Unit 1: A Country is Born; Lesson 1: Colonial Discontent

Question 1

Boston Massacre Definition

Answer 1

incident on March 5, 1770, in which British soldiers killed five colonists in Boston

Question 2

Boston Tea Party Definition

Answer 2

a 1773 protest in which colonists dressed as Native Americans dumped tea into Boston Harbor

Question 3

Boycott Definition

Answer 3

to abstain from using or buying something as an act of protest

Question 4

Coercive Acts Definition

Answer 4

British laws enacted in 1774 to punish Boston and the rest of Massachusetts for the destruction of tea during the Boston Tea Party; with Quebec Act, dubbed “Intolerable Acts” by colonists

Question 5

Committees of Correspondence Definition

Answer 5

groups of colonists formed in the 1770s to spread news and information about protests against the British

Question 6

Currency Act Definition

Answer 6

a 1764 British law that barred the colonies from issuing their own paper to pay public or private debts to Britain

Question 7

Daughters of Liberty Definition

Answer 7

a colonial women’s group organized in 1766 as a counterpart to the Sons of Liberty to oppose British policies through boycotts of British goods and other measures

Question 8

Declaratory Act Definition

Answer 8

a 1766 British law that repealed the Stamp Act of 1765 but said that Parliament could legislate for the colonies in “all cases Whatsoever”

Question 9

Duty Definition

Answer 9

an import tax

Question 10

Non-Importation Movement Definition

Answer 10

a colonial effort launched in 1765 to avoid buying British goods in order to pressure the British Parliament to repeal taxes

Question 11

Pontiac’s Rebellion Definition

Answer 11

an armed resistance in 1763 organized by Ottawa leader Pontiac among several Native American tribes that resulted in great loss of life; also known as Pontiac’s War

Question 12

Proclamation Line of 1763 Definition

Answer 12

a royal proclamation in 1763 designed to protect Native American tribes by setting a boundary at the peaks of the Appalachian Mountains beyond which no western white settlement was to take place

Question 13

Propaganda Definition

Answer 13

the use of ideas, including factual information or allegations, to further one’s cause

Question 14

Quartering Act Definition

Answer 14

a 1765 British law requiring colonists to provide housing and provisions for British troops stationed in the colonies

Question 15

Sons of Liberty Definition

Answer 15

a colonial organization formed in 1765 in opposition to the Stamp Act and other British laws and taxes

Question 16

Stamp Act Definition

Answer 16

law passed in 1765 by the British Parliament that imposed taxes on items such as newspapers and pamphlets in the American colonies; repealed in 1766

Question 17

Stamp Act Congress Definition

Answer 17

a formal meeting of representatives from nine of the 13 American colonies to discuss and coordinate a response to the Stamp Act of 1765

Question 18

Sugar Act Definition

Answer 18

a British law passed in 1764 that revised and enforced the tax on the sale of molasses, sugar, and other goods in the colonies, making it easier for British officials to bring colonial smugglers to trial

Question 19

Tea Act Definition

Answer 19

a law passed by British Parliament in 1773 stating that only the British East India Company could sell tea directly to the American colonies and permitting the company to bypass customs duties

Question 20

Townshend Acts Definition

Answer 20

laws passed by British Parliament in 1767 that taxed goods such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea imported by the American colonies

Question 21

In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, what territory was owned by the British? What were American colonists anxious to do? What was Pontiac’s Rebellion in May 1763?

Answer 21

In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, Britain, France, and their allies set new borders in North America. Britain ruled the land from Canada to Florida and the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. Britain’s American colonists were anxious to settle lands they now considered open to them, but Native Americans still occupied much of that territory. The Ottawa leader Pontiac allied Native American groups to expel the British—and their colonists—from the continent. In May 1763, Pontiac’s Rebellion began when Pontiac attacked Fort Detroit. Native Americans laid siege to British forts and skirmished with British soldiers and American colonists. Hundreds of British soldiers and settlers died. Native American losses went unreported.

Question 22

How might British conflict with Native Americans have led to tension between Britain and the colonies?

Answer 22

Britain had just finished fighting and funding one long war and didn’t want to pay for another one. Generally, British officials wanted peace with Native Americans in North America, so conflict between colonists and Native Americans likely caused tensions between the colonists and British officials.

Question 23

Which new boundary did King George III establish in October 1763, due to excessive bloodshed with the Native Americans and rising costs for the British?

Answer 23

In October 1763, King George III issued a royal proclamation establishing the Proclamation Line of 1763 north to south along the Appalachian Mountains. American colonists were barred from settlement beyond that line.

Question 24

When did King George III come to power? What was the British government like during this time?

Answer 24

George III became king in 1760 during the French and Indian War. By this time, the British monarch shared power with Parliament.

Question 25

Which reasons did King George III give for the Proclamation Line of 1763?

Answer 25

The proclamation says that the line is necessary to protect the interests and security of the colonies as well as of the Native Americans. The proclamation says fraud and abuses have been committed against Native Americans, and suggests they have a right to be angry.

Question 26

What had the Seven Year’s War done to Britain’s national debt?

Answer 26

The war had nearly doubled Britain’s national debt

Question 27

What was Prime Minister George Greenville’s ideology in taxing the colonists?

Answer 27

Britain’s Prime Minister George Grenville argued that part of the Seven Year’s War had been waged to protect the colonists. Surely they should pay more of the cost!

Question 28

Which two laws did the British parliament pass in 1764?

Answer 28

The Currency Act and the Sugar Act.

Question 29

What was the Currency Act of 1764?

Answer 29

The Currency Act required the colonies to use gold and silver to conduct foreign trade and to pay public and private debts.

Question 30

What was the Sugar Act of 1764?

Answer 30

The Sugar Act made ships and their cargo subject to search and seizure by British officials. It also established juryless courts with appointed judges to try those suspected of offenses.

Question 31

Why did the colonists oppose the Currency Act of 1764?

Answer 31

The Currency Act hurt colonists who couldn’t afford to trade in coin and made it tough for colonial assemblies to pay their debts to Britain. Additionally, gold and silver were in short supply in the colonies, meaning there was little material to create the currency.

Question 32

Why did colonists oppose the Sugar Act of 1764?

Answer 32

The Sugar Act tightened enforcement of earlier laws that required foreign goods to go through British ports. It placed a duty, or import tax, on molasses, sugar, and rum from non-British sources. For years, the colonies had skirted the rules through smuggling while British officials largely looked the other way. The Sugar Act changed that. It also took the power to decide colonists’ guilt away from colonial courts.

Question 33

What did colonists say in response to both the Sugar and Currency Acts of 1764?

Answer 33

The colonists argued that they had already paid their share of war costs and should not have to pay more.

Question 34

In an effort to raise more revenue from the Americans, what laws did the British Parliament pass in 1765?

Answer 34

The Stamp Act and Quartering Act.

Question 35

What was the Stamp Act of 1765?

Answer 35

The Stamp Act required anyone who used or purchased anything printed on paper to buy a revenue stamp. It was a new kind of tax— a direct tax on goods made and used in the colonies, just like Samuel Adams had feared. It also denied violators the right to a trial by jury.

Question 36

What was the Quartering Act of 1765?

Answer 36

The Quartering Act required colonists to house British troops in barracks, public houses, and uninhabited private buildings, like barns, and to provide them with food and other provisions.

Question 37

What was the colonial response to the Stamp and Quartering Acts of 1765? What evidence did they point out?

Answer 37

A cry of dissent rose up: “No taxation without representation!” Britain viewed that imposing the laws was within its right as the colonies’ ruler. The colonies saw them as an abuse of power. According to the unwritten British Constitution, only representatives for whom British subjects voted could tax them. The colonies had no voting representatives in Parliament and therefore no one to act in their interests. The Stamp Act touched their daily lives by taxing goods that people at all level of society used.

Question 38

How did colonial newspapers respond to the Stamp Act of 1765?

Answer 38

Colonials newspapers responded to the Stamp Act with satire, portraying the stamp as a mark of death.

Question 39

What unintended consequence did the Stamp and Quartering Act of 1765 have?

Answer 39

They brought the colonists together in a coordinated way.

Question 40

In response to the Stamp Act, how was the Stamp Act Congress formed in October 1765? What common ground did they reach? What was the “Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress”?

Answer 40

In response to the Stamp Act, the Massachusetts Assembly sent letters to the other colonial legislatures. In October 1765, delegates from nine colonies met in New York at what came to be called the Stamp Act Congress. They found common ground in opposing Britain’s new laws and taxes. Together, they issued a document called Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress. This document listed their combined grievances against the British government.

Question 41

What did the Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress petition signify?

Answer 41

The petition was the first time the colonists had unified to respond to British policy. It would not be the last.

Question 42

Who were the Sons of Liberty and what was their role in the crusade against the British?

Answer 42

Beginning in Boston, the Sons of Liberty brought together artisans, merchants, and shopkeepers to oppose the Stamp Act and later laws. The Sons of Liberty met in secret, in taverns, shops, post offices, and even beneath a giant elm known as the Liberty Tree. They printed pamphlets and broadsides protesting the laws. They published many articles in newspapers, part of a propaganda campaign to draw attention to the injustice of the Stamp Act. The Sons of Liberty also sent communications between colonies, organized public protests, and carried out not-so-legal, even violent actions—like hanging and burning tax collectors in effigy, which means using the likeness of the person.

Question 43

What did mobs begin doing in August 1765?

Answer 43

Beginning in Boston in August 1765, mobs attacked the homes and property of British tax collectors and other officials.

Question 44

Who were the Daughters of Liberty and what was their role in the crusade against the British?

Answer 44

Colonial women organized a counterpart to the Sons of Liberty dedicated to nonviolent means of protest. The Daughters of Liberty launched a boycott in which they refused to buy British goods. That boycott became the heart of a new movement. The Daughters of Liberty made teas with local herbs and berries and homespun cloth so colonists didn’t have to buy these items from British merchants. They held “spinning bees” at which they competed to see who could spin the most and the finest linen.

Question 45

What was the Non-Importation Movement, enacted by groups consisting of both Sons and Daughters of Liberty?

Answer 45

The efforts of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty drove the Non-Importation Movement to pressure Britain into repealing the Stamp Act by depriving them of trade. Merchants signed non-importation agreements, refusing to move British goods until the act had been repealed.

Question 46

Due to the severe response to the Stamp Act of 1765 and others, what did Parliament do on March 18, 1766? What was the Declaratory Act, passed the same day? Why was it passed on the same day?

Answer 46

On March 18, 1766, Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act. However, British opponents of the repeal feared it would weaken parliamentary power over the colonies. So, that same day, Parliament passed another law in response to the colonies’ charges of “no taxation without representation.” The Declaratory Act stated that Parliament had “full power and authority to make laws” for Britain’s colonies in North America. In other words, Parliament could tax the colonies if it voted to do so.

Question 47

What acts were passed 1767?

Answer 47

In 1767, Britain passed the Townshend Acts.

Question 48

Townshend Acts: Restraining Act

Answer 48

Disbanded the New York Assembly until it agreed to uphold the 1765 Quartering Act. The assembly had refused to house and provision British troops.

Question 49

Townshend Acts: Revenue Act

Answer 49

Placed duties on imported goods such as paper, paint, lead, tea, and glass. Used revenues from these taxes to pay British officials who had been paid by colonial assemblies, making them less beholden to the colonies. Granted writs of assistance, or search warrants, to customs agents to reduce smuggling.

Question 50

Townshend Acts: Indemnity Act

Answer 50

Exempted tea produced by the British East India Company from taxation when it was imported to Britain. Tea sent on to the colonies was subject to the tax.

Question 51

Townshend Acts: Vice-Admiralty Court Act

Answer 51

Established three new British courts in the colonies to try offenders.

Question 52

How did the colonists view the Townshend Acts?

Answer 52

Like the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts produced controversy and protest in the American colonies. For a second time, many colonists resented what they saw as an effort to tax them without representation. They considered the laws another attack on their rights as British citizens.

Question 53

How did the Sons and Daughters of Liberty respond to the Townshend Acts?

Answer 53

The Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty renewed and expanded the Non-Importation Movement. They called out and sometimes intimidated fellow colonists into supporting the boycott of British goods, and more merchants signed non-importation agreements.

Question 54

What did many leading colonists do in protest of the Townshend Act?

Answer 54

Many leading colonists also increased a written campaign of protest. In 1768, Samuel Adams wrote a letter that became known as the Massachusetts Circular. The letter laid out the unconstitutionality of taxation without representation and encouraged the other colonies to again protest the taxes by boycotting British goods.

Question 55

How did Committees of Correspondence take place and form after the Townshend Acts?

Answer 55

The colonies established Committees of Correspondence. In 1772, Samuel Adams persuaded the Boston Town Meeting to form the Boston Committee of Correspondence. That committee sent letters to towns throughout the colony, spreading news of the Townshend Acts and encouraging them to set up their own committees. Within months, committees connected more than 100 towns around Boston.

Question 56

How did the Committees of Correspondence help the colonies develop a shared identity?

Answer 56

The committees united many people in the colonies behind a common purpose. This helped them think of themselves as American colonists, with a shared identity, rather than as members of separate colonies with no common bonds.

Question 57

A republic is a government in which supreme power rests with the citizens and is exercised by elected representatives. How were the Committees of Correspondence a step toward republican self-government?

Answer 57

With the committees, the colonies took another step toward working together and establishing a shared system of self-government. The committees were formed and operated by the colonists themselves, through local town meetings and assemblies.

Question 58

How many troops did the British send to Boston in 1768, and for what purpose? What effect did it have?

Answer 58

In 1768, Britain sent 4,000 troops to Boston to quell the unrest. The troops’ presence had the opposite effect; they were a constant reminder of British power, and many viewed them as a threat. Some Bostonians, led by the Sons of Liberty, mounted a campaign of harassment against British troops.

Question 59

What happened in the Boston Massacre?

Answer 59

On March 5, 1770, a crowd of Bostonians gathered outside the Customs House and began heckling a British sentry. The sentry called for help. Several other soldiers as well as the commanding officer, Captain Thomas Preston, emerged. The colonists became more hostile. They lobbed snowballs, rocks, and ice at the soldiers, and reportedly, called them names and issued threats. While the captain spoke with one colonist, one of his soldiers fired a shot. More shots went off, and soon, five colonists lay dead or dying, including Crispus Attucks, an African American dock worker.

Question 60

How did Paul Revere shape colonial opinion on the Boston Massacre?

Answer 60

Paul Revere largely shaped colonial opinion. A member of the Sons of Liberty, he rushed to print a broadside showing British soldiers firing on unarmed colonists.

Question 61

In 1767, Britain got a new prime minister. Who was he and what did he want to do with the colonists? What actions did he order? What effect did the Tea Act of 1773 have on the colonists?

Answer 61

In 1767, a new prime minister—Lord North—came to power in Britain. He wanted to find a more workable solution with the colonists. North persuaded Parliament to drop all the Townshend duties except the tax on tea. Britain withdrew its troops from Boston, but the military courts and customs officials stayed. Then, the Tea Act of 1773 upheld the existing duty of the Townshend Acts. For years, the colonies had avoided that tax by making their own teas and smuggling Dutch tea. The Tea Act gave the British East India Company the ability to export its tea directly to the colonies without paying import or export duties. The law made British tea less costly than smuggled tea and cut out colonial merchants who might otherwise sell the tea.

Question 62

How did the Committees of Correspondence respond to the Tea Act of 1773?

Answer 62

The Committees of Correspondence coordinated a response: port cities up and down the coast refused to let British East India Company ships dock to unload their tea. In December, three ships entered Boston Harbor and were forced to wait.

Question 63

What was the outcome of the Boston Tea Party?

Answer 63

More than 90,000 pounds of British tea were destroyed. Neither the ships nor their crews were harmed.

Question 64

Why was it a tipping point between the British and the colonies?

Answer 64

The action was a direct assault on British ships that resulted in a massive loss of property.

Question 65

How did the British respond to the Boston Tea Party?

Answer 65

The violent destruction of property in the colonies infuriated King George III and Prime Minister North. They insisted the losses be repaid. Though some American merchants proposed paying for the tea, the Massachusetts Assembly refused. In 1774, Parliament passed four laws collectively known as the Coercive Acts. These laws intended to punish Boston’s citizens. The colonies nicknamed these laws the “Intolerable” Acts.

Question 66

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts: Boston Port Act

Answer 66

shut down Boston Harbor until the colony had repaid the British East India Company for the lost tea

Question 67

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts: Massachusetts Government Act

Answer 67

placed the colonial government under the direct control of crown officials and made traditional town meetings subject to the governor’s approval

Question 68

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts: Administration of Justice Act

Answer 68

let the royal governor relocate trials of government officials to other colonies or to Britain to shield them from colonial juries

Question 69

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts: Quartering Act

Answer 69

amended the earlier Quartering Act by requiring colonists to house British troops in private, occupied buildings

Question 70

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts: Quebec Act

Answer 70

expanded the boundaries of Quebec westward, granting the Quebec colony access to lands denied the American colonies under the Proclamation Line