Mercantilism, Trade Laws, and Early Revolutionary Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from mercantilism, colonial taxation, and the path to the American Revolution.

Mercantilism

An economic system in which colonies exist to enrich the mother country; wealth equals power; colonies are resources, not liabilities.

Navigation Acts

British laws restricting colonial trade to England or other English colonies to strengthen the mother country’s economy, which also encouraged smuggling.

Smuggling

Trading goods illegally to evade taxes or restrictions; common under mercantilism and often used to bypass trade laws.

Stamp Act

1765 direct tax on printed materials requiring government stamps, leading to taxation with representation grievances.

Direct Tax

A tax paid directly by the consumer or producer, visible at the point of sale.

Indirect Tax (Tariff/Duty)

A tax collected on goods at the border or included in the price without being paid at the register.

Tariff

A tax on imports or sometimes exports; a type of indirect tax that affects prices.

Declaratory Act

1766 law proclaiming that Parliament had authority to tax the colonies in all cases whatsoever, after the Stamp Act was repealed.

Tea Act

1773 law granting the East India Company a monopoly on tea and exempting it from certain taxes, undercutting competitors.

East India Company

A powerful British trading company whose financial troubles led to a government-backed tea monopoly in the colonies.

Monopoly

Exclusive control of a market or product; the Tea Act created a monopoly on colonial tea.

Boston Tea Party

1773 protest where colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor to oppose the Tea Act and British control.

Coercive Acts / Intolerable Acts

1764–75 punitive laws against Massachusetts meant to isolate the colony and deter rebellion; spurred colonial unity.

Boston Port Act

Shut down Boston Harbor until the tea destruction damages were paid, crippling trade.

Massachusetts Government Act

Dissolved the colonial assembly, placed the governor under royal appointment, and restricted local self-government.

Administration of Justice Act

Moved trials for colonial defendants to other colonies or Britain to ensure favorable outcomes for the Crown.

Quartering Act

Required colonists to house and feed British troops; a key grievance linked to privacy rights and later the Third Amendment.

Committees of Correspondence

Networks of colonial leaders who exchanged letters to organize resistance and coordinate actions.

Shadow Government

A secret, parallel colonial government formed after dissolving the official Massachusetts government to organize resistance.

Lexington and Concord

First battles of the American Revolution (1775); British attempt to seize arms failed as colonial militias organized a broader resistance.

Paul Revere

Patriot who helped warn colonial militias of British movements toward Lexington and Concord.

William Dawes

A fellow rider with Paul Revere who carried warnings to the countryside about the British advance.

Militia

Citizen-soldiers who fought alongside regular troops; less trained than the formal army but crucial in early battles.

Third Amendment

Part of the Bill of Rights prohibiting the quartering of soldiers in private homes, rooted in the abuses of the Quartering Act.

Boycott

A organized refusal to buy or use goods from a government or company to protest policies or actions.