Published articles critical of British governor William Cosby. He was taken to trial, but found not guilty. The trial set a precedent for freedom of the press in the colonies.

Established freedom from taxation without representation, outlawed cruel and unusual punishment, guaranteed the right to bear arms, and many other rights.

Puritanism had declined by the 1730s, and people were upset about the decline in religious piety. The Great Awakening was a sudden outbreak of religious fervor that swept through the colonies. One of the first events to unify the colonies.

Charles II signed this, which protects people from arrest without due process

Britain's Legislature. Divided into House of Lords (appointed) and House of Commons (elected)

A form of government in which citizens choose their leaders by voting (From Rome)

A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives (from Ancient Greece)

Direct democracy is when decisions are made directly from the people, but in representative democracy, decisions are made by leaders elected by the people

A King or Queen is the official head of state but power is limited by a constitution. (Example: England after Glorious Revolution of 1688)

A system of government in which the head of state is a hereditary position and the king or queen has almost complete power (Example: France Before 1789)

Helped start great awakening and wrote Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Felt humans were lucky to not be punished by God for Original Sin (when Eve was tempted to eat from the tree of knowledge in Genesis).

Political theorist who defended the Glorious Revolution with the argument that all people are born with certain natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

Enlightenment Thinker who believed the powers of government should be clearly defined and limited.

people who believed that all problems could be solved by human reason. Included John Locke, Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton, Baron de Montesquieu

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing cards, documents, newspapers, etc.

An act that raised tax revenue in the colonies for the crown. It also increased the duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies.

forced certain colonists to let British troops live in their houses

The colonials hated the British soldiers in the colonies because the worked for very low wages and took jobs away from colonists. On March 4, 1770, a group of colonials started throwing rocks and snowballs at some British soldiers; the soldiers panicked and fired their muskets, killing a few colonials. This outraged the colonies and increased anti-British sentiment.

Gave the East India Company an unfair business advantage over colonial merchants.

American colonists calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Native Americans, boarded three British ships and dumped British tea into the Boston harbor.

Convention of delegates from the colonies called in to discuss their response to the passage of the Intolerable Acts

series of laws passed in 1774 to punish Boston for the Tea Party (Closing the Harbor and Quartering Act)

a convention of delegates from the 13 Colonies, managed the colonial war effort, sent The Olive Branch Petition, moved incrementally towards independence, adopted the Declaration of Independence, acted as the unofficial national government.

On July 8, 1775, the colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain, agreeing to be loyal to the British government if it addressed their grievances (repealed the Coercive Acts, ended the taxation without representation policies). It was rejected by Parliament, which in December 1775 passed the American Prohibitory Act forbidding all further trade with the colonies.

powerful pamphlet telling the colonists to break free. British were trying to destroy colonies' natural rights. Government is there to protect life liberty and property. Power came from people, not kings. Colonies don't benefit from British Empire.

A radical political organization for colonial independence which formed in 1765 after the passage of the Stamp Act. They incited riots and burned the customs houses where the stamped British paper was kept. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, many of the local chapters formed the Committees of Correspondence which continued to promote opposition to British policies towards the colonies. The Sons leaders included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere.

Ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause.

British colonial policy during the reigns of George I and George II. Relaxed supervision of internal colonial affairs by royal bureaucrats contributed significantly to the rise of American self government

formal complaint