Henretta Chapter 5

Sugar Act of 1764

1. Replaced the widely ignored Molasses Act of 1733

2. Lowered the tax rate on molasses

3. Garnered little support

4. Customs officials were bribed

Vice-Admirality Courts

1. Governed the high seas

2. Run by British Appointed Judges

3. Previously merchants were tried in local common law courts

4. The Sugar Act extended the jurisdiction of vice-admiralty courts

Stamp Act of 1765

1. Sparked the first great imperial crisis

2. Cover part of the cost of keeping British troops in America

3. Stamp on all printed items

4. Taxed the rich more than common people

Virtual Representation

1. The theory that colonists were represented in parliament through transatlantic merchants

2. Used against Franklin's request for representation

3. Was justified by the great distance from the mother country

4. Taxation without representation

Quartering Act of 1765

1. Required barracks provided for British troops

2. Britain needed a place to house and feed troops who were enforcing taxes

3. British officials disregarded colonists' opposition

4. Provoked constitutional confrontation

Stamp Act Congress

1. Nine assemblies sent delegates

2. Met in NYC in October 1765

3. Protested the loss of American rights and liberties

4. Challenged the stamp and sugar acts

Sons of Liberty

1. A group of protestors in Boston

2. Burned an effigy and warehouse

3. Were encouraged by wealthy merchants

4. Motivated colonists to take action

English Common Law

1. One of three intellectual traditions written about by Patriots

2. Body of legal rules and procedures

3. Protected lives and property of monarch's subjects

4. Was a part of the colonial political movement

Natural Rights

1. Idea from John Locke

2. Life, Liberty, and property

3. Patriots used this Enlightenment ideology

4. Thomas Jefferson would draw on these ideas in the Declaration of Independence

Declaratory Act of 1766

1. Reaffirmed Parliament's full power

2. Came after the repeal of the Stamp Act

3. The repeal happened because Parliament believed British exports were being cut

4. Allowed Parliament to bind the colonies and people of America

Townshend Act of 1767

1. New tax legislation with political and fiscal goals

2. Taxed colonial imports of paper, paint, glass, and tea

3. Most revenue was used for government salaries

4. Established by Charles Townshend who had promised to find a new source of revenue

Nonimportation Movement

1. Boycott against British/imported goods

2. American women became very important

3. Women reduced household consumption of imports

4. Women produced large quantities of homespun cloth

Committees of Correspondence

1. Set up by several assemblies including Virginia

2. Allowed Patriots to communicated with leaders in other colonies

3. Direct response to threats to liberty

4. All colonies that would declare independence had one by 1774 besides Pennsylvania

Tea Act of May 1773

1. Passed by Parliament to support a royally chartered private corporation

2. Provided financial relief for the East India Company

3. Company was in debt with a surplus of tea

4. Reduced the cost of East India Company tea in the colonies

Coercive Acts

1. Four acts passed by Parliament in 1774

2. Forced Massachusetts to pay for lost tea from the tea party

3. Prohibited town meetings and gatherings

4. Patriot leaders branded the measures intolerable

Continental Congress

1. Came in response to the Coercive Acts

2. Continent wide body convened by Patriot leaders

3. Twelve mainland colonies sent representatives

4. Some assemblies feared revolt and therefore did not attend

Continental Association

1. Established by the First Continental Congress

2. Enforced a third boycott of British goods

3. Many Americans signed to support nonimportation

4. Shopkeepers who violated boycott were threatened

Dunmore's War

1. The colonists considered the war their declaration of independence

2. Dunmore led 2,400 men against the Ohio Shawnees

3. A single battle was fought and Dunmore and his militia succeeded in claiming Kentucky

4. Dunmore defied both royal instructions and the House of Burgesses

Minutemen

1. A defensive force raised by a Concord town meeting

2. The forces were to be ready within a minute in case they were needed, hence the name

3. Mostly limited to the Boston area

4. Came in response to British troops coming into Boston

Second Continental Congress

1. Patriot leaders gathered in Philadelphia in May of 1775

2. As the Congress occurred, British Troops attacked fortifications on Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill

3. Encouraged by John Adams to come to the defense of American Liberty

4. Approved a continental army with George Washington as its leader

Declaration of Independence

1. Passed by Congress on July 4, 1776

2. The main author was Thomas Jefferson of Virginia

3. Presented the idea that the colonies were independent states and not associated with Britain

4. Vilified George III by describing him as a tyrant and listing the bad things he had done

Popular Sovereignty

1. Principle that ultimate power lies in the hands of the electorate

2. Defined as political value of the new nation

3. Supported the idea that the government can be rightly overthrown

4. Included by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence