APUSH Unit 3 Notes: From Imperial Rivalry to Revolutionary Independence (1754–1776)

Seven Years’ War (1756–1763)

A global conflict between major European powers—especially Great Britain and France—fought in Europe, the Caribbean, India, and North America; a major turning point that reshaped Britain’s empire and colonial-British relations.

French and Indian War (1754–1763)

The North American theater of the broader Seven Years’ War, experienced by British colonists primarily as a frontier conflict against the French and many Native American groups allied with France.

Ohio River Valley

Strategically important region for trade and settlement claimed by both Britain and France; competition here helped trigger the war in North America.

Albany Congress (1754) & Albany Plan of Union

Meeting of colonial representatives to coordinate defense and negotiate with the Iroquois; Benjamin Franklin’s Albany Plan proposed intercolonial political cooperation but failed due to colonial and British fears of centralized authority.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

Treaty ending the Seven Years’ War; France ceded Canada to Britain and gave up most territory east of the Mississippi River, expanding Britain’s empire and its postwar governing challenges.

Proclamation of 1763

British policy attempting to limit colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to reduce frontier conflict and control imperial costs; hard to enforce but became a symbol of imperial limits on colonial aspirations.

Salutary neglect

Long-standing pattern of relatively loose British enforcement of trade laws before 1763; its end made postwar taxes and regulations feel like a sudden, threatening shift to many colonists.

Taxation without representation

Colonial slogan arguing it was unconstitutional/unjust for Parliament to tax the colonies when colonists lacked elected representatives there; focused on political authority and consent, not simply opposition to all taxes.

Virtual vs. actual representation

Virtual representation: Britain’s claim that Parliament represented all subjects’ interests, even without elections by them; Actual representation: colonial insistence on direct election/accountability of representatives who levy taxes.

Sugar Act (1764)

Law that lowered the molasses tax compared to earlier rules but tightened enforcement and expanded prosecutions (including in vice-admiralty courts), increasing colonial fears about rights and precedent for revenue-raising.

Vice-admiralty courts

British-run courts used to enforce trade laws (often without juries); many colonists viewed their expanded use as a threat to traditional legal rights, especially trial by jury.

Stamp Act (1765)

Direct internal tax requiring paid stamps on many printed materials (e.g., newspapers, legal documents); sparked widespread resistance because it seemed to assert Parliament’s right to tax inside the colonies.

Stamp Act Congress (1765)

Intercolonial meeting that petitioned the king and Parliament against the Stamp Act, showing growing coordination among colonies in response to imperial policy.

Nonimportation agreements

Organized colonial boycotts of British goods used to apply economic pressure and unify resistance; a strategic tool rather than mere spontaneous anger.

Declaratory Act (1766)

Passed alongside repeal of the Stamp Act; asserted Parliament’s authority to legislate for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever,” keeping the constitutional dispute over sovereignty alive.

Townshend Acts (1767)

Duties on imports (e.g., glass, lead, paper, paint, tea) plus stronger customs enforcement; intended as external trade regulation but resisted because colonists saw the revenue purpose as unconstitutional taxation.

Boston Massacre (1770)

Deadly confrontation in Boston in which British soldiers killed several colonists; became a propaganda flashpoint about tyranny, standing armies, and colonial disorder.

Tea Act (1773)

Allowed the British East India Company to sell tea with the tax retained, aiming to aid the company while upholding Parliament’s right to tax; many colonists saw buying tea as accepting the taxation principle, helping provoke the Boston Tea Party.

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (1774)

British punitive measures responding to colonial resistance (especially in Massachusetts); intended to tighten control but instead helped unify colonial opposition.

Committees of correspondence

Networks created/strengthened to share information and coordinate resistance across colonies, supporting intercolonial unity and mobilization.

First Continental Congress (1774)

Meeting of colonial delegates to coordinate a response to British policies (especially after the Coercive Acts), marking a major step toward unified political resistance.

Lockean natural rights & social contract

Enlightenment ideas (associated with John Locke) that people possess natural rights (often summarized as life, liberty, property) and governments exist by consent to protect those rights; if government violates the contract, people may alter or abolish it.

Republicanism (virtue and fear of corruption)

Political ideology emphasizing civic virtue and the common good; warned that concentrated power and corruption threaten liberty, making standing armies and unchecked authority appear dangerous.

Rights of Englishmen (English constitutionalism)

Colonial belief that they were entitled to traditional English legal and political protections (e.g., limits on arbitrary power, taxation by consent, trial by jury), often framing early resistance as defense of established rights.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Document structured as an argument: states governing principles (rights and consent), explains the threshold for revolution (a long train of abuses), lists grievances as evidence, and concludes the colonies are free and independent states.