The Loss of the American Colonies, 1770-83

Question 1

When were the Townshend Duties introduced?

Answer 1

1767

Question 2

Which items were included in the Townshend Duties?

Answer 2

Tea, lead, glass, paint, china and wine

Question 3

When did the Boston Massacre take place?

Answer 3

5th March 1770

Question 4

When and where was the first committee of corrrispondance set up?

Answer 4

Boston, 1772

Question 5

Who made the suggestion of the committee of correspondence?

Answer 5

John Adams

was eventually taken up by almost all other states by 1774.

Question 6

When was the tea act introduced?

Answer 6

May 1773

Question 7

What did the tea act allow?

Answer 7

Allows the East India Company to trade directly with America rather than shipping through London.

Question 8

When did the Boston Tea Party take place?

Answer 8

16th December 1773

Question 9

What happened at the Boston Tea Party?

Answer 9

Patriots threw 342 chests of tea worth about £10,000 into the sea in protest against the tea act.

Question 10

When and why were the coercive acts introduced?

Answer 10

1774, as a direct response to the Boston Tea Party.

Question 11

What happened in September 1774?

Answer 11

Representatives of all the colonies meet in Philadelphia in the Continental Congress in response to the Coercive Acts.

Question 12

When were the first shots of war fired?

Answer 12

18th April 1775

Question 13

Who fired the first shots of war?

Answer 13

Lexington and Concord

Question 14

When was the Battle of Bunker Hill?

Answer 14

17th June 1775

Question 15

When did the colonies begin drawing up a new constitution?

Answer 15

June 1776

Question 16

When was the Declaration of Independence made?

Answer 16

4th July 1776

Question 17

When was the Battle of Saratoga?

Answer 17

October 1777

Question 18

When was the new constitution approved?

Answer 18

November 1777

Question 19

When did France declare war on Britain?

Answer 19

June 1778

Question 20

When did Spain enter the war?

Answer 20

June 1779

Question 21

When did the British surrender to the Americans at Yorktown?

Answer 21

19th October 1781

Question 22

When was the Treaty of Paris signed?

Answer 22

1783

Question 23

Who signed the Treaty of Paris?

Answer 23

Britain, the USA, France, Spain and Holland

Question 24

Which people were known as redcoats?

Answer 24

The British soldiers

Question 25

Who were the protestants?

Answer 25

The breakaway or ‘protesting’ churches were excommunicated by the pope in 1521. The Protestant church was not a homogenous whole, but a series of independent churches each with their independent views and not centred around the traditional hierarchy. The focus on an individual’s salvation meant that there was a strong emphasis on literacy and participation as a member of a congregation.

Question 26

What is the franchise?

Answer 26

The right to vote.

Question 27

What is the national debt?

Answer 27

This the term is given to the money borrowed by the British government through the issue and sale of securities and bonds. The British national debt doubled during the seven years war, from £75million to £133million.

Question 28

Who were the agents of the crown?

Answer 28

agents of the colonial government, including customs officials.

Question 29

What was Tarring and feathering?

Answer 29

Public humiliation whereby the victim was stripped to the waist, covered in liquid tar and then feathers, before being paraded through the streets.

Question 30

What were the Townshend Duties?

Answer 30

The collective name for a series of Acts passed by the British from 1767 relating to the collection of customs duties from the American colonies. They were introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townshend. They included taxes on lead, glass, painter’s colours and, most controversially, on tea.

Question 31

Who were the Sons of Liberty?

Answer 31

A Paramilitary opposition, originally centred in Boston, set up to organise resistance to British taxation in the 1760s. They ensured Boston was at the centre of anti-British activity.

Question 32

Who were the patriots?

Answer 32

An American colonist who was opposed to British taxation and prepared to fight to defend American liberties. Patriots were proud to call themselves Whigs.

Question 33

Who were the loyalist?

Answer 33

One who remained loyal to the British Crown during the agitation before the American War of Independence and during the war itself. Also referred to as Tory in an echo of British political names. In Britan, the Tories had supported the rights of James II before the Glorious Revolution, as opposed to the Whigs.