Chapter 3

Proclamation of 1763: After Britain won the French and Indian War, King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763. It forbade colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, reserving that land for Native Americansmountvernon.org. The British made this rule to avoid conflicts with Native Americans on the frontiergilderlehrman.org. Many colonists were upset because they had hoped to settle on the new lands won in the wargilderlehrman.org.

smuggling: Smuggling was when colonists secretly imported or traded goods without paying British taxes or following British trade lawsushistory.org. For example, colonists often smuggled sugar, molasses, tea, and other items because laws like the Molasses Act made taxes very highushistory.org. Britain’s officials were far away and could not always enforce the rules, so many colonists ignored the laws and smuggled goodsushistory.org. This was common in port cities, and it helped colonists get what they wanted and practice resisting British rulesushistory.org.

Tea Act: In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act to help the British East India Company sell tea in America. It allowed the company to ship tea directly to the colonies and lowered the price of tea by cutting out middlemenhistory.com. However, the tea still carried a tax and the Act hurt colonial merchants. Colonists saw it as unfair taxation without consent, and they feared it gave one company a monopolyhistory.com. Anger over the Tea Act helped trigger the Boston Tea Party protest.

Continental Congress: The Continental Congress was a meeting of colonial delegates to coordinate action against Britain. The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774 with representatives from 12 colonies to discuss the Intolerable Acts and other grievancesaoc.gov. They declared that colonists had the same rights as Englishmen and agreed on a boycott of British goodsaoc.gov. Later, the Second Continental Congress (1775) served as the colonies’ government during the war, raising an army and eventually issuing the Declaration of Independence.

Boston Tea Party: The Boston Tea Party was a political protest on December 16, 1773. Colonists, disguised as Native Americans, boarded British ships (East India Company ships) in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the waterhistory.com. They did this to oppose the Tea Act and “taxation without representation.” In response, Britain passed the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts, including closing Boston Harbor until the tea was paid forhistory.com. This punishment angered colonists everywhere and helped unite them against Britain.

Sugar Act: The Sugar Act of 1764 was a British law to raise money after the French and Indian War. It placed taxes on sugar, molasses, wine, and other imports to the coloniesbattlefields.org. This Act lowered an earlier tax on molasses but enforced it much more strictlynps.gov. Colonists, especially merchants in New England, were angry because it increased government power to collect taxes from them. They protested that it taxed them without their consent, contributing to rising colonial resentmentbattlefields.org.

Townshend Acts: The Townshend Acts were a set of laws passed in 1767. They put taxes on items like glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea that the colonies imported from Britainloc.gov. The revenue was meant to pay for British officials in the colonies. Colonists were upset because these were indirect taxes and they had no say in Parliament. They responded by protesting and boycotting British goods, which again increased tensions with the British governmentloc.gov.

French and Indian War: The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was the North American part of the Seven Years’ War. It was fought between Great Britain (with the American colonies) and France (with various Native American tribes) over control of land in North Americahistory.state.govhistory.state.gov. Britain won the war and gained huge new territory (including Canada and all land east of the Mississippi) by the Treaty of Paris in 1763history.state.gov. However, the war was very expensive. After the war, Britain tried to have the colonies help pay the debt by raising taxes. These tax policies angered colonists and helped spark the drive toward independencehistory.state.gov.

Quebec Act: The Quebec Act of 1774 was a British law concerning French Canada. It extended Quebec’s borders south to the Ohio River and allowed French Canadians to keep their French civil law and to practice the Catholic religionhistory.state.gov. American colonists disliked this act because it took away land west of the Appalachians that they had expected to settle, and it gave official favor to Catholicism (which alarmed the mostly Protestant colonists)history.state.gov. The Quebec Act, combined with the Intolerable Acts, made colonists feel the British government was hostile to colonial interests.

Stamp Act: The Stamp Act of 1765 was a British law that placed a tax on all printed materials in the colonies. This included newspapers, legal documents, contracts, playing cards, and other paper goodsjyfmuseums.org. Colonists had to buy and affix specially stamped paper to show they paid the tax. This was the first direct tax that Parliament imposed on the colonists. It caused widespread protests, because Americans argued that only their own colonial assemblies could tax them. Groups like the Sons of Liberty formed, and the colonies even sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress to formally object. The strong colonial opposition eventually forced Britain to repeal the Stamp Act.

Coercive Acts: The Coercive Acts (known to Americans as the Intolerable Acts) were four harsh laws passed in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Partyloc.gov. These acts closed Boston Harbor until the destroyed tea was paid for, took away Massachusetts’ self-government (putting government appointments under British control), and allowed troops to be quartered in private buildingsloc.govloc.gov. Because these measures were so severe and applied only to Massachusetts, other colonies feared for their own rights. The Intolerable Acts actually united the colonies, leading them to organize the First Continental Congress in 1774 as a unified response.

Boston Massacre: The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770. British soldiers in Boston were being harassed by a crowd of colonists; one soldier was knocked down, and in the confusion the soldiers opened firebattlefields.org. Five colonists were killed or mortally wounded. Patriots (like Samuel Adams and Paul Revere) called it a “massacre” to stir public anger. News of the killings spread through the colonies and united many colonists in opposition to British troops, increasing anti-British sentimentbattlefields.org.

Writs of Assistance: Writs of Assistance were general search warrants used by the British starting around 1760. They allowed customs officers to search any home, ship, or warehouse for smuggled goods without needing a specific reasonconstitutioncenter.org. Colonists hated these writs because they felt such open-ended searches violated their rights and privacy. Boston lawyer James Otis famously argued against these writs in 1761, calling them “instruments of slavery”constitutioncenter.org. The anger over writs of assistance helped convince many Americans that British rule threatened their liberties.

Lexington and Concord: The Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775) were the first military engagements of the American Revolution. British troops were sent from Boston to Concord to seize and destroy weapons stored by colonists. On the morning of April 19, they met colonial militiamen on Lexington Green, where the first shots were fired (the “shot heard ’round the world”)battlefields.org. The British then marched on to Concord but ran into more resistance. By the time the British fell back toward Boston, they had been attacked by hundreds of armed colonists along the route. The colonial militias forced the British to retreat and helped spark a full-scale war for independencebattlefields.orgbattlefields.org.

Loyalists: Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to King George III and the British government during the Revolutionushistory.org. They included some wealthy landowners, government officials, merchants, and others who believed British rule was preferable. Loyalists often faced harassment from Patriots; they could have their property seized, be tarred and feathered, or be forced to fleeushistory.org. Only about one in six Americans actively supported the Loyalist causeushistory.org. After the war, roughly 80,000 Loyalists left the new United States (many going to Canada or Britain) because they were afraid of persecutionushistory.orgushistory.org.

Patriots: Patriots were colonists who favored independence from Britain. They believed Parliament’s taxes and laws (passed without colonial representatives) were unfairducksters.com. Most Patriot leaders wanted liberty and self-rule. They organized protests, formed militia units, and eventually fought the British Army. Famous Patriots include George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and others who later became known as the Founding Fathersducksters.com.

Committee of correspondence: Committees of correspondence were local groups set up by Patriot leaders beginning in the early 1770s. Their job was to share information and coordinate opposition to British policies between the coloniesmountvernon.org. Men on these committees exchanged letters (“correspondence”) to let other towns know about new British laws and to plan united actionmountvernon.org. For example, Samuel Adams organized a Boston committee in 1772, and by 1773 nearly every colony had its own committee. This network helped the colonies act in concert, so when Britain passed new laws, the colonies could quickly respond together.

Paul Revere: Paul Revere was a silversmith from Boston and an active Patriot. He is famous for his “Midnight Ride” on April 18, 1775. Revere rode by horse through the night to warn colonial leaders and militias that British troops were moving out of Boston toward Concordbattlefields.org. He shouted a warning and set lantern signals, helping to mobilize the colonial militia. Thanks to Revere and others, the militias were alert by dawn and ready to confront the British at Lexington and Concord. Revere also made a famous engraving of the Boston Massacre that helped spread revolutionary ideas among colonists.

Declaratory Act: The Declaratory Act was passed by Parliament in March 1766, immediately after the Stamp Act was repealed. It stated that Parliament had the full authority to make laws binding the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”battlefields.org. In other words, Britain claimed it still had the right to tax and govern the colonies however it chose. Colonists were unhappy because it meant that even though the Stamp Act was gone, they could be taxed again at any time without their consentbattlefields.org. This Act made clear that Britain had no intention of giving up control over the colonies.

William Dawes: William Dawes was another Patriot messenger who rode on the night of April 18–19, 1775. When the patriots learned that the British planned to march to Concord, Dr. Joseph Warren sent Dawes (and Paul Revere) to alert the countrysidebattlefields.org. Dawes took a different route than Revere (going overland through Boston Neck) and also warned Hancock and Adams at Lexington. Both riders helped spread the alarm so that the colonial militias would be ready when the British troops arrived.

Battle of Bunker Hill: The Battle of Bunker Hill (fought on June 17, 1775, mostly on Breed’s Hill near Boston) was one of the first major battles of the Revolution. American militia fortified Breed’s Hill, and the British attacked uphill. The colonists repelled the first two British assaults, but on the third charge they ran out of ammunition and had to retreat. The British won the ground, but it was a costly victory: they suffered over twice as many casualties as the Americansbattlefields.org. This battle showed that even inexperienced colonial soldiers could stand up to Britain’s army. The heavy British losses also boosted American morale and convinced many that the war would not be easy for Britain to win