Glossary

Coercive Acts

Shocked by the Boston Tea Party, Parliament adopted a series of legislative bills, collectively known as the Coercive Acts. They were intended to punish Boston but caused widespread concern in the colonies because they seemed to violate the sanctity of local political institutions.

George Grenville

Grenville, who harbored strong anti-American feelings, became the king's chief minister in 1763. Faced with many problems at the end of the Seven Years' War, he began a new era of colonial administration that eventually led to the American Revolution.

John Dickinson

Dickinson's pamphlet, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, was written in opposition to the Townshend Duties, which were nothing more than import duties on a short list of luxury trade items. Dickinson, a wealthy landholder and lawyer who feared the destructive potential of violent crowds, urged caution in resisting Parliamentary taxation.

Pontiac

Pontiac was the Ottawa war chief who built an alliance of several western Indian tribes and attacked British posts in 1763. This uprising was caused by the collapse of French authority and the fear that British officials would ignore encroachment of American settlers on Indian land.

Sons of Liberty

Fraternal organizations (workers' associations), which provided fellowship for artisans, apprentices, and common day laborers in Boston, were persuaded by Samuel Adams to stop fighting among themselves and unite in opposition to the Stamp Act. These "associators" became known as the Sons of Liberty.

Stamp Act

Through the Stamp Act, passed in 1765, Parliament asserted for the first time its full authority to lay direct taxes on the colonies. The goal was to raise substantial tax revenue in the colonies to pay the costs of imperial administration. It was repealed in 1766.

Sugar Act

Also known as the Revenue Act of 1764, this Parliamentary legislation was intended to help customs collectors ferret out smugglers and also to raise revenues to assist in covering the ongoing costs of imperial administration of the North American colonies.

The Rights of Colonies Examined

In this pamphlet Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island summarized the essential constitutional argument against Parliamentary taxation, which may be captured in the phrase, "No taxation without representation."

writs of assistance

British customs collectors were issued blanket search warrants, known as writs of assistance, in their effort to uphold the law and catch suspected smugglers who were rumored to be trading with the enemy. Because they did not require any form of prior evidence to justify searches, English attorneys questioned their legality.

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