Independence Flashcards
What was the Committees of Correspondence/ Committees of Safety?
This was the American colonies first institution for maintaining communication with one another.
What purpose did the Committees of Correspondence serve?
It assumed the role of a local government for the colonies and it creates a common interest for the colonies. The committees also become enforcement and de facto courts (meaning they also mediated arguments that had nothing to do with the resistance).
What was the Boston Massacre and when did it occur?
Confrontation on March 5, 1770, in which British soldiers shot and killed five people in Boston in order to protect themselves. Colonists were harassing a lone guard, Hugh White, who was protecting money.
What effect did propaganda have after the Boston Massacre?
The propaganda made colonists feel like this was a brutal attack on innocent civilians and confirms their fears of a standing army.
What happened to the officers involved in the Boston Massacre?
They were given a fair trial. John Adams defends for them and wins the trial.
How do the British respond after the Boston Massacre?
They repeal most of the Townshend Acts, but leave the tax on Tea.
What was the Gaspee and why was it important?
The Gaspee was a British merchant ship that ran aground in 1772. The colonists help the crew, but then set the ship on fire in protest. The British see this as a criminal act and try the colonists in England. The colonists fear that they will not be given a fair trial.
What mindset was changed within the colonists after the events of Gaspee?
They believed that the crown was directly influencing what was happening to them.
What was the Tea Act?
Written in 1773, it was an effort to raise revenue for the struggling East India Company.
Who were Consignees?
They were specific agents who would be responsible for the sale of tea. Thomas Hutchinson and his family get these positions. The colonists are upset by this because he is known to be a loyalist of the crown. The colonists believe he is manipulating the crown into depriving them.
What effect does Thomas Hutchinson gaining a new position have on the colonists?
The colonists protest in the form of petitions and resolutions and begin to distance themselves from England. Protesters in New York and Philadelphia threaten to “tar and feather” ship captains and others who transport tea.
