Unit III Terms

Question 1

The Navigation Acts

Answer 1

Parliament passed acts on the colonies making them supply raw materials to England. Some materials were only allowed to be traded with England, which England would then trade with other countries at a high price. While the colonies were not always getting the highest price for goods, they had constant trade.

Question 2

The French and Indian War (the Seven Year’s War)

Answer 2

(1754-1763)
Virginia government granted the Ohio Company a huge amount of land, which had already been agreed upon as French and Native American territory. Ohio Company requested recognition in the land, which was refused. Fight lasted for 9 years, the result being the French gave their territory in Canada and east of the Mississippi River to the British and their territory to the west of the Mississippi to the Spanish. The Appalachian lands were now open for the British to move into, leaving the natives vulnerable. This was one of the causes of the American Revolution, because the Proclamation of 1763 would undermine the whole purpose of the war (in the colonists eyes).

Question 3

The Enlightenment

Answer 3

John Locke: Feudalism to Social Contract Theory.

Natural Rights: life, liberty, and property. People trade away some of their personal liberties in exchange for the government protecting these natural rights. Should the government fail to do so, it is the duty of the people to overthrow it and put a new one in place that would protect them.

Moving away from the strict interpretation of the dogma towards a more liberal mindset on religion. People moved away from superstition, fanaticism and a rigidity in their religious practice, towards being more independent and liberal.

Question 4

Benjamin Franklin

Answer 4

Proposed the Albany Plan. Colony leaders met in Albany, New York in 1754 to discuss a way to organise an intercolonial government, proposed by Benjamin Franklin. The plan was rejected by the delegates.

One of the people who wrote the declaration of independence. Sent as an ambassador to France to gain support from the King. Allowed for the victory in independence.

Question 5

The Great Awakening

Answer 5

Mid 18th Century, a resurgence of religion prompted and lead by Protestant leaders in the British Colonies.

Question 6

George Whitefield

Answer 6

An English minister who held large revival meetings in many locations during the 1740s during his seven trips the North America. He brought an emotional aspect to religion again to the colonists, causing religious practices to move away from cerebral and towards emotional.

Question 7

Salutary Neglect

Answer 7

Practiced by the British before the French and Indian War. It allowed both GB and the colonies to benefit under loosely enforced mercantilist rules. Allowed colonies some form of self-government. Changed after the war, where Britain enacted a series of measures to assert greater control over its colonies.

Question 8

Proclamation of 1763

Answer 8

British agreed to the same boundary line across the Appalachians as was present before the French Indian war. Forbade white settlement, and restricted commerce with the American Indians to traders licensed by the British government. Caused anger from the colonists, who believed the whole purpose of the war was to allow them to settle beyond the Appalachians. Caused tensions that would lead to American Revolution.

Question 9

The Sugar Act of 1764

Answer 9

It actually lowered the existing tax on molasses imported into North America from French Colonies in the West Indies. However, it sought to crack down on wide-spread smuggling, and made it so that smuggling cases were to be tried in Britain, not by local courts. (Also imposed duties on foreign wines, coffee, textiles, and indigo imported into the colonies, and that also expanded the customs service). First internal tax on goods.

Question 10

The Stamp Act

Answer 10

1765, act was purely designed to raise revenue. It was a direct tax on the colonists, one on all sorts of printed matter in the colonies – court documents, almanacs, deeds etc.

Reaction: resulted in nine colonies gathering and coming up with grievances they had. The colonies decided that only representatives elected by colonists could decide on taxes. Made colonies wanted to be represented and wanted self government. Further, resistance varies form boycotting goods to attacking tax collectors. “No taxation without representation.”

Question 11

“Taxation without Representation”

Answer 11

Soon became the rallying cry, the motive for unrest throughout the colonies, a reaction to the Stamp Act and to Britain’s shift away from “salutary neglect”.

Question 12

The Sons of Liberty

Answer 12

Organised the boycotts of British goods, and in cities and towns, harassed and sometimes attacked Stamp Act agents. The Act was rescinded in 1766. Ransacked the establishments of those who did not comply with the boycotts.

Question 13

Virtual Representation vs. Actual Representation

Answer 13

Inspired by the Stamp Act, colonists asserted that taxes should only be imposed by elected representatives of the colonists. British responded with “virtual representation,” stating that colonists were supposedly represented by the members of Parliament.

Question 14

The Stamp Act Congress

Answer 14

A meeting of delegations from many of the colonies, the congress was formed to protest the newly passed Stamp Act in 1765. It adopted a declaration of rights as well as sent letters of complaints to the king and parliament; the first sign of colonial unity and organised resistance.

Question 15

The Declaratory Act

Answer 15

Act passed in 1766 just after the repeal of the Stamp Act. Stated that Parliament could legislate for the colonies in all cases.

Question 16

The Townshend Duties

Answer 16

Imposed in 1767, added additional, external taxes on paint, paper, lead and tea. Prompted re-awakening of boycotts of British goods and of resistance.

Question 17

Non-importation Agreements

Answer 17

Agreements not to import goods from Great Britain. They were designed to put pressure on the British economy and force the repeal of unpopular parliamentary acts.

Question 18

Daughters of Liberty

Answer 18

In response to the Townshend acts taxation on imported goods, patriotic women began producing homemade goods to sell locally in order to avoid external tax.

During the war, they also produced goods to supply the revolutionary forces. They joined in crowd action and helped on the battlefield.

Question 19

The Boston Massacre

Answer 19

March of 1771, disagreement turned into violence and British soldiers fired on gathering crowd, causing five deaths. Result from tensions between Bostonians and newly mobilised British troops.

Question 20

The Tea Act

Answer 20

1773, to avoid bankruptcy, EIC imposed the Tea Act, which granted a monopoly of tea trade to the EIC. Actually made tea cheaper in the colonies, but was viewed as a violation of freedom.

Question 21

The Boston Tea Party

Answer 21

December 16th, 1773, where colonists responded to the act by dumping $4 million worth of tea overboard.

Question 22

The Coercive Acts

Answer 22

1774:
Massachusetts Government Act, which placed the colonies under the direct control of Britain.

The Administration of Justice Act, allowing the British to move trials to Britain from Massachusetts.

The Boston Port Act, which closed the port of Boston.

The Quartering Act, expanding the requirement that colonists allow troops to remain in their homes.

The Quebec Act, which let Catholics in Quebec freely practice their religion, which was seen as an affront to the Protestant faith.

Question 23

The Continental Congress

Answer 23

Engendered by the Coercive Acts of 1774.
Delegates from the 13 colonies created a governing body during the American Revolution.

Important colonial leaders: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Hancock.

Drafted the declaration of grievances against the British. Were not asking for independence, and mostly represented the voices of the landowning elite.

Question 24

Lexington and Concord

Answer 24

1775, marked a shift in colonial situation from resistance to rebellion. Fighting began between colonists and British troops.

Question 25

Dunmore’s Proclamation

Answer 25

1775, promised freedom for slaves of American revolutionaries who left their owners and joined royal forces. Prompted a flood of slaves feeling their masters.

Question 26

Hector Crevecoeur

Answer 26

His writings provided useful understanding in New World identity: equal opportunity and self-determination.

A French-American author.

Question 27

“Common Sense”

Answer 27

Written in 1776 by Thomas Paine, a political pamphlet which advocated for American colonists to declare independence, stating he could not see a single advantage in having any connection to Britain, either economically or politically.

Question 28

Declaration of Independence

Answer 28

4th of July 1776.
Preamble includes Locke’s natural rights theory, list of grievances against the King. “All men are created equal, and endowed with certain unalienable rights…”

Question 29

George Washington and the Military

Answer 29

Understood British strategy very well. Recruited Baron von Stephen to train the army. Wanted the S.C.C to provide army.

Question 30

Saratoga, 1777

Answer 30

Was a decisive victory for the colonists, made clear British couldn’t hold vast stretches, showed that colonists were a formidable force to France – lead to France funding them.

Question 31

Yorktown

Answer 31

1781, British surrendered to colonial troops, beginning of skirmishes until treaty.

Question 32

Treaty of Paris, 1783

Answer 32

End of the American Revolution, severed all ties between Britain and the US.

Question 33

Republicanism

Answer 33

A country in which sovereignty, or power, rested in the people not a monarch.

Question 34

Republican Motherhood

Answer 34

Focused on women having civil responsibilities in the new nation, although it still excluded equality or women being equal politically. While it kept women in domestic roles, it increased education for women.

Question 35

The Treaty of Ft. Stanqix

Answer 35

1768, signed between the British and Native Americans, established line of property beyond the Ohio line. Breached after the American Revolution, made NA fate uncertain.

Question 36

Articles of Confederation

Answer 36

Did not want anything that would resemble a monarchy. Did not want a national government that held too much power (federalist vs. antifederalists).

Representation: each state could send a certain amount of representatives, regardless of number of representatives, each state only had one vote. Congress would meet once a year.

Benefits:
Gave federal government power to make treaties and declare war. Court system for disputes between states. Land ordinance/Northwest Doctrines. Federal government can make laws.

Drawbacks:
Federal gov. does not have the power to enforce its laws. Trade was left entirely to the states (bureaucratic nightmare). Rules and laws can only be amended if every state agreed, so nothing was every done. Each state had its own currency.

Question 37

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Answer 37

Sets up how new states will be admitted and declares no slavery in new territory around great lakes.

Question 38

The Annapolis Convention

Answer 38

1786, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the commercial problems besetting the United States under the Articles of Confederation (only 5 states were involved).
Reversed trade barriers that each state had erected, because government could not regulate trade.

Question 39

Shay’s Rebellion

Answer 39

1786-87, farmers were becoming angry with the coastal elites and the local government in Massachusetts because they could not afford to pay their taxes, which led to them losing their farms. Farmers rallied together and held a rebellion that freed farmers in jail, shut down courts, and spread throughout Massachusetts. This made people afraid of the local government’s ability to shut down uprisings in the future and led to the creation of a new declaration instead of the amendment of the Articles of Confederation.

Question 40

The Constitutional Convention

Answer 40

The Confederation Congress agrees to convene a convention that will suggest amendments to the Articles [of Confederation]. And to this convention come a pretty much self-selected group of men. . . . These men are nationalists on the whole. They are men who have a vision of a stronger government.”