Build-Up to the American Revolution

Stamp Act (1765)

Required colonists to purchase revenue stamps for printed materials and legal documents. It affected many colonists and became a major target of protest.

Quartering Act

Required the colonies to provide British troops with supplies and housing. It affected New York most heavily because many British troops were stationed there.

"No taxation without representation"

Colonial argument that Parliament should not tax the colonies because colonists did not elect representatives to Parliament.

John Locke

Political thinker whose ideas about life, liberty, property, and resistance to tyranny influenced colonial opposition to British policies.

Virtual Representation

British argument that Parliament represented the interests of all British subjects, including colonists who could not directly vote for members of Parliament.

James Otis

Massachusetts political leader who argued for colonial rights and criticized taxation without colonial representation.

Sons of Liberty

Militant colonial protest group that organized resistance against British policies, including the Stamp Act.

Loyalists

Colonists who supported Britain and British policies.

Non-Importation Movement

Colonial boycott of British goods designed to pressure Britain economically. Homemade goods became symbols of resistance.

Patrick Henry

Virginia political leader who argued that Virginians had the rights of Englishmen and should only be taxed by their own representatives.

Stamp Act Congress (1765)

Meeting of 27 delegates from nine colonies that protested the Stamp Act and issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances.

Declaration of Rights and Grievances

Statement created by the Stamp Act Congress asserting colonial rights and objecting to taxation without representation.

Declaratory Act (1766)

Passed when Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. Declared that Parliament had full authority to make laws for the colonies.

Townshend Acts (1767)

British measures that imposed new taxes and strengthened British control over the colonies.

Revenue Act of 1767

Part of the Townshend Acts that taxed colonial imports including glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea.

Samuel Adams

Leader of the Sons of Liberty who argued that Parliament had no right to legislate for the colonies.

Lord North

British official under whom tensions between Britain and the colonies escalated toward revolution.

Boston Massacre (1770)

Conflict between colonists and British soldiers on March 5, 1770. British troops fired into a crowd, killing five colonists and wounding six.

Crispus Attucks

Runaway enslaved person who was the first person killed in the Boston Massacre.

Tea Act (1773)

British law intended to help the struggling East India Company sell its tea in the colonies. Colonists opposed the company's special treatment and monopoly.

East India Company

British company helped by the Tea Act of 1773. Its tea became the focus of colonial resistance.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

On December 16, Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded ships in Boston and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor.

Intolerable Acts (1774)

Colonial name for British measures passed to punish Boston after the Boston Tea Party. Instead of isolating Boston, they increased colonial resistance and unity.

Boston Port Act

One of the Intolerable Acts. Closed Boston's port until the destroyed tea was paid for.

Administration of Justice Act

Allowed the governor to transfer trials of British officials accused of crimes in the colonies to England.

Massachusetts Government Act

Made Massachusetts government officials appointed rather than elected, reducing colonial self-government.

General Thomas Gage

Replaced Thomas Hutchinson as governor of Massachusetts and commanded British forces there as the colony came under military rule.

Quebec Act (1774)

Established an appointed government in Quebec, privileged the Catholic Church, and expanded Quebec's territory. Colonists viewed it as another example of British tyranny.

Thomas Jefferson

Virginia leader who proposed a day of fasting and prayer in response to the Boston Port Act and participated in the events leading toward a Continental Congress.

Raleigh Tavern

Location where Virginia leaders met after their assembly was dissolved and developed a resolution calling for a Continental Congress.

Continental Congress

Proposed united meeting of colonial representatives intended to respond to British policies such as the Coercive/Intolerable Acts.