English Heritage and the Road to Revolution (1215-1775)

Vocabulary practice flashcards generated from lecture notes on English constitutional history, early colonial settlements, the French and Indian War, and the events leading up to the American Revolution.

Divine Right of Kings

The political and religious doctrine asserting that a monarch's power is granted directly by God, making the king answerable only to God and unchallengeable by subjects.

Hereditary Nobility

A social class holding titles passed down by birth, granting members extra privileges and seats in government.

Magna Carta (1215)

"The Great Charter" signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215 following a rebellion; it set limits on royal power and established early concepts of due process, trial by jury, and private property rights.

Provisions of Oxford (1258)

An agreement forced upon King Henry III after a 1258 rebellion, creating Parliament to help govern England.

House of Commons

The elected branch of the English bicameral Parliament, established in 1341, representing non-nobles and voted on by property-owning commoners.

House of Lords

The non-elected branch of the English Parliament made up of hereditary nobles and leaders of the Catholic/Anglican Church.

Whigs

One of England's first political parties formed in 1679, representing a more liberal political faction.

Tories

One of England's first political parties formed in 1679, representing conservative viewpoints and usually allied with the monarch.

Petition of Right (1628)

An agreement signed by King Charles I in exchange for tax funds, reaffirming Magna Carta protections and restricting the king's ability to raise taxes or imprison people without cause.

Star Chamber

A court controlled directly by the king, abolished during parliamentary reforms to prevent unfair royal judicial proceedings.

Glorious Revolution (1688)

The event in which Parliament invited William of Orange and Mary to overthrow King James II, resulting in James fleeing to France and the establishment of parliamentary supremacy.

Bill of Rights (1689)

An agreement accepted by King William III and Queen Mary II establishing Parliament as supreme, guaranteeing that royal acts could not veto laws, and placing the military and treasury under Parliament's control.

Two Treatises of Government

A 1690 work published by John Locke justifying the Glorious Revolution, proposing social contract theory and natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

Jamestown

Established in 1607 in the Virginia colony; the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Powhatan Confederacy

An alliance of Native American tribes ruled by Mamantowick Wahunsenacah controlling an empire stretching from the Atlantic to the Potomac River.

First Anglo-Powhatan War (1610-1614)

The first conflict between English settlers in Jamestown and the Powhatan Confederacy, in which English colonists survived due to superior military technology.

Prime Minister

The head of Britain's parliamentary government (beginning around 1721), who required majority support in Parliament to maintain executive leadership.

Spoils System (Patronage)

The practice used by King George III to exercise influence over Parliament by offering government positions, titles, and financial favours in exchange for votes.

New France

The North American empire claimed by France, encompassing Canada, Louisiana, the Mississippi River valley, and sugar-producing Caribbean islands.

French and Indian War (1754-1763)

The North American theatre of the Seven Years' War fought between Great Britain and France (and their respective allies) over control of the Ohio Country and broader empire.

Ohio Country ("Backcountry")

The contested region west of the Appalachian Mountains along the Ohio River Valley, valued for its fur trade and strategic water routes.

Proclamation of 1763

A British order placing a standing army in North America and prohibiting American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Sugar Act (1764)

British legislation placing tariffs on sugar and imported goods to help pay off war debt, introducing an admiralty court in Nova Scotia to enforce compliance.

Stamp Act (1765)

The first internal tax placed on official documents in the American colonies, prompting colonial protest under the banner "No Taxation Without Representation."

Declaratory Act (1766)

An act passed by Parliament following the repeal of the Stamp Act, asserting Parliament's absolute authority to pass laws binding the American colonies.

Townshend Duties (1767)

A series of external and internal taxes imposed by Parliament on various imported goods brought into the American colonies.

Sons of Liberty

A colonial resistance group centered in Boston, Massachusetts, organized to lead protests and opposition against British taxation.

Boston Massacre (1770)

A violent confrontation outside a Boston customs house in which British troops fired into a protesting crowd, killing five colonists.

Committee of Correspondence

A network formed initially by the Boston Town Meeting in 1772 to communicate British encroachments on rights and coordinate colonial opposition across all 13 colonies.

Boston Pamphlet

A publication written by Sam Adams asserting that American colonists retained full English rights and natural rights under the crown.

Tea Act (1773)

Parliamentary legislation granting the British East India Company a monopoly on colonial tea sales, lowering prices while retaining the parliamentary import tariff.

Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773)

A protest in which colonists boarded the Dartmouth and dumped 340 chests (92,000 pounds) of British East India Company tea into Boston Harbor.

Coercive / Intolerable Acts (1774)

Five punitive laws passed by Parliament and King George III that revoked the Massachusetts Charter, established martial law under General Thomas Gage, and closed Boston's local legislature.

Massachusetts Provincial Congress

An extra-legal colonial government created by defying colonists at Concord on October 7, 1774, to administer the colony, organize resistance, and stockpile arms.