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Salutary Neglect
This is a term used in American history that refers to an unofficial and long-lasting 17th- & 18th-century British policy of avoiding strict enforcement of laws. It is meant to keep the American colonies obedient to England.The term comes from Edmund Burke's "Speech or the Conciliation with the Colonies" -
The French and Indian War
This is the American name for the North American theater of the Seven Years' War. The war was fought between the colonies of British America and New France, with both sides supported by military units from their parent countries of Great Britain and France, who declared war on each other in 1756. In the same year, the war escalated from a regional affair into a world-wide conflict. -
The Proclamation Line of 1763
It was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following the French and Indian War, It forbade settlers from settling past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. It's purpose was to organize Great Britain's new North American empire and to stabilize relations with Native North Americans through regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western -
The Sugar Act
A revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on April 5, 1764. The earlier Molasses Act of 1733, which had imposed a tax of six pence per gallon of molasses, had never been effectively collected due to colonial evasion. By reducing the rate by half and increasing measures to enforce the tax, the British hoped that the tax would actually be collected.These incidents increased the colonists' concerns about the intent of the British Parliament and helped the growing movement -
The Quartering Act
A name given to a minimum of two Acts of British Parliament in the 18th century. Parliament enacted them to order local governments of the American colonies to provide the British soldiers with any needed accommodations. It also required colonists to provide food for any British soldiers in the area. Each of the Quartering Acts was an amendment to the Mutiny Act and required annual renewal by Parliament. They were intended as a response to issues that arose during the French and Indian war. -
The Stamp Act Congress
A meeting held in New York City, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America; it was the first gathering of elected representatives from several of the American colonies to devise a unified protest against new British taxation. Parliament had passed the Stamp Act, which required the use of specially stamped paper for virtually all business in the colonies, and was coming into effect November 1. -
The Stamp Act
It imposed a tax specifically on the colonies of British America, and it required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.These printed materials were legal documents, magazines, newspapers and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the stamp tax had to be paid in valid British currency, not in colonial paper money.The purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops. -
The Declaratory Act
Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act 1765. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act because boycotts were hurting British trade and used the declaration to justify the repeal and save face. The declaration stated that Parliament's authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament's authority to pass laws that were binding on the American colonies. -
The Townshend Acts
Series of acts passed by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the British colonies in North America. The acts are named after Charles Townshend, who proposed the program. Historians vary slightly in which acts they include under the heading "Townshend Acts", but five laws are often mentioned: the Revenue Act of 1767, the Indemnity Act, the Commissioners of Customs Act, the Vice Admiralty Court Act, and the New York Restraining Act. The purpose of the Townshend Acts was to raise revenue. -
The Boston Massacre
Incident in which British Army soldiers killed five male civilians and injured six others. British troops had been stationed in Boston, capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, since 1768 in order to protect and support crown-appointed colonial officials attempting to enforce unpopular Parliamentary legislation. Amid ongoing tense relations between the population and the soldiers, a mob formed around a British sentry, who was subjected to verbal abuse and harassment. -
The Gaspee Affair
Significant event in the lead-up to the American Revolution. HMS Gaspee, a British customs schooner that had been enforcing unpopular trade regulations, ran aground in shallow water, near what is now known as Gaspee Point in the city of Warwick, Rhode Island, while chasing the packet boat Hannah. A group of men led by Abraham Whipple and John Brown attacked, boarded, looted, and torched the ship. -
Committees of Correspondence
Shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of the American Revolution. They coordinated responses to Britain and shared their plans they had emerged as shadow governments, superseding the colonial legislature and royal officials. The Maryland Committee of Correspondence was instrumental in setting up the First Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia, PA. These served an important role in the Revolution, by disseminating the colonies. -
The Tea Act
Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Its principal objective was to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company. A related objective was to undercut the price of tea smuggled into Britain's North American colonies. This was supposed to convince the colonists to purchase Company tea on which the Townshend duties were paid, thus implicitly agreeing to accept Parliament's right of taxation. -
The Boston Tea Party
A political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston. Disguised as American Indians, the demonstrators destroyed an entire shipment of tea, which had been sent by the East India Company, They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor, ruining the tea. -
The Intolerable Acts
The Patriot name for a series of laws passed by the British Parliament, relating to Massachusetts after the Boston Tea party. It was meant to punish the colonists for all the money that was wasted when the tea was thrown in the harbor. In Great Britain, these laws were referred to as the Coercive Acts. -
The First Continental Congress
A convention of delegates from twelve colonies at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts by the Colonial Americans) by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Boston for the Boston Tea Party. -
The Battle of Lexington and Concord
The first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.They were fought in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America.
