Review Questions

1. Which of the following was a cause of the British National Debt in 1763?
drought in Great Britain
the French and Indian War
the continued British military presence in the American colonies
both B and C

2. What was the main purpose of the Sugar Act of 1764?
It raised taxes on sugar.
It raised taxes on molasses.
It strengthened enforcement of molasses smuggling laws.
It required colonists to purchase only sugar distilled in Great Britain.

3. What did British colonists find so onerous about the acts that Prime Minister Grenville passed?

4. Which of the following was not a goal of the Stamp Act?
to gain control over the colonists
to raise revenue for British troops stationed in the colonies
to raise revenue to pay off British debt from the French and Indian War
to declare null and void any laws the colonies had passed to govern and tax themselves

5. For which of the following activities were the Sons of Liberty responsible?
the Stamp Act Congress
the hanging and beheading of a stamp commissioner in effigy
the massacre of Conestoga in Pennsylvania
the introduction of the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions

6. Which of the following was not one of the goals of the Townshend Acts?
higher taxes
greater colonial unity
greater British control over the colonies
reduced power of the colonial governments

7. Which event was most responsible for the colonies’ endorsement of Samuel Adams’s Massachusetts Circular?
the Townshend Duties
the Indemnity Act
the Boston Massacre
Lord Hillsborough’s threat to dissolve the colonial assemblies that endorsed the letter

8. What factors contributed to the Boston Massacre?

9. Which of the following is true of the Gaspée affair?
Colonists believed that the British response represented an overreach of power.
It was the first time colonists attacked a revenue ship.
It was the occasion of the first official death in the war for independence.
The ship’s owner, John Hancock, was a respectable Boston merchant.

10. What was the purpose of the Tea Act of 1773?
to punish the colonists for their boycotting of British tea
to raise revenue to offset the British national debt
to help revive the struggling East India Company
to pay the salaries of royal appointees

11. What was the significance of the Committees of Correspondence?

12. Which of the following was decided at the First Continental Congress?
to declare war on Great Britain
to boycott all British goods and prepare for possible military action
to offer a conciliatory treaty to Great Britain
to pay for the tea that was dumped in Boston Harbor

13. Which colony provided the basis for the Declarations and Resolves?
Massachusetts
Philadelphia
Rhode Island
New York