Giddes APUSH Chapter 7

Republicanism

a just society as one in which all citizens willingly subordinated their private selfish interests to the common good; stability of society + authority of govt depended on virtue of citizenry (capacity of selflessness, self-sufficiency, and courage; opposed to hierarchical and authoritarian institutions (like aristocracy)

"Radical Whigs"

british political commentators that feared threat of liberty posed by power of monarch/ministers; mounted scornful attacks on use of patronage + bribes by ministers (corruption); warned citizen to always look out for violation of their rights

Mercantilism

economic policy that believed wealth was power + country's wealth could be measured by gold/silver; country needed to export more than import; justified Britain's authority over the American colonies

Navigational Laws

series of laws passed to regulate colonial shipping; originally aimed at Dutch shipper trying to come into American trade; said that all commerce going to and from the colonies needed to be transported only in British ships; later required Euro goods destined for the colonies to go through Britain, where middlemen would get some of profit; required colonist merchants to ship certain products exclusively to Britain

"Enumerated Products"

products (like tobacco) that had to be shipped exclusively to Britain even though prices were better elsewhere

John Hancock

one of the first American fortunes that were amassed by whole smuggling (disregarded the Navigation Laws)

George Grenville

prime minister of Britain; told British navy to strictly enforce Navigation Laws; secured from Parliament the Sugar Act; imposed stamp tax; thought all of these was reasonable + right

Sugar Act

1764; duty on imported sugar from the WI; first tax levied on the colonies by crown + was lowered substantially in response to widespread protests

Quartering Act

1765; required colonies to provide food + quarters for British troops; colonists resented this + perceived it as a violation of their rights

Stamp Act

1765; Grenville mandated the use of stamped paper or stamps, certifying payment of tax; meant to raise revenues to support new military; required on bills of sales for ~50 trade items + on certain types of commercial + legal docs (like cards, pamphlets, newspapers, diplomas, marriage licenses, etc)

Admiralty courts

used to try offenders for violating Sugar + Stamp Acts passed by the crown; juries weren't allowed + defendants were assumed to be guilty unless they proved otherwise

"Virtual representation"

Grenville's theory that the Americans were represented in Parliament; all British subjects were represents even if no one was ever voted to be in Parliament; claimed that Parliament was supreme + undivided

Stamp Act Congress

assembly of 27 delegates from 9/13 colonies who met in NYC to draft a petition stating their rights + grievances of the Stamp Act; helped ease sectional suspicions + promote intercolonial unity

Nonimportation agreements

1765 + later; stopped importation of British goods; a LOT more effective than Stamp Act Congress cuz it was more widespread; united the Americans for the 1st time; public defiance led to spreading of angry resistance; reestablished in defiance of Townshend Act, but was less effective (taxes were indirect + smuggled tea was cheaper)

Sons/Daughters of Liberty

patriotic groups that played a central role in protesting; cried "Liberty, Property, and No Stamps"; tarred + feathered nonimportation offenders; ransacked houses of unpopular officials, took their money, + hanged statues of stamp agents on liberty poles

Declaratory Act

1766; passed along w/repeal of the Stamp Act; reaffirmed Parliament's right to bind colonies “in all cases whatsoever”; defined line that they won't give absolute + unqualified power over NA colonies

Charles Townshend

"Champagne Charley"; British prime minister who could deliver brilliant speeches in Parliament even when drunk; promised to pluck feather from colonial goose w/min squawking; convinced Parliament to pass Townshend Acts

Townshend Acts

1767; indirect tax on glass, white lead, paper, paint + tea; used to pay colonial governors who were paid directly by colonial assemblies before; sparked another round of protests in the colonies

Boston Massacre

March 5, 1770; 60+ colonists began taunting + throwing snowballs at squad of 10 soldiers; troops opened fire w/o order but provoked by jeering crowd + killed/wounded 11 people

Paul Revere

created depiction of Boston Massacre of British soldiers shooting at peace colonists; didn't contain Crispus Attucks; wanted people to see the justice of the colonists' cause

Crispus Attucks

one of the first to die; powerfully built runaway 'mulatto'; leader of the mob

John Adams

served as defense attorney for the soldiers; 2 redcoats were found guilty, other were released

King George III

reasserted dominance of British monarchy; good man in private morals, but bad ruler (stubborn + lustful for power); surrounded himself w/cooperative 'yes men', notably Lord North

Lord North

King George III's corpulent prime minister

Samuel Adams

cousin of John Adams; master propagandist + engineer of rebellion; lived + breathed only for politics; ultrasensitive to violation of colonists' rights + had deep faith in people'; effectively appeals "trained mob"; founded Committees of Correspondence

Committees of Correspondence

1772 + after; founded by Samuel Adams; local committees established across MA, + later in each of the 13 colonies, to maintain colonial opposition to British policies through the exchange of letters + pamphlets; unity among colonies; later evolved into 1st American Congresses

British East India Company

facing bankruptcy (overburdened w/17 million lbs of unsold tea); if it fell apart, London govt would lose a LOT in tax revenue; given complete control of American tea business + able to sell cheaper tea; Americans saw this as a try to trick the Americans into swallowing the principle of the detested tax + thought principle more important than price

Thomas Hutchinson

MA governor; agreed tea tax was wrong, but believed the colonists had no right to change the law; infuriated Boston radicals when he told the tea ships not to go back until everything was unloaded; one of enemies published 1 of his letters saying that he thought Eng laws should be shortened to keep law/order in place

Boston Tea Party

on December 16, 1773; ~100 Boston residents (disguised as Natives) boarded the tea ship, smashed 342 chest of tea, + dumped them into the Atlantic

"Intolerable Acts"

1774; series of laws passed in retaliation of the Boston Tea Party; closed port of Boston until damages were paid (Boston Port Act), revoked several rights in the MA colonial charter (MA Govt Act), enforced officials who killed colonists to line of duty could be sent by to Britain for trials (Administration of Justice Act), + expanded the Quartering Act to allow for lodging of soldiers in private homes; colonists convened the First Continental Congress + complete boycott of British goods in response

Quebec Act

passed in 1774 (same time as Intolerable Acts); allowed Fre residents of Quebec to retain their traditional policies + religious institution (which didn't include representative assembly or trial by jury in civil cases); extended boundaries of province southward to Ohio River; mistakenly perceived by the colonies to be part of Parliament's response to the Boston Tea Party

First Continental Congress

1774; convention of 55 delegates (including both Adams, Washington, + Patrick Henry) from 12/13 colonies (except GA) that met in Philly to craft a response to Intolerable Acts; 7 weeks long + consultative body; delegates established Association + drew up several dignified paper (including The Declaration of Rights)

George Washington

one of the 55 delegates; during 54 days, only had 9 times to dine in his own lodgings

The Association

non-importation agreement crafted during the First Continental Congress calling for complete boycott of British goods (nonimportation, nonexportation, and noncomsumption); delegates did NOT call for independence, but wanted to repeal offense isolation + return to the days w/o taxes; if grievances redress, good, if not, meet again in may 1775

Lexington and Concord

April 1775; British commander in Boston sent a group of soldiers to get gunpowder + bad rebel leaders Samuel Adams + John Hancock; "minute men" refused to spread quickly enough + shots were fired, killing 8 Americans + wounding more; event more like "Lexington Massacre" than battle; redcoats went to Concord, where they were forced to retreat; Britain finally had a war on its hand w/Americans

Hessians

30,000 german troops hired by George III to help in putting down the colonial insurrection

Loyalists

50,000 American colonists enrolled by Britain to fight on the frontier against colonial rebellion; opposed the Revolution + maintained their loyalty to the King; sometimes referred to as "Tories"

Bunker Hill

location where redcoats captured + killed 150 patriots

Benjamin Franklin

one of the leaders of the revolutionary; master among diplomats; calculated that during prolong time in battle of Bunker Hill, ~60,000 babies would be born

Marquis de Lafayette

wealthy young Fre nobleman; fled from boredom, loving liberty (Fre 'gamecock"); made general at 19 years old; recognized cuz of his family influence + political connects; services to secure further aid from Fra were invaluable

Valley Forge

encampment in PA where Washington's poorly equipped army spent a wretched, freezing winter 1777-78; troops went w/o bread for 3 days; some officers appeared wrapped in woolen bed covers; plight of the soldiers reflected the main weakness of American army - lack of stable supplies + munitions

Camp followers

women + children who followed the Continental Army + provided vital services like cooking + sewing in return for rations

Baron von Steuben

German stern drillmaster; whipped thousand of regulators into shape; soldiers of Continental line were more than able to hold their own against redcoats in the end

Lord Dunmore

royal governor of VA; issues proclamation promising freedom for any enslaved black in VA who joined the British army; news traveled fast + in 1 month, 300 slaves joined "Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment"; led black flee from plantations; after the war, 14,000 blacks would be evacuated to Nova Scotia, Jamaica, + Eng