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American Revolution
American Revolution Pre-Revolution
15
History
Undergraduate 2
03/14/2007

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Term
Gilbert Tennent
Definition
(late 1730- early 1740)
-Tennent was an Irish-born American Presbyterian clergyman
-Son of William Tennent (Founder of Log College)
-one of the leaders of the Great Awakening (along with Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield)
-famous for his sermon, "On the Danger of an Unconverted Ministry"
-Claimed anti-revivalistic ministers were hypocritical
*Started revolutionary Ideas by turning the higherarchical protestent situation on its head with revivalism (High-Gentlemen don't cry, ect.)
Term
Parson's Cause
Definition
(1750s)
-an important legal and political dispute in the Colony of Virginia
-viewed as an important event leading up to the American Revolution
-The case arose with regard to the Two-Penny Act
-Tobacco was like currency
-Due to: crop failing -> inflating the value (from 2c to 6c./lb)
-Virginia Clergy Salaries cost a lot in Tobacco
-Legislature responded by paying debts back in Tobacco @ 2c/lb
-King veto's legislature
-Henry takes it to court as a breach of authority
-says king is more like a tyrant
*This dispute against the king not only nullified the veto, but stood for a sign against the overuse of power by the king
-became a revolutionary marker against the kings power
Term
Isaac Newton
Definition
(Late 17th c -Early 18th c)
-part of "The Enlightenment" era of Colonies
-Fathered the Scientific Movement of the early 18th c.
-Created Mathematic principles
-explained planetary motion
-Created Calculous (a single unified system)
*by leading the way for others in the scientific movement, Newton influenced colonial consciousness to take his scientific methods and reach greater levels in both political and social sciences and religion.
Term
"Second Treatise on Civil Government"
Definition
(Around 1688 - Before/During the "Gloreous Revolution" in England)
-just after a Time when Puritans/other protestants raged a war against the king and killed him ruling in anarchy for a while
-Restoration Era to Revive the Monarchy
-John Locke wrote this by created a social contract (keeps the king on thrown, but keeps him in check)
-Prior social systems based on Authority
-Covers human state of nature/natural rights
-covers conquest and slavery, property, representative government, and perhaps most importantly the right of revolution
*This second treatise is often cited as a manifesto for liberal democracy and capitalism and a stamp for the ideals behind the American revolution
Term
Marquis de Montcalm
Definition
(Mid 18th C)
-commander of the French forces in North America during the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War)
-Had major sucess in early campaign against the British
-Political loss: Indian allies slaughtered British troops (Last of Mo)
-Remembered in his Fall of Quebec
Term
Proclamation Line of 1763
Definition
-was issued by King George III following British acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War
-Line along the Appalacian mountains
-Supposed to be protected by British Troops
-Mostly effected land speculators
Purpose:
-to organize Britain's vast new North American empire
-mostly to stabilize relations with Indians
-Supposed to help with regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier
Line was ineffective:
-Almost immediately, many British colonists and land speculators objected to the proclamation boundary, since there were already many settlements beyond the line
-(some of which had been temporarily evacuated during Pontiac's War)
-as well as many existing land claims yet to be settled.
-Leading Gentlemen wanted their money
-Became a mere "paper blockade"
-British did not protect it
-"Squatters" did not care to follow it
*Gave controll to the Crown to sell Western Land instead of private purchase
*colonial officials were forbidden to grant lands without royal approval. The proclamation gave the Crown a monopoly on all future land purchases from American Indians.
Term
Paxton Boys
Definition
(Dec 1763)
-formed a vigilante group in response to Pontiac's Rebellion
-government of colonial Pennsylvania dominated by Quaker pacifists
-Too negligent in providing them with protection
-decided to take matters into their own hands
-Paxton Boys marched on an Indian village, murdered the six Indians & burned the cabin
-Later, colonists looking through the ashes of the cabin, found a bag containing a treaty signed by William Penn, which pledged that the colonists and the Indians shall forever live in true Friendship
-The remaining fourteen were placed in protective custody
-But the Paxton Boys broke into the workhouse and brutally killed and mutilated all fourteen.
*the Paxton Boys reveal the tension between the established societies of the Atlantic coast and the more precarious areas of white settlement on the western frontier
Term
Currency Act
Definition
(1764)
-Created because of the rising colonial debt that was occurring
-Britain was pissed because debter's debt was becomming worth less and less due to inflation
-Gold coins in the colonies are short
-inflation caused by more and more paper currency being produced by the colonies
-So Britain bars the Colonies from creating their own currency
-Instead, all gold & silver goes to the "Father country"
*This offset the economy of the colonies and was widely opposed
*another stepping stone behind rebellion against their fathering country
Term
Thomas Hutchinson
Definition
(1771-1774)
-Loyalist Governer of Massachusettes During the time of the Boston Tea Party
-Replaced by General Gage (in his temporary controll)
-against the majority on issues like proper currency
-Believe colonists need less rights
-Played big role in Boston Tea Party
-Ship landed in Boston
-Hutchinson refused to send the ship back
-Patriots thought that he would try and secretly unload it
-Tea Party occurred
*They were hasty on making this move due to the lack of trust in Hutchinson
*This act was not for personal gain, and it involved both the leading men laborers
Term
Declaratory Act
Definition
(1766)
-The Declaratory Act replaced the Stamp Act
-Tries to put an end to the protest of non-importation by the colonies against the stamp act
-England's economy still suffering from post war depression (seven years war)
-In an ambiguous way it asserted that Parliament had the power to make laws over the colonies
-The phrasing of the act was intentionally ambiguous
-The colonies
-many in Parliament felt that taxes were implied in this clause
-More importantly, some other Parliament members and many of the colonialists did not
-It is for this reason, along with the colonists' contentment that the Stamp Act had been repealed, that there was not an outcry in the colonies against the Declaratory Act when it was passed.
*However, the Declaratory Act was put into action through another set of Acts: the Townshend Acts which imposed indirect taxation on common goods imported into the colonies
*the Declaratory Act through the Townshend Acts led to major uprising by the NE colonies and non-importation/ non-consumerism became a stronger replacement to its former opposition from the stamp act.
*The Declaratory Act can be seen as a predecessor to future acts that would further incite the anger of the American colonists and eventually lead up to the American Revolutionary War
Term
Quartering Act
Definition
-Came up especially during the Coercive Acts
-previously Troops were forced to build there own barracks
-Under the QA troops allowed to take over Local residences, commercial and empty buildings, taverns, inns, anywhere else suitable
-It said that inhabitants had to pay for the basic needs of the soldiers as well, which were bedding, cooking utensils, clothing, and a few others.
-The law was bitterly protested
*it symbolized the potential dangers and abuses of standing armies
*eventually led to the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution, which expressly prohibited the military from quartering troops without consent of the owner of the house
*Heavy influence in the uprising Mob leading to the Boston Massacre
Term
Cato's Letters
Definition
(Around 1770s)
-A series of letters by John Trechard and Thomas Gordon
Four concepts:
1.Liberty
-Fragile, easily lost, Feminine
2.Power
-opposite of Liberty, Takes other's Liberty, Male
3.Corruption
-an expression of power
4.Conspiracy
-tied to power, favors to people in power
-Concepts developed by John Locke
*Leading to a higher consciousness of the colonial people...
*Copy found in most colonist's homes
Term
Boston Massacre
Definition
Occurred in 1770 due to rising problems that the Boston people were having with standing Army and the Quartering Act. The conflicts escalated until 5 people in a mob of citizens ended up being shot by British troops. The real signifigance to this event was a political victory by the colonists in propoganda. The mere fact that it is still considered a "massacre" speaks lengths to the power of media and propoganda of the colonies at the time. The word of the problems with the standing british army had already been heard throughout the colonies. Once word spread that the british were killing other colonial people, a large uprising in opposition to standing armies rushed throughout the colonies and became a huge insentive for the decisions made in the First Continental Congress. Forexample their decision to create a national military.
Term
Quebec Act
Definition
(1774)
1.Recent British Rule (~1763)
a.Quebec used to be under French Rule
b.Wanted to bring Quebec back to a little of what the were used to
i.They reinstituted no trial by jury
ii.Catholic Faith is re-established there as the dominant faith
1.Instead of “taxing” they instituted a tithe
c.The idea in this was for the Brits to throw Quebec a bone to try to make good with them
i.This way they’d have better control over Indian influences
1.Because there was a high population of Indians in and around that area
ii.Also they’d have better control over the New England Colonies
d.Subject vs. Citizen
i.Wanted to separate Quebec from colonists
ii.Colonists began to feel like they were being treated no different from the Indians in the way they were being held by the British
iii.Subjects have no rights
1.Colonists feel like subjects and get P.O.-ed

1.Expansion of territory to take over American/Canadian portions of the Indian Reserve
2.Replaced the oath of allegiance so that it no longer made reference to the Protestant faith. Guaranteed free practice of the Catholic faith.
Term
Common Sense
Definition
(1775-76)
The "Common Sense" era was all about breaking the bonds with the king not just with physical independence, but with philosophical and ideaological independence as well. This happened with help of English Radicals like Thomas Paine who convinced Americans that the break from Britain was necessary.
-His work was influenced by B. Franklin.
-The Pamphlet:
Rhetorical Power of common sense. A testamony to a blunt message of Lockean Natural Rights.
-Bring it back to Society first, then epresentation and government
- Attacking monarchy
Helped to create this belief in people that government rises from the people.
-Attacks the Kings way
-too much control with veto and checks over everything
-that is against common sense
*Leads to the necessary mentalities that support the Declaration of independence
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