The Stirrings of Rebellion Chapter 4 Section 1

Mercantilism: Economic System based on colonialism American colonies expected to : Supply Britain with raw materials Furnish ships, seaman and trade to bolster strength of the Royal Navy Provide a market for British manufactured goods Refrain from exporting woolen cloth

George Grenville Financial expert appointed by King George III to deal with England’s financial problems His revenue raising policies angered American colonists Sugar Act was first British law intended to raise revenue in the colonies

One change in colonial policy initiated by Grenville that helped precipitate the American Revolution involved : compelling the American colonists to shoulder some of the financial costs of the empire

1765 : Stamp Act To raise money to support military forces needed for colonial defense Convinced many colonists that the British were trying to take away their historic liberty Generated the most protest in the colonies First DIRECT TAX

No Taxation without Representation Colonist rejection of Parliament’s power to levy revenue raising taxes on the colonies Objection to the Stamp Act on the grounds that the colonists did not have representation in Parliament Objected because Parliament passed the tax , not the colonists

Virtual Representation Validated England’s taxation policies on the colonies Every member of Parliament represented all British subjects Claimed the colonists were represented in Parliament even if they did not think so The power of Parliament over the empire was absolute

Colonial Protest to the Stamp Act convening a colonial congress to request repeal of the act a colonial boycott against British goods  violence in several colonial towns  wearing homemade woolen clothes

Declaratory Act Followed repeal of Stamp Act asserted Parliament's absolute power over the colonies

Townshend Acts INDIRECT TAX on trade goods arriving in American ports Unlike the Stamp Act which was a direct tax Colonists took this act less seriously because it was lighter and and indirect Opposition to these Acts caused Britain to send troops to Boston to restore law and order – “red coats”

Actions taken by the colonists that helped them unite : the Stamp Act Congress Non-importation agreements spinning bees the making and wearing of homemade woolen goods

Townshend Acts Repealed Except a tax on tea retained to keep alive the principle of parliamentary taxation

Committees of Correspondence Local colonial committees organized to exchange ideas and information on resisting British policies Organized by pamphleteer – Samuel Adams

1773 – Tea Act Colonists suspected it was a trick to get them to violate their “no taxation without representation” principle Led to the “Boston Tea Party”

Boston Tea Party Not the only such protest to occur Not an isolated incident The protests were not directed only at the British East India Company

John Adams a Massachusetts politician who opposed the moderates solution to the imperial crisis at the First Continental Congress

Chronological Order : Stamp Act Repeal of Stamp Act Declaratory Act Townshend Acts Boston Massacre Tea Act Boston Tea Party Intolerable Acts Meeting of the First Continental Congress Clash at Lexington and Concord