Chapter 3: America in the British Empire

Mercantilism

The economic belief that there is a limited amount of wealth in the world

• more exports than imports

Lords of Trade

english government officials sent to America to enforce Navigation Acts

Capitalism

an economic system characterized by private ownership of the means of production, where individuals or businesses operate for profit in a competitive market

• CHANGED from mercantilism to capitalism after New world

Favorable Balance of Trade

Countries exporting more than the import

Enumerated Articles

Goods that the colonies can only export to England

Salutary Neglect

An unofficial English policy of ignoring their colonies when they violated Navigational Acts

Deism

The belief that there is a God, but is not involved in the world

"No taxation without representation"

Complaint from the colonists that they did not have anyone in Parliament

Provincials

ordinary citizens in the British colonies

Boycott

To stop doing a certain action as a protest

Navigation Acts

restricted colonial trade to English ships, either built in England or the colonies and owned by English or colonial resident

Iron (1750) and Wool Acts (1699)

Prohibited the trade of iron and wool to foreign countries

Great Awakening 1730-1740

A revival of Christianity in the colonies

Effects:

• fostered religious toleration

• first truly national event in American history

• New England south and middle colonies began to intersect

• 1691 intercolonial postal system

Enlightenment 1685

A secular movement that encouraged free thinking (reason and science over God and faith)

Great War for Empire (Seven Year's War) (French and Indian War)

War between France and England in the colonies, ending in English victory

Treaty of Paris (1763)

Ended the French and Indian War, giving a lot of land in the Americas to England

Pontiac's Rebellion

A Native rebellion that led to the Proclamation of 1763

Proclamation of 1763

Colonists could not settle west of the Appalachians and also made people settled in the west move east

Sugar Act 1764

Tariff on sugar, coffee, wine, and other goods

Stamp Act 1765

A tax on any printed material

Declaratory Act 1766

Repealed the Stamp Act, but declared that the colonies were subordinate to Parliament(gave parliament right to legislate for american colonies)

MA Circular Letter

written by James Otis and Samuel Adams

Request by the Massachusetts General Court to end the Townshend Duties

Boston Massacre 1770

British soldiers opened fire on a crowd of colonists, killing 5

Boston Tea Party 1773

Colonists dressed up as Natives and threw tea out of ships

Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) 1774

Acts passed by British Parliament in 1774 to punish Mass (Boston) for the Boston tea party

• quartering act: housing soldiers

• quebec act

Boston Port Act

Closed all the ports of Boston until the tea was paid off

Administration of Justice Act

allowed British officials in MA to be tried in other colonies or Britain if accused of serious crimes

Massachusetts Government Act

Gave more power to the governor to appoint officials and weakened everyone else

First Continental Congress 1774

Delegates meet in Philadelphia to address tensions with Britain and send a list of grievances to the king and organize boycotts against Intolerable Acts

• only georgia did not attend

Board of Trade

British body overseeing colonial affairs

Continental associations

Was to boycott British goods and stop exports to the Empire

George Whitefield

Started the Great Awakening through his preaching throughout the colonies

Old Lights

Traditional Christians

New Lights

New Christians who were more evangelical emotional and personal in faith

Jonathan Edwards

Evangelical preacher who preached by invoking fear of God (New Lights)

most famous sermon: sinners in the hands of an angry god 1741

Five Nations

Federation of Iroquois confederacy Native tribes of NY that inspired the upcoming American democracy

William Pitt

British general that won the French and Indian War in the Americas and brought the Seven Years War to an end (1708-1778)

George Grenville

English Lord of the Treasury & prime minister that proposed taxing the colonists (Sugar Act)

Patrick Henry

Famous revolutionary who said "Give me liberty or give me death"

Proposed resolutions to the Virginia house of burgesses and was against the taxes

Sons of Liberty

A revolutionary group that organized lootings, riots, and vandalism

Charles Townshend (Townshend Duties) 1767

Introduced levies on glass, lead, paint, papers, and teas

John Dickinson

wrote Letters from a Farmer

Sent grievances and complains to England about the taxes and said it could not be imposed without colonist representation

Committees of Correspondence 1773

groups of Patriot leaders organized by Samuel Adams, formed in the American colonies in the lead-up to the American Revolution, that served as a network for communication and coordination to resist British rule.

Joseph Galloway

Colonial legislator and attorney who was a loyalist

Age of Reason/Enlightenment

period where reason and science were valued over God and Faith

Direct and Indirect taxes

direct taxes are those imposed directly on individuals or their property, while indirect taxes are levied on goods or transactions.

• The Stamp Act is an example of a direct tax, where colonists were required to purchase stamps for various legal documents, while the Townshend Acts imposed indirect taxes on imports like tea and glass.