Deck 6: Imperial Triumph, Imperial Crisis 1754-1776

Question 1

At the end of the Seven Years' War, the Americans ________, while the British ________.

A) were suffering from war-induced economic hard times; were saddled with a great war debt
B) were proud to be British; were comparably proud of their fellow Englishmen in America
C) sought to keep British troops to protect them from the Indians; thought the Americans should settle and defend the Ohio Country on their own
D) celebrated their contributions to victory; voiced contempt for American soldiering and suspicions of American self-interest

Answer 1

celebrated their contributions to victory; voiced contempt for American soldiering and suspicions of American self-interest

Question 2

Regarding the consequences of the Seven Years' War that led to the rift between the colonies and England, which of the following is correctly stated?

A) The French and Indian threats were removed, so the British government felt they had no need to keep troops in the colonies.
B) The British government was soundly defeated.
C) British imperial officials, with a greatly expanded empire to run, were determined to centralize and extend British rule over the colonies.
D) Both the Americans and the British came out of the war content with the way the other had behaved.

Answer 2

British imperial officials, with a greatly expanded empire to run, were determined to centralize and extend British rule over the colonies.

Question 3

After the Seven Years' War, Britain kept several thousand troops in the colonies, for all of the following reasons EXCEPT to

A) enforce the Proclamation of 1763 by providing protection to colonials settling west of the Appalachians.
B) ensure the submission of French Canadians and Spanish Floridians.
C) monitor relations between Indians and colonials.
D) encourage American acceptance of Grenville's new measures.

Answer 3

enforce the Proclamation of 1763 by providing protection to colonials settling west of the Appalachians.

Question 4

The radicals of the English "Opposition"or "Country Party"believed that

A) humans were driven by money rather than by principle.
B) one person or even a few people could not be entrusted with governing because they would become corrupt and conspire against liberty to enhance their own power.
C) Parliament needed to be controlled by the monarchs and their ministers, because politicians could not be trusted.
D) history shows that power yields to liberty.

Question 5

The First Continental Congress, in late 1774,

A) renounced American allegiance to George III, and established a Continental Army.
B) denied Parliament's right to tax and legislate for the colonies (while acknowledging its authority to regulate their trade), and set up a trade boycott.
C) denied that Parliament had any authority at all in America, but took a collective oath of allegiance reaffirming loyalty to George III.
D) denied that Parliament or George III had any authority in America, and urged colonial legislatures to seize power from crown officials.

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT an example of how the colonies were beginning to seize authority a year before the Declaration of Independence, during early 1775?

A) The Association functioned effectively.
B) Some citizens took the court system into their own hands.
C) Provincial congresses were emerging as virtual revolutionary governments.
D) Many colonial leaders increasingly issued explicit calls for full independence.

Question 7

By the end of 1769 the Townshend duties

A) had been so successful that they were continued for several more years.
B) were successful in raising revenue but were politically unpopular in Parliament.
C) had no effect on either the colonists or the British.
D) resulted in an increase in colonial manufacturing.

Question 8

Which of the following events was the immediate catalyst for the first battle of the American Revolution?

A) British troops' attempts to seize arms that were stored in Concord, Massachusetts
B) Pontiac's rebellion and the passage of the Proclamation of 1763
C) the signing of a declaration of war by the First Continental Congress
D) the publishing of Thomas Paine's Common Sense

Question 9

The tide of the Seven Years' War began to change when English politician William ________ came out of retirement to direct the war.

Question 10

Many colonials saw the ________ Acts as proof of a plot to enslave the colonies.

Question 11

The first shot of the American Revolution was shot in ________, Massachusetts, in April 1775.

Question 12

Explain the success of the British in the Seven Years' War.

Question 13

What were the concerns and strategies of Indian nations during/immediately after the Seven Years' War?

Question 14

Describe the expectations of Americans and the attitudes of the British toward them after the Seven Years' War. In what way did those expectations and attitudes set the stage for the imperial crisis that followed?

Question 15

What was the English Opposition? How did that tradition of thought contribute to the view of some Americans that English rulers were conspiring against their liberties?

Question 16

What did George Grenville hope to accomplish with the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act?

Question 17

Describe the evolution of American tactics for resisting British policy in the decade after 1765.

Question 18

How did the First Continental Congress steer a middle course between revolution and conciliation?

Question 19

What accounts for the behavior of British ministers and members of Parliament during the imperial crisis? Why didn't British policymakers seek more effective ways of dealing with the American resistance?

Question 20

Why did many Americans interpret Britain's attempt to centralize its colonial empire as a sinister conspiracy to enslave colonials by depriving them of property and liberty?

Question 21

According to the text, by 1776, "many Americans had liked being English, but being English hadn't worked....It was the destiny of Americans to be American, not English."In what ways had American ideas of what it meant to be English changed since 1763?

Question 22

Was the dispute over taxation and representation a noble appeal to the principles of freedom, or merely an issue of the pocketbook? Discuss the motivations of the revolutionaries.

Question 23

Samuel Adams remarked, "We cannot make events. Our business is wisely to improve them."What did Adams mean? Use the quotation to write an essay describing what some of the events were and, more specifically, the techniques Adams and others used to "improve"them.

Question 24

What was novel and significant about the ideas put forth by Thomas Paine in Common Sense?