AP US History Exam 2 Part 1 (Chap 5)

Sugar Act of 1764

1) Part of Prime Minister Grenville's revenue program, the act replaced the Molasses Act of 1733, 2) actually lowered the tax on sugar and molasses (which the New England colonies imported to make rum as part of the triangular trade) from 6 cents to 3 cents a barrel, 3) BUT for the first time adopted provisions that would insure that the tax was strictly enforced; 4) created the vice-admiralty courts; 5) made it illegal for the colonies to buy goods from non-British Caribbean colonies.

Dunmore's War

A 1774 war led by Virginia's royal governor, the Earl of Dunmore, against the Ohio Shawnees, who had a long-standing claim to Kentucky as a hunting ground. The Shawnees were defeated and Dunmore and his militia forces claimed Kentucky as their own.

popular sovereignty

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

Continental Congress

A body of representatives from the British North American colonies who met to respond to England's Intolerable Acts. They declared independence in July 1776 and later drafted the Articles of Confederation.

Stamp Act Congress

A meeting of delegations from many of the colonies, the congress was formed to protest the newly passed Stamp Act It adopted a declaration of rights as well as sent letters of complaints to the king and parliament, it showed signs of colonial unity and organized resistance.

Sons of Liberty

A radical political organization for colonial independence which formed in 1765 after the passage of the Stamp Act. They started riots and burned the customs houses where the stamped British paper was kept. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, many of the local chapters formed the Committees of Correspondence which continued to promote opposition to British policies towards the colonies. The Sons leaders included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere.

Quartering Act of 1765

Act forcing colonists to house and supply British forces in the colonies; created more resentment; seen as assault on liberties. settlers began to feel that Great Britain now planned to station troops in America to enforce its other taxes. settlers felt that the Quartering Act directly violated the Bill of Rights passed by the British Parliament in 1689, which assured settlers that they won't be taxed unfairly NY hardest hit, bec of having the most troops NY passed a law rejecting it in 1766

Samuel Adams

American Revolutionary leader and patriot, Founder of the Sons of Liberty and one of the most vocal patriots for independence; signed the Declaration of Independence

Thomas Paine

American Revolutionary leader who wrote Common Sense (born in England) who supported the American colonist's fight for independence and supported the French Revolution (1737-1809)

Continental Association

An association established in 1774 by the First Continental Congress to enforce a boycott of British goods.

George Grenville

Became prime minister of Britain in 1763 he persuaded the Parliament to pass a law allowing smugglers to be sent to vice-admiralty courts which were run by British officers and had no jury. He did this to end smuggling.

virtual representation

British governmental theory that Parliament spoke for all British subjects, including Americans, even if they did not vote for its members

Townshend Act of 1767

British law that established new duties on tea, glass, lead, paper, and painters' colors imported into the colonies. DIFFERENT for Stamp Act which was direct tax at the time of sale.....this was a tax on imports that was then passed along in the form of higher prices so it was INDIRECT The Townshend duties led to boycotts and heightened tensions between Britain and the American colonies and colonists wanted to stop using goods imported from England

What kinds of provocation caused colonists to riot or otherwise act directly, even violently, in defense of their interests?

Coercive acts: Four British acts of 1774 meant to punish Massachusetts for the destruction of three shiploads of tea. Known in America as the Intolerable Acts, they led to open rebellion in the northern colonies. Townshend act of 1767 British law that established new duties on tea, glass, lead, paper and painters' colors imported into the colonies. Townshend duties led to boycotts and heightened tensions between Britain and American colonies. Taxation without representation. They had Virtual Representation, which was not representation at all. The claim made by British politicians that the interests of the American colonists were adequately represented in Parliament by merchants who traded with the colonies and by absentee landlords (mostly sugar planters) who owned estate in the West Indies.

nonimportation movement

Colonists attempted nonimportation agreements three times: 1) in 1766, in response to the Stamp Act; in 1768, 2) in response to the Townshend duties; and 3) in 1774, in response to the Coercive Acts. In each case, colonial radicals pressured merchants to stop importing British goods. In 1774 nonimportation was adopted by the First Continental Congress and enforced by the Continental Association. American women became crucial to the movement by reducing their households' consumption of imported goods and producing large quantities of homespun cloth.

As British administrators sought to increase colonial revenues and tighten administrative control, what might have led them to pursue a less confrontational course with the colonies?

Colonists were smuggling and not paying the taxes anyway because taxes were so high it was impossible for traders to make a profit.. So the British thought if they lowered the taxes and increased the punishment for taxes mores people would start paying the taxes.

John Dickinson

Conservative leader who: 1) wrote "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania"; advocated for colonial rights but urged conciliation with England & opposed the Declaration of Independence; helped to write the Articles of Confederation.

Second Continental Congress

Convened in May 1775, the Congress opposed the drastic move toward complete independence from Britain. In an effort to reach a reconciliation, the Congress offered peace under the conditions that there be a cease-fire in Boston, that the Coercive Acts be repealed, and that negotiations begin immediately. King George III rejected the petition.

How did common law, Enlightenment, and republican ideas shape their thinking as they took action?

English Common law: The entries-old body of legal rules and producers that protected the lives and property of the British monarch's subjects. Enlightenment: Gave the colonists the idea of Natural Rights. The rights to life, liberty and property. According to the English philosopher John Locke in Two Treaties of Government, political authority was not given by god to monarchs. Instead, it derived from social compacts that people made to preserve their natural rights. Republican ideas: After the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689, the English created a constitutional monarchy that prevented the king from imposing taxes and other measures. This British president gave support to the colonists who resisted the idea that Parliament could tax the colonies without their consent.

vice-admiralty courts

In these courts, British judges tried colonials in trials with no juries.

Minutemen

Member of a militia during the American Revolution who could be ready to fight in sixty seconds

Declaratory Act of 1766

Passed at the same time that the Stamp Act was repealed, declared that Parliament had the power to tax the colonies both internally and externally, and had ABSOLUTE POWER over the colonial legislatures. showed British insensitivity to the political maturity that had developed in the American provinces

Lord North

Prime Minister of England from 1770 to 1782. Although he repealed the Townshend Acts, he generally went along with King George III's repressive policies towards the colonies even though he personally considered them wrong. He hoped for an early peace during the Revolutionary War and resigned after Cornwallis' surrender in 1781.

Lord Dunmore

Royal governor of Virginia who issued a proclamation promising freedom for any enslaved black in Virginia who joined the British army

What factors do you think are most important in explaining the failure of compromise?

Some significant colonists had grown increasingly wealthy through smuggling and did not want to compromise. Also people believed taxation without representation.

What compromises were proposed in the colonies a alternatives to independence? Why did Patriots reject them?

Stamp Act was repealed, partial repeal of Townshend act and quartering Act. Didn't work because other acts were still in place and the Americans became infuriated because they had no representation but they were still being taxed.

English common law

The basis of a court system for justice. The essence of English common law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent to the facts before them. protected the lives and property of the British monarch's subjects.

Coercive Acts

This series of laws were very harsh laws that intended to make Massachusetts pay for its resistance. It also closed down the Boston Harbor until the Massachusetts colonists paid for the ruined tea. Also forced Bostonians to shelter soilders in their own homes.

Thomas Jefferson

Wrote the Declaration of Independence During the American Revolution, Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia and, after the war, he was appointed minister to France. He also served as the nation's first secretary of state, its second vice president, and its third president. Though a supporter of democracy and freedom for whites, Jefferson's policies were altogether different when it came to the African Americans he owned and the Native Americans

Stamp Act of 1765

a tax on paper items to help the British pay for the French and Indian War. The British felt they were well justified in charging this tax because the colonies were receiving the benefit of the British troops and needed to help pay for the expense. The colonists didn't feel the same.

Charles Townshend

best known for his role in the British Agricultural Revolution ..crop rotation Influenced Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts. which were a partial cause of the American Revolutiuon

Tea Act of May 1773

eliminated import tariffs on tea entering England and allowed the British East India Company to sell directly to consumers rather than through merchants. Led to the Boston Tea Party. (1) The colonists were upset because the tax on tea continued. Tea was a popular drink, and they didn't like having to pay a tax on it. (2) The colonists believed any tax violated their rights as British citizens. They didn't have representatives in Parliament that could vote on the proposed taxes.

committees of correspondence

organized by patriot leader Samuel Adams, was a system of communication between patriot leaders in New England and throughout the colonies. provided the organization necessary to unite the colonies in opposition to Parliament. The committees sent delegates to the First Continental Congress.

Declaration of Independence

the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain

natural rights

the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to: life, liberty, and property These are rights that all people have at birth. The government does not grant these rights, and therefore no government can take them away