Social Studies/Causes of the Revolution

Townshend Acts

1767 laws directed toward colonists. Finance Minister Charles Townshend thought indirect taxes would be accepted by colonists: 1) suspended New York's assembly until New Yorkers agreed to provide housing for troops 2) import taxes on glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea 3) money raised would be used to pay salaries of British governors and officials 4) laws would be enforced by writs of assistance to search for smuggled goods

John Adams

A Massachusetts attorney and politician who was a strong believer in colonial independence. He argued against the Stamp Act and was involved in various patriot groups. As a delegate from Massachusetts, he urged the Second Continental Congress to declare independence. He helped draft and pass the Declaration of Independence. Adams later served as the second President of the United States.

Patrick Henry

A member of the Virginia House of Burgesses who persuaded the burgesses to take action against the Stamp Act. He drafted a radical document known as the Virginia Resolves, which stated that only the colonial assemblies had the right to tax the colonists. He later gave speech that ended with, "Give me liberty or give me death!"

Sons of Liberty

A radical political organization formed by Samuel Adams after the passage of the Stamp Act to protest various British acts; organization used both peaceful and violent means of protest

Boston Tea Party

Boston patriots organized the Boston Tea Party to protest the 1773 Tea Act. In December 1773, Samuel Adams warned Boston residents of the consequences of the Tea Act. Boston was boycotting the tea in protest of the Tea Act and would not let the ships bring the tea ashore. Finally, on the night of December 16, 1773, colonials disguised as Indians boarded the ships and threw the tea overboard. They did so because they were afraid that Governor Hutchinson would secretly unload the tea because he owned a share in the cargo.

virtual representation

British governmental theory that Parliament spoke for all British subjects, including Americans, even if they did not vote for its members. Prime Minister George Grenville used this theory to explain how Parliament could levy additional taxes on the colonists, who wanted to determine their own taxes.

Quartering Act

Law passed by Britain to force colonists to provide for housing and feed the 10,000 British soldiers left to protect colonists after French and Indian War. This and other laws removing policy of salutary neglect stirred up even more resentment for the British. The Legislature of New York was suspended in 1767 for failing to comply with the Quartering Act.

nonimportation agreement

One of the agreements made at the Stamp Act Congress. This was a consumer boycott against British goods. These boycotts resumed later, for the 1767 Townshend and 1774 Intolerable Acts. The agreements were the most effective form of protest against British policies in the colonies.

Daughters of Liberty

Organized as a women's response to the Sons of Liberty, this group opposed British measures, avoided British taxed tea, spun their own yarn, and wove their own cloth to avoid purchasing British goods.

Declaratory Act

Passed in 1766 just after the repeal of the Stamp Act, this act stated that Parliament could legislate and levy taxes for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever." Most colonists interpreted the act as a face-saving mechanism and nothing more. Parliament, however, continually interpreted the act in its broadest sense in order to legislate in and control the colonies.

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams played a key role in the defense of colonial rights. He was a leader of the Sons of Liberty and suggested the formation of the Committees of Correspondence. Adams was crucial in spreading the principle of colonial rights throughout New England and is credited with provoking the Boston Tea Party.

First Continental Congress

The First Continental Congress convened on September 5, 1774, to protest the Intolerable Acts. The congress endorsed the Suffolk Resolves---voted for a boycott of British imports, and sent a petition to King George III, conceding to Parliament the power of regulation of commerce but stringently objecting to its arbitrary taxation and unfair judicial system. The meeting also called on each colony to begin training troops. This meeting planted the seeds of a future independent government. John Adams called it, "a nursery of American statesmen."

committees of correspondence

These started as groups of private citizens in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York who, in 1763, began circulating information about opposition to British trade measures. The first government-organized committee appeared in Massachusetts in 1764. Other colonies created their own committtees in order to exchange information and organize protests to British trade regulations. The Committees became particularly active following the Gaspee Incident--colonial attack on a British ship that had captured smugglers

Stamp Act

additional tax levied on colonists in 1765. This required colonists to pay a tax on almost all printed materials, including newspapers, books, contracts, playing cards, and land deeds. This was the first time that Parliament had imposed a direct tax on colonists

Boston Massacre

as anger grew in the town of Boston over the presence of British troops, a violent clash between soldiers and colonists eventually broke out on March 5, 1770. Five colonists were killed

Crispus Attucks

considered to be the first martyr of the American Revolution, he was first of five to die at what became known as the Boston Massacre. A former slave, and of African and Native American descent, he was one of the angry dockworkers who were protesting.

Sugar Act

first tax levied on colonies (tax was paid by merchants, but they had to raise prices) to raise revenue to pay off debt from French and Indian War. (1764) It lowered the duty on foreign-produced molasses as an attempt to discourage colonial smuggling. The act further stipulated that Americans could export many commodities - including lumber, iron, skins, and whalebone - to foreign countries only if the goods passed through British ports first. Courts also established to prosecute smugglers. The terms of the act and its methods of enforcement outraged many colonists.

Intolerable Acts

the Boston Tea Party had aroused fury in Britain. In 1774, Parliament passed a series of laws to punish Massachusetts and serve as a warning to other colonies. The British called these the Coercive Acts, but the colonists called them the Intolerable Acts. 1) closed the port of Boston until colonists paid for the destroyed tea 2) banned committees of correspondence 3) let British officials accused of crimes in the colonies to stand trial in Britian 4) allowed Britain to house troops wherever necessary