Unit 3: Ch. 6-7

Albany Plan of Union

Context: Proposed by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress during the outset of the French and Indian War to organize defense against the French and Native American forces.

Significance: Rejected by both the British crown and colonial assemblies (fear of losing autonomy), but it was the first formal attempt to unite the American colonies under a single centralized gov’t.

French and Indian War

Context: GB and the American colonies fought together against France and its Native American allies over control of the Ohio River Valley. Widely considered First World War (fought globally).

Significance: GB won, became the dominant colonial power in North America. But, the war caused large war debt, which caused Parliament to end salutary neglect and directly tax the colonies.

Proclamation of 1763

Context: Issued by the British Crown folllowing Pontiac’s Rebellion to prevent further conflict with Native Americans on the frontier.

Significance: Prohibited Anglo-American settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains, angering colonists who felt entitled to the western lands they had fought for during the French and Indian War

Pontiac’s Rebellion

Context: An uprising by a confederation of Native American tribes led by Ottawa chief Pontiac against British posts in the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley region after the French defeat.

Significance: Demonstrated Natives resistance to westward colonial expansion and directly led Britain to issue the Proclamation of 1763 to secure stability along the frontier.

Treaty of Paris 1763

Context: The peace agreement that officially concluded the French/Indian War.

Significance: Ended French power in North America - France ceded Canada and lands east of the Mississippi to GB, while Spain surrendered Florida to the British.

Mercantilism - Navigation Acts

Context: The economic policy holding that a nation’s power depended on wealth, using colonies as source materials and exclusive trade markets. The Acts enforced this by restricting colonial trade to British ships/ports.

Significance: Originally loosely enforced (salutary neglect), but stricter enforcement occurred after 1763 (severely limited colonial trade, fueled economic resentment toward British policy).

Acts of 1764-1765 (Sugar, Quartering, and Stamp Act)

Context: Measures passed by Parliament under Prime Minister George Grenville to raise revenue from the colonies to cover British military debt.

Significance: The Stamp Act (1765) was the first direct tax on internal paper goods in the colonies, which triggered widespread resistance and “No taxation without representation.”

Sons and Daughters of Liberty

Context: Secret patriotic organizations formed in response to the Stamp Act to oppose British economic/political policies through protests, boycotts, and enforcement of non-importation policies.

Significance: Effectively organized resistance, enforced non-importation boycotts of British goods, and built inter-colonial cooperation through action,

Acts of 1767-1773 (Townsend Acts, Tea Act)

Context: Legislation passed by Parliament imposing duties on imported goods like glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea (1767), followed by the Tea Act (1773) designed to grant a monopoly to the British East India Company.

Significance: Kept constitutional tensions high, leading directly to major clashes including the Boston Massacre (1770) and the Boston Tea Party (1773).

Samuel Adams

Context: A radical political leader from Boston and founder of the Sons of Liberty who served as a key organizer of colonial opposition.

Significance: Established the Committees of Correspondence to maintain communication/coordinate opposition among the colonies (played a major role in public opinion leading up to the rev).

Intolerable Acts

Context: Harsh laws passed by Parliament specifically to punish Massachuessets for the Boston Tea Party, including closing Boston Harbor and suspending the local colonial gov’t.

Significance: Instead of isolating Mass, the acts united the 13 colonies, leading directly to the First Continental Congress.

First Continental Congress (1774) and Second Continental Congress (1775)

Context: Meetings of delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia - the First met to respond to the Intolerable Acts, and the Second met after armed conflict began at Lexington/Concord.

Significance: The First Congress organized a total boycott of British goods - the Second managed the colonial war effort, created the Continental Army, appointed GW commander, and issued the Dec of Indy (1776).

Second Continental Congress

Context:

Significance

The Association

Context: A system created by the First Continental Congress to enforce a complete economic boycott of British trade.

Significance: Represented the most comprehensive intercolonial economic agreement up to that time + actively mobilized everyday citizens into political action.