7-1: The Expanding Empire
What piece of territory was contested in the French and Indian War?
The Ohio River Valley
What phrase became a slogan for colonist's anger at new taxes? What did it mean?
"No Taxation with Representation!" American colonists had no representatives in British Parliament, which meant they had no say in any taxes Parliament created for them to pay.
What name did colonists who supported rebellion call themselves?
What name did colonists who supported the Crown call themselves?
Patriots opposed British rule, while loyalists supported it.
What was the Continental Congress? What was its goal?
The Continental Congress was a meeting of representatives from all of the colonies (except Georgia!) in Philadelphia in 1774 to discuss the Intolerable Acts and decide how they should respond as a group.
What was the name of the leader of the Ottawa nation who resisted colonization of the Ohio River Valley?
Pontiac
What is Parliament? What relationship did it have with the colonies?
Parliament is the name of Britain's elected legislative body (like our Congress today). However, colonists did not get to elect representatives, so Parliament was largely removed from the colonies.
Who were the Sons of Liberty?
The Sons of Liberty were a group of colonial men in Boston who worked to plan protests and arm militias to defend the colonists from the Crown.
What names did the British soldiers have?
What names did the colonial fighters have?
British soldiers were known as 'regulars' (as in regular army men) or 'redcoats', for their bright red uniforms.
American fighters were known as 'militiamen', as they were mostly self-organized groups of volunteer fighters and not trained soldiers. They were often called 'minutemen' because of quickly they'd have to leave their homes to fight when called.
What three groups of people had a claim to the Ohio River Valley? Describe why they believed they had a right to live there.
The English - who had 'bought' the land from the British-appointed governors as British colonists moved westward
The French - who had developed trade networks, treaties and alliances with the native people
The indigenous people (the Ottawa) - who had lived there for generations
What were the Stamp and Sugar Acts? Why did colonists resist the Stamp and Sugar Acts so fiercely?
The Stamp Act taxed all printed goods in the colonies, such as playing cards, letters and newspapers. The Sugar Act taxed imported sugar and molasses.
Colonists were furious because Parliament had never taxed them directly before, and they didn't like paying more taxes when their colonial assemblies or governments already taxed them!
Who is famous for telling us "the British are coming"?
Who else was involved in that famous ride?
Paul Revere gets the historical credit for his midnight ride to alert the towns of Lexington and Concord that the British Army was coming, but he wasn't the only rider. William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott also participated (and made it farther, actually!).
What did colonial protests look like? Give an example of a popular type of colonial protest.
-boycotts (refusing to buy items from British merchants/taxed items, or finding American-made alternatives to use instead)
-letter-writing campaigns
-calling out merchants who collaborate with the British publicly to shame them/hurt their businesses
-burning officials in effigy to frighten/threaten them
-tarring and feathering officials to hurt/shame them
Describe the Proclamation Line of 1763.
The Proclamation Line of 1763 was a boundary created by King George III after the French and Indian War. It prevented American colonists from moving into the territory they had won in the French and Indian War, because the Crown couldn't afford to pay soldiers to defend them and the land.
Why did the British government believe taxing the colonists directly was fair?
They felt that the taxes were fair for several reasons:
-the colonists were part of the British empire, so taxing them was fair even if it was new
-the taxes were being used to pay off debts for the French and Indian War, which was fought in the colonies and earned new territory for the colonists (even if they couldn't use it right away)
What took place at the Boston Massacre? Describe the 5Ws of the event.
In March 1770, a conflict between a group of colonists who were heckling a group of soldiers broke out. Colonists threw ice and snow and someone - we're not sure on which side, really! - shot their gun, leading to a fight. This conflict ended with several men dead on both sides and intensified the conflict between colonists and Crown.
What were the goals of the First Continental Congress? What did they do to achieve them?
The First Continental Congress wanted to repair the colonies' relationship with the Crown, not declared their independence (yet!).
They wrote a letter directly to King George II, urging him to work with the colonial governments fairly, and giving him time to fix the issues they outlined in their letter. They planned for a new boycott to defy the British taxes and drafted an agreement to protect their freedoms, and planned a second Congress to take more action if the King didn't.
Who won the French and Indian War? What impact did this conflict have on American history?
The British won, but the war left them in serious debt. To try to pay it off, they passed a series of taxes - like the Stamp and Sugar Acts - on the American colonies. This sparked harsh tensions and rebellion among colonists and was a key reason leading to the Revolutionary War.
What were the Intolerable Acts? List the new four new laws they created.
The Intolerable acts created four new laws:
1) The port of Boston was closed and blockaded by the British navy until all the ruined tea was paid for
2)The city of Boston would be limited to just one town meeting per year
3)British officials could be not be tried for crimes in the colonies, only in England
4) 3,000 additional British soldiers would be stationed in Boston - and the colonial citizens would be required to quarter them (to house and feed them)
What took place at the Boston Tea Party? Describe the 5Ws of the event.
The Boston Tea Party was a protest planned by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts in December 1773. They secretly boarded a British merchant ship and destroyed almost 350 crates of tea, dumping it in the water to ruin it, as a way to protest the Tea Act and 'taxation without representation.'
Describe the Battles of Lexington and Concord. What sparked them, and what happened?
The British military governor of Boston, General Thomas Gage, heard rumors that the patriots were were hiding weapons and military supplies for a rebellion in the towns of Lexington and Concord. He ordered soldiers to storm the town, capturing rebels and confiscating their supplies.
The Lexington militia assembled to defend the town and a skirmish broke out, killing 8 men in Lexington before the British army continued to search Concord. There a full battle broke out, with hundreds of casualties. This is considered the first battle of the Revolutionary War.
The British never found the hidden weapons and supplies, though!