Chapter 7: The Road to Revolution: 1763-1775 Flashcards
Mercantilism
- economy where a mother country exploits raw materials from their colony
- only benefits the mother country
Navigation Laws
- law passed by Parliament to regulate mercantilism system
- aimed at rival Dutch shippers
- said all commerce flowing to/from the colonies could only be transported in British/colonial vessels
Salutary Neglact
- British colonial policy during the reigns of George I and George II
- relaxed supervision of internal colonial affairs by royal bureaucrats
- let the United States grow and mature on its own with forms of self government
John Hancock
- one of the first Americans to help make America’s fortune by wholesale smuggling
- first person to sign the Declaration of Independence
- also a patriot who openly rebelled against England
George Grenville
- Prime Minister who authorized many Acts, Laws, and Taxes that repressed the Americans
- ordered British navy to strictly enforce Navigation Laws
Sugar Act
- 1764
- a tariff on sugar, coffee, wines, and molasses, placed by English Parliament
- colonists avoided the tax by smuggling and by bribing tax collectors
Quartering Act
- 1765
* forced Americans to house British soldiers and supply them with firewood, candles, beer, and etc
Stamp Act
- 1765
- act that taxed all legal documents, playing cards, newspapers, and pamphlets, etc.
- never passed though due to angry colonist response
Admiralty Courts
*in British law, special administrative courts designed to handle maritime cases without a jury
Virtual Representation
*political theory that all members of Parliament represented British citizens, even the Americans
Stamp Act Congress
- 1765
- 27 distinguished delegates from 9 colonies brought together in New York city
- drew statement of their rights/grievances & beseeched the king/Parliament to repeal the legislation
- request was ignored, it was a step towards unity
Nonimportation Agreements
- agreements not to import goods from Great Britain
- were designed to put pressure on the British economy and force the repeal of unpopular parliamentary acts
- women made homemade clothes, food, etc.
- united the colonists.
Homespun
*homemade cloths and clothing made so Americans did not have to buy from England during nonimportation agreements
Sons of Liberty
- radical political organization for colonial independence
- formed in 1765 after the passage of the Stamp Act
- the Sons leaders included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere
Declaratory Acts
- 1776
- asserted Parliamentary supremacy over the Americans in all cases
- repelled Stamp Acts
Townshend Acts
- 1767
- taxes on imports of paper, glass, paint, lead, and tea
- angered the colonists
- did not produce any revenue so was repealed later except tax was kept on tea
Indirect Tax
*taxes like the Townshed Acts that are indirect customs duty payable at ports
Boston Massacure
- March 5, 1770
- first bloodshed of the American Revolution
- British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists who were teasing and taunting them
- 5 colonist were killed
John Adams
- strong believer in colonial independence
* attended the Continental Congress and was the Second President
King George III
*the reigning king before, during, and after the American Revolution
Samuel Adams
- a leader of the Sons of Liberty and suggested the formation of the Committees of Correspondence
- led the Boston Tea Party and attended the First Continental Congress
Committees of Correspondence
- created by Sam Adams
- a form of communication to inform villagers throughout Massachusetts about grievances
- idea was popular and copied
British East India Company
- British company that monopolized tea sales in America
* undermined colonial tea merchants
Boston Tea Party
- demonstration against tea tax (1773)
- led by citizens of Boston who disguised as Indians & raided three British ships in Boston harbor, then dumped hundreds of chests of tea into the harbor
Boston Port Act
- most drastic of the Coercive Acts
* closed all the harbors in Boston until damages were paid and order could be ensured after the Boston Tea Party
Quartering Act of 1774
- another Coercive Act
* local authorities must provide homes for British soldiers
Quebec Act
- guaranteed French their Catholic religion, many of their old customs, institutions, and old boundaries were extended southward all the way to the Ohio River
- aroused the anti-Catholics and angered the colonists
First Continental Congress
- delegates from all colonies except Georgia met to discuss problems with Britain and to promote independence
- first concerted effort of American colonies to unite under a common cause towards secession from the British Crown
Declaration of Rights
- document written by the First Continental Congress that stated the main concerns and wishes of the colonies
- rejected by Parliament
The Association
- created by the Continental Congress
- called for a COMPLETE boycott of British goods
- violaters of this were tarred and feathered
Minute Men
- colonial militia members who were supposed to be ready to fight at a minute’s notice
- fought in Lexington and Concord
Lexington and Concord
- known as the “shot heard round the world” and beginning of the revolution
- British soldiers were looking for a cache of weapons and gunpowder owned by rebels
Hessians
*German soldiers who the British payed to have them fight for England
Tories
- “Loyalists”
- colonists who remained loyal to England
- often were older, better educated people who were members of the Anglican Church
George Washington
- American commander-in-chief & first president
- put down Whiskey Rebellion (enforced Whiskey Tax)
- managed first presidential cabinet
- carefully used power of executive to avoid monarchial style rule
Ben Franklin
*worked as a foreign diplomat in order to gain assistance from other countries
Marquis de Lafayette
- wealthy young French nobleman who left France to be a major general in colonial army
- believed in the liberty that the Americans were fighting for
- became a general on Washington’s staff and fought hard
Continentals
- paper money printed by Continental Congress
* worth almost nothing
