Unit 2: Revolutionary America

Question 1

The Seven Years War

Answer 1

• 1753-1760
• France vs Britain(+colonies and other allies)
• Debate between core and peripheries
• Consequences
  1. * Britain has its debt doubled (137 million)
  1. * Treaty of paris (england gains french land in the americas)
  1. * Natives lose leverage over UK
  1. * A new king who needs money, this leads to Grenville then the sugar acts. Raise colonial taxes
  1. * England issues proclamation of 1763 which states only parts of the french land can be settled

Question 2

James Otis

Answer 2

• Responded to Stamp Act
• Wrote “Rights of the British Colonies Asserted”
  1. * Rights of the colonies asserted
  1. * Colonists have full equal rights (no tax w/o representation)
  1. * Accepts parliament’s authority
  1. * Proposes colonial representation.
• Pop: “Taxation w/o representation is tyranny”

Question 3

Patrick Henry

Answer 3

• Proposed 7 resolutions about against the Stamp Act to the VA House of Burgesses, 4 were adopted
• Consequences: Rev. Ideas spreading; Ppl not afraid to challenge UK rule

Question 4

Lord Grenville

Answer 4

• PM after 7 yrs war
• Raised Colonial taxes to get UK out of debt( Believed colonies benefited most => needed to pay $)
• Created Sugar, Currency, and Stamp Acts

Question 4

Sugar, Currency, Stamp Acts

Answer 4

• 1764-1765
• Sugar Act:
  1. * revised existing custom regulations and laid new duties on colonial imports,
  1. * designed to raise revenue but highlighted division between the mainland and caribbean colonies (who wanted the act)
• Currency Act:
  1. * Outlawed colonial printed money, as colonists imported more than they exported,
  1. * they saw the act as deprivation of exchange
• Stamp Act:
  1. * Required colonists to use tax stamps on most printed paper.
  1. * Affected the elite mostly and broke the tradition of self taxation and created fear of the british army

Question 5

Declaratory Act

Answer 5

• Created aft very large negative reaction to Stamp Act
• Repealed the stamp act but stated that Parliament still has authority over all american possessions

Question 5

Sons of Liberty

Answer 5

• An organization created by the elites of NY as an acceptable measure for resistance.
• organize protests & boycotts against the Stamp Act

Question 6

Theories of Representation

Answer 6

• US-UK relation
• Grenville believed that Parliament represented all British subjects
• English, Scottish, and Irish people believed that each member of Parliament for the entire british nation, therefore representation was assured
• Colonists however expected their government officials to advance their own specific interests(no trust in gvt officials)

Question 7

Boston Massacre

Answer 7

• Anger of Bostonians at increased taxes and posting of soldiers and creation of vice-admiralty courts
• Soldiers being attacked by Bostonians near the place with British money → Nervous British hearing fire from commander→ shooting of Bostonians
• Differing accounts:
  1. British: put clubs in Bostonian hands and them goading the British by taunting them into firing; only fired as a defense mechanism; included the involvement of all races
  1. US: innocent Bostonians fired on by British, all white(no involvement of black ppl(Crispus Attucks) in independence→ questions about slavery in USA)

Question 7

Crispus Attucks

Answer 7

• Key Part of American resistance in Boston
• Wiped away from history because of colonial depictions of the Boston Massacre

Question 8

Committees of Correspondence

Answer 8

• (1772)
• Had a shared information network(which also did propaganda)
• were created to publicize British actions & coordinate protests & boycotts
• Formed by Samuel Adams
• Became more powerful over time

Question 9

Tea Act

Answer 9

• British East India Company was getting bankrupt and needed money
• British forced the colonies to buy only their high-quality tea⇒ boycotts and protests⇒ Boston tea party

Question 10

Boston Tea Party

Answer 10

• Bostonians didn’t like the new tea act
• Decided to stop British tea ships from delivering their supplies
• Gvr Thomas Hutchinson didn’t allow the ships to leave
• ⇒ Rebel colonists dressing up(crudely) as Na. Am. and dumping all the tea in the harbor(10,000 pounds worth)
• Led to the shutting down of Boston harbor until Bostonians paid

Question 11

“Coercive Acts”

Answer 11

• Made after Boston Tea Party
  1. Quartering Act
  1. Quebec Act: Returning religious freedom to Quebec Catholics(rights to Quebec>colonist’s rights)
  1. Boston harbor shut down until tea paid
  1. Justice Act: British troops tried for crimes outside NA

Question 12

Articles of Association

Answer 12

• Adopted by the First Continental Congress on October 20, 1774. It called for a trade boycott against British merchants by the colonies.
• Made effective December 1st so american merchants could have time to adjust

Question 13

Committees of Observation

Answer 13

• Grew after 1st continental convention and shadow gvt in US
• Led to decreased colonial governmental power, eventually fully replacing them completely
• Initially just examined merchant records(published the bad ones), promoted home manufacturing, and decreased expensive activities[trade/business monitor]
• Became a spy network⇒becoming a network of rebel leaders

Question 14

2nd Continental Congress

Answer 14

• (May 1775)
• Meant to formulate a government to govern foreign affairs and craft a continental army.
• George Washington was appointed commander of the continental army
• Debated what a republic is (Egalitarian or democratic, self interest, classic republican theory)

Question 15

Olive Branch Petition

Answer 15

• Written during the 2nd continental congress.
• It was the final effort of the Second Continental Congress to persuade King George III of England to respond to the concerns of the American Colonists and to settle their differences amicably
• Rejected by King

Question 16

Dec. of Independence

Answer 16

• (July 1776)
• A document drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited (later accepted) by Congress which outline why America was choosing to separate themselves from Britain
• Also a message to foreign nations as well to demonstrate the principles of which America was being founded
• Parts
  1. Intro and philosophical discussion (natural rights, social contract, can’t overthrow for trivial reasons)
  1. Evidence for British wrongs
  1. Conclusion and Declaration

Question 17

Varieties of Republicanism

Answer 17

• Society is governed by members of “natural aristocracy” (merit not rank)
• Pursuit of private interests(ADAM SMITH)
• Government responds to ordinary folks directly
• Egalitarian or democratic, self interest, classic republican theory
• Classic Rep Theory: Checks and Balances, state > fed

Question 18

Thomas Paine

Answer 18

• Author of Common Sense where Paine wrote in clear, straightforward language using familiar logic
• Cities from the bible and critical of the monarchy
• Brought ideas to the masses as 1 in 5 adults heard Paine’s ideas

Question 19

Articles of Confederation

Answer 19

• Proposed in 1777
• Est. national government within the colonies where each state would have one vote
• It was finally adopted in 1781 after some backlash from Virginia