Key Vocabulary
Colonization
The process of establishing control over another territory and sending people to settle there
Political System
The way a society organizes and distributes power, makes decisions, and governs its people
Sugar Act
Tax on sugar and other goods; first act to raise revenue from colonies
Sons of Liberty
Secret organization of colonial patriots who organized protests
French and Indian War
Conflict between Britain and France over North American territory
Mercantilism
Economic policy where colonies exist to benefit the mother country through trade restrictions and resource extraction
Common Good
Actions and policies that benefit the entire community rather than just individuals
Stamp Act
Required colonists to pay tax on printed materials
Daughters of Liberty
Women who supported boycotts through making homemade goods
Boston Tea Party
Colonial protest where tea was dumped into Boston Harbor
Taxation without representation
British policy of imposing taxes on colonies without allowing them representation in Parliament
Democratic Government
A system where power comes from the people, who have a voice in decision-making
Townshend Acts
Taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea
Boycott
Refusing to buy British goods as protest
First Continental Congress
Colonial meeting to address British actions
Loyalists
Colonists who remained loyal to Great Britain
Authoritarian Government
A system where power is concentrated in the hands of a few leaders who control without citizen input
Tea Act
Gave British East India Company monopoly on tea sales
Homespun Movement
Making clothes at home instead of buying British textiles
Lexington and Concord
First military engagements of Revolutionary War
Sovereignty
The power of a nation to govern itself independently
Salutary Neglect
British policy of loose enforcement of colonial rules before 1763
Intolerable Acts
Punitive laws passed after Boston Tea Party, including
Boston Tea Party
Protest where colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor
Treaty of Paris
Ended Revolutionary War; Britain recognized American independence