Prelude to the American Revolution (1763-1775)

Seventy-five vocabulary flashcards summarizing the key terms, acts, people, and events leading from the Treaty of Paris (1763) to the First Continental Congress, helping students master causes of the American Revolution.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

Peace agreement ending the French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War; transferred French Canada to Britain and Spanish Florida to Britain.

Seven Years’ War

Global conflict (1756-1763) between Britain and France; North American theater called the French and Indian War.

French and Indian War

North American portion of the Seven Years’ War fought between Britain (with colonists) and France (with Native allies).

Pontiac’s Rebellion

1763 Native American uprising led by Ottawa chief Pontiac against British forts and settlers in the Great Lakes region.

Chief Pontiac

Ottawa leader who rejected British claims to Native lands and sparked Pontiac’s Rebellion.

Royal Proclamation of 1763

King George III’s edict barring colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to reserve territory for Native peoples.

King George III

Monarch of Great Britain (1760-1820) whose policies toward the colonies helped provoke revolution.

Appalachian Mountains (Proclamation Line)

Imaginary boundary set in 1763 beyond which colonists were forbidden to settle.

No Taxation Without Representation

Colonial slogan asserting that taxes were illegitimate without elected colonial representation in Parliament.

Parliament

Britain’s legislative body that passed colonial taxes and regulations without colonial representatives.

George Grenville

British prime minister (1763-1765) who tightened Navigation Acts and introduced the Sugar, Currency, and Stamp Acts.

Navigation Acts

Series of British trade laws regulating colonial commerce and restricting trade with rival nations.

Sugar Act (American Revenue Act 1764)

Law that halved the molasses duty but enforced collection and added new taxes on sugar, wine, coffee, etc.

Molasses Tax Reduction

Sugar Act cut duty on foreign molasses from 6d to 3d per gallon to discourage smuggling.

Smuggling

Illegal colonial trade, especially in molasses and rum, targeted by Grenville’s stricter enforcement.

Charles Townshend

British chancellor of the exchequer who dismissed colonial protests and authored the Townshend Acts.

Currency Act (1764)

Law forbidding colonies from issuing paper money, requiring payments in gold, silver, or commodities.

Hard Currency

Gold or silver coin demanded by Britain for payment of debts and taxes after the Currency Act.

Quartering Act

1765 law requiring colonists to house and supply British troops stationed in America.

Stamp Act (1765)

First direct internal tax on the colonies, mandating revenue stamps on printed materials and legal documents.

Royal Stamp (Official Seal)

Embossed symbol required on taxed paper goods to show the Stamp Act duty had been paid.

Virtual Representation

British argument that colonists were represented in Parliament indirectly as subjects of the Crown.

William Pitt

British politician sympathetic to colonial grievances; called virtual representation “the most ridiculous idea.”

Sons of Liberty

Secret patriotic society founded in 1765 to oppose the Stamp Act through protests and intimidation.

Daughters of Liberty

Women’s patriotic group that boycotted British goods, spun homespun cloth, and brewed herbal teas.

Homespun

Locally woven colonial cloth worn as a badge of protest against imported British textiles.

Townshend Acts (1767)

Series of import duties on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea to raise revenue for Britain.

Glass Tax

Townshend duty on imported glass products used widely in the colonies.

Lead Tax

Townshend duty placed on imports of lead and lead-based goods.

Paint Tax

Townshend duty increasing the price of imported paints and pigments.

Paper Tax

Townshend duty raising costs of imported paper, affecting printers and publishers.

Tea Tax

Townshend duty on imported tea, later left in place after other duties were repealed.

Patrick Henry

Virginia legislator and orator who denounced British taxes and authored the Virginia Resolves.

Virginia Resolves

Patrick Henry’s resolutions claiming only colonial assemblies could tax Virginians, not Parliament.

Samuel Adams

Massachusetts patriot who organized resistance, drafted circular letters, and helped found Committees of Correspondence.

Massachusetts Circular Letter

1768 petition by Massachusetts assembly, written by Samuel Adams, condemning Townshend duties.

Loyalists (Tories)

Colonists who remained loyal to Britain and opposed revolutionary action.

Patriots

Colonists supporting resistance to British rule and advocating independence.

Boston Massacre (1770)

Confrontation in which British soldiers shot and killed five civilians, inflaming anti-British sentiment.

Crispus Attucks

Dockworker of African and Native descent; first person killed in the Boston Massacre.

Boston Gazette

Patriot newspaper that labeled the 1770 shootings a “horrid massacre.”

Committees of Correspondence

Intercolonial networks, begun in 1772 by Samuel Adams, to share grievances and coordinate resistance.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

Sons of Liberty protest dumping 342 chests of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor.

Tea Act (1773)

Law allowing East India Company to ship tea directly to America duty-free in Britain, undercutting smugglers.

East India Company

British trading corporation granted monopoly on tea sales to the colonies by the Tea Act.

Lord North

British prime minister (1770-1782) who responded to the Tea Party with the Coercive Acts.

Coercive Acts (1774)

Four punitive laws targeting Massachusetts for the Tea Party; called Intolerable Acts by colonists.

Intolerable Acts

Colonial name for the Coercive Acts, seen as unbearable violations of rights.

Boston Harbor Closure

Coercive Act provision shutting the port until destroyed tea was repaid, crippling Boston’s economy.

Trials in England

Coercive Act measure allowing British officials accused of crimes in America to be tried in Britain.

Dissolution of Massachusetts Assembly

Coercive Acts suspended colonial self-government, placing Massachusetts under military rule.

Economic Boycotts

Refusals to buy British goods, a primary colonial tactic against taxation measures.

Herbal Tea Movement

Practice by Daughters of Liberty of brewing local teas to avoid taxed British tea.

Salutary Neglect

Prior British policy of lax enforcement that allowed colonies self-rule until the 1760s.

Proclamation Line

Boundary along Appalachians set by the 1763 Royal Proclamation to limit westward expansion.

Custom House

Government building in Boston guarded by soldiers during the Boston Massacre.

New England Rum Industry

Profitable colonial trade distilling molasses into rum, threatened by Sugar Act enforcement.

Consent to Taxation

Principle that legitimate taxes require approval by elected representatives of the taxed population.

Barter Payments (Gold/Tobacco)

Alternate methods colonists used to pay British merchants when paper currency was banned.

Prime Minister

Head of the British government; holders like Grenville and North shaped colonial policy.

Grenville’s Crackdown on Smugglers

Use of vice-admiralty courts and strict enforcement to curb illicit colonial trade.

Revolutionary Sentiment

Growing colonial desire for self-government and resistance sparked by British taxation and coercion.

Boston Fire Alarm (1770)

Bell that drew crowds to the Custom House, helping ignite the Boston Massacre incident.

Oyster Shell & Rock Snowballs

Projectiles thrown by colonists at soldiers moments before the Boston Massacre volley.

Branded Punishment

Physical marking on convicted British soldiers’ thumbs following the Boston Massacre trial.

Royal Governors

Crown-appointed executives in the colonies who warned London of brewing resistance.

Colonial Legislatures

Locally elected assemblies whose powers were curtailed by the Coercive Acts.

First Continental Congress (1774)

Meeting of delegates from 12 colonies in Philadelphia to coordinate response to the Intolerable Acts.

Colonial Boycotts (Non-importation)

Organized refusal to import British goods to pressure Parliament to repeal taxes.

Townshend’s ‘Children’ Remark

Charles Townshend’s dismissal of colonists as dependent children under British protection.

Colonial Representation

Unrealized colonial demand for seats or consultation in Britain’s Parliament.

East-West Boundary Debate

Conflict over colonists’ desire to settle beyond the Proclamation Line into interior lands.

George Washington (Proclamation Opponent)

Virginia planter who condemned the 1763 line restricting western land claims.

End of Salutary Neglect

Shift after 1763 to strict British oversight and taxation, ending decades of relative autonomy.

Colonial Paper Money

Locally issued currency deemed invalid by the Currency Act, worsening cash shortages.