British Imperial Policies and Colonial Tensions ($$1756-1774$$)

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing key events, acts, and concepts surrounding the growing political rift between Great Britain and the American colonies.

Seven Years' War ($1756-1763$)

A war that significantly expanded the British Empire with lands in Canada and east of the Mississippi, leaving Britain with a massive war debt and a major governance dilemma.

Glorious Revolution of $1688$

An event after which the authority of the British Parliament steadily increased, setting the stage for subsequent governance conflicts with the American colonies.

Proclamation Line of $1763$

Britain's first major restriction on the colonies, establishing the Appalachian Mountains as the western settlement boundary to avoid frontier conflicts and defense costs.

Colonial Assemblies

Local governing bodies that insisted on controlling local affairs, arguing that laws and taxes required their approval because colonists lacked voting representation in Parliament.

Taxation Without Representation

The rallying cry born out of the constitutional impasse between Parliament's claim of supreme authority and the colonists' inability to vote for parliamentary representatives.

Stamp Act of $1765$

A law taxing legal documents and printed materials, marking the first time colonists were expected to pay a tax designed solely to generate an ongoing source of revenue.

Declaratory Act

An act passed in $1766$ upon the repeal of the Stamp Act, claiming Parliament's absolute authority to impose taxes and regulate colonial affairs.

Tea Act

A $1773$ law granting the British East India Company a monopoly on tea importation, which angered colonial merchants and strengthened support for breaking away from Britain.