Test+Questions

TEST QUESTIONS TERM 1

Question 1

Events that led up to the Declaration of Independence

 Warfare between French Troops (supported by Indians) and American Colonist on the western frontier begins the French and Indian war, also known as the Seven Years War, a worldwide contest for empire between Great Britain and France and their respective allies. It was the bloodiest war, although Britain and the colonies did win. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ended the war, forcing the French to leave North America giving up their land to England. The colonist however, were not aloud to expand into the new land claimed from the French. Great Britain did not want the colonies expanded into the new land because they did not want to fight with the neighboring Indians. This was the first complaint by the Colonies to Great Britain.

Parliament passes the Sugar Act to raise money from the colonies through taxes. In response, Boston Merchants refuse to buy English luxury goods. This  act put a three-cent tax on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine. It banned importation of rum and French wines. These taxes affected only a certain part of the population, but the affected merchants were very vocal. This was one of the first instances in which colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed.

 The Stamp act was the first tax to affect all colonies equally. It becomes law, taxes on a wide variety of everyday items.  Few colonists believed that they could do anything more than grumble and buy the stamps until the Virginia House of Burgesses adopted Patrick Henry's Stamp Act Resolves. These resolves declared that Americans possessed the same rights as the English, especially the right to be taxed only by their own representatives; that Virginians should pay no taxes except those voted by the Virginia House of Burgesses; and that anyone supporting the right of Parliament to tax Virginians should be considered an enemy of the colony.

 In Boston in early summer of 1765 a group of shopkeepers and artisans who called themselves The Loyal Nine, began preparing for agitation against the Stamp Act. As that group grew, it came to be known as the  //Sons of Liberty.//   These were not the leading men of Boston, but rather workers and tradesmen. Correspondence between the various groups began, toward the mutual support and defense of the cause. It was expected that eventually British troops would land and attempt to reassert control. So it was that the first efforts to unite the colonies were not undertaken by their respective legislatures, but by these independent radical groups. The various  //Sons//   throughout the colonies began to correspond and develop a larger organization.

  Boston Tea Party 1773. In the contest between British Parliament and the American colonists before the Revolution, Parliament, when repealing the Townshend Acts, had retained the tea tax, partly as a symbol of its right to tax the colonies, partly to aid the financially embarrassed East India Company. The colonists tried to prevent the consignees from accepting taxed tea and were successful in New York and Philadelphia. At Charleston the tea was landed but was held in government warehouses. At Boston, three tea ships arrived and remained unloaded but Gov. Thomas Hutchinson refused to let the ships leave without first paying the duties. A group of indignant colonists, led by Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and others, disguised themselves as Native Americans, boarded the ships on the night of Dec. 16, 1773, and threw the tea into the harbor.

Intolerable Acts name given by American patriots to five laws adopted by Parliament in 1774, which limited the political and geographical freedom of the colonists. Four of these laws were passed to punish the people of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Port Bill closed the port until such time as the East India Company should be paid for the tea destroyed. Other acts changed the royal charter of Massachusetts; provided for the quartering of troops—the New York assembly had earlier been suspended for refusing to make provisions for British troops—in the colony without provincial consent; and gave royal officials in conflict with colonial authorities the right to trial in England. American opposition to these laws and to the Quebec Act was felt in all the colonies, since the actions taken against Massachusetts might be extended to any colony and the Quebec Act was considered a violation of the sea-to-sea grants of many colonial charters. The outcome was the First Continental Congress.

Battles of Lexington and Concord opening of the American Revolution. After the passage of the Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament, unrest in the colonies increased. The British commander at Boston, sought to avoid armed rebellion by sending a column of royal infantry from Boston to capture colonial military stores at Concord. News of his plan was sent to the countryside by Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott. As the advance column reached Lexington, they came upon a group of militia (the minutemen). After a brief exchange of shots in which several Americans were killed, the colonials withdrew, and the British continued to Concord. Here they destroyed some military supplies, fought another engagement, and began a harried withdrawal to Boston, which cost them over 200 casualties.

The First Continental Congress was made up of delegates from all the colonies except Georgia. The meetings general purpose was to express colonial grievances against British Policy. The Second Continental Congress met on the appointed day in Philadelphia. Armed conflict strengthened the radical element, but only gradually did the delegates swing toward independence. A Continental army was created to oppose the British and, through the agency of John Adams, George Washington was appointed commander in chief. The reconciliation plan offered by Lord North's government was tabled. A diplomatic representative, was sent to France. American ports were opened in defiance of the Navigation Acts. Finally, the momentous step was taken: Congress on July 4, 1776, adopted the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Paine’s "Common Sense" is credited with having precipitated the move for independence. In fact, the exact nature of the American cause would have been rather hard to define in 1775 or early 1776. Clearly the Americans wanted the English to stop abusing them, as they saw it, but how was fighting a war supposed to achieve that end? What would constitute victory? As long as they were still British subjects, they would still be subject to British law, and by 1775 it was unlikely that Parliament would grant them any real form of self government. As the Declaratory Act of 1766 had made clear, Parliament claimed the right to govern the colonies. Since achieving independence was an unrealistic hope, therefore, the only thing that finally did make sense was American independence, a case made very powerfully by Thomas Paine.

Test Question 3

Religions Role in the Colonies

Many groups came to America in hope of finding religious freedom. They were tired of being persecuted in their homeland. Some of the more notable factions were the Pilgrims, the Puritans, and the Quakers. The Puritans wanted to reform the Church of England and set up a strict religious system in their Massachusetts Bay. The American constitution was designed to separate church and state and not allow the government to interfere with matters of religion. Most of the Puritans settled in the New England area. As they immigrated and formed new individual colonies, their numbers rose. Religious exclusiveness was the foremost principle of their society. The spiritual beliefs they held were strong. This strength held over to conclude community laws and customs. Since God was at the forefront of their minds, he was to motivate all their actions. This premise worked both for them and against them. The pilgrims came to America for //Christian// freedom. They didn't like the way the church of England was teaching. It was too controlling. They came to America to Praise the triune God the way they felt was best, without influence from the church of England. The Pilgrims/Puritans left England because they couldn't stand the open, religious freedom allowed there. Puritans were followers of the teachings of Calvin and believed, like the Separatists, that man was born in sin. To become saved, they would have to prove they were worthy while on earth. Instead of separating from the Church of England, they wanted to “purify” the Church of the influence of the Catholic Church within the Anglican Church; thus, the name, "Puritans." Puritans wanted to remove themselves from non-Puritans and left Great Britain because they were not pleased with the way non-Puritans were worshiping without much interference. The Quakers believed that souls had no gender. Men and women were equal and were to be helpmates for each other. So equal were they, that the Quakers even allowed women to be preachers. Their households were less male dominant, a folkway they brought from the North Midlands of England. They believed that sex was to be confined to marriage and went to great pains in their style of dress to keep it that way.