Chapter 5 base notes
Who were the Daughters of Liberty?
well-born British colonial women who led a non-importation movement against British goods
What were the goals of the Stamp Act?
- to raise revenue to pay off British debt from the French and Indian War -to raise revenue for British troops stationed in the colonies -to gain control over the colonists
What were the goals of the Townsend Acts?
-higher taxes -reduced power of the colonial governments -greater British control over the colonies
What was a cause of the British National Debt in 1763?
-the French and Indian War -the continued British military presence in the American colonies
Why did the colonists react so much more strongly to the Stamp Act than to the Sugar Act? How did the principles that the Stamp Act raised continue to provide points of contention between colonists and the British government?
A) The colonist reacted much more strongly to the Stamp Act because it introduced a higher tax rate without an increase in representation and it introduced a direct taxation system B) The principles of Stamp Act made the colonists seem like second-class citizens which angered the colonists and increased their animosity toward Britain
What evidence indicates that colonists continued to think of themselves as British subjects throughout this era? What evidence suggests that colonists were beginning to forge a separate, collective "American" identity? How would you explain this shift?
A) the First Continental Congress refer to George III as "Most Gracious Sovereign" and to themselves as "inhabitants of the English colonies in North America" or "inhabitants of British America" B) The colonist created a de facto government in the First Continental Congress C) The evergrowing strain between British and colonists over rights, taxation, and representation resulted in a widening gap between that British and the colonists which resulted in the formation of a new identity
What were vice-admiralty courts?
British royal courts without juries that settled disputes occurring at sea
What did the Gaspée affair make the colonists believe?
Colonists believed that the British response represented an overreach of power
How does The Bostonians Paying the Excise-man, or Tarring and Feathering represent the relationship between Great Britain and the American colonies in the years from 1763 to 1774?
It depicts the strong feelings of animosity that the Colonials had toward Great Britain
What was the main purpose of the Sugar Act of 1764?
It strengthened enforcement of molasses smuggling laws.
Was reconciliation between the American colonies and Great Britain possible in 1774? Why or why not?
It was not possible because the American Colonies were fed up with British taxation, they were creating their own de facto government, and there was an ever-growing Disaffection (the loss of affection toward the home government)
Summarize The Townshend Acts and Colonial Protest.
Like the Stamp Act in 1765, the Townshend Acts led many colonists to work together against what they perceived to be an unconstitutional measure, generating the second major crisis in British Colonial America. The experience of resisting the Townshend Acts provided another shared experience among colonists from diverse regions and backgrounds, while the partial repeal convinced many that liberty had once again been defended. Nonetheless, Great Britain's debt crisis still had not been solved.
What event was most responsible for the colonies' endorsement of Samuel Adams's Massachusetts Circular?
Lord Hillsborough's threat to dissolve the colonial assemblies that endorsed the letter
Which colony provided the basis for the Declarations and Resolves?
Massachusetts
What factors contributed to the Boston Massacre?
Tensions between colonists and the redcoats had been simmering for some time. British soldiers had been moonlighting as dockworkers, taking needed jobs away from colonists. Many British colonists were also wary of standing armies during peacetime, so skirmishes were common. Finally, the Sons of Liberty promoted tensions with their propaganda.
Summarize the Aftermath of the French and Indian War.
The British Empire had gained supremacy in North America with its victory over the French in 1763. Almost all of the North American territory east of the Mississippi fell under Great Britain's control, and British leaders took this opportunity to try to create a more coherent and unified empire after decades of lax oversight. Victory over the French had proved very costly, and the British government attempted to better regulate their expanded empire in North America. The initial steps the British took in 1763 and 1764 raised suspicions among some colonists about the intent of the home government. These suspicions would grow and swell over the coming years.
How do the British government's attempts to control and regulate the colonies during this tumultuous era provide a case in point? How did the aims of the British measure up against the results of their actions?
The British government's attempts to control and regulate the colonies during this tumultuous era actually resulted in increased Colonial animosity toward Great Britain and formation of a de facto government
What was the significance of the Committees of Correspondence?
The Committees of Correspondence provided a crucial means of communication among the colonies. They also set the foundation for a colonial government by breaking away from royal governmental structures. Finally, they promoted a sense of colonial unity.
What did British colonists find so onerous about the acts that Prime Minister Grenville passed?
The Currency Act required colonists to pay British merchants in gold and silver instead of colonial paper money. With gold and silver in short supply, this put a strain on colonists' finances. The Sugar Act curtailed smuggling, angering merchants, and imposed stricter enforcement. Many colonists feared the loss of liberty with trials without juries as mandated by the Sugar Act.
Summarize The First Continental Congress and American Identity.
The First Continental Congress, which comprised elected representatives from twelve of the thirteen American colonies, represented a direct challenge to British authority. In its Declaration and Resolves, colonists demanded the repeal of all repressive acts passed since 1773. The delegates also recommended that the colonies raise militias, lest the British respond to the Congress's proposed boycott of British goods with force. While the colonists still considered themselves British subjects, they were slowly retreating from British authority, creating their own de facto government via the First Continental Congress.
Summarize the Destruction of the Tea and the Coercive Acts.
The colonial rejection of the Tea Act, especially the destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor, recast the decade-long argument between British colonists and the home government as an intolerable conspiracy against liberty and an excessive overreach of parliamentary power. The Coercive Acts were punitive in nature, awakening the worst fears of otherwise loyal members of the British Empire in America.
What did the Sons of Liberty do to the stamp commissioner in effigy?
They hung and beheaded him
Summarize the Stamp Act and the Sons and Daughters of Liberty.
Though Parliament designed the 1765 Stamp Act to deal with the financial crisis in the Empire, it had unintended consequences. Outrage over the act created a degree of unity among otherwise unconnected American colonists, giving them a chance to act together both politically and socially. The crisis of the Stamp Act allowed colonists to loudly proclaim their identity as defenders of British liberty. With the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766, liberty-loving subjects of the king celebrated what they viewed as a victory.
What were the Suffolk Resolves?
a Massachusetts plan of resistance to the Intolerable Acts that formed the basis of the eventual plan adopted by the First Continental Congress for resisting the British, including the arming of militias and the adoption of a widespread non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption agreement
What was the Boston Massacre?
a confrontation between a crowd of Bostonians and British soldiers on March 5, 1770, which resulted in the deaths of five people, including Crispus Attucks, the first official casualty in the war for independence
What was the Massachusetts Circular?
a letter penned by Son of Liberty Samuel Adams that laid out the unconstitutionality of taxation without representation and encouraged the other colonies to boycott British goods
What was the Proclamation Line?
a line along the Appalachian Mountains, imposed by the Proclamation of 1763, west of which British colonists could not settle
What was indirect tax?
a tax imposed on businesses, rather than directly on consumers
What was direct tax?
a tax that consumers pay directly, rather than through merchants' higher prices
What was the non-importation movement?
a widespread colonial boycott of British goods
Who were the Sons of Liberty?
artisans, shopkeepers, and small-time merchants who opposed the Stamp Act and considered themselves British patriots
What was the Committees of Correspondence?
colonial extralegal shadow governments that convened to coordinate plans of resistance against the British
Who were the Loyalists?
colonists in America who were loyal to Great Britain
What were the Coercive Acts?
four acts (Administration of Justice Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Port Bill, Quartering Act) that Lord North passed to punish Massachusetts for destroying the tea and refusing to pay for the damage
What were the Intolerable Acts?
the name American Patriots gave to the Coercive Acts and the Quebec Act
What was no taxation without representation?
the principle, first articulated in the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions, that the colonists needed to be represented in Parliament if they were to be taxed
What was decided at the First Continental Congress?
to boycott all British goods and prepare for possible military action
What was the purpose of the Tea Act of 1773?
to help revive the struggling East India Company
