American Revolution (1754-1789) Flashcards
1764 British act forbidding the colonies to issue paper money as legal tender
Repealed in 1773 by the British as an effort to ease tensions with the colonies
Currency Act
1773 act by Parliament that would provide the colonies with cheap tea, but at the same time force the colonies to admit that Parliament had a right to tax them
Effort to resolve financial problems of the East India Company
Rebates and tax exemptions allowed East India Company to dumb low cost tea in colonial market
Sons of Liberty resisted, most notably at the Boston Tea Party
Britain responded with the Coercive Acts
Tea Act of 1773
In response to the Tea Act and additional British taxes on tea, Boston radicals disguised as Native Americans threw nearly 350 chests of tea into Boston harbor on December 16, 1773
East India Company lost about $4 million
Parliment closed Boston harbor and passed the Coercive Acts
Boston Tea Party
Signed on September 3, 1783, formally ending the Revolutionary War
Britain recognized American independence
United States received a western boundary at the Mississippi River
Spain received Florida, and France received territory in Africa and the West Indies
Treaty of Paris, 1783
December 26, 1776 surprise attack launched by George Washington’s army against Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey
30 Hessians were killed and 950 captured, while only 3 Americans were wounded
Victory gave a great psychological boost to the American war effort
Battle of Trenton
An effort to pay for the British army located in North America, this 1764 measure taxed sugar and other imports
Tried to raise money from the American trade with the French West Indies
Harsh penalties were imposed on smugglers who did not pay the duty
Sugar Act
Established states of self-government for the WEst
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson
Divided regions into districts governed by Congress and then admitted to the Union
Ordinance of 1784
Crowds of debt-ridden farmers attempted to close courts in western Massachusett
Aim was to prevent the seizure of land for failure to pay debts and state taxes
Governor Bowdoin dispatched the army to disperse; 1,000 arrested in January 1787
Started debate over national authority versus state liberty
(Daniel) Shay’s Rebellion
Started with 1754 effort by British to dislodge French from forts in western Pennsylvannia
George Washington lost 1/3 of men at Fort Necessity from attack by French and Indians
British Prime Minister turned around war by pouring money and people
Seven Years’ War
British Prime Minister who took office in 1757
Poured money and people into Seven Years’ War
William Pitt
Agreement that concluded the Seven Years’ War
France ceded Canada to Britain, getting Guadeloupe, Martinique
Spain ceded Florida to Britain in return for Cuba and acquired Louisiana colony
Ended France’s 200 year old empire
Left Indians dependent on British
Peace of Paris, 1763
Indians launched revolt in Ohio Valley and Great Lakes
Influenced by teachings of Neolin, a Delaware religious leader
Ottawas, Huron and other indians attacked Detroit in 1763
Pontiac’s Rebellion
Prohibited settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains
Goal was to stabilize relations between British and Indians
Proclamation of 1763
Conflict between British soldiers and Boston civilians on March 5, 1770
Civilians threw rocks and snowballs at the soldiers, the soldiers opened fire, killing 5 and wounding 6
Boston Massacre
Parliment passed in 1765 to help pay for the British Army in North America.
Imposed tax on all legal documents and newspapers
Resistance was severe and it was eventually repealed; first major split between the colonists and Britain
Stamp Act
Men who organized opposition to British policies during the late 1760s and 1770s
Founded in Boston in response to the Stamp Act
Organized the Boston Tea Party
Samuel Adams was one of their leaders
Sons of Liberty
1765 British edict stating that to help defend the empire, colonial governments had to provide housing and food for British troops
Many colonists perceived this to be the ultimate insult
Quartering Act
On October 17,1777, British army General John Burgoyne wsa forced to surrender
American victory pesuaded the French government to sign a treaty of alliance with the United States and enter the war against Great Britain
Battle of Saratoga
German troops who fought for Great Britain during the Revolutionary War
Mercenaries sold into British service by German princes who raised money by hiring out their regiments
Hessians
Place were George Washington camped his army during the winter of 1777-1778
Soldiers suffered from hunger, cold, and disease, leading 1,300 to desert
Morale was raised by the drilling and discipline instilled by Baron Von Steuben, a former Prussian officer
Valley Forge
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moved that the Second Continental Congress declare this on June 7, 1776
Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft
Formally approved on July 2 and formally announced on July 4
Declaration of Independence
Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses
Introduced resolutions protesting the Stamp Act
Proclaimed that the act showed the tyranny of King George III, and reminded the king of the fates of Caesar and Charles I
Many considered his speech treasonous
Patrick Henry
Mssachusetts town were the first skirmish between British troops and colonial militiamen took place
During April 19, 1775 fight, 8 colonists were killed and another 9 were wounded
Lexington
Occured on April 19, 1775 between British regulars and Massachusetts militiamen
More than 70 British soldiers died and another 174 were wounded
Enabled a wider conflict between colonies and British to become much more probable
Ralph Waldo Emerson referred to it as the “shot heard round the world”
Battle of Concord
Meeting of delegates from the American colonies that began in May 1775
Some delegates hoped that the differences between the colonies and Britain could be reconciled
Congress authorized the creation of a Continental Army led by George Washington
Second Continental Congress
Colonists who remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution
Many came from upper strata of society
Large numbers moved to Canada, the West Indies, or Great Britan
Loyalists
Massachusetts Assembly response to the Townshend Acts, asking other colonies to work together and jointly issue a petition of protest
Strong-willed response of the British authorities led to the colonial assemblies to work more closely together
Circular Letter
June 1775 British attack on colonial forces outside of Boston
Despite frightful losses, British emerged victorious in the battle
Americans were heartened by the damage they did to the British
Bunker Hill
Popular 1776 publication written by Thomas Paine
Repudiated the concept of government by monarchy
Encouraged the sentiment for independance in the colonies
Common Sense
Leading opponent of British policy in 1760s and 1770s
Helped organize the Sons of Liberty
Leader in the agitation surrounding the Boston Massacre
Because of the Boston Tea Party, was marked for arrest by the British
Samuel Adams
American and French forces commanded by George Washington trapped the army of General Cornwallis
French fleet in Chesapeake Bay prevented the escape or rescue of the British
British surrender on October 19, 1781 ended British hopes of victory in the war
Battle of Yorktown
1767 parliamentery acts that forced colonists to pay duties on goods coming from England, including tea and paper
New board of customs commissioners collected duties and suppressed smuggling
Used revenues to pay salaries of governors and judges
Colonial resistance was fierce; Boston was occupied by British troops
Repealed in 1770
Townshend Acts of 1767
1767 pamphlet by Pennsylvania attorney and landowner John Dickinson, in which he eloquently stated the “taxation without representation” argument
Argued that Parliament could only meaningfully represent the colonies if colonists served in it
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
Head of the British governmental department that issued and collected taxes
Many acts issued caused great resentment in the American colonies
Chancellor of the Exchequer
1766 British law starting that Parliament had an absolute right to tax the colonies and to make laws that would be enacted in the colonies
Issued at the same time as the repeal of the Stamp Act
Declaratory Act
Representatives of 9 colonies met in New York in October 1765
Document maintained the loyalty of the colonies to the Crown but condemned the Stamp Act
Stamp Act Congress
Document sent to the First Continental Congress in September 1774
Called for all citizens of all the colonies to prepare to take up arms against the British
First Continental Congress adopted them
Suffolk Resolves
1774 measure adopted by the First Continental Congress
Stated that Parliament had some rights to regulate colonial trade with Britain but that Parliament did not have the right to tax the colonies without their consent
Declaration of Rights and Grievances
Term used in the colonies for the bills passed by Parliament to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party
Included closing Boston harbor, prohibiting local meetings, and mandatory quartering of troops in private homes
Also known as the Coercive Acts
Intolerable Acts
War fought to expand their empires in the Americas from 1754 to 1763
Spread to Europe and the rest of the world in 1756 and was called the Seven Years War
British were victorious
French and Indian War
1754 meeting of representatives from 7 colonies that coordinated their efforts against French and Native America threats in the western frontier regions
Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan of union that was rejected by both the colonies and the British government
Albany Congress
Seasoned British general sent to America to stop the French construction of a fort at what is now Pittsburgh
Braddock’s force of regulars and Americans was crushed in an ambush that cost Braddock and most of his men their lives
Edward Braddock
Responsible for overseeing colonial affairs
Colonial laws had to conform to royal instructions from this body
Encouraged assemlies to grant permanent salaries to governors
Seven Years’ War suspended this body
Board of Trade
