Stamp Act Congress
met in New York City with twenty-seven delegates from nine colonies in 1765; had little effect at the time but broke barriers and helped toward colonial unity; the act caused an uprising because there was no one to sell the stamps and the British did not understand why the Americans could not pay for their own defense; the act was repealed in 1766.
Intolerable Acts
The Acts passed in 1774, following the Boston Tea Party, that were considered unfair because they were designed to chastise Boston in particular, yet effected all the colonies by the Boston Port Act which closed Boston Harbor until damages were paid.
Continental
The name Continental is associated to two congresses. The first is in 1774 and the second is in 1775. They both take place in Philadelphia. the Continental Congress brought the leaders of the thirteen colonies together. This was the beginning of our national union.
Quartering Act
Law passed by Britain to force colonists to pay taxes to house and feed British soldiers. Passed in the same few years as the Navigation Laws of 1763, the Sugar Act of 1764, and the Stamp Act of 1765 Stirred up even more resentment for the British. The Legislature of New York was suspended in 1767 for failing to comply with the Quartering Act.
The Association
A document produced by the Continental Congress in 1775 that called for a complete boycott of British goods. This included non-importation, non-exportation and non-consumption. It was the closest approach to a written constitution yet from the colonies. It was hoped to bring back the days before Parliamentary taxation. Those who violated The Association in America were tarred and feathered.
Stamp Act
In 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act, requiring the colonists to pay for a stamp to go on many of the documents essential to their lives. These documents included deeds, mortgages, liquor licenses, playing cards, and almanacs. The colonists heartily objected to this direct tax and in protest petitioned the king, formed the Stamp Act Congress, and boycotted English imports. In 1766 Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, a major victory for colonists.
Committees of Correspondence
Samuel Adams started the first committee in Boston in 1772 to spread propaganda and secret information by way of letters. They were used to sustain opposition to British policy. The committees were extremely effective and a few years later almost every colony had one. This is another example of the colonies breaking away from Europe to become Americans.
Hessians
German soldiers hired by George III to smash Colonial rebellion, proved good in mechanical sense but they were more concerned about money than duty.
Loyalists
(Tories) Colonials loyal to the king during the American Revolution.
Navigation Acts
Between late 1600s and the early 1700s, the British passed a series of laws to put pressure on the colonists (mostly tax laws). These laws are known as the Navigation Acts. Example: 1651- All goods must be shipped in colonial or English ships, and all imports to colonies must be on colonial or English ships or the ships of the producer. 1660- incorporation of law of 1651. it also enumerated articles, such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton, can only be exported to England from the colonies. 1663- a.k.a. the staple act of 1663- all imports to the colonies must go through England.
Declaratory Act
In 1766, the English Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and at the same time signed the Declaratory Act. This document stated that Parliament had the right "to bind" the colonies "in all cases whatsoever." It is important in history because it stopped the violence and rebellions against the tax on stamps. Also, it restarted trade with England, which had temporarily stopped as a defiant reaction to the Stamp Act.
First Continental Congress
a convention and a consultative body that met for seven weeks, from September 5 to October 26, 1774, in Philadelphia; it was the American's response to the Intolerable Acts; considered ways of redressing colonial grievances; all colonies except Georgia sent 55 distinguished men in all; John Adams persuaded his colleagues toward revolution; they wrote a Declaration of Rights and appeals to British American colonies, the king, and British people; created the Association which called for a complete boycott of English goods; the Association was the closet thing to a written constitution until the
Sugar Act 1764
The Sugar Act was the first law ever passed by Parliament. The act was put in place for raising revenue in the colonies for the crown. It increased the duties on foreign sugar, mainly from the West Indies. After protests from the colonists, the duties were lowered.
Townshend Acts
In 1767 "Champagne Charley" Townshend persuaded Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts. These acts put a light import duty on such things as glass, lead, paper, and tea. The acts met slight protest from the colonists, who found ways around the taxes such as buying smuggled tea. Due to its minute profits, the Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770, except for the tax on tea. The tax on tea was kept to keep alive the principle of Parliamentary taxation.
"Virtual" representation
Theory that claimed that every member of Parliament represented all British subjects, even those Americans in Boston or Charleston who had never voted for a member of the London Parliament.
Boycott
To abstain from using, buying, or dealing with; happens all of the time everywhere all over the world; labor unions, consumer groups, countries boycott products to force a company or government to change its politics.
The Boards of Trade
An English legislative body, based in London, that was instituted for the governing and economic controlling of the American colonies. It lacked many powers, but kept the colonies functioning under the mercantile system while its influence lasted. The height of the Boards' power was in the late 1690's.
Sons of Liberty
An organization established in 1765, these members (usually in the middle or upper class) resisted the Stamp Act of 765. Even though the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, the Sons of Liberty combined with the Daughters of Liberty remained active in resistance movements.
Quebec Act
After the French and Indian War, the English had claim the Quebec Region, a French speaking colony. Because of the cultural difference, English had a dilemma on what to do with the region. The Quebec Act, passed in 1774, allow the French Colonist to go back freely to their own customs. The colonists have the right to have access to the Catholic religion freely. Also, it extended to Quebec Region north and south into the Ohio River Valley. This act created more tension between the colonists and the British which lead to the American Revolution.
Internal/External Taxation
Internal taxation taxed goods within the colonies and acted much like a sales tax. The Stamp Act of 1765 is an example of internal taxation. External taxation applied to imports into the colonies. The merchant importing the good paid the tax on it, much like the Sugar Act of 1764. Colonists were more accepting of external taxation and more opposed to internal taxation.
King George III
King George the third was the king of England in the 1770's.Though he was a good man he was not a good ruler. He lost all of the 13 American colonies and caused America to start to gain its freedom.
Baron Von Steuben
A stern, Prussian drillmaster that taught American soldiers during the Revolutionary War how to successfully fight the British.
Mercantilism
According to this doctrine, the colonies existed for the benefit of the mother country; they should add to its wealth, prosperity, and self-sufficiency. The settlers were regarded more or less as tenants. They were expected to produce tobacco and other products needed in England and not to bother their heads with dangerous experiments in agriculture or self-government.
No Taxation without Representation"
This is a theory of popular government that developed in England. This doctrine was used by the colonists to protest the Stamp Act of 1765. The colonists declared that they had no one representing them in Parliament, so Parliament had no right to tax them. England continued to tax the colonists causing them to deny Parliament's authority completely. Thus, the colonists began to consider their own political independence. This eventually led to revolutionary consequences.
Royal Veto
A royal veto was when legislation passed by the colonial assemblies conflicted with British regulations. It was then declared void by the Privy Council. It was resented by the colonists but was only used 469 times out of 8563 laws.
Lord North
1770's-1782 King George III's stout prime minister (governor during Boston Tea Party) in the 1770's. Lord North's rule fell in March of 1782, which therefore ended the rule of George III for a short while.
George Grenville
George Grenville was the British Prime Minister from 1763-1765. To obtain funds for Britain after the costly 7-Years War, in 1763 he ordered the Navy to enforce the unpopular Navigation Laws, and in 1764 he got Parliament to pass the Sugar Act, which increased duties on sugar imported from the West Indies. He also, in 1765, brought about the Quartering Act, which forced colonists to provide food and shelter to British soldiers, who many colonists believed were only present to keep the colonists in line.
Samuel Adams
Often called the "Penman of the Revolution" He was a Master propagandist and an engineer of rebellion. Though very weak and feeble in appearance, he was a strong politician and leader that was very aware and sensitive to the rights of the colonists. He organized the local committees of correspondence in Massachusetts, starting with Boston in 1772. These committees were designed to oppose British policy forced on the colonists by spreading propaganda.
Charles Townshend
Charles Townshend was control of the British ministry and was nicknamed "Champagne Charley" for his brilliant speeches in Parliament while drunk. He persuaded Parliament in 1767 to pass the Townshend Acts. These new regulations was a light import duty on glass, white lead, paper, and tea. It was a tax that the colonist were greatly against and was a near start for rebellions to take place.
John Adams
patriot of the American Revolution, second president of the US; president from 1796-1800; attended the Continental Congress in 1774 as a delegate from Georgia; swayed his countrymen to take revolutionary action against England which later gained America independence from the English.
John Hancock
Nicknamed "King of the Smugglers" ; He was a wealthy Massachusetts merchant in 1776 who was important in persuading the American colonies to declare their independence from England. He was the ring leader in the plot to store gunpowder which resulted in the battles in Lexington and Concord. These battles began the American Revolution.
