Chapter 07: The Road To Revolution (1763-1775) Flashcards
1
Q
Republicanism
A
- Derived from Greek and Romans republics.
- Meant a just society was one in which all citizens subordinated their private, selfish interest to the common good.
- Stability of the society was then dependant on the virtue of its citizens
- it was opposed to hierarchical and authoritarian institutions such as a monarchy
2
Q
Radical Whigs
A
- The second idea that shaped American political thought derived from British political commentators.
- The Whigs feared that the liberty of the people was threatened by the whim of the monarch.
3
Q
Mercantilism
A
- British authorities supported this theory that justified their control over the colonies.
- Mercantilists believed that wealth was power and that a country’s economic wealth was measured by the amount of gold and silver in its treasury.
- They wanted to possess colonies to supply the mother country with raw materials and provide a market for exports.
4
Q
Navigation Law
A
- Between the 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 imports to colonies must be on colonial or English ships or the ships of the producer.
- 1660: incorporation of the law of 1651.
- it also enumerated articles, such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton can only be exported to England from the colonies.
- 1663: a.k.a. the staple act of 1663- all imports to the colonies must go through England.
5
Q
Sugar Act
A
- 1764
- The first law passed by Parliament that raised tax revenues in the colonies for the crown.
- It increased duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies.
6
Q
Quartering Act
A
- 1765
- The measure required that certain colonies provide food and quarters to the British troops.
- Passed by George Grenville, to ensure that soldiers, if needed, are cared for and quartered in the colonist’s homes.
- This angered colonists.
7
Q
Stamp Act
A
- In 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act, requiring the colonists to pay for a stamp to go on many of the documents essential to their lives.
- These documents included deeds, mortgages, liquor licenses, playing cards, and almanacs.
- The colonists heartily objected to this direct tax and in protest petitioned the king, formed the Stamp Act Congress, and boycotted English imports.
- In 1766 Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, a major victory for colonists.
8
Q
Nonimportation Agreements
A
Pledges to boycott, or decline to purchase, certain goods from abroad
9
Q
Stamp Act Congress
A
- 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 understand why the Americans could not pay for their own defense
- the act was repealed in 1766.
10
Q
Nonimportation Agreements
A
- Pledges to boycott, or decline to purchase, certain goods from abroad
11
Q
George Greenville
A
- 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
- in 1764 he got Parliament to pass the Sugar Act, which increased duties on sugar imported from the West Indies.
- in 1765, brought about the Quartering Act, which forced colonists to provide food and shelter to British soldiers, who many colonists believed were only present to keep the colonists in line.
12
Q
Daughter of Liberty
A
- This organization supported the boycott of British goods.
- They urged Americans to wear homemade fabrics and produce other goods that were previously available only from Britain.
- They believed that way, the American colonies would become economically independent.
13
Q
Declaratory Act
A
- 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 violence and rebellions against the tax on stamps.
- Also, it restarted trade with England, which had temporarily stopped as a defiant reaction to the Stamp Act.
14
Q
Townshend Act
A
- In 1767 “Champagne Charley” Townshend persuaded Parliament to pass the 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 as buying smuggled tea.
- Due to its minute profits, the Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770, except for the tax on tea.
- The tax on tea was kept to keep alive the principle of Parliamentary taxation.
15
Q
Boston Massacre
A
- The Americans didn’t like British occupation of Boston, they tried to resist them.
- The journal of times used propaganda to make the British Soldiers look worse than they were.
- One day kids started throwing rocks at a customs agents house and the customs agent shot a gun loaded with bird shot and accidentally killed a young boy.
- Sam Adams elaborated the story in his Journal of the Times and made it seem much worse.
- Everyone took the little boys death out on the British Army even though it wasn’t their fault.
- The tension between colonists and the soldiers got heavy.
- A bunch of drunk colonists went to a garrison and started harassing and throwing things at a dozen soldiers.
- About a thousand colonists gathered around.
- The commander tells the soldiers not to fire but one soldier gets hit with a piece of ice and for some reason, he fires and then all the soldiers start firing, in the end, 11 Americans were hit and 5 were killed.
- But Sam Adams elaborated the story ALOT.
