Taxation Without Representation - AP U.S. History

1. Identify the year the Townshend Acts were repealed, except for the tax on tea.

   1770. Only the tea tax remained, leading to continued colonial resistance and the Tea Party.

2. Which act imposed a tax on all colonial legal documents and newspapers?

   Stamp Act. This first direct tax on colonists required revenue stamps on all official papers.

3. Name the group that led protests against British taxation in the colonies.

   Sons of Liberty. This secret organization organized protests and enforced boycotts against British policies.

4. What event was a deadly confrontation between British soldiers and colonists in 1770?

   Boston Massacre. Five colonists died when British soldiers fired into a hostile crowd on March 5, 1770.

5. Who was the British Prime Minister during the passage of the Stamp Act?

   George Grenville. He championed this controversial tax policy to reduce British debt from colonial defense.

6. Which act closed Boston Harbor until the dumped tea was paid for?

   Intolerable Acts. Also called Coercive Acts, these punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party.

7. Identify the colonial assembly that first denounced the Stamp Act.

   Stamp Act Congress. Nine colonies sent delegates to New York in 1765 to formally protest the tax.

8. What did the First Continental Congress petition King George III for?

   Redress of grievances. They sought peaceful resolution of disputes while asserting colonial rights and liberties.

9. What did the Proclamation of 1763 prohibit?

   Colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. This boundary prevented colonial expansion and conflicts with Native American tribes.

10. What document formally declared the colonies' independence from Britain?

    Declaration of Independence. Adopted July 4, 1776, it justified separation by listing grievances against the crown.

11. What was the colonial response called that involved refusing to buy British goods?

    Non-importation agreements. These organized boycotts pressured British merchants to lobby against colonial taxes.

12. Which law required colonists to house and supply British soldiers?

    Quartering Act. This law forced colonists to provide food, shelter, and supplies to British troops.

13. Which pamphlet by Thomas Paine encouraged independence from Britain?

    Common Sense. This 1776 pamphlet argued against monarchy and for American independence.

14. Which colonial leader defended British soldiers in the Boston Massacre trial?

    John Adams. Despite political opposition, he believed in legal due process and fair representation.

15. What did the Declaratory Act assert about British authority over the colonies?

    Parliament's right to legislate for the colonies. Passed in 1766 after Stamp Act repeal, it maintained Britain's right to tax colonies.

16. What was the response of the colonists to the Stamp Act?

    Boycotts and protests. Colonists organized widespread resistance including the Stamp Act Congress and Sons of Liberty.

17. Which event involved the dumping of tea into Boston Harbor?

    Boston Tea Party. Colonists disguised as Indians dumped 342 chests of tea to protest the Tea Act.

18. What slogan expressed colonial opposition to British taxation policies?

    "No Taxation Without Representation". This rallying cry united colonists against British taxes imposed without colonial consent in Parliament.

19. Identify the act that required colonial assemblies to provide housing for troops.

    Quartering Act. This law forced colonial governments to support British military occupation.

20. Name the act that taxed printed materials in the colonies.

    Stamp Act. This 1765 direct tax required stamps on all printed materials and legal documents.

21. Which colony was the first to propose a united colonial response to British policies?

    Massachusetts. Massachusetts led the call for unified colonial resistance through the Stamp Act Congress.

22. Which act aimed to reduce colonial smuggling by lowering the tax on molasses?

    Sugar Act. By lowering the tax rate, Britain hoped to make legal trade more profitable than smuggling.

23. Name the tax that was specifically on sugar and molasses.

    Sugar Act. The 1764 act reduced the molasses tax but increased enforcement to combat smuggling.

24. In what year was the Stamp Act passed by the British Parliament?

    1765. This direct tax on printed materials sparked the first major colonial resistance movement.

25. Who was the King of Great Britain during the American Revolution?

    King George III. He ruled during the American colonial crisis and Revolutionary War period (1760-1820).

26. What was the result of the Boston Massacre trial for the British soldiers?

    Most were acquitted; two were convicted of manslaughter. John Adams successfully defended them, demonstrating colonial commitment to fair trials.

27. Identify the year the Intolerable Acts were enacted by the British Parliament.

    1774. These punitive laws were Britain's harsh response to the Boston Tea Party rebellion.

28. What was the primary complaint of the American colonists about British taxes?

    Lack of representation in Parliament. Colonists argued taxation was illegal without having representatives in the British Parliament.

29. What term refers to a refusal to buy goods or do business with a country as protest?

    Boycott. This economic weapon allowed colonists to pressure Britain without violent confrontation.

30. What year did the Declaratory Act affirm British legislative power over colonies?

    1766. Passed immediately after Stamp Act repeal, it maintained Parliamentary sovereignty over colonies.

31. What was the primary purpose of the First Continental Congress?

    To address colonial grievances. Twelve colonies met in Philadelphia to coordinate resistance to British policies.

32. Identify the act that imposed taxes on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea.

    Townshend Acts. Named after Chancellor Charles Townshend, these 1767 acts taxed imported goods.

33. Which act extended the boundary of Quebec and granted religious freedom to Catholics?

    Quebec Act. Part of the Intolerable Acts, it angered Protestant colonists by favoring Catholics.

34. What was the British rationale for taxing the American colonies?

    To pay for defense costs from the Seven Years' War. Britain argued colonies should help pay debts from protecting them during the war.

35. In what year was the First Continental Congress convened?

    1774. Delegates gathered in Philadelphia to respond to the Intolerable Acts crisis.

36. What was the purpose of the Committees of Correspondence?

    To coordinate colonial resistance. These networks facilitated communication between colonies to organize unified resistance.

37. What was the British response to the Boston Tea Party called?

    Intolerable Acts. These harsh punitive measures included closing Boston Harbor and revoking Massachusetts charter.

38. Who authored the Declaration of Independence?

    Thomas Jefferson. The Virginia delegate drafted this foundational document declaring colonial independence.

39. What year did the Boston Tea Party occur?

    1773. This act of defiance occurred in response to the Tea Act granting monopoly privileges.

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