The Road to Independence (1750-1781)

Question 0

Seven Years War / French & Indian War

Answer 0

1754-1763 - NINE YEARS
French & Indians vs British
Americans got stuck in the middle of European power struggles
French tried keeping English out of Ohio valley - protecting fur trade
Washington attacked French outpost & lost - became a hero
French had better relationships with natives - lesser of 2 evils
Took years for England to get the upper hand - became undisputed colonial power of the continents

Question 1

Albany Plan of Union

Answer 1

1754
Reps from 7 colonies met in NY
Developed by Ben Franklin
Provided for an intercolonial government and system for collecting taxes for the colonies’ defense
Franklin tried to negotiate with Iroquois
Rejected - colonists didn’t want to relinquish control of their right to tax themselves

Question 2

How did the seven years war lead to the American revolution?

Answer 2

American contact with British soldiers
English made bad impression - started anti-British sentiment, especially in New England
British had huge debt - had to tax

Question 3

Pontiac’s Rebellion

Answer 3

After Seven Years War English raised prices of goods to Native Americans & ceased paying rents - MONOPOLY
Ottowa war chief Pontiac rallied tribes and attacked colonial outposts
Used germ warfare to win

Question 4

Proclamation of 1763

Answer 4

Response to Pontiac’s rebellion
Forbid settlement west of the rivers running through the Appalachians - too late - settlers had already moved west
Agitated settlers - anti-British sentiment
END OF SALUTARY NEGLECT
1st step in road to revolution
Established pattern of demarcating “Indian Territory”

Question 5

King George III and prime minister George Grenville - justification for taxing colonists

Answer 5

Colonists were beneficiaries of Seven Years War
Had light taxation compared to English citizens
Colonists thought that they provided soldiers –> done with obligations

Question 6

Sugar Act

Answer 6

1764
Established a number of new duties and contained provisions aimed at deterring molasses smugglers
Actually lowered duty on molasses coming into the colonies
Angered colonists - duties to be strictly collected
Violators would be arrested and tried without a jury

Question 7

Currency Act

Answer 7

Forbade the colonies to issue paper money
Caused discontent - could see British wanted greater control
Clear end to salutary neglect

Question 8

Stamp Act

Answer 8

1765
Tax specifically aimed at raising revenue
Demonstrated that colonies’ self taxation was being unjustly taken
Broad-based tax - affected everyone, especially lawyers
Repealed in 1766 after much protest
Taxed goods produced in the colonies

Question 9

James Otis’ “The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Provided”

Answer 9

Pamphlet that laid out the colonists’ argument against the taxes
NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION
Did not advocate secession, but more representation in parliament or self-government

Question 10

Virtual representation

Answer 10

British theory that the members of parliament represented all British subjects regardless of who elected them

Question 11

Patrick Henry

Answer 11

Virginia Stamp Act Resolves

Protested the tax and asserted the colonists’ right to a large measure of self-government

Question 12

Sons of Liberty

Answer 12

Protest groups of taxes that formed around the colonies

Question 13

Declaratory Act

Answer 13

Asserted British governments right to tax and legislate in all cases anywhere in the colonies

Question 14

British Prime Minister changes pre-Revolution

Answer 14

George Grenville (stamp act) –> Lord Rockingham (repealed stamp act, declaratory act) –> William Pit (became ill) –> Charles Townshend (Townshend Acts)

Question 15

Townshend Acts

Answer 15

1. Taxes goods directly imported from Britain for the first time - not approved by mercantilism
2. Some taxes were set aside for payment of tax collectors
3. Created more vice-admiralty courts and several new government offices
4. Suspended the New York legislature bc it refused to comply with a law requiring colonists to supply British troops
5. Instituted “writs of assistance” - licenses that gave the British the power to search any place they suspected of hiding smuggled goods

Repealed all duties 2 years later, except tea, and kept all statutes

Question 16

Massachusetts Circular Letter

Answer 16

Written by Samuel Adams 1768
Letter by Massachusetts assembly to all other assemblies asking that they protest the Townshend acts in unison
British ordered that assemblies not discuss this - made them discuss more

Question 17

What was the most successful method of pre-revolutionary protest?

Answer 17

Boycotts

Affected British merchants, who then joined the protest

Question 18

Quartering Act 1765

Answer 18

Stationed troops in America and made colonists responsible for feeding and housing them
Heightened tensions
Sought off-hour employment - job competition

Question 19

Boston Massacre

Answer 19

March 5, 1770
Crowd throwing snowballs and rocks at soldiers, 5 men killed when soldiers fires into the mob
Propaganda suggested they were innocent bystanders

Question 20

Committees of Correspondence

Answer 20

Traded ideas throughout colonies and informs one another of the political mood
Worked to convince more citizens to take an active interest in the conflict

Question 21

Boston Tea Party

Answer 21

December 16, 1773
British guaranteed East India Tea Company a monopoly on tea trade and a portion of new duties
Cheaper tea, but new taxes
Sons of liberty dressed as Mohawks and dumped tea into Boston harbor

Question 22

Coercive “Intolerable” Acts

Answer 22

Collective term for English punitive measures following the Boston Tea Party
Closed boson harbor to all but essential trade until tea was paid for
Tightened control over Massachusetts government and it’s courts
Stricter Quartering Act
Convinced colonists that they had no more autonomy

Question 23

Quebec Act

Answer 23

Passed at same time as coercive acts
Granted greater liberties to Catholics
Extended boundaries of Quebec territory - further impeding westward expansion

Question 24

First Continental Congress

Answer 24

All colonies except Georgia
Late 1774
Met to discuss grievances
Made a list of laws they wanted repealed and agreed to a boycott until their grievances were redressed
Agreed to form a continental association - towns set up commuters of observation
Created a limited set of justified parliamentary boundaries
Represented major break with British tradition

Question 25

Battle of Lexington

Answer 25

British troops sent to confiscate patriot weapons in Concord
Minutemen waiting in Lexington
Someone fired a shot - 8 dead minutemen
British proceeded to Concord

Question 26

Minutemen

Answer 26

Colonial militia

Could supposedly be ready to fight on a minutes notice

Question 27

Battle of Concord

Answer 27

Much larger contingent of minutemen
Inflicted numerous casualties on redcoats
Repelled the worlds greatest army
Shot heard round the world

Question 28

Loyalists

Answer 28

Colonists remaining loyal to the Crown
Government officials, devout Anglicans, merchants dependent upon trade with England, & religious/ethnic minorities who feared persecution at the hands of the rebels

Question 29

Patriots

Answer 29

Wanted to separate from England
White Protestant property holders and gentry, urban artisans

Large amount of population just wanted the revolution to blow over

Question 30

Second Continental Congress

Answer 30

1775
Preparing for war: Established a continental army, printed money, and created government offices to supervise policy
Chose Washington to lead army
Some patriots still trying to reconcile

Question 31

Olive Branch Petition

Answer 31

John Dickinson - pushed for reconciliation with Britain
Last-ditch attempt to avoid armed conflict
Followed skirmish and bunker hill (breeds hill)

Question 32

Common Sense

Answer 32

Thomas Paine
Pamphlets produced 1776
Propaganda
Advocated colonial independence and republicanism over monarchy
Bummer that most people couldn’t read, but still spread very far
Plain spoken language

Question 33

Declaration of Independence

Answer 33

Written by Jefferson
Enumerated grievances against the Crown and articulated the principle of individual liberty and social contract
Obvious flaws - still worked
Signed July 4, 1776

Question 34

Battle of Saratoga

Answer 34

Turning point of revolutionary war
Patriot victory
Led to French support of the colonists - helped win the war

Question 35

Franco-American Alliance

Answer 35

Negotiated by Ben Franklin in 1778
Brought French into the war on the side of the colonists
After battle of Saratoga

Question 36

Battle of Yorktown

Answer 36

Where the British surrendered

Question 37

One of continental army’s biggest problems?

Answer 37

Trouble recruiting good soldierS

Eventually recruited backs

Question 38

Treaty of Paros 1783

Answer 38

Granted US independence and generous territorial rights