Reading 3.3: Taxation Without Representation

Parliament

Representative legislative body of the British government that made laws for the whole British empire, but did not include any direct representative from the British North American colonies.

King George III

Monarch of the British empire who encouraged Parliament to crack down on colonial rights and freedoms out of fear of losing the colonies, but as a result pushed the colonists toward independence.

Sugar Act (1764)

Mercantilist law that attempted to reduce smuggling by lowering the tax, but increasing the enforcement of tax collection on sugar and other luxury items in order to raise revenue to pay war debt.

Quartering Act (1765)

Law that required the colonists to provide food and living quarters for British soldiers.

Stamp Act (1765)

First direct tax placed on the colonists by requiring revenue stamps to be placed on all legal and economic documents, which greatly angered the colonists.

Patrick Henry

A young Virginia lawyer who spoke out against the Stamp Act in the House of Burgesses and later helped lead the call for independence by saying "Give me liberty, or give me death!"

Stamp Act Congress

Meeting between representatives from nine colonies that resolved that only their own elected representatives had the legal authority to approve taxes, which showed increased colonial unity.

Sons and Daughters of Liberty

Secret societies formed to protest against British taxes and organized actions such as boycotts, destroying revenue stamps, intimidating tax agents and the Boston Tea Party.

Declaratory Act (1766)

Law passed by Parliament along with the repeal of the Stamp Act which asserted that Parliament had the right to tax and make laws for the colonies in all cases.

Townshend Acts (1767)

Taxes passed by Parliament on tea, glass, paper and other items in order to pay crown officials directly instead of receiving their pay from colonial governments, which angered the colonists.

Writ of Assistance

General licenses to search anywhere that crown officials could use to enter colonists homes or businesses instead of needing a warrant from a judge, which greatly angered the colonists.

John Dickinson

Colonial rights leader and vocal critic of the Townshend Acts who argued colonial assemblies had the right to review taxes in his published Letters from Farmers in Pennsylvania.

Letters from Farmers in Pennsylvania

Series of published letters written by John Dickinson that criticized the Townshend Acts and advocated for colonial assemblies to have the right to review taxes.

James Otis

Co-author of the Massachusetts Circular Letter and lawyer from Massachusetts who advocated for the repeal of the Townshend Acts and famously said "no taxation without representation.

Samuel Adams

Master anti-British propagandist and leader of the Sons of Liberty who co-wrote the Massachusetts Circular Letter and initiated the Committees of Correspondence.

Massachusetts Circular Letter

Plea written by James Otis and Samuel Adams to all colonial assemblies to unite against the British and the Townshend Acts, which resulted in vastly increased tension with Britain.

Lord Frederick North

New prime minister of Parliament who organized the repeal of the Townshend Acts, but was also prime minister throughout the American Revolution.

Boston Massacre

Crowd formed outside the Boston customs house in March 1770 and started harassing the British soldiers who shot and killed five colonists, which became a rallying cry of anti-British sentiment.

Crispus Attucks

Dockworker of mixed African and Native American heritage who was one of the five people killed by British soldiers in the Boston Massacre.

Committees of Correspondence

Colonial organizations throughout the colonies that regularly exchanged letters about suspicious or potentially threatening British activity, which increased colonial unity.

The Gaspee

British customs ship that caught several colonial smugglers that ran aground in Rhode Island and was destroyed by an organized group of colonists disguised as Native Americans.

Tea Act (1773)

Law passed by Parliament that reduced the price of imported British tea below that of smuggled Dutch tea in an effort to end the boycott and help the British East India Company.

Boston Tea Party

Sons of Liberty members disguised as Native Americans boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and dumped their tea into the sea in protest of the Tea Act, which led to a harsh British response.

Intolerable Acts

Name given by the colonists to the Coercive Acts and the Quebec Act, which Parliament passed in response to growing anti-British sentiment and the Boston Tea Party.

Coercive Acts (1774)

Four laws passed by Parliament with the goal of punishing the colonists of Boston and Massachusetts and bringing them back under strong British control.

Port Act (1774)

Part of the Coercive Acts, this law closed the port of Boston and stopped trade in and out of the harbour until the destroyed tea was paid for.

Massachusetts Government Act (1774)

Part of the Coercive Acts, this law reduced the power of the Massachusetts legislature while increasing the power of the royal governor.

Administration of Justice Act (1774)

Part of the Coercive Acts, this law allowed royal officials accused of crimes to be tried in Great Britain instead of in the colonies.

Quartering Act (1774)

Part of the Coercive Acts, this law expanded on the earlier Quartering Act and enabled British soldiers to be quartered in private homes in any colony.

Quebec Act (1774)

Law passed along with the Coercive Acts that gave land along the Ohio River claimed by Massachusetts and other colonies to the colony of Quebec, which had no representative government.