HW - Chapter 5: The Problem of Empire (1763-1776)

Sugar Act of 1764

The act passed a duty of 3 pence per gallon on molasses by George Grenville

- One of the first enforcement policies

- Profit, but still payable

Currency Act of 1764

The act banning colonists from using paper money

- Controlled American economies

Vice-Admiralty Courts

Nautical courts ran by British appointed judges, guilty until proven innocent

- Tried smugglers, and closed lenient loophole of colonial judges

Stamp Act of 1765

The act requiring a tax stamp on all printed items

- Affected the rich

- One pence stamp on newspaper, 10 pound stamp on lawyer license

Virtual Representation

Colonists represented by Parliament, even though they had no colonists on there

- No taxation without representation

Why did the colonists not agree with the Stamp Act and Virtual Representation?

1. British said virtual representation was had because there were transatlantic merchants and West Indies planter colonists on Parliament

2. Parliament's distance from colonies

3. Parliament's "right of Parliament" to tax colonies

4. The shift from colony courts to vice-admiralty courts

Quartering Act of 1765

The act requiring colonial governments to provide barracks and food for British troops, and for colonists to house and supply them

Stamp Act Congress (1765)

The congress in New York City in October because they wanted to protest the loss of "American liberties and rights," starting the boycott of British goods

Sons of Liberty

Mobs from Boston and other parts of Massachusetts who protested British policies, burning effigys, and feathering and tarring tax collectors

Rabble

Angry crowds protesting the Stamp Act

English Common Law

The centuries-old body of legal rules and procedures that protected the lives and property of English monarchy's subjects

Natural Rights

John Locke's idea of rights we were inherently born with that the government must protect

- Life, liberty, property

Declaratory Act of 1766

The act reaffirming Parliament's power and authority to make laws and tax the colonists

- Increased colonial resentment

Townshend Act of 1767

The act imposing duties on colonial imports of paper, glass, paint, and tea passed by unsympathetic Charles Townshend

Revenue Act of 1767

The act creating a Board of customs commissioners in Halifax, Boston, Philly, and Charleston, part of the Townshend Act that imposed duties on paper, glass, paint, and tea imports

- Wanted to raise 40,000 British pounds

Nonimportation Movement

The colonial movement of making goods at home, ran by the Daughters of Liberty that was part of the boycott against British goods and taxes

Committees of Correspondence

Committees that allowed Patriots to communicate with other colonial leaders because of threats to liberty

- Pennsylvania didn't join in 1774

The Act of May 1773

The act financially relieving the in-debt East India Company

- Gave the company a government loan and no import taxes on the colonies and Ireland

Coercive Acts

Also known as the intolerable acts, 4 acts passed to force Massachusetts to pay for tea and submit to imperial authority

1. Boston Port Bill

2. Mass Government Act

3. New Quartering Act

4. Justice Act

Boston Port Bill

The first coercive act that closed the Boston Harbor for shipping

Mass Government Act

The second coercive act nullifying Massachusetts' colony charter, and prohibiting town meetings

New Quartering Act

The third coercive act requiring colonists to house British troops in unoccupied areas like barracks

The Justice Act

The fourth coercive act allowing capital crime trials to be moved to other colonies or to Britain

How did the colonists respond to the Coercive Acts?

Increased colonial unity and boycotts, triggered the Continental Congress

Quebec Act of 1774

The act allowing Roman Catholicism in Quebec and expanded its borders into the Ohio River Valley

- Increased New England religious enthusiasm because Protestants/Puritans vs. Roman Catholics

- Angered land speculators in Virginia and Pennsylvania

Continental Congress (1774)

The first congress formed by patriot colonial leaders because of the coercive acts, with representatives from 12/13 colonies except for Georgia, Florida, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland

What did Southern representatives at the Continental Congress want?

Southern representatives at the Continental Congress wanted a new economic boycott because they feared the British overturning the constitution

What did the New England representatives at the Continental Congress want?

New England representatives at the Continental Congress wanted political unity between the colonies and military defense preparation

What did the Middle Colonies' representatives at the Continental Congress want?

Middle Colonies' representatives at the Continental Congress wanted compromise, not independence

Galloway's Plan of Union (1774)

This plan by Joseph Galloway at the Continental Congress proposed individual local colony governments, one continent-wide government with a president-general to be head of an elected legislative council

- Failed by one vote

- Wanted repeal of coercive acts, and only wanted British to control trad

What was the Continental Congress Agreement?

A boycott on British imported goods from December 1774 and no colonial exports to Britain if the Coercive Acts were not repealed by September 1775

Continental Association

The 1st agreement made by the Continental Congress to boycott British goods until the Coercive/Intolerable Acts were repealed

Dunmore's War (1774)

A single battle between the Virginia Militia versus the Ohio Shawnees at Point Pleasant to get Kentucky because of the backcountry's neglect by the British Crown

- The country's "Declaration of Independence"

Middlesex Country Congress (1774)

A meeting held in Massachusetts because they wanted to close royal courts and transfer the patriot allegiance to the House of Representatives

Minutemen

Small elite patriot militia groups who told everyone when the British were coming and were expected to fight at a minute's notice

- Paul Revere

Second Continental Congress (May 1775)

The 2nd congress appointing George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army

Declaration of Independence

The document approved by representatives of the American colonies in 1776 that stated their grievances against the British monarch and declared their independence, ratified on July 4th, 1776

- Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness

Popular Sovereignty

The principle stating ultimate power is in the hands of the elected people

George Grenville

Britain's first prime minister after the 7 Years War, tasked with implementing new taxes for money

John Dickinson

The founding father who opposed parliamentary taxes, defined Americans as British citizens under English common law, and wrote letters to Parliament

- Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1785)

Posterity

Future generations

Charles Townshend

An unsympathetic British Prime Minister who wanted to stop colonial assembly, implemented the Tax Act and Townshend Act

Lord North

The British Prime Minister during the American Revolution who pushed the Tea Act and Coercive/Intolerable Acts

Conciliatory Proposition (1775)

Lord North's proposition for colonies to self-tax for common defense

Samuel Adams

A Massachusetts founding father who organized British opposition, didn't support taxation, and wanted indepdence for the American colonies

Lord Dunmore

British army officer and governor of Virginia (1771-1775) who started Lord Dunmore's War against the Ohio Shawnee Natives for Kentucky

Thomas Paine

The author of Common Sense, wanting independence and a republican government

Thomas Jefferson

The founding father who authored the Declaration of Independence, and the 3rd President of the United States

How in debt was Britain after the 7-years-war?

The British were 133 million British pounds in debt

Excise

Sales tax

British Opposition Parties

1. Radical Whigs Party

- Didn't want rotten boroughs, and wanted more representation in Parliament

2. Country Party

Revenue Act of 1762

The act enforcing the collection of the colonists' trade duties

- Deployed 7500 British troops to North America to enforce this

How did the colonists respond to the Sugar Act?

1. Increased smuggling

2. Bribing officials

3. Refused the end of salutary neglect

4. Didn't like the vice admirality courts

What were George Grenfield's Policies?

1. Increased taxation

2. No jury trials

3. Quartering Act

4. No self-governing/limited autonomy

Fort George

Where stamps during the Stamp Act were held

What were patriot writings based on?

1. English common law

2. Enlightenment ideas

3. Separation of powers

Lord Hillsborough

The Secretary of State for American Affairs in London

- Dispatched General Gage and 2000 British troops to Boston

Proclamation Line of 1763

Served as a "temporary" barrier between Natives and Colonists

Who wanted to partake in Westward Expansion?

1. Land speculation colonists

- Received Ohio land grants

2. Officers in 7-years-war

- Paid with land grants

3. Native traders

- Wanted to sell land titles

4. Squatters

The Boston Massacre (1770)

9 Redcoats fired into crowd killing 5 people because the crowd harassed soldirs guarding the Customs House

Plan of Union (1774)

Wanted local colony legislature, a new continental government, and a colony-appointed President-general oerseeing a legislative council

Instead of the Plan of Union (1774), what did the colonists agree on?

1. Demanded repeal of Coercive Acts

2. British control only for trade

3. Boycott British goods

What was the aftermath of the First Continental Congress?

1. Called illegal assembly

2. No Westward settlement

3. America pays for their own defense and administration

4. America acknowledges Parliament as holding taxation power

5. Naval blockade on foreign trade on colonies

What happened during the countryside during this time?

1. Farmers sent sons to war, affected their growth

2. Chesapeake planters in debt to British merchants

- Did not want to retaliate

3. Patriot's fear of no more Yeoman land ownership

4. Scared of the British

5. Solemn League and Covenant

- Agreed on nonimportation

Why did some people disagree with the Patriot Movement?

1. Ran by wealthy planters

2. Possibly selfish interests

3. Undermined political institutions

4. Wanted peace

- Quakers

Lexington and Concord

First battles of the American Revolution on April 18th, 1775. The British sent 700 troops to Concord to capture colonial leaders and supplies.

Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition

The proclamation passed by King George III after the Battle of Bunker Hill to stop the colonists from taking up arms against the British

Fights in the South

1. White and Ethiopian military regiments

2. Rise in black and white underclasses

3. North Carolina: Wanted indepdence, and the death of Martin

Kentucky

Boonesborough founded by Daniel Boone near Lexington, Kentucky

Olive Branch Petition (1775)

The petition written by John Dickinson asserting colonial rights and peace with Great Britain as a last attempt for reconciliation with King George III

Common Sense

Thomas Paine's pamplet aruging for complete independence from Great Britain