Chapter 5 - Declaring Independence 1750-1776 Flashcards
What key phrase describes the colonial social attitude towards Great Britain during the early 1700s?
Paternalistic. They respected the guidance and laws of the mother country. Furthermore, the colonists respected Great Britain’s authority as the sovereign the colonists answered to.
How can the colonists rapid transition from loyal subjects to revolutionaries be explained? (Broad & Big-Picture)
- Social Factors Created and Environment Where Revolution Could Flourish.
- Britain Tried And Failed To Reorganize Its Empire
- The Colonists Possessed Only Virtual Representation But Wanted Actual Representation.
- The Colonists Were Conspiracy Theorists.
- Thomas Paine’s Pamphlet Common Sense
What factors undermined the paternalistic social environment in the colonies?
- Demographic Factors
- Economic Prosperity
- Religious Thinking
How did Demographic Factors Effect The Social Environment To Spark Revolutionary Attitudes?
Colonial population doubled in 10 yrs and continued rapidly expanding. This population growth forced colonists westwards. As westward expansion continued the colonial government had less and less effect of the reaches of the frontier and old communities, churches, and households fragmented.
How did Economic Prosperity impact the social environment in the colonies?
By 1760, the American colonists as a whole were prosperous due to commerce. Americans purchased more luxury goods due to the profit made by agricultural exports. Such prosperity raised American’s expectations for government and increased their confidence in self-government and competency in political affairs.
How did Religious Thinking impact the social environment in the colonies?
The new churches after the Great Awakening emphasized autonomous local churches, individual salvation experiences, and congregational elections. (Denominations such as Baptists and Methodists Especially.) The Church used words such as liberty, virtue, and tyranny. Those terms transferred later from the Spiritual realm to the Political. Even outdoor meetings in the Great Awakening created the idea of extra-institutional movements.
What Actions Did Britain Take To Reorganize Its Empire That Ultimately Failed?
1) Revised Previous Colonial Policy
2) Applied A Second Round of Taxation in 1766
3) A Lull From 1771 -1773 Masked The Out of Control State of the Colonies.
4) The Boston Tea Party and the British Response Via the Coercive Acts.
How did Britain Revise Previous Colonial Policy?
The British Government Reversed Its Previous Policy of Salutary Neglect Towards The Colonies. It did so by implementing the Proclamation Line of 1763, new taxes in the Sugar Act and Stamp Act, the Currency Act, the Vice-Admiralty Act (to prosecute smugglers), and the Quartering Act.
What legitimate reason did Britain have for implementing the Acts revising previous British Colonial Policy?
The Stamp Act and Sugar Act were to raise revenue for a heavily indebted Great Britain and did not severely impact the colonists since the colonists enjoyed a tax burden 1/20th that of someone in London. The Currency Act stopped the colonies from paying off debt to Britain in inflated currency and prevented Britain from losing money in that regard. The Vice-Admiralty Act simply tried to enforce the Navigation Acts by actually prosecuting smuggling in the colonies to make colonists pay the reasonable tariffs all other Brits had to pay.
What did the Colonists Say in Response to the Stamp Act?
Only the state legislature had a right to tax the colonists. Since the colonists were not actually represented in Parliment, the Parliment did not have the authority to tax the colonists. William Pitt agreed with the colonists but was in the minority.
Did the Parliment repeal the Stamp Act? If so, why did it matter?
Yes, Parliment bowed to colonial pressure and repealed the Stamp Act. It mattered because repealing the Act allowed the colonists to taste victory and know that they could successfully resist Britain. It also created a colonial environment hyper-sensitive to all forms of British taxation.
What Acts Were Passed When Britain Tried To Further Reorganize Its Empire in 1766?
The Townshend Acts which imposed import duties on the colonists. The British government thought the colonists would understand since it was an external and not an internal tax.
What did the colonists do in response that further stirred up controversy?
The colonists in MA organized a boycott of the goods. The British responded by sending troops to Boston. There was one British soldier for every four colonists. The conditions and presence of British soldiers led to the Boston Massacre which further exacerbated tensions. Due to confusion and repulsion, the British govt. repealed the Acts. Furthermore, the boycott cost British Merchants 700,000 pounds where the Townshend duties would have only generated 21,000 pounds.
In what years were the colonies out of control?
1771-1773 when the colonies were calm due to te economic prosperity caused by record import and export revenues. (Quadrupled from 1769 to 1771.)
Why is the Boston Tea Party Symbolic of the colonial situation?
The British government granted a monopoly on tea so it could sell in Boston and actually lowered the price of tea. The colonists got mad that Britain thought it could dictate the colonists’ economic affairs so they threw the tea into the harbor to protest.
