Causes of the Revolution – Flashcards
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Salutary Neglect
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British policy of intentionally ignoring the colonists ex. Navigation and Parliamentary Acts not heavily enforced in colonies
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Whigs
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political party that opposed power of the king (power in the early 1700s)
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Tories
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political party supporting the power of the king (power in late 1700s)
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Mercantilism
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Role of Colonies- supplies raw materials Mother Country- make the finished product
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French Indian War
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War including French, Indians and British- British ultimately won but created lots of debt (both Britain and colonists felt as if they had paid more for the war)
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Pontiac's War
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Pontiac conquered 9/12 British forts beyond
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Proclamation of 1763
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Declares that no one past a certain line on the map will be protected unless they purchase the land -British troops sent to colonies to enforce the act
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Quartering Act of 1765
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Colonists required to quarter soldiers (food, bed drink etc.) without being reimbursed
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Sugar and Molasses Tax
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Had been on the book for 20 years, but Britain lowered the tax and started enforcing it in an effort to get colonists to actually pay the tax
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General Gage
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British general sent to enforce the quartering act- when colonists tried to appeal he shut down the assembly
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Stamp Act (1765)
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Tax placed on everything involving paper (books, cards, dice etc.)
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1766 Declaratory Act
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Declared that parliament had absolute power to tax the colonists
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Virginia Resolves
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Call for a united colonial response to the absurdity of the Stamp Act
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Stamp Act Congress
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Result of the Virginia Resolves- 28 colonial representatives sent to discuss Stamp Act, adopt 14 resolutions
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Sons of Liberty
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Instigated effective mob-based activity in colonies, also created an underground newspaper
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Revocation of Stamp Act (1766)
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Parliament repeals stamp act, but keeps declaratory act
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Townshend Acts (1767)
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Tax on glass, paper, lead, pain and tea
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Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
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"Rebellious" letters published- Britain outlaws publishing of letters- legislatures refuse to do so --> back and forth demonstrating colonial defiance
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Dissolving of Colonial Assembly
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Non Importation (1768)
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Boycotting system where towns refused to do business with followers of the Townshend Act (closes off Boston and New York ports)
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Repeal of Townshend Acts (1770)
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All parts of Townshend Acts are repealed, but Parliament adds the Tea Tax, taxing tea
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Boston Massacre (1770)
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Mobs celebrating the repeal of the Townshend Act forms outside Customs house (5 killed, 6 injured)
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Britain Pulls out Troops
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After the Non-Importation Agreement and Boston Massacre, Britain pulls out lots of their troops to avoid conflict
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Payment of Judges
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Britain starts paying colonial judges out of the parliament budget (not tax money) --> creates the illusion that Britain is "paying off" colonial judges
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Trade With Britain
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Because Britain repeals the majority of the trade taxes, trade with Britain goes up again
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Committees of Correspondance (1772)
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Samuel Adams created committee, wrote pamphlets regarding worries about the effects of British taxation on trade -Boston created the first one, Massachusetts and Virginia followed -Became a method for leaders in different colonies to correspond
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Tea Act (1773)
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Shifted tax on tea from East India trading company to the people (aka now the colonists are paying the tax)
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Boston Tea Party (1773)
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Sam Adams instigates riot where angry colonists throw tea in the harbor. Britain reacts by closing Boston's ports.
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Coercive/Intolerable Acts (1774)
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Britain shuts down town meeting halls except for one day a year
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Administration of Justice Act
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Big-time criminals were deported to England to have a trial under a British judge
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Massachusetts Government Act
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Parliament appoints a general as the governor of Massachusetts ("every problems looks like a nail to a man with a hammer")
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Quebec Act
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Parliament allows catholics the freedom to practice openly in Quebec (makes the colonists uneasy, but least significant of Coercive acts)
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Response to Coercive Acts
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Colonists from Quebec from Georgia sent supplies to Boston after their ports were shut down
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Grenville
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Suggested the Stamp Act after the Sugar Act passed, said that the Stamp Act didn't violate the no taxation without representational principle, denied difference between external tax and internal tax, said that if colonists could come up with a better alternative he would listen but he rejected their suggestions
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Virtual Representation
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Members of Parliament represented the entire empire, not just a local constituency and its voters. Settlers were represented in Parliament in the same way that nonvoting subjects in Britain were represented. The colonists accepted virtual representation for nonvoting settlers within their colonies but denied that the term could describe their relationship with Parliament.
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Internal vs. External Taxation
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Internal taxation - taxes imposed on land, people, retail item (such as excises), or legal documents and newspapers (such as stamp act). Most colonists thought that only their elected assemblies had the constitutional power to impose internal taxes. External taxation - Taxes based on oceanic trade, such as port duties. Some colonists through of them more as a means of regulating trade than as taxes for revenue
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Non-Importation
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Agreements not to import goods from Great Britain. They were designed to put pressure on the British economy and force the repeal of unpopular parliamentary acts. Ports in Boston and New York were closed, and it eventually caused British to pull out soldiers to avoid conflict and to repeal the Stamp Acts.
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Difference between Stamp Act and Townshend Act
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The Stamp Act imposed duties on most legal documents in the colonies and on newspapers and other publications. After the Stamp Act was repealed, the Townshend Act were created and imposed import duties on tea, paper, glass, red and white lead, and painter's colors. Both provoked a major imperial crisis. The Townshend Act was later repealed, except for its tax on tea (this caused the Boston Tea Party).
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Liberty Song
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Written by John Dickinson, the song formed part of the attack against the Townshend Acts. This song repeats the ideas in Dickinson's Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, but it reached a larger audience. The lyrics show that Dickinson considered himself a loyal and patriotic British subject who thought these taxes were not "just." It urged a more equal two way relationship between the colonies and Britain. Dickinson adopted the tune of a patriotic British song, which helped Liberty Song gain popularity.
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Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
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Written by John Dickinson, these letters argued that the Townshend Act violated the principle of no taxation without representation. These were published in pamphlets and newspapers.