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zModern > The American Revolution > Flashcards

The American Revolution Flashcards

1
Q

How many subjects of the British crown were lost following the American Revolution?

A

2 million

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2
Q

What were the five impacts of the American revolution?

A
  1. Change in geographical focus to the east.
  2. Decline of West Indies importance.
  3. Catalyst to Latin American independence.
  4. Beginning of turn from mercantilism to free trade.
  5. Demographic shift from English Protestantism to early multiculturalism
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3
Q

When did the US population overtake the British population?

A

1830

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4
Q

Who suggested that Britain turned to India to compensate for the loss of the American colonies?

A

P. J. Marshall

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5
Q

How did the British perceive the empire to be?

A

Hierarchical: king and parliament, then GB, then the colonies

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6
Q

How did Americans perceive the empire to be?

A

Equal: King, then GB and colonies

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7
Q

How can we define the British perception of empire?

A

A supreme and extensive political dominion exercised by a sovereign state over its dependencies

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8
Q

How can we define the American perception of empire?

A

An extensive territory, especially an aggregate of many separate states under the sway of a singular ruler

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9
Q

Why did the Thirteen colonies’ nature as a settlement colony contributes to the revolution?

A

American landowners claimed the right to self-govern through representative assemblies and all the rights and privileges of Englishmen under English law.

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10
Q

How did the Thirteen Colonies’ economy and society grow?

A

America was a predominantly agricultural society, land owners turned their economic capital from this into political power, especially considering American trade significance.

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11
Q

How was America governed prior to the revolution?

A

Governance via consent, due to their significant political and economic capital Americans demanded that they were only to be governed by laws they consented to.

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12
Q

Why were there imperial reforms in the mid 1700s?

A

Due to a rush to control the new territories gained following the Seven Years War and to combat any deficit

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13
Q

Why did the Americans reject imperial reforms of the 1700s?

A

Due to being accustomed to government via consent, they were unwilling to sacrifice their economic capital to service the mercantile empire

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14
Q

What influenced the American perspective of their rights?

A

The French Enlightenment- le Siècle des Lumières

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15
Q

What did Americans believe the Imperial government should control in regards to policy of the colonies?

A

Diplomacy, defence, trade. But not internal policies such as taxation. That should be controlled by American bodies.

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16
Q

What did the American colonies gain from an imperial alliance?

A
  • protection against natives and other imperial powers.
  • access to an imperial economic market
  • English society and law benefitted property owners
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17
Q

Outline the three aspects of cycle one of geo-political changes following the seven years war:

A
  1. 1765 Stamp Act.
  2. 1766 Stamp Act repealed.
  3. 1766 Declaratory Act.
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18
Q

Outline the three aspects of cycle two of geo-political changes following the seven years war:

A
  1. 1767 Townshend Duties.
  2. 1769 Townshend Duties repealed.
  3. 1773 Tea duty retained, others repealed.
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19
Q

Outline the three aspects of the crisis (cycle three) of geo-political changes following the seven years war:

A
  1. 1774 Boston Port Act.
  2. 1774 Massachusetts Government Act.
  3. 1774 Administration of Justice Act.
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20
Q

What was the 1765 Stamp Act?

A

An imposition of direct taxation on the thirteen colonies.

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21
Q

What was the 1766 Declaratory Act?

A

Parliament trying to legitimise themselves as a taxing authority.

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22
Q

What duties were imposed under the 1767 Townshend Duties?

A

Glass, paint, paper, tea.

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23
Q

What was the 1774 Boston Port Act?

A

Punishment and demands for restitution for the Boston Tea Party.

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24
Q

What did the 1774 Massachusetts Government Act mean?

A

It gave the governor of Massachusetts more political powers.

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25
Q

What did the 1774 Administration of Justice Act mean?

A

Governors could revoke sentences on royal officials.

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26
Q

What were the two motivations for the three cycles of legislation following the Seven Years War?

A
  1. Public debt had nearly doubled.

2. Britain had gained control of Quebec, a territory of a large French-Catholic population.

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27
Q

What were the four goals for the three cycles of legislation following the Seven Years War?

A
  1. To protect the empire from France and Spain.
  2. To maintain troops.
  3. Tax colonies so they contribute to imperial success.
  4. Improve the efficiency of imperial government.
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28
Q

How were the three cycles of legislation following the Seven Years War enforced?

A

garrisoning- 10,000 men were deployed to regulate.

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29
Q

How did Americans perceive the three cycles of legislation following the Seven Years War?

A

Americans saw the cycles as a frontal attack on their liberties as free Britons. The only legal taxes were ones they consented to. Without this the were British slaves.

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30
Q

Quote a source for the American Revolution:

A

The Declaratory Act of 1766: ‘That the colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial crown…’

31
Q

How many Americans wished to remain part of the British empire at the time of the revolution?

A

60,000

32
Q

How was American independence secured?

A

By making the war international- Britain tried to protect its interests against Absolutist Catholic France- its antithesis.

33
Q

How did American self-perception influence their relations with Britain?

A

Americans saw themselves as a quasi-independent state whose external interactions were regulated under imperial conditions, but whose internal running was by colonists: GB legitimised this by allowing representative government.

34
Q

Was the revolution representative of America?

A

No. Slaves and natives had no voice in the revolution and were better treated under the empire.

35
Q

What is ironic about the American revolution?

A

Americans were trying to achieve full civil liberties like ‘true Britons’.

36
Q

According to E. Gould, what was the government engaged in during the War of Independence?

A

‘an unnatural civil war’.

37
Q

What is a source for the extent to which the British public considered Americans to be their equals?

A

The Annual Register claimed ‘the evil is at home’.

38
Q

Who characterises Georgian Britain as a nation defined by empire?

A

P. Marshall

39
Q

What was the world outside of Europe perceived to be by European contemporaries?

A

Common law and the law of nations painted the outside world as chaotic etc. Colonial settler actions were thus legitimised.

40
Q

If the outside world was chaotic according to contemporary thought, what was British imperialism doing?

A

Britain was preserving the ‘liberties of Europe’ in a universal monarchy.

41
Q

What is a source for the legal continuity between Britain and the American colonies?

A

1720, Richard West, the legal counsel to the Admiralty.

42
Q

What did Richard West claim in 1720 regarding law in the colonies?

A

‘The common law of England is the common law of the Plantations’.

43
Q

What should be stressed about the transatlantic tax debate?

A

There was never an ‘us and them’ narrative from either side.

44
Q

Which contemporary claimed ‘we use North America as we use ourselves’?

A

Solicitor General Fletcher Norton.

45
Q

Which contemporary claimed ‘the sea is yours’ to Britain?

A

Benjamin Franklin in his 1766 address to the House of Commons.

46
Q

What was the legal conundrum faced by the Thirteen Colonies declaring independence from Britain?

A

The law of nations only protected internationally recognised governments, there was thus a need to find allies external of the imperial market.

47
Q

What was the federal trust outlined by E. Gould?

A

Federal Trust is the protection, to some extent, guaranteed by the British imperial state over indigenous peoples and slaves.

48
Q

What did the American congress denounce George III for?

A

The American congress denounced George III’s employing of ‘Indian savages’.

49
Q

What can be said about slaving disparity between Britons in the empire?

A

Somerset .v. Stewart (1772) claimed chattel slavery was against common law. Yet in America slavery continued to be seen as an act of mercy and civilisation.

50
Q

What did A. Ramsay claim American men to be?

A

Not British or foreign, but a new class of men.

51
Q

What should be stressed about the inclusivity, or lack thereof, in the 1787 American constitution?

A

Native Americans were not taxed and thus not citizens. Slaves were worth 3/5 of a man.

52
Q

How can we compare British and American moves towards racial equality, or, at least, accommodation?

A

By the 1830s, Britain had emancipated the West Indies, yet America expelled Indian civilisations from 4 million acres to plow the land.

53
Q

Which historian stresses that Revolutionary historiography is largely concerned with nation-building, leaving gaps as to why it happened and what it was?

A

J. Greene.

54
Q

What does J. Greene argue is often negated from historical studies of the American revolution?

A

The colonial to national continuity.

55
Q

According to J. Greene, when did the empire stop being maintained by sheer force? Why?

A

1707, because Britain had become well versed in early modern issues of composite monarchy such as representation etc.

56
Q

Why did the nature of early colonialism mean American settlers were more powerful than other, later settled dominions?

A

American settlers were the product of private endeavours at colonisation due to a lack of state revenue. Cooperation was key between multiple private colonial men.

57
Q

If i cooperation was key in America due to its private colonisation, what did this mean for its social structure?

A

American social structure was a product of individual settlers as a cohesive group who established viable monolithic political-economic systems.

58
Q

What is the British-American disparity in social structure?

A

Britain had the Old World structured society, whilst America had a New World of individual independence.

59
Q

What limited metropolitan regulation?

A

Independent property owners in America had extraordinary political autonomy, there was no chance of unilaterally enforcing imperial will.

60
Q

Why was there a reluctancy to properly fund imperialist strength in America?

A

There was a reluctancy in London to properly fund the American colonies due to a scarcity of fiscal and coercive resources.

61
Q

In light of the limits on metropolitan regulation of America and the reluctancy of proper funding, how does J. Greene characterise America?

A

A loose association of largely self-governing polities.

62
Q

Who is a source for how ‘greedy’ the American colonists were?

A

Adam Smith.

63
Q

What did Adam Smith argue regarding how ‘greedy’ the American colonists were?

A

‘in everything except foreign trade their liberty was complete.’

64
Q

How expensive was America to run as a country independently of imperial control?

A

America was very cheap in its formative years as a nation. There was a weak church presence, low poverty, and no standing army.

65
Q

When was there an economic and demographic boom in America?

A

1760s/70s, this is due to the metropole being financially appreciative of colonial worth. (There were anxieties this lax treatment would end.)

66
Q

According to J. Greene, what was the American revolution?

A

J. Greene argues the revolution was a settlers revolt which changed the form but not substance of American government.

67
Q

From when on was there a political mobilisation in the Thirteen Colonies?

A

1764+.

68
Q

What can be said about the difference between the American and French revolutions?

A

A unitary national state was not created like the French Revolution created.

69
Q

Until when did power (and identity) reside almost entirely with the American states?

A

Until the late-1880s, statehood preceded nationhood.

70
Q

Why did the states remain more significant than the national federal government for so long after the American revolution?

A

States remained significant as there was a reluctancy to establish a large bureaucracy, public works and social construction due to the prioritising of the private realm.

71
Q

What did the prioritisation of the private realm in America mean for social advancement?

A

The imperative nature of the private realm meant social differentiation continued unabated. (no restraints).

72
Q

What were the two most valuable properties in America?

A
  1. Land. 2. Slaves.
73
Q

When did the American anti-slavery movement begin?

A

1760s+

74
Q

What was the most radical part of the American revolution according to J. Greene?

A

The reconnection of political and social experiences.

zModern (5 decks)

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