Part 3: The American Revolution

Question 1

Sugar Act (Revenue Act of 1764)

Answer 1

Placed duties on foreign sugar and certain luxuries to raise money for the crown. Companion law provided for stricter enforcement of the navigation acts.

Question 2

Quartering Act

Answer 2

Required the colonists to provide food and living quarters for British soldiers stationed in the colonies

Question 3

Stamp Act

Answer 3

Enacted by Parliament to support British forces in the colonies. Required revenue stamps be placed on most printed paper, including legal documents, newspapers, and pamphlets. First direct tax paid by colonists, as opposed to taxes on goods paid by merchants.

Question 4

Stamp Act protests

Answer 4

Patrick Henry demanded no taxation without representation. Representatives from 9 colonies met in New York for the Stamp Act Congress. Led to the formation of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, a secret society organized to intimidate tax agents (tarring and feathering). When boycotts against British goods lowered trade, Parliament was pressured to repeal the Stamp Act.

Question 5

Declaratory Act

Answer 5

Enacted after the repealing of the Stamp Act. Asserted Parliament had the right to tax and impose laws on the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”.

Question 6

Townshend Acts

Answer 6

Enacted new duties to be collected on imported tea, glass, and paper, so the revenue could be used to pay crown officials in the colonies. Also provided for the search of smuggled goods in private homes, with a writ of assistance. Also suspended the NY assembly for violations of the quartering act.

Question 7

Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania

Answer 7

Essays in which John Dickinson argued that because the Townshend Acts were a form of taxation, they could not be placed on the colonies without consent of representative assemblies.

Question 8

Massachussetts Circular Letter

Answer 8

Written by Samuel Adams and James Otis urging colonies to petition Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts. British officials ordered the letters retracted after they were sent to every colonial legislature. In response to the letter, colonists increased boycotting and smuggling.

Question 9

Repeal of the Townshend Acts

Answer 9

Once Lord Frederick North became PM, he urged Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts due to negative effects on trade. Parliament consented, but retained a small tax on tea.