American War for Independence Flashcards
Describe the statistics of Europeans and Africans settled in British colonies along the east coast of North America in the 18th century
- 1700- 250,000
* 1775- 2,500,000
Describe the people who lived in the British colonies on the east coast of north coast
- the majority were indentured servants- given free passage in return for 4 or more years service. They were then set free, sometimes with land, and became independent
- 1619- enslaved Africans were imported to farm tobacco and rice to feed those in the West Indies, and to sell to Europe
- 50,000 migrants were convicts, transported to the colonies (often for life)
- people in search of political or religious freedom
Describe the early American colonies
- business venture
* developed by the Virginia Company
Describe the Pilgrim Fathers
- 1620
* sought a new life and religious tolerance in the colonies
Describe Maryland
- named after Charles I’s Queen
- set up by Lord Baltimore (Catholic)
- to provide a society where Catholics could be free to practise their religion in peace
Describe Pennsylvania
- 1680
- set up by William Penn
- as a place for Quakers to escape persecution
Describe the colonies
- 13 colonies- people with economic and emotional ties to Britain, but who desired freedom and the ability to run their own local affairs
- focussed on local issues, not united, independent spirit, did not act together
How did tax and war lead to the American war for independence on Britain’s part
- Seven Year’s War with France
- colonists had a part-time militia
- extra British troops were sent to protect the colonies from the French and the Native Americans
- the British government suggested that the colonies should pay toward these troops
- colonies already paid for customs duties and the mercantile system
- series of Acts passed (1763- Stamp Act)
Describe the colonists reaction to the Stamp Acts
- 1773- Stamp Act Congress- no taxation without representation
- Boston Tea Party
- 1776- Declaratory Act
Describe the Boston Tea Party
- December 1773
- Boston Harbour
- group of colonists dressed as Native Americans
- boarded East India Company tea clipper
- tipped all of the tea into the sea
- British closed Boston Harbour until restitution was paid
Describe the sectors of colonists in terms of their loyalty to the ‘Mother Country’
- Loyalists - believed the colonies could not survive independently amongst the imperial powers
- Radicals- self-made men (lawyers, newspaper proprietors), fiercely independent- believed in no taxation or legislation without representation
- Pamphleteers
Describe Thomas Paine
- 1776- Common Sense
- argued for American Independence
- sold over 500,000 copies in a couple of months
- moved to France, deeply involved in revolution
- 1791- The Rights of Man
Describe John Adams
- 1735-1826
- delegate at the Continental Congress, persuaded them to declare their independence
- committed republican- vehemently opposed the rule of George III
- helped draft the American constitution
- strongly anti-slavery; had never owned a slave
- Vice to Washington
- elected second President
Describe the divisions of opinion in Britain
- Tories- asserted government’s right to make decisions over colonies
- Whigs- heavy-handed government dealings were making independence more likely (sizeable minority)
- growth of radical political thought and demands for reform
Describe John Wilkes
in and out of prison for criticising the King and demanding reform
