U2 Gaining Independence Vocab

Match the following taxes with their descriptions:

• Sugar Act

• Tax on sugar and molasses imported into

• Stamp Act

• British law requiring colonists to house soldiers

• Townshend Acts

• Tax on various items like paint and lead

• Quartering Act

• Law that taxed printed materials

What did the colonists mean by the phrase “No taxation without representation”?

• They wanted to move back to Britain

• They believed only their own elected leaders should tax them

• They wanted to pay more taxes to Britain

• They refused to follow any British laws

What does it mean when colonists protested British taxes?

• They quietly ignored the laws

• They wrote letters to thank the king

• They spoke out or took action against something they thought was unfair

• They created new taxes of their own

What is a boycott?

• A celebration of a new law

• Refusing to buy or use certain goods as a form of protest

• A public speech supporting the government

• A meeting between colonial leaders to discuss taxes

Match the following

• Tea Tax

• British soldiers fired into crowd

• Boston Massacre

• Tax on tea imported to the colonies

• Intolerable Acts

• Colonial protest against British rule

• Boston Tea Party

• Harsh laws to punish colonists

Why did the colonies hold the First Continental Congress in 1774?

• To plan a war against Britain

• To discuss how to respond to British laws like the Intolerable Acts

• To write the Declaration of Independence

• To choose a new king for America

What important decision did the Second Continental Congress make in 1776?

• They asked the king to raise taxes

• They voted to declare independence from Britain

• They agreed to stop protesting British rule

• They made peace with Parliament

What was the main idea of Common Sense by Thomas Paine?

• The war with France was necessary

• The colonies should become independent from Britain

• Britain needed help governing the colonies

• The colonies should remain loyal to the king

What was the goal of the Olive Branch Petition?

• To start fighting against Britain

• To ask the king to make peace and avoid war

• To invite France to join the colonies

• To demand higher taxes on the colonies

What did the Declaration of Independence do?

• It made George Washington president

• It declared war on Britain

• It created a new trade system with Britain

• It officially broke ties between the colonies and Great Britain