Britain and empire: 3.3 The loss of the American colonies

Define salutary neglect

The approach that the British took towards governance of the American colonies and tax collection until the 1760s, where the Navigation Acts were not too strictly enforced and the setting of local taxes and management rested int he hands of governors and local assemblies

When were the Townshend Duties put in place?

1767

What six commodities did the Townshend Duties affect?

Tea, lead, glass, paint, china, and wine

How many troops did the British station in Boston in 1768 due to high tensions on the city?

600

How many Bostonians attended the funeral of the 11 year old boy killed in 1770?

5000

When was the Boston massacre and how many people were killed?

1770 and 5

What do Redcoats refer to?

British soldiers

What sector were most settlers employed in?

Agriculture

At least what percent of the adult male population was enfranchised in the colonies and what was this percentage in Britain?

50% and 10% in Britain

What were the colonial assemblies the same as?

Legislative assemblies

What was the first British tax to be imposed on the colonies?

The Sugar Act 1764

When was the Seven Years’ War?

1756-63

What agreement ended the Seven Years’ War and in what year?

The Peace of Paris 1763

What stopped the American colonies from expanding out west after 1963 and how far could they go until?

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 and they couldn’t settle beyond the Appalachian Mountains

What philosophical ideas were the colonist influenced by?  

Enlightenment philosophies

What did the colonists think that the only legitimate way of raising money was?

Through colonial assemblies and then only spent locally

What did the British government ask the colonial assemblies for in 1770?

To finance the 10,000 troops that they deemed necessary to maintain the Empire

What was the phrase said by colonist in protest to new taxes?

‘No taxation without representation’

What was the  name of British government officials tasked with collecting revenue duties during the 1760s?

Agents  of the Crown

Who were the Sons of Liberty and when were they set up?

A paramilitary group originally created in Boston to organise resistance to British taxation and they were created in 1965

What did the Massachusetts Assembly publish in response to new taxation attempts and how many other colonial assemblies endorsed this?

The denunciation of the Townshend Duties and seven other colonies endorsed it

When were the ‘Years of calm’?

1770-3

When were the Townshend Duties repealed and what was the catch?

They were all repealed except for those on tea in 1770

Define a Patriot and what were they also known as?

An American colonist who was opposed to British taxation and prepared to fight to defend American liberties, also known as Whigs

What fraction of the colonist population represented each of the main ideological groups? loyalist, patriots, and neutrals

Each were one third

Who proposed the Committee of Correspondence and in what year?

Sam Adams in 1771

By 1774 how widespread were the Committees of Correspondence?

By 1774 every colony had one except for North Carolina and Pennsylvania had its own one

When was the Boston Tea Party?

December 1773

In the Boston Tea Party how much was the amount of tea that the patriots threw overboard worth roughly?

£10,000

When were the Coercive Acts and what were they a response to?

1774 and in response to the Boston Tea Party

What were the four main points of the Coercive Acts?

The closure of Boston port until all the tea was paid for, revision of the colony charter to allow the governor to appoint and remove most officials, the transfer of murder trials to England, giving more power to military commanders

When did Continental Congress first meet?

1774

What did the Committees of Correspondence become?

The Committees of Safety

What was the name of the British general that led the early fighting in Boston?

General Gage

Which three British generals arrived as reinforcements to Boston in 1775?

Generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne

What were two necessary reasons for the Declaration of Independence?

The need to issue paper money to try and meet some of the costs of war, to make George Washington the formal commander of the new Continental Army 

When was the Declaration of Independence?

4th July 1776

When was the Olive Branch petition and what did it do?

It was July 8th 1776, and appealed directly to George III to cease hostilities so that they could draw up a plan of reconciliation

When did George III declare an open rebellion?

August 1776

Who wrote Common Sense and when was it published?

Thomas Paine in January 1776

Who was the main drafter of the Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson

What was the purpose of the Articles of Confederation?

They ere a way of creating a national government which was as little like the British parliamentry system as possible 

What are two of the most important articles of the Confederation?

That all states had to agree to any amendment of the constitution, and that all powers that were not specifically granted to Congress were then reserved by the states, so Congress had no right to enforce taxes or regulate trade