that parliament had no right to make laws for them.”
(Historical interpretation) Justification for British actions - Alan Taylor
“Patriots regarded the British as powerful aggressors imposing their dominion, but leading Britons acted from fear for the security of their vulnerable empire.”
(Statistic) 1774 militiamen numbers
In 1774, there were only 17 000 militiamen available for combat.
(Historical evidence) Quebec Act provisions
The Quebec Act radically expanded the French occupied territory across the Great Lakes and south to the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, becoming nearly three times larger than it was previously.
(Historical interpretation) Revolutionaries and their land ventures - Alan Taylor
“The roll call of Virginia revolutionary leaders was also the roll call of Virginia speculators in western lands… Richard Henry Lee… George Washington… Thomas Jefferson… [and] Patrick Henry… [all saw] land ventures disappear like smoke.”
(Historical interpretation) Quebec Act - Charles Metzger
“The Quebec Act was an important factor in the spread of revolutionary sentiment beyond Massachusetts.”
(Historical interpretation) Virginia speculator class - John Greiner
“The Virginia speculator class had a voracious appetite for land.”
(Historical interpretation) Freedom and land - William Hart
“Unencumbered access to land lay at the core of American freedom.”
(Statistic) Continental Congress membership numbers
The Continental Congress comprised of 55 men from 12 colonies.
(Historical evidence) Importation boycott - Extract from Articles of Association
“After the first day of December next, we will not import into British America, from Great-Britain or Ireland, any goods, wares, or merchandise whatsoever…”
(Statistic) Battle of Lexington and Concord causalities
130 people died during the conflict at Lexington and Concord.
(Historical perspective) Orders given to militia at Battle of Lexington and Concord - Captain John Parker
“Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”
(Statistic) Copies of Common Sense sold
1 000 copies of Common Sense were sold within the first two weeks of its publication, with as many as 100 000 copies sold by the end of 1776.
(Statistic) Loyalist proportion of the American population
Loyalists made up 19% of the American population.
(Historical evidence) Justification of revolutionary war - Extract from the Olive Branch Petition
“Your Majesty’s Ministers… have compelled us to arm in our own defence, and have engaged us in a controversy so peculiarly abhorrent to the affections of your still faithful Colonists… [that we wonder] what may be the consequences.”
(Historical evidence) Plea to Britain - Extract from the Olive Branch Petition
“We beg leave further to assure your Majesty that notwithstanding the sufferings of your loyal colonists during the course of the present controversy, our breasts retain too tender a regard for the kingdom from which we derive our origin to request such a reconciliation as might in any manner be inconsistence with her dignity or her welfare.”
(Historical evidence) Rights of the Americans - Extract from the Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.”
(Historical evidence) Arguments - Common Sense
Paine’s Common Sense argues “of more worth is one honest man to society than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived”, before denouncing George III as a “royal brute” with “blood on his soul”.
(Historical perspective) Ideological change - John Adams
“A radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.”
(Historical interpretation)
Thomas Paine - Alan Taylor
“Thomas Paine relocated sovereignty away from a royal family to the collective people of a new nation.”
(Historical interpretation) Continuity in the Revolution - Daniel Boorstin
“The Revolution itself had been a kind of affirmation in ancient British institutions. In the institution life of the American community the Revolution thus required no basic change… trial by jury, due process of law, representation before taxation… independence of the judiciary, and the rights of free speech, petition and free assembly.”
