Unit 3: Topic 3 - Taxation Without Representation Flashcards
Who was Lord George Grenville?
George Grenville was Prime Minister of Great Britain between 1763-1765.
As Prime Minister, he was responsible for the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, and Quartering Act. Grenville believed that the colonists in the 13 colonies had an obligation to pay more in taxes because the government protected them during the French and Indian War.
What were the Writs of Assistance?
Writs of Assistance were general search warrants designed to stop smuggling.
They allowed British customs agents to search wherever they pleased and without having to pay for any damages. James Otis argued that the writs violated natural law, and many Americans felt that Writs of Assistance infringed upon their rights as British subjects.
What was the Stamp Act?
The Stamp Act imposed a direct tax on the purchase of a stamp for newspapers, advertisements, and legal documents.
It was one of the most controversial laws ever passed by Parliament, and after several months of protests and boycotts, it was repealed on 18 March 1766.
What were the terms of the Sugar Act?
The Sugar Act increased taxes on luxuries such as sugar.
It also provided for stronger enforcement of the Navigation Acts; any smugglers caught would be tried by an admiralty court, without a jury.
What was the Quartering Act?
The Quartering Act required that Americans house and feed British troops.
Between 1764-1765, the British government passed the Sugar Act, the Quartering Act, and the Stamp Act, which met with hostility in the American colonies.
Why did the British government pass these acts?
The three acts were passed to increase revenue from and decrease costs of the North American colonies to the British government after the British amassed a large debt from the French and Indian War.
What was the Stamp Act Congress?
Called in 1765 by James Otis of Massachusetts, representatives of nine colonial governments attended the Stamp Act Congress to protest the British government’s taxes on the American colonies.
What was the Declaratory Act?
The Declaratory Act (1766) reaffirmed the power of the British government to tax and make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” Passed along with the repeal of the Stamp Act, few noticed the reaffirmation of the British taxing power.
What were Townshend Acts?
Passed by the British in 1767, it established new taxes on paper, tea, and glass. It also suspended New York’s colonial government and gave British customs officials the power to issue writs of assistance.
What was the Tea Act and why did Parliament pass it?
The Tea Act made the price of British tea, plus tax, cheaper than Dutch tea by giving the British East India Company rights to directly ship its tea to North America without duties on its goods.
This gave the British East India Company a monopoly of the tea trade, angering the colonists who didn’t want to buy from them.
Tea was an important component of the British economy. After the American colonies began boycotting tea from Britain (instead using smuggled Dutch tea), the British East India Company suffered a financial crisis.
Why did the Boston Tea Party take place?
To protest the British government’s actions in the Tea Act.
The Sons of Liberty, disguised as Indians boarded the ship carrying the tea on December 16, 1773, and threw 1.7 million dollars worth of tea (in today’s US dollars) overboard.
How did the British government respond to the Boston Tea Party?
Profoundly angered by the Boston Tea Party, the British government passed the Coercive Acts in 1774, four acts to punish the colonies, specifically Massachusetts.
The four acts closed Boston harbor, got rid of colonial-government by appointing a government controlled by the British in Massachusetts, allowed British officials charged with offenses to go to England for trial instead of staying in the U.S., and expanded the Quartering Acts.
What was “virtual representation”
When the colonists complained of a lack of representation in Parliament, the British claimed that the existing members of Parliament represent the interests of all of the colonies (virtual representation) even if they were not actually from the colonies.
The phrase “no taxation without representation” became a popular political slogan in response to this lack of real representation in Parliament.
What was the Quebec Act?
Passed along with the Coercive Act in 1774, the Quebec Act extended Quebec’s territory onto the Ohio River Valley, which was land that the 13 colonies thought belonged to them, as well as making Roman Catholicism the official religion of Quebec.
What led up to the Boston Massacre in 1770, and what were its results?
In March 1770, a number of Bostonians harassed the British troops with snowballs and taunts. Somone in the crowd yelled fire, and the British troops fired into the crowd, killing five Americans. The British troops were tried for murder. Defended by John Adams, the troops were acquitted.
This showed the colonists were capable of self-government in their justice system, freeing the troops despite their biases against the British.
