Name: ___________________________ AP American History

Husar / Lentz

The Road to Revolution,

1763 - 1775

Part I: Reviewing the Chapter

A. Summary
The following serves as a general overview of the chapter and is intended to highlight the major
themes imbedded in the text.

• Conditions in colonial America were such that a spirit of independence was instilled in
the people long before the open clash came.
• The British Navigation Laws, passed in conformity with the current mercantilist
philosophy, conferred benefits and created liabilities; but on the whole the benefits probably
outweighed the liabilities.
• The clash finally came when the London government attempted to force the colonists to
share a part of the financial burdens of defending the Empire.
• The colonials, who paid light taxes levied by their own legislative bodies, feared the
imposition of taxes by a Parliament in which they were not represented.
• Rather than grant the Americans home rule and thus avert a rebellion, Parliament
attempted to punish the Americans for disorderly anti-tax protests; and thus precipitated a
rebellion by failing to recognize a maturing nation when one began to emerge.
• Both combatants enjoyed great advantages and suffered from great disadvantages, with
geography proving to be a serious handicap to the British, and the lack of inquiry a serious
handicap to the Americans.

B. Terms of Significance:

Know the meaning of each of the following terms and its significance

1. John Hancock * 6. John Adams *

2. Lord North * 7. Crispus Attucks *
3. George Grenville * 8. Marquis de Lafayette *
4. Samuel Adams * 9. King George III *
5. Charles Townshend * 10. Baron von Steuben *

11. mercantilism * 14. “royal veto”

12. “No taxation without representation” * 15. internal / external taxation
13. nonimportation agreement * 16. “virtual” representation *
17. boycott *

18. Board of Trade 28. The Association *

19. Sons of Liberty * 29. Stamp Act *
 20. Quebec Act * 30. committees of correspondence *
21. Navigation Acts * 31. Hessians *
22. Declaratory Acts * 32. admiralty courts *
23. First Continental Congress * 33. Boston Tea Party *
24. Sugar Act * 34. Loyalists *
25. Townshend Acts * 35. Stamp Act Congress*
26. Quartering Act * 36. Intolerable Acts *
27. Boston Massacre * 37. “Continental” *

Part II – Applying What You Have Learned

C. Questions
1. Why did the American colonies move from loyalty to protest to rebellion in the twelve years
following the end of the French and Indian War?
2. * How and why did the Americans and the British differ in their views of taxation and of the
relationship of colonies to the empire?
3. What was the theory and practice of mercantilism? What were its actual effects on the
colonies, and why did the colonists resent it so much?
4. What methods did the colonists use in their struggle with British authorities, and how did the
British try to counteract them?
5. What advantages and disadvantages did the American rebels and the British each possess as
the war began? What did each side do to mobilize its resources most effectively?
6. Given the history of the colonies’ founding and British “benign neglect” until the period just
before the Revolution, was the American Revolution inevitable? Or could the thirteen
colonies have remained peacefully attached to Britain for many years, as Canada did?

A. American Spirit Reading(s):

1. “Adam’s Smith’s Balance Sheet (1776)”

2. “Benjamin Franklin Testifies Against the Stamp Act (1766)”
3. “Adam Smith Criticized Empire (1776)”
4. “Patrick Henry Demands Boldness (1775)”