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The Americans have not acted in all things with prudence and temper

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The Americans have not acted in all things with prudence and temper. They have been wronged. They have been driven to madness by injustice. Will you punish them for the madness you have occasioned? Rather let prudence and temper come first from this side. I will undertake for America, that she will follow the example. ... Upon the whole, I will beg leave to tell the House what is really my opinion. It is, that the Stamp Act be repealed absolutely, totally, and immediately; that the reason for the repeal should be assigned, because it was founded on an erroneous principle. At the same time, let the sovereign authority of this country over the colonies be asserted in as strong terms as can be devised, and be made to extend every point of legislation whatsoever: that we may bind their trade, confine their manufactures, and exercise every power whatsoever, except that of taking money out of their pockets without their consent.

 

Use the excerpt from William Pitt's speech to answer the question.

Which "erroneous principle" cited by Pitt provoked colonial anger and resistance?

 

 

D.

restrictions on frontier settlement

 

C.

taxation without representation

 

B.

imposition of a standing army

 

A.

mercantilist trade policies

 

 

Use the excerpt from William Pitt's speech to answer the question.  

Colonists in North America undertook several acts of resistance to the Stamp Act. These actions helped persuade Pitt and Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act while encouraging them to pass the Declaratory Act. Using the excerpt above, answer (A), (B), and (C).

(A) describe TWO ways in which colonists "have been driven to madness by injustice."

(B) describe TWO ways in which the law encouraged greater organization and unity among colonists.

(C) explain how Pitt's statement foreshadows the passage of the Declaratory Act.

 

 

 

 

The officer on guard was Capt. Preston, who with seven or eight soldiers, with fire-arms and charged bayonets, issued from the guardhouse, and in great haste posted himself and his soldiers in front of the Custom House, near the corner aforesaid. In passing to this station the soldiers pushed several persons with their bayonets, driving through the people in so rough a manner that it appeared they intended to  disturbance. This occasioned some snowballs to be thrown at them which seems to have been the only provocation that was given. Mr. Knox (between whom and Capt. Preston there was some conversation on the spot) declares, that while he was talking with Capt. Preston, the soldiers of his detachment had attacked the people with their bayonets and that there was not the least provocation given to Capt. Preston of his party; the backs of the people being toward them when the people were attacked. He also declares, that Capt. Preston seemed to be in great haste and much agitated, and that, according to his opinion, there were not then present in King street above seventy or eighty persons at the extent. The said party was formed into a half circle; and within a short time after they had been posted at the Custom House, began to fire upon the people. Captain Preston is said to have ordered them to fire, and to have repeated that order. One gun was fired first; then others in succession and with deliberation, till ten or a dozen guns were fired; or till that number of discharges were made from the guns that were fired. By which means eleven persons were killed and wounded, as above represented.

Use the excerpt from the account of the Boston Massacre to answer the question.

According to the account, which events caused the Boston Massacre?

 

 

D.

A mob of angry colonists attacked British soldiers and trapped them against the Customs House, then the soldiers fired on the colonists.

 

C.

Armed British soldiers mistreated colonists, who became agitated and threw snowballs; then the soldiers fired on the colonists.

 

B.

Disagreement among groups of colonists gathered in protest led to a riot, and British soldiers fired shots to disperse the crowd.

 

A.

Colonists resisted when a British customs official attempted to collect taxes, and British soldiers were called in to restore order.

 

 

Use the excerpt from the account of the Boston Massacre to answer the question.

Which circumstance in Boston does the account most clearly reflect?

 

D.

Restrictions placed on colonial governments compelled colonists to take to the streets.

 

C.

Opposition to British taxes encouraged colonists to attack British officials in protest.

 

B.

Tensions were high between colonists and British soldiers stationed in the city.

 

A.

Efforts by the British to impress colonists incited violence in the large port city.

 

 

As to the tax, it is neither unjust or oppressive, it being rather a relief than a burthen; but it is want of constitutional principle in the authority that passed it, which is the ground for complaint. This, and this only, is the source of American grievances. Here, and here only, is the defect; and if this defect were removed, a foundation would be laid for the relief of every American complaint; the obnoxious statutes would of course be repealed, and others would be made, with the assent of the Colonies, to answer the same and better purposes; the mischiefs arising from the disunion of the Colonies would be removed; their freedom would be established, and their subordination fixed on solid constitutional principles. Desirous as I am to promote the freedom of the Colonies, and to prevent the mischiefs which will attend a military contest with Great-Britain, I must intreat you to desert the measures which have been so injudiciously and ineffectually pursued by antecedent Assemblies. Let us thoroughly investigate the subject matter in dispute, and endeavour to find from that investigation the means of perfect and permanent redress . . . I would therefore acknowledge the necessity of the supreme authority of Parliament over the Colonies, because it is a proposition which we cannot deny without manifest contradiction, while we confess that we are subjects of the British Government; and if we do not approve of a representation in Parliament, let us ask for a participation in the freedom and power of the English constitution in some other mode of incorporation: for I am convinced, by long attention to the subject, that let us deliberate, and try what other expedients we may, we shall find none that can give to the Colonies substantial freedom, but some such incorporation. I therefore beseech you, by the respect you are bound to pay to the instructions of your constituents, by the regard you have for the honour and safety of your country, and as you wish to avoid a war with Great-Britain, which must terminate, at all events in the ruin of America, not to rely on a denial of the authority of Parliament, a refusal to be represented, and on a non-importation agreement; because whatever protestations, in that case, may be made to the contrary, it will prove to the world that we intend to throw off our allegiance to the State, and to involve the two countries in all the horrors of a civil war.

Use the excerpt from Galloway's speech to answer the question.

Which conclusion about the cause of the First Continental Congress does the excerpt best support?

 

 

D.

Colonial leaders joined forces to mount a propaganda campaign against Loyalist officials.

 

C.

Anger about use of the British soldiers to enforce taxation united colonial militias.

 

B.

Opposition to taxes imposed without consent brought the colonies together.

 

A.

Colonial delegates gathered to protest the excessive costs of British taxes.

 

 

Which viewpoint does Galloway express about a key debate in the First Continental Congress?

 

D.

He warns against rejecting Parliamentary authority and advises the colonies to seek a role in British lawmaking.

 

C.

He warns against invoking constitutional rights and advises the colonies to end their allegiance to the crown.

 

B.

He warns against using violence to protest British taxes and advises the colonies to petition for tax reform.

 

A.

He warns against boycotting British goods and advises the colonies to send diplomats to the king.

 

 

 

I, PAUL REVERE, of Boston, in the colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England; of lawful age, do testify and say; that I was sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren, of said Boston, on the evening of the 18th of April, about 10 o'clock; when he desired me, ''to go to Lexington, and inform Mr. Samuel Adams, and the Hon. John Hancock Esq. that there was a number of soldiers, composed of light troops, and grenadiers, marching to the bottom of the common, where there was a number of boats to receive them; it was supposed that they were going to Lexington, by the way of Cambridge River, to take them, or go to Concord, to destroy the colony stores.''

I proceeded immediately, and was put across Charles River and landed near Charlestown Battery; went in town, and there got a horse. . . .

I set off, it was then about 11 o'clock, the moon shone bright. I had got almost over Charlestown Common, towards Cambridge, when I saw two officers on horse-back, standing under the shade of a tree, in a narrow part of the road. I was near enough to see their holsters and cockades. One of them started his horse towards me, the other up the road, as I supposed, to head me, should I escape the first. I turned my horse short about, and rode upon a full gallop for Mistick Road. He followed me about 300 yards, and finding he could not catch me, returned. I proceeded to Lexington, through Mistick, and alarmed Mr. Adams and Col. Hancock.

After I had been there about half an hour Mr. Daws arrived, who came from Boston, over the Neck. We set off for Concord, and were overtaken by a young gentleman named Prescot, who belonged to Concord, and was going home. When we had got about half way from Lexington to Concord, the other two stopped at a house to awake the men, I kept along.

Use the excerpt from Paul Revere's account to answer the question.

Based on Revere's account, which sequence of events led to the Battles of Lexington and Concord?

 

 

D.

Revere intercepted a message for British troops to attack the countryside; he rode to inform colonial minutemen of an invasion.

 

C.

Revere stood watch and saw British troops disembarking along the Charles River; he rode to inform colonial leaders of a threat.

 

B.

Revere saw a signal from the Boston church tower that war with Britain had started; he rode to spread the news to colonists.

 

A.

Revere received word that British troops were marching on the towns; he rode to raise the alarm and rouse colonial militia.

 

 

Which of the following does Revere's account most clearly suggest about the colonies in April 1775?

 

D.

They had experienced leaders in place to lead a revolution.

 

C.

They had a local governing body charged with defense.

 

B.

They had an organized network for communicating.

 

A.

They had conscripted men to form a colonial army.

 

 

 

Our affairs have been for some time growing from bad to worse. The enemy's fleet commands our Rivers, & puts it in their power to remove their Troops from place to place, when, & where . . . without opposition, so that we no sooner collect a Force sufficient to counteract them in one part of the country but they shift to another, ravaging, plundering, & destroying everything before them. Our Militia turn out with great Spirit, & have in several late Actions, behaved bravely, but they are badly armed & appointed. ... We have had various Accounts of the sailing of the French Fleet, with a Body of Land forces for America; should they really arrive, it would quickly change the face of our Affairs, & infuse fresh Spirits & Confidence; but it has been so long expected in vain, that little credit is now given to Reports concerning it. You know, from your own Acquaintance in this part of Virginia, that the Bulk of the People here are staunch Whigs, strongly attached to the American Cause, & will assent to the French Alliance yet they grow uneasy & restless & begin to think that our Allies are spinning out the war, in order to weaken America, as well as Great Britain, and thereby leave us, at the end of it, as dependent as possible upon themselves. However unjust this opinion may be, it is natural enough to farmers & planters, burdened with heavy Taxes, & frequently drag'd from their Familys upon military Duty, on the continual Alarms occasioned by the Superiority of the British Fleet. They see their Prosperity daily exposed to Destruction; they see with what Facility the British Troops are removed from one part of the Continent to another, and with what infinite. ... Fatigued ours are, too late, obliged to follow, and they see too, very plainly, that a strong French Fleet might have prevented all this. If our Allies had a superior Fleet here, I should have no doubt of a favourable issue to the war; but without it I fear we are deceiving both them & ourselves, in expecting we shall be much longer able to keep our people firm in so unequal an opposition to Great Britain.

France surely intends the Separation of the States for ever from Great Britain; but by drawing out the thread too fine & long, it may unexpectedly break in her Hands.

Use the excerpt from George Mason's letter to answer the question.

Which excerpt from the letter most clearly contrasts the characteristics of American and British forces?

 

 

D.

"their power to remove their Troops from place to place" and "the Superiority of the British Fleet"

 

C.

"farmers & planters, burdened with heavy Taxes" and "drag'd from their Familys upon military Duty"

 

B.

"Our Militia turn out with great Spirit" and "Fatigued ours are, too late, obliged to follow"

 

A.

"The enemy's fleet commands our Rivers" and "they are badly armed & appointed"

 

 

How did the Battle of Saratoga most directly contribute to the circumstances described by Mason?

 

D.

by making clear that the British must rely on their navy

 

C.

by provoking the British to invade southern states

 

B.

by encouraging the French to enter the war

 

A.

by dividing British forces in the colonies

 

 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the states of South Carolina and Georgia, if they shall think the same expedient, to take measures immediately for raising three thousand able bodied negroes.

That the said negroes be formed into separate corps as battalions, according to the arrangements adopted for the main army, to be commanded by white commissioned and non commissioned officers. . . .

Resolved, That congress will make provision for paying the proprietors of such negroes as shall be inlisted for the service of the United States during the war, a full compensation for the property at a rate not exceeding one thousand dollars for each active able bodied negro man of standard size, not exceeding thirty five years of age, who shall be so inlisted and pass muster.

That no pay or bounty be allowed to the said negroes, but that they be cloathed and subsisted at the expence of the United States.

That every negro who shall well and faithfully serve as a soldier to the end of the present war, and shall then return his arms, be emancipated and receive the sum of fifty dollars.

 

 

The policy of our arming Slaves is, in my opinion, a moot point, unless the enemy set the example; for should we begin to form Battalions of them, I have not the smallest doubt (if the War is to be prosecuted) of their following us in it, and justifying the measure upon our own ground; the upshot then must be, who can arm fastest, and where are our Arms? besides, I am not clear that a discrimination will not render Slavery more irksome to those who remain in it; most of the good and evil things of this life are judged of by comparison; and I fear a comparison in this case will be productive of much discontent in those who are held in servitude; but as this is a subject that has never employed much of my thoughts, these are no more than the first crude Ideas that have struck me upon the occasion.

 

 

Use the excerpts from Washington's Letters to Henry Laurens to answer the question.

How did enslaved Africans come to serve in the Continental Army?

 

D.

The states commissioned the service of those who promised obedience to white officers.

 

C.

The Congress recommended their recruitment in exchange for the promise of freedom.

 

B.

The states compelled them to fight in white battalions where they could be controlled.

 

A.

The Congress ordered their conscription and promised payments to their owners.