Colonial America and the American Revolution Flashcards
These acts were passed by Parliament in England as a punishment for the Boston Tea Party. These were seen by American colonists as part of a British plan to deny Americans representative government.
The Intolerable Acts (England called them the Coercive Acts)
These two skirmishes marked the beginning of the fighting in the American Revolution. British troops left Boston and marched into the countryside to seize a stockpile of weapons and ammunition. These battles ended with the British retreating to Boston.
Lexington and Concord.
Who was the author of Common Sense?
Thomas Paine
What was the central idea in the pamphlet Common Sense?
Thomas Paine argued that the American colonists should break free from England by declaring independence and establish a new government.
What is the central idea contained in the Declaration of Independence?
The Declaration justified the colonists abolishing British government in America and forming a new government. Why? Everyone is given natural rights. If a government fails to protect these rights, it is the right of the people to change that government or to abolish (end) that government.
This battle marked the end of the Revolutionary War, as the British surrendered after being surrounded on both land and at sea. Help from France made this possible.
The Battle of Yorktown
This treaty ended the American Revolutionary War and granted the US its independence. Under this treaty, the US gained all territory EAST OF the Mississippi River (Except for Florida).
Treaty of Paris (1783)
What was the Boston Tea Party?
A 1773 event in which patriots from Boston, protesting Parliament’s Tea Act of 1773, dressed as Mohawk Indians, boarded British ships in Boston harbor and dumped the cargo into the harbor.
In March of 1770, a crowd of colonists protested against British customs agents and the presence of British troops in Boston. Violence broke out and five colonists were shot and killed by British Redcoats. What was this event?
The Boston Massacre (1770)
What were the Townshend Acts (or Duties)?
A series of taxes passed by Parliament in England that forced colonists to pay taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper and tea entering the colonies. The colonists objected and the relationship between the colonies and England was further damaged.
Angered over the Stamp Act, representatives of nine colonial assemblies met in New York City at this gathering. The colonists stated that Parliament could NOT tax anyone outside of Great Britain, concluding that only representatives elected by the colonies could tax the colonies.
The Stamp Act Congress (1765)
This 1765 law required colonial Americans to buy special watermarked paper for newspapers, playing cards, and all legal documents. This law led to the first organized response to British taxes/acts being passed by Parliament.
The Stamp Act (1765)
Explain the concept of Salutary Neglect.
When the colonies were first developing in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the government in England did NOT enforce trade laws or keep a close watch over the colonies. Instead, the government of England ‘neglected’ the colonies. This actually HELPED (‘salutary” means beneficial or healthful) the colonies because they developed their own economic, political and social institutions.
How did the French and Indian War help lead to tensions and later, a revolution, between the colonists in America and England?
Wars, like the French and Indian War, cost blood and treasure. After the French and Indian War, England passed new taxes and laws to try to make the colonies in America pay their “fair share” of the cost of the war. These news acts and taxes angered the colonies, eventually leading to the American Revolutionary War.
What was the first legislative assembly in colonial America? HINT: Think Virginia.
The Virginia House of Burgesses was formed in 1619. This was an early example of DEMOCRACY and SELF-GOVERNMENT in America.
What was the name of the early form of DEMOCRACY and SELF-GOVERNMENT in NEW ENGLAND colonies, like Massachusetts, during Colonial America?
Town Meetings (Sometimes called Town-Hall Meetings). Every adult (church member and land owner) would gather and vote on decisions affecting the town. This is called DIRECT DEMOCRACY.
This was the framework for SELF-GOVERNMENT of the Plymouth Colony (in New England) signed by settlers before getting off their ship in 1620.
The Mayflower Compact (1620)
In colonial America, individuals who agreed to work without wages for a period of time in exchange for their paid transportation to the colonies.
Indentured Servants
What is meant by the phrase ‘Middle Passage’?
The forced transport of enslaved Africans from West Africa to the Americas. The conditions on these slave ships were horrific and many enslaved Africans died during the journey.
What was the triangular trade?
The three-way patterns of trade that involved England (Europe), West Africa, and colonies in the New World, including the 13 English colonies.
Define/Explain Mercantilism
Mercantilism is an economic policy under which a nation accumulates (builds up) wealth by exporting more goods than it imports. The key is to establish a FAVORABLE BALANCE OF TRADE for the Mother Country, often at the expense of her colonies.
What was the purpose of England’s Navigation Acts?
Navigation Acts were British trade laws enacted by Parliament during the mid-1700s that regulated colonial commerce. The goal was to help the economy of the mother country (England) at the expense of her ‘children’ (the colonies). These began to be enforced more strictly after the French and Indian War, angering the colonists.
What was the Proclamation of 1763?
This was a royal declaration by the British king ordering all colonists to remain east of the Appalachian Mountains after winning the French and Indian War. This angered colonists as they expected to be able to move west into those lands.
Why did the English King issue the Proclamation of 1763?
American colonists moving west across the Appalachian Mountains came into contact with Natives, leading to a conflict known as Pontiac’s Rebellion in the Great Lakes region. England wanted to protect colonists AND did NOT want to spend more $$$ protecting colonists from the Natives.
