Unit 3: Period 3 Key Terms

Seven Years/French and Indian War

Seven Years/French and Indian War

A conflict between Britain and France from 1754-1763 over land and territory for economic value.

Albany Congress

An intercolonial congress aimed at addressing Iroquois grievances.

Albany Plan of Union 1754

A proposal for an intercolonial system for recruiting troops and collecting taxes for defense, which was never enacted.

Salutary neglect

A policy of loose enforcement of colonial regulations by Britain.

Pontiac’s War 1763

A conflict initiated by American Indians in response to expanding European settlements.

Proclamation of 1763

A British decree limiting westward colonial expansion to maintain peace after Pontiac’s rebellion.

Vice admiralty courts

Courts that operated without juries for maritime cases.

Sugar Act/Revenue Act 1764

Legislation imposing taxes on foreign goods to regulate trade and raise revenue.

Currency Act

Legislation forbidding the creation of new paper money in the colonies.

Quartering Act 1765

A law requiring colonists to provide housing for British soldiers.

Stamp Act 1765

An internal tax on paper products to fund British troops in the colonies.

Declaratory Act 1766

An act affirming Parliament's authority to legislate for the colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act.

Townshend Acts 1767

Taxes on imported goods intended to pay royal officials in the colonies.

Virtual representation

The concept that Parliament members represented the entire empire, not just their districts.

Sons of Liberty

A secret organization that protested British taxation and intimidated tax collectors.

Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer

John Dickinson's writings arguing that Parliament could regulate trade but not tax without colonial consent.

Nonimportation

Boycotts of British goods to pressure the repeal of the Stamp Act.

Writs of assistance

Licenses allowing officials to search private homes for smuggled goods.

Boston Massacre

A deadly confrontation on March 5, 1770, that escalated anti-British sentiment.

Committees of Correspondence 1772

Groups formed to communicate about British threats to colonial liberties.

Gaspee incident 1772

Colonists burned a British customs ship to protest against British enforcement of trade regulations.

Tea Act 1773

Legislation lowering tea prices to encourage purchases, which colonists resisted to avoid recognizing Parliament's right to tax.

Boston Tea Party

A protest where colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor.

Intolerable Acts

A series of punitive laws passed in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party.

Quebec Act 1774

Legislation establishing a government in Canada without an assembly and recognizing Catholicism as the official religion.

Circular Letter 1768

A petition against the Quartering and Townshend Acts authored by James Otis and Samuel Adams.

The Enlightenment

An intellectual movement emphasizing reason and individual rights, influenced by thinkers like John Locke.

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense 1776

A pamphlet advocating for American independence and criticizing British rule.

First Continental Congress

A gathering of delegates to address British threats to colonial liberties and organize resistance.

Suffolk Resolves

A declaration calling for the repeal of the Intolerable Acts and preparation for military action.

Declaration and Resolves

A petition to the king addressing colonial grievances and asserting rights.

Continental Association

A system for enforcing the Suffolk Resolves through boycotts.

Lexington & Concord April 1775

The first military engagements of the Revolutionary War.

Bunker Hill June 1775

A battle where colonists inflicted heavy casualties on British forces despite losing the hill.

Second Continental Congress May 1775

A meeting to discuss independence and military organization against Britain.

Olive Branch Petition July 1775

A letter to King George III seeking reconciliation and listing colonial grievances.

Declaration of Independence June 1776

A document outlining the colonies' reasons for seeking independence from Britain.

Battle of Saratoga October 1777

A turning point in the Revolutionary War that secured French support for the American cause.

Tories/Loyalists

Colonists who remained loyal to Britain during the Revolutionary War.

Battle of Yorktown 1781

The final major battle of the Revolutionary War, leading to British surrender.

Treaty of Paris

The agreement recognizing American independence and establishing boundaries for the new nation.

Emancipation

The act of freeing someone from control or servitude.

Republican motherhood

The idea that women play a crucial role in educating future citizens

Shay’s Rebellion 1786

Farmers and veterans protested about high taxes, imprisonment for debt, lack of paper money, and to keep the stay law (postponing the date a debt is due). These taxes were raised by the government to pay the veterans (basically the veterans were paying themselves).

Philadelphia/Constitutional Convention 1787

Planning for a stronger union, revising the Articles, and how to have a clear separation of powers to balance the government’s power. They wrote a new constitution that would need approval from 9 out of the 13 states.

U.S. Constitution

Separation of powers to avoid abuse of powers by the central government.
Connecticut Plan (Great Compromise) has one house by population and the other with equal representation.
⅗ Compromise for counting slaves in the population.
Commercial Compromise: Congress could regulate interstate and foreign trade, could tax imports but could not tax exports.