APUSH: Chapter4 - the EMPIRE in TRANSITION

APUSH: Chapter4 - THE EMPIRE IN TRANSITION

Main themes of Chapter Four:

• The growing enmity between the British and French in North America, culminating in the Seven Years' War

• The consequences of the Seven Years' War in driving further wedges between England and the people of the colonies

• The participation of Native Americans in the Seven Years' War and the results of that war for those populations

• The policies taken by Parliament in the 1760s and 1770s that served to incite resistance and rebellion in British North America

• The varied responses to English policies made by colonial leaders, and the growing cooperation among the thirteen colonies

• The outbreak of military hostilities between England and the colonies in Lexington and Concord, and the start of America's War of Independence

A thorough study of Chapter Four should enable the student to understand the following:

• The primary reasons for the growth of the differences between colonial Americans and the British government in the years leading up to the Revolution

• The growing conflict between the English, the French, and the Iroquois Confederacy, culminating in the Seven Years' War

• The three distinct phases of the Seven Years' War, and their implications for the colonies of British North America

• The effects of the war on the American colonists and on the status of the colonies within the British Empire

• The effects of the war on the Native American populations, whether they participated or did not participate

• The options available to the British for dealing with the colonies in 1763, and the reasons for adopting the policies that they chose to implement

• The importance of the series of crises from the Sugar Act through the Coercive Acts, and how each crisis changed colonial attitudes toward the mother country

• The change in American attitudes toward Parliament, the English constitution, and the king resulting from the policies of George Grenville, Charles Townshend, and Lord North

• The meaning and significance of such slogans as "No taxation without representation."

• The significance and accomplishments of the First Continental Congress

• The events of Lexington and Concord and the beginnings of the American Revolution

Sample Essay Topics:

1.Explain the role that colonial assemblies played in the American protests of British policies after 1763. Why did the assemblies take such a leading role, and what effect did the British attitude (and action) toward these legislatures have on the American decision to revolt?

2.It has been said that Americans revolted against tyranny anticipated, rather than against tyranny inflicted. Define tyranny as you believe an eighteenth-century American might have, and then assess this point of view.

3.From the outset, Massachusetts was the leader of the anti-British protest studied in this chapter. Why? What factors in the economic, political, and intellectual climate of that colony made it such a hotbed of revolution? What part did Puritanism play in shaping this climate? (Be sure to check previous chapters when preparing your answers.)