Colonists vocab

French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War):, this was a war fought between France and England around the world, but in the colonies, too.

Proclamation of 1763: A law issued by the British government, banning American Colonists from crossing the Appalachian Mountains into the Ohio Territory.

Mercantilism: A colonial economic policy based on the idea that colonies exist for the benefit of the  the Mother Country

Salutary Neglect: Britain ignored their trade laws for years, leaving colonists to trade on their own without really having to follow the Navigation Acts (until the French and Indian War).

Navigation Acts: Laws restricting colonial trade, requiring colonists to only trade with Britain/other British colonies.

Smuggling:  Trading without paying a tax on imported goods

Revenue:  tax income, government income from taxes.

Boycott - the most effective form of protest.  An organized decision not to purchase something

Tariff:  A duty (or tax) on goods transported on imported products.

Writs of Assistance: Documents allowing British Soldiers to search the homes of possible smugglers without a specific warrant.

Rebellion: a refusal to accept authority, civil disobedience, a violent organized attempt to destroy established authority.

Revolution: a change in ways of thinking and behaving; the overthrow of a government by the people governed,  causing sudden and dramatic change

Propaganda:  any technique that attempts to influence the opinions, emotions, attitudes, or behavior of a group in order to benefit the sponsor.

Intolerable: unbearable, incapable of being put up with  

Coercive: Coercion is the forcing someone to behave in a certain way by use of threats, intimidation or some other form of pressure or force, bullying, to compel

Quarter: to give living accommodations (especially those assigned to military personnel), Quartering Act – law required American colonists to house and feed soldiers in their home.  This was resented by the colonists.

Representation:  having a say in something, standing in for someone or some group and speaking with authority on their behalf; the state of serving as delegate or agent 

Parliament:  the legislative, lawmaking body of the British government

Impose:  to enforce or inflict something unpleasant; levy: impose and collect (as in taxes)

Repeal:  the removal or reversal of a law, done when a law is no longer effective, or it is having far more negative consequences than planned.

Massacre:  slaughter: the savage and excessive killing of many people, commonly refers to deliberate and direct mass killing, especially of civilians or without any reasonable means of defense

Tory/loyalist: Someone loyal to the crown of England.

Rebel/patriot:  Those colonists who resisted and eventually fought against England were rebels, while the Americans referred to those same people as patriots.

Sons of Liberty: Group started by Sam Adams.  The secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government.  They often used violence and intimidation.

Daughters of Liberty: Group of patriot women who protested the taxes by boycotting British goods and making their own tea and other products.

Effigy:  A crude figure or dummy representing a hated person or group, used to intimidate

Boston Massacre 1770 - Redcoats fired upon a crowd in Boston after snowballs were thrown at soldiers.  5 colonists were killed. Sons of Liberty (especially Paul Revere’s engraving) turned this into propaganda.

Sugar Act - passed in 1764, taxed imported sugar at 3 pence per gallon, designed to help pay off French and Indian War debt. 

Stamp Act - passed in 1765.  The 1^st direct tax on the colonists.  Stamps had to be put on all legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, etc.  This made the colonists furious!

Declaratory Act -  1766  Law passed by Britain saying that they have the power to tax the colonists whenever they want to.

Townshend Acts - passed in 1767.  Placed a tax on imports - namely tea, lead, glass, paint and paper.

Tea Act  - 1773 Gave British East India Company total control over the American tea trade but kept a small tax on tea.  It caused the Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party Dec. 16^th, 1773.  Men dressed as Indians boarded 3 ships in Boston harbor and threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor in protest of the tea tax.worth more than $1,000,000 

“No Taxation without Representation” - Phrase used to show colonial discontent at not being represented in Parliament.  The colonists had no say in their taxation.

Intolerable Acts 5 Parts  - Punishment for Boston Tea Party (also known as “Coercive Acts”)

1. Port of Boston closed

2. Restricted representative government in Massachusetts

3. Allowed British soldiers to stay in private homes (quartering)

4. British officials accused of crimes could stand trial in England.

5. Quebec Act giving freedom of religion to Catholics in the area

First Continental Congress 1774 – met to discuss colonial reaction to the Intolerable acts. 

Second Continental Congress 1775 - sent the Olive Branch Petition to the king in July 1775 as a last attempt at avoiding war, later adopting the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.

Declaration of Independence: Document that the 2nd Continental Congress drafted to formally declare their independence from Britain. It was officially adopted on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia.

Common Sense - written by Thomas Paine in January 1776.  Argued very effectively for separation of the colonies from England.  Was excellent propaganda

Natural Rights - theory by John Locke that stated governments were created to protect the people’s natural rights of “Life, Liberty, and Property”. If a government fails to protect these rights, the people have the right to overthrow the government and create a new one.

Enlightenment: a philosophical movement of the 1700s that emphasized using reason over tradition/religion for explaining the world.

Minutemen: Colonial militiamen who were famous for being ready at a minute’s notice.

Militia: a military force raised by the civilian population

Lexington and Concord: April 19, 1775, the first shots of the American Revolution took place here when Massachusetts militia scuffled with the British soldiers.

Petition: a written document making an official request

Committee of Correspondence: network of Patriot organizations that passed anti-British information throughout the colonies.