Early Causes
This war between Britain and France left Britain in debt leading them to tax the colonies.
What was the French and Indian War?
This 1773 act gave the British East India Company control over the tea trade and imposed a tax on that tea.
What was the Tea Act?
These battles of the Revolution are known as the “shot heard ‘round the world.”
What were the battles of Lexington and Concord?
This document, written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson, declared the colonies free from Britain.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
This 1620 document created self-government for the Pilgrims.
What is the Mayflower Compact?
Britain issued this law in 1763 to prevent colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. What effect did it have?
What was the Proclamation of 1763, and it angered colonists who wanted to expand westward.
What caused the Boston Tea Party, and what was its immediate effect?
The Tea Act caused the Sons of Liberty to dump tea into the Boston Harbor, leading Britain to pass the Intolerable Acts.
Why was the Battle of Saratoga considered the turning point of the war?
Because it convinced France to join the war as an ally to the colonies
Colonists listed their complaints against the king in this section of the Declaration.
What are grievances?
Colonists developed self-government partly because Britain allowed them freedom while focusing on trade.
What is salutary neglect?
The Stamp Act and Sugar Act were designed to raise money for Britain. How did colonists respond?
They protested, boycotted British goods, and argued “No taxation without representation”
Britain passed the Intolerable Acts to punish Boston. What effect did this have on the colonies?
It united the colonies in anger and led to the First Continental Congress.
The Second Continental Congress made a major decision.
What is signed the Declaration of Independence?
The Declaration says people are born with rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
What are unalienable rights?
Slavery expanded in the Southern Colonies as a result of their economy. Why?
Plantations depended on enslaved labor to produce cash crops such as tobacco and rice.
This act required colonists to house British soldiers. How did it fuel resistance?
What was the Quartering Act of 1765 and it increased resentment because colonists felt their rights were violated?
The Boston Tea Party is an example of civil disobedience. What is civil disobedience?
Breaking a law peacefully in order to protest or demand change.
How did the Battle of Yorktown directly cause the end of the war?
Britain surrendered because their army was trapped by Washington and the French fleet.
Name three grievances from the Declaration of Independence.
Quartering Act
Taxation without Representation
Not protecting our unalienable rights
Cutting off trade
Mercantilism
Taking away trial by jury
Destroying our lives
How did geography shape the economy of the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies?
Geography determined what could be grown or produced—rocky soil and natural harbors led to fishing and trade in New England, fertile soil and a moderate climate supported grain farming in the Middle Colonies, and warm climate and very fertile soil supported plantations in the South.
Why did Britain believe taxes like the Townshend Acts were fair, and why did colonist strongly disagree?
Britain thought colonists should help pay war debts, but colonists believed only their own self-governments had the right to tax them.
What causes the First Continental Congress to meet in Philadelphia in 1774 and what was one major effect of it?
The Intolerable Acts causes it, and it led to unified colonial action (such as petitions) and plans for resistance.
How did the Treaty of Paris 1783 affect America’s future?
It recognized U.S. independence and gave the new nation land to the Mississippi River.
Unalienable rights reflect the ideas of natural rights proposed by an English philosopher.
Who is John Locke?
How did distance from Britain, salutary neglect, and English philosophers cause colonists to expect rights and self-government?
They learned to govern themselves, developed democratic ideas, and believed government should protect natural rights.