3.2 vocab

townshend acts

British attempt to acquire revenue from the colonies in 1767. They created new custom duties on common items (lead, glass, tea) rather than a direct tax. However, this act also created and strengthened formal mechanisms that would enforce the acts.

committees of correspondence

formed by the colonies as a way to stay informed about resistance efforts against the British throughout the colonies. These people felt even more ‘represented’, or united, by the fact that the resistance they spoke about was represented in the papers.

boston massacre

in 1768, the british sent regiments to enforce the acts and lower resistance. A crowd of colonists began to provoke the regiments, and the soldiers fired shots. 5 Bostonians passed away, one being a well-known resistance leader who was a former slave. John Adams helped defend the soldiers at their trial back in Britain.

tea act

an act passed to help the East India Company, which was failing. The act allowed the company to directly sell colonists the tea without having to pay an export tax, like other companies, in London. This lowered the price of tea for the colonists, but they were still unsatisfied because they disliked the monopoly the company had, and they didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that they had to follow the acts parliament passed.

boston tea party

the Sons of Liberty, led by Samuel Adams and Hancock, decided ot prevent the “landing and sale” of the tea. The ships, however, stayed docked, which upset the Sons of LIberty. Therefore, they made the decision to dump the tea into the Boston Harbor.

coercive/intolerable acts

following the Boston Tea Party, Britain instilled the Coercive acts, which were referred to as the Intolerable Acts by the colonists. The British shut down the harbor and cut off all the trade. The government was completely under British control, which meant restricting town meetings and dissolving the assembly. The quartering act was also put in place, which the colonists were fine with when it was a time of war, however the British were making colonists house soldiers in their home in a time of peace.

first continental congress

an intercolonial response to the Intolerable Acts. The first congress met on September 5, 1774. Delegates from all colonies (aside from Georgia) issued a variety of documents, including the “Declaration of Rights and Grievances.” The colonists believed they had all the rights of the native Britons, and that they had to elect a representative before they could be taxed by them.

olive branch petition

the Continental Congress created this petition to assure the king that the colonists wanted peace and harmony between the mother country and the colonies, and that they didn’t desire conflict between the two.

common sense

written by Thomas Paine, this text argued for independence from Great Britain by denouncing the monarchy and challenging the British logic. He used simple language (which helps because not everyone was a scholar), biblical references to target religious people, and rhetoric that drove the point home.

declaration of independence

created by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, it was written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, and declared the thirteen American colonies' intention to separate from British rule and establish themselves as independent states. The document emphasizes natural rights such as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and the idea that governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. This document marked the ‘beginning’ of the American Revolution and is a symbol of liberty and democracy.