The American Colonies By 1763: Flashcards
1
Q
Which was the largest colony?
A
Virginia - 500,000 inhabitants.
2
Q
What were the 5 American towns?
A
Philadelphia.
New York
Boston.
Newport
Charlestown.
3
Q
Which were the largest group of migrants to the colonies?
A
Scots- Irish Protestants.
4
Q
Where did immigrants to the colonies come from?
A
Scot-Irish Protestants.
German Peasants from the Rhineland.
Dutch.
Swedish.
5
Q
What were indentured servants?
A
Colonists who agreed to work for a master in exchange for payment of their passage to America.
Designed to meet the shortage of Labour in the colonies.
6
Q
What proportion of white Americans were indentured servants?
A
1/2 - 2/3s
7
Q
How many enslaved people were there in 1763?
A
350,000.
8
Q
In which colonies was the governor not appointed by the monarch?
A
Proprietary Colonies.
Corporate colonies.
9
Q
What were proprietary colonies?
A
Colonies in which the crown had vested political authority the hands of certain families.
10
Q
What were corporate colonies ?
A
Colonies that possessed charters granted by the crown which gave them extensive autonomy.
11
Q
What powers were held by the Governor?
A
Internal administration.
Law enforcement.
Granting land and military powers.
12
Q
What limitations are there on a Governors authority?
A
Could be dismissed at will by the British gov.
Average term of office 5 years.
Dependent on political support and salaries from the lower house of colonial assemblies.
13
Q
Feature of the colonial upper house:
A
Appointed by the governor.
Made up of members of the colonial elite.
14
Q
Features of the colonial assemblies lower house:
A
Elected.
Could be summoned and dismissed by the governor.
Their legislation could be vetoed in parliament.
15
Q
What powers did colonial assemblies hold?
A
Responsible for initiating money bills and controlling expenditures.
Represented communities better than the upper house and the governor.
16
Q
What percentage of men in the colonies could vote?
A
50-80%
17
Q
What percentage of men in England could vote?
A
15%
18
Q
Reasons why the colonies were not democratic:
A
Not all men owned sufficient property to vote.
Women and enslaved people couldn’t vote.
High property qualifications to hold office.
19
Q
What was the role of colonial charters?
A
Connected the colonies to Britain - specifically to the crown.
20
Q
What was the role of colonial agents in England?
A
Warned the colonies of pending measures from the crown and informed British officials of colonial thinking.
21
Q
What was the policy of salutary neglect?
A
Colonies left largely to govern themselves, Britain paid little attention to colonial affairs.
22
Q
By how much did GDP grow on average in the colonies between 1656 and 1770?
A
3.2%.
23
Q
What was the growth in the colonial economy a result of?
A
Expanding inter colonial trade.
Availability of new land.
Increased demand for colonial products.
24
Q
What proportion of people in the colonies were farmers?
A
9/10s
25
What did the New England colonies manufacture?
Poor soil meant lots of subsistence farming.
Fishing was a profitable alternative.
Esport trade with the West Indies - supplied the colonies with sugar and molasses to turn into rum.
26
By how much did the population of the colonies increase between 1700-1763?
Population increased 8 fold.
27
What were the reasons for population growth in the colonies?
- American women had on average 7 children.
- Low death rate - Americans tended to live longer than Europeans.
- Large scale immigration.
28
Which was the largest colony?
Virginia - 500,000 inhabitants.
29
What were the 5 American towns?
Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Newport, Charlestown.
30
Which was the largest group of migrants to the colonies?
Scots-Irish Protestants.
31
Where did immigrants to the colonies come from?
- Scot-Irish Protestants.
- German Peasants from the Rhineland.
- Dutch.
- Swedish.
32
What were indentured servants?
Colonists who agreed to work for a master in exchange for payment of their passage to America. Designed to meet the shortage of Labour in the colonies.
33
What proportion of white Americans were indentured servants?
1/2 - 2/3s.
34
How many enslaved people were there in 1763?
350,000.
35
In which colonies was the governor not appointed by the monarch?
Proprietary Colonies, Corporate colonies.
36
What were proprietary colonies?
Colonies in which the crown had vested political authority in the hands of certain families.
37
What were corporate colonies?
Colonies that possessed charters granted by the crown which gave them extensive autonomy.
38
What powers were held by the Governor?
- Internal administration.
- Law enforcement.
- Granting land and military powers.
39
What limitations are there on a Governor's authority?
- Could be dismissed at will by the British gov.
- Average term of office 5 years.
- Dependent on political support and salaries from the lower house of colonial assemblies.
40
Feature of the colonial upper house?
- Appointed by the governor.
- Made up of members of the colonial elite.
41
Features of the colonial assemblies lower house?
- Elected.
- Could be summoned and dismissed by the governor.
- Their legislation could be vetoed in parliament.
42
What powers did colonial assemblies hold?
Responsible for initiating money bills and controlling expenditures. Represented communities better than the upper house and the governor.
43
What percentage of men in the colonies could vote?
50-80%.
44
What percentage of men in England could vote?
15%.
45
Reasons why the colonies were not democratic?
- Not all men owned sufficient property to vote.
- Women and enslaved people couldn't vote.
- High property qualifications to hold office.
46
What was the role of colonial charters?
Connected the colonies to Britain - specifically to the crown.
47
What was the role of colonial agents in England?
Warned the colonies of pending measures from the crown and informed British officials of colonial thinking.
48
What was the policy of salutary neglect?
Colonies left largely to govern themselves, Britain paid little attention to colonial affairs.
49
By how much did GDP grow on average in the colonies between 1656 and 1770?
3.2%.
50
What was the growth in the colonial economy a result of?
- Expanding inter colonial trade.
- Availability of new land.
- Increased demand for colonial products.
51
What proportion of people in the colonies were farmers?
9/10s.
52
What did the New England colonies manufacture?
- Poor soil meant lots of subsistence farming.
- Fishing was a profitable alternative.
- Export trade with the West Indies - supplied the colonies with sugar and molasses to turn into rum.
53
What did the middle colonies manufacture?
Wheat and flour products.
54
What did the southern colonies manufacture?
- Tobacco was the mainstay of the Southern economy.
- Also produced indigo, rice and grain.
55
How much tobacco was exported in the southern colonies in the 1770s?
£100 million.
56
What is mercantilism?
The belief that colonies existed to benefit the mother country economically.
57
What were the 1651 and 1673 Trade and Navigation Acts?
- Designed to establish an English monopoly of colonial trade.
- Stated that all cargoes to/from the colonies had to be carried in British ships.
- European goods for America had to land in England first.
- Certain enumerated commodities could only be exported from the colonies to England.
58
What laws were passed to check colonial manufacturing?
- The Wollen Act (1699)
- The Hat Act (1732)
- The Molasses Act (1733)
- The Iron Act (1750)
59
What was the Wollen Act (1699)?
Forbade the export of woolen products outside the colony it was produced. (Wool rarely exceeded local demand).
60
What was the Hat Act (1732)?
Prohibited export of colonial beaver hats. (Affected an industry of minor importance).
61
What was the Molasses Act (1733)?
Placed high duties on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies from French, Spanish and Dutch possessions in the Caribbean. (Easily evaded).
62
What was the Iron Act (1750)?
Banned the export of colonial iron outside of the empire.
63
What was the effect of mercantilism?
- Few Americans complained.
- The system was badly enforced.
- Customs officers were easily bribed.
- Colonies were able to avoid most of the trade laws.
64
What were the benefits of the mercantilist system for the colonies?
- American products enjoyed a protected market in Britain and its empire.
- Parliament granted generous subsidies to producers of some colonial commodities.
- American shipbuilding industry benefited by the exclusion of overseas ships from colonial trade.
65
Who were the largest landed magnates in colonial society?
The Penns - owned 40 million acres.
66
Why can the American colonies be considered a middle class world?
- Nobility and the poor were underrepresented in America.
- American society was less hierarchical than in Britain.
67
What percentage of men in 1763 in the colonies were literate?
75% compared to 60% in England.
68
How many newspapers were there in 1763?
30.
69
When was the War of the League of Augsburg?
1689-1697.
70
When was the War of Spanish Succession?
1702-1713.
71
When was the War of Austrian Succession?
1744-1748.
72
When was the Seven Years War?
1756-1763.
73
What happened during the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of Spanish Succession?
- French forces and their Native American allies carried out attacks on the frontier areas of New York and New England.
- The colonists received little help from England.
- In 1710, New England annexed Nova Scotia in the Treaty of Utrecht (1713).
- France recognizes Britain's right to control the Hudson Bay territory, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
74
What happened during the War of Austrian Succession (1744-48)?
- Britain was too preoccupied in Britain to send help.
- The strength of the Navy made it difficult for France and Spain to send much help to the colonies.
- The New England colonies were most heavily involved fighting against the French and their Native Allies.
- The colonists' greatest military achievement was the capture of Louisbourg in 1745.
75
What was the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle (1748)?
Came after the Austrian War of Succession. Handed Louisbourg back to the French.
76
What was the reason for the Albany Congress (1754)?
The Board of Trade recognized the benefit that native support would have for the colonists. Calls on the colonies Virginia upwards to send delegates to Albany to discuss Native American Policy.
77
What was the result of the Albany Congress (1754)?
- Failed to achieve an alliance with the Iroquois.
- Franklin proposes his plan of union, which suggested an elected colonial parliament with authority over Native American affairs and the power to levy taxes. Franklin's plan was rejected by the colonies.
78
What happened at Fort Duquesne?
1753-4 Virginian planters organize the Ohio Company and secure a British grant of 200,000 regions acres in the trans-Allegheny region. They found that the French were already building forts in the region. Virginia force led by George Washington sent in to stop them. His troops were forced to surrender.
79
What was the British response to the events at Fort Duquesne?
Sent General Braddock and 2000 troops. On his way Braddock was killed and his army routed.
80
Why did things go badly for Britain at the start of the Seven Years War?
- French General Montcalm captured Fort Oswego (1756) and Fort William Henry (1757).
- The reverse reflected the inability of the Earl of Loudon to get the colonies to unite to their defense.
81
When did William Pitt come into power?
1757.
82
How did William Pitt change the course of the 7 years war?
- Sent 25,000 troops into America under Jeffery Amherst and James Wolfe.
- Paid for the raising of 25,000 colonists.
- British naval powers were sent to stop French reinforcements.
- Colonies were paid good money to support British forces.
83
How did Pitt use foreign support to help fight the Seven Years War?
Provided subsidies to Frederick the Great of Prussia to preoccupy the French in Europe.
84
Evidence that Britain began to do well after William Pitt came into power?
In 1758, Britain captures Louisbourg and the Mississippi Valley. France abandons Fort Duquesne.
85
Why was 1759 considered the year of victories?
- Admiral Hawke smashes French fleet at Quiberon bay - prevents the French from sending reinforcements to Canada.
- British victory in Minden Germany.
- Britain captures Guadeloupe in Canada.
86
What was agreed at the Peace of Paris (1763)?
- Britain receives Canada and all French possessions east of the Mississippi.
- Britain acquires France's Caribbean Islands.
- Britain gets Florida from Spain.
- France cedes Louisiana to Spain.
87
What was the result of the 7 Years War?
- Britain was now the world's greatest imperial power.
- War gave training to men who'd become officers in the colonial army.
- Mutual contempt between American and British soldiers.
- Laid the foundation for the American Revolution.
88
What were the signs of a weakening relationship between England and the colonies before 1763?
- The mixing of diverse people helped to forge a new identity.
- Colonies effectively ran their own affairs - governors acted largely independently.
- 1763 Peace Agreement meant that the colonies no longer feared France and were less dependent on England.
89
What were the signs of a strong relationship between England and the colonies before 1763?
- Colonies enjoyed extensive autonomy.
- Colonists were proud of their British heritage.
- 75,000 colonists joined militias to fight against the French in the 7 years war.
- Britain and the colonies were held together by the mercantilist system.
- People's loyalty was confined mainly to their colony.
