U.S history chapter 2

Thomas Jefferson

- Virginia lawyer, known for his broad knowledge and skillfully crafted prose, was chosen to express the comittee's points.

Second continental congress

- managed the colonial war effort and moved incrementally towards independence.adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 - Some delegates called for independence, while others argued for reconciliation with Great Britain. John Adams of Massachusetts suggested that each colony set up its own government and that the congress declare the colonies independent. - He argued the congress should consider the militiamen besieging Boston as the Continental Army and therefore name a general to lead them. - Moderate John Dickinson of Penn strongly disagreed with Adams's call for revolt. In private, he confronted Adams.

John Locke

- one of the key enlightenment thinkers - Locke maintained that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. - he contended , people willingly come together in a social contract -- an agreement in which the people consent to choose and obey a government so long as it safe-guards their natural rights. - If the government violates that social contract by taking away or interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist and even overthrow the government.

Jonathan Mayhew

- wrote that he had learned from the holy scriptures that wise, brave, and virtuous men were always friends of liberty.

What are the 3 things the SUGAR ACT did?

-halved the duty on foreign made molasses -placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before -strengthened the enforcement of the law by allowing prosecutors to try smuggling cases in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court

Boston Tea Party 1773

A large group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans and proceeded to take action against 3 British Tea ships anchored in the harbor. The Indians dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the waters of Boston Harbor.

Lexington and Concord

After the first continental congress met, colonists in many eastern New England towns stepped up military preparations. Minutemen quietly stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. General Gage soon learned about these activities. He ordered troops to march from Boston nearby Concord, Massachusetts, and to seize illegal weapons. Colonists in Boston watched the Bristish troop movements. The british commander ordered the minutemen to leave, and the colonists began to move out without laying down their muskets. Then someone fired, and the British Soldiers shot into the departing militia. 8 minutemen were killed and nine more were wounded, but only one British soldier was injured.

Samuel Adams

Boston's Samuel Adams, one of the founders of the Sons of Liberty,called for another boycott of British goods. He helped formulate resistance to the Stamp Act (led Stamp Act protest)and played a vital role in organizing the Boston Tea party. Also second cousin to John Adams.

John Hancock

British agents in Boston seized the Liberty, a ship belonging to local merchant John Hancock, and accused him of smuggling. The seizure triggered riots against customs agents. In response, the British stationed 4,000 troops in Boston— one soldier for every four citizens. This show force led the colonists one step closer to revolution.

Sugar Act

George Grenville concluded that the colonists were smuggling goods into the country without paying duties and to stop this, he prompted parliament to enact a law(sugar act)

Stamp Act

Grenville persuaded Parliament to pass the Stamp Act. It was the first tax that affected colonists directly because it was levied on goods and services. The Stamp Act required that stamps be placed on many kinds of items, including wills, newspapers ,and playing cards

Lord Fredrick North

He later followed Grenville as the prime minister, realized that the Townshend Acts were costing more to enforce than they would ever bring in. (The taxes raised only 295 pounds, while the cost of sending British troops to Boston was over 170,000 pounds.

General Thomas Gage/First Continental Congress

He was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts. To keep the peace, he placed Boston under martial law,or rule imposed by military forces. In response to Britain's actions, the committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress. In Sep 1774,56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. They defended the colonies' right to run their own affairs and states that, if the British used force against the colonies, the colonies should fight back.

Why did King George plan to haul Americans to England for trial?

In 1772,a group of Rhode Island colonists attacked a British customs schooner that patrolled the coast for smugglers.The colonists boarded the vessel, which had accidentally run around near Providence, and burned it to the waterline. In response, King George named a special commission to seek out the suspects to bring them to England for trial. The plan to haul Americans to England for trial ignited widespread alarm. The assemblies of Massachusetts and Virginia set up committees of correspondence to communicate with other colonies about this and other threats to American Liberties.

Boston Massacre

In March 5,1770, a mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard there. Shots were fired and 5 colonists, including Crispus Attucks were killed or mortally wounded.

Sons of Liberty

In May of 1765, the colonists united to defy the Stamp Act. Boston shopkeepers,artisans,and laborers organized a secret resistance group called the Sons of liberty. By the end of the summer,members of the group protested throughout the colonies. Formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government.

Declaration of Rights and Grievances

In Oct 1765, delegates from 9 colonies gathered for a Stamp Act Congress in NYC. There they issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances,which stated that Parliament lacked the power to impose taxes on the colonies bc the colonists were not represented in Parliament. It declared that taxes imposed on British colonists without their formal consent were unconstitutional.

Thomas Paine's Common Sense

In a 47-page widely read pamphlet titled Common Sense, Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine, a recent immigrant, argued that responsibility for British tyranny lay with " the royal brute of Britain." Paine explained that his own revolt against the king had begun with Lexington and Concord. Paine declared that the time had come for colonists to proclaim an independent republic. He argued that independence, which was the American "destiny," would allow America to trade freely with other nations for guns and ammunition and win foreign aid from British enemies. Finally, Paine stated, independence would give American colonists the chance to create a better society-- one free from tyranny, with equal social and economic opportunities for all.

Intolerable Acts 1774

King George III pressed Parliament to Act. Parliament responded by passing a series of measures that colonists called the Intolerable Acts. One law shut down Boston harbor. Another,the Quartering Act, authorizes British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings.

Tea Act of 1773

Lord North devises the Tea Act in order to save the nearly bankrupt British East India Company. The act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay. This action would have cut colonial merchants out of the tea trade by enabling the East India Company to sell its tea directly to consumers for less. North hoped the American Colonists would simply buy the cheaper tea; instead they protested dramatically.

Townshend Acts

Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, proposed by Charles Townshend, a newly appointed minister. These were duties levied on imports as they came into the colonies from Britain. The Acts also imposed a three-penny tax on tea, the most popular drink in the colonies. Imposed duties on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies.

What was the cause of the French and Indian war?

The British and French wanted to extend their North American colonies into the land west of the Appalachian Mountains(Ohio territory)

What are the results of the French and Indian war?

The seven years war, ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by France, Great Britain, and Spain. France's expansion into the Ohio river valley repeatedly brought the country into armed conflict with the British colonies.