Chapter 5: The Problem of Empire, 1763-1776 Flashcards
(32 cards)
The Albany Congress
1754: 7 colony representatives meet with Iroquois chiefs to secure native support (against the French) and form a colonial alliance (Ben Franklin suggests the Albany Plan of Union)
French Indian War
1754: War fought in colonies, English and Iroquois versus French and the rest of the Indian tribes for possession over the Ohio Valley area (eventual English victory at the expense of a lot of debt)
Revenue Act of 1762
Implemented customs officials who collected duties on site in order to end smuggling in the colonies (could use Writs of Assistance to search a boat)
Proclamation Line of 1763
A decree from the British government which restricted settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains
Pontiac’s Rebellion
1763-65: Indian uprising (after French Indian War) led by Pontiac because they opposed British expansion into western Ohio Valley. Destroyed British forts and ended with his death
Regulator Movement
1766-1771: Scot-Irish group in NC who didn’t like how the Eastern part of NC dominated political affairs. They thought they were paying too much taxes, wanted more courts, and more representation in their colonial assembly
Treaty of Paris of 1763
Peace agreement that ended the Seven Years War. France is ousted from North America and Britain gets huge territorial gains (Canada, Florida, and land east of the Mississippi)
The Currency Act
1763: Grenville-enacted order for colonies to use paper money as legal tender (local money was worth less than the British pound)
Sugar Act
1764: English tax on sugar, coffee, wine, and molasses to ease debt from the war. Colonists avoided. tax by smuggling and bribing tax collectors
Stamp Act
1765: Used to replenish finances after war debt. Required all legal documents to carry a tax stamp (targeted the rich and powerful). First direct tax used by the British gov to collect revenues and resulted in the organization of colonists into opposition groups (and the non-importation movement).
Nonimportation Movement
Reduced household consumption of imported goods and increased domestic production (like textiles)
Quebec Act
1764: Extended Quebec boundaries and gave religious freedom to Catholics. It also gave more power to the Catholic Church which let it collect tithes again (but ensured loyalty of the French majority in Quebec).
Quartering Act
1765: Colonists have to provide food, lodging and supplies at their own expense to British troops in the colonies
Declaratory Act
1766: Act that reaffirmed Parliament’s supreme authority and ability to tax the colonies (after it repealed the Stamp Act)
Stamp Act Congress
1767: Delegates from each colony band together and form the congress to protest the Stamp Act. It adopted a declaration of rights and sent letters of complaints to the king. Showed beginnings of colonial unity and organized resistance.
Townshend Acts
1767: Placed taxes on imported materials like glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. Led to outrage and boycott of British goods because taxation without representation. Used revenue of the tax to pay colonial officials and ensure their loyalty to the British Crown.
Boston Massacre
1770: Altercation between drunken Bostians and a few redcoats (fighting in self-defense). Paul Revere spread propaganda about the event and helped unite the colonies against Britain (dead rioters became martyrs for liberty) while John Adams defended the British in court.
Tea Act of May 1773
Provided revenue for the poor East India Company. Britain gave the company a loan and cancelled the import on duties to export tea if it was exported to Ireland and the colonies. Created monopoly on tea which ended nonimportation (a little) and allowed Britain to increase tea costs even though taxes were low.
Boston Tea Party
To protest the Tea Act, artisans and laborers disguised themselves as Indians and dumped a ton of tea into the harbor
The Intolerable Acts
1774: Passed after the Boston Tea Party to shut down Boston Harbor, removing its charter/forbade town meetings, made convicts go to England or another colony for trials, and made colonists house British troops.
First Continental Congress
1774: In response to the Intolerable Acts, men from 12 colonies met in Philadelphia and called for the complete halt in trade with Britain
Second Continental Congress
1775: Opposed complete independence from Britain and tried to reconcile with the Olive Branch Petition (loyalty to the crown) under the conditions that fighting in Boston stop, the Intolerable Acts be repealed, and that negotiations begin immediately. King George III rejected.
Lexington and Concord
1775: General Gage led a militia to confiscate colonial weapons and arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock (presidents of the 2nd Colonial Congress). The minutemen helped the colonies win and these skirmishes signified the beginning of independence
Bunker and Breed’s Hill
1775: Battle contested control of the two hills that overlooked Boston Harbor. The British won and captured the hills after the colonists ran out of ammunition, but the battle showed the colonists that they could fight the British if they had sufficient supplies
