ACTS!
British law that decreased the duty on French molasses, making it more attractive for shippers to obey the law, and at the same time raised penalties for smuggling. The act enraged New England merchants, who opposed both the tax and the fact that prosecuted merchants would be tried by British-appointed judges in vice-admiralty courts.
What is the Sugar Act
A violent confrontation between British troops and a mob on March 5, 1770 in which 5 citizens were killed when the troops fired into the crowd; inflamed anti-British feelings
Boston Massacre
A formal document in which the Continental Congress representing the American colonies detailed its reasons for breaking political bonds with Great Britain.
Declaration of Independence
_________________ which met in New York City from October 7 to 25, 1765, was the first gathering of representatives from several American colonies to devise a unified protest against British taxation.
Stamp Act Congress
British law imposing a tax on all paper used in the colonies. Widespread resistance to the it prevented it from taking effect and led to its repeal in 1766.
What is the Stamp Act
The name for the French and Indian war in Europe
Seven Years War
A document in which argued that the colonists should free themselves from British rule and establish an independent government based on Enlightenment ideals
Common Sense
___________ the king of England from 1760 to 1820, exercised a greater hand in the government of the American colonies than had many of his predecessors. Colonists were torn between loyalty to the king and resistance to acts carried out in his name.
King George III
Law issued by Parliament to assert Parliament's unassailable right to legislate for its British colonies "in all cases whatsoever," putting Americans on notice that the simultaneous repeal of the Stamp Act changed nothing in the imperial powers of Britain.
Declaratory Act
Anti-British movement founded by Native American leader Pontiac
Pontiacs War
On July 8, 1775, the colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain, agreeing to be loyal to the British government if it addressed their grievances (repealed the Coercive Acts, ended the taxation without representation policies).
Olive Branch Petition
A radical political organization for colonial independence which formed in 1765 after the passage of the Stamp Act. They incited riots and burned the customs houses where the stamped British paper was kept.
Sons of liberty
British law that established new duties on tea, glass, lead, paper, and painters' colors imported into the colonies. The duties led to boycotts and heightened tensions between Britain and American colonies.
What is the Townshend Act
Issued by King George III on October 7, 1763, following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the Seven Years' War. It forbade all settlement west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains, which was delineated as an Indian Reserve.
Proclamation of 1763
Punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest in reaction to changes in taxation by the British to the detriment of colonial goods.
Intolerable Acts
An organization formed by women prior to the American Revolution They got together to protest treatment of the colonies by their British Rulers. They also had a large influence during the war, although not as large an influence as the sons of liberty.
Daughters of Liberty
British act that lowered the existing tax on herbal drinks and granted exceptions to the East India Company to make their herbal drinks cheaper in the colonies and entice boycotting Americans to buy it. Resistance to it led to the passage of the Coercive Act and imposition of military rule in Massachusetts.
What is the Tea Act
The proclamation declared martial law and promised freedom for slaves of American revolutionaries who left their owners and joined the royal forces.
Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation
A system of communication between patriot leaders in New England and throughout the colonies. They provided the organization necessary to unite the colonies in opposition to Parliament.
committees of correspondence
A convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies
Continental Congress