apush notes chapter 5

National debt

The debt accumulated by a country due to war or other financial obligations.

Per capita tax burden

A flat tax that every adult citizen is required to pay.

Revenue Act

A law that allowed the British Royal Navy to seize American crops being transported to or from the West Indies.

Vice-admiralty courts

Courts governing the high seas and run by British-appointed judges, where violations of the Stamp Act were tried.

Stamp Act

An act that required a tax stamp on all printed items in the American colonies.

Sons of Liberty

A group of colonists who actively protested against British taxation and policies.

Stamp Act Congress

A meeting of delegates from nine different colonial assemblies to protest the Stamp Act and challenge its constitutionality.

Republican and Whig strands

Intellectual traditions that influenced the colonists' resistance, including English common law, Enlightenment rationalism, and the English political tradition.

Townshend Act

Legislation that imposed duties on colonial imports such as paper, paint, glass, and tea.

Daughters of Liberty

Women who participated in the nonimportation movement by promoting domestic materials and boycotting British goods.

Boycott

A refusal to buy or use certain goods or services as a form of protest.

Sons of Liberty

A group of colonists who actively protested against British taxation and policies.

Vice-admiralty courts

Courts governing the high seas and run by British-appointed judges, where violations of the Stamp Act were tried.

Proclamation of 1763

A British law that prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Land grants

Grants of land given to officers who fought in the war, which incentivized them to move west.

Land Speculation

The act of investing in land speculation companies and petitioning for large land grants in the Ohio country.

Scioto Confederacy

A confederacy formed by the Shawnees and Ohio Indians to oppose westward expansion.

Proclamation Line

A line established by England to limit westward expansion and protect the interests of the Ohio Indians.

Boston Massacre

A violent incident where British soldiers fired into a crowd, killing five townspeople, leading to increased tensions between patriots and parliament.

Committees of Correspondence

Communication networks established between Massachusetts towns and other states to coordinate colonial rights and resistance against British rule.

Tea Act

An act that relieved the British East India Company of paying taxes on tea, leading to the Boston Tea Party and increased resistance against British taxation.

Intolerable Acts

A series of acts enacted by Parliament to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, including the Port Bill, Government Act, New Quartering Act, and Justice Act.

Continental Congress

A colonial assembly that met in Philadelphia to address issues of colonial rights and grievances, leading to the organization of the Continental Army and the Declaration of Independence.

Common Sense

A book written by Thomas Paine advocating for independence and republicanism, which played a significant role in swaying public opinion towards the patriot cause.

Declaration of Independence

A document approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, justifying the revolt against British rule and establishing principles of individual liberty, popular sovereignty, and republican government.