Bellwork– What is this a picture of? Why do you think it’s happening?

American History

Section 6, Unit 3Growing Tensions

Objectives• Identify continuing disagreements between

the British and the Colonies• Explain what the colonists did in response to

these tensions• Analyze the impact of colonial resistance to

the British (such as the Boston Tea Party).

Quick Review

• What happened when the British attempted to the pass the Stamp Act? How did the colonists respond?

• The Stamp Act was repealed, but the issue of representation was never solved. Do you think the British ever attempted to solve this problem?

Opposition to the Stamp Act

• The colonists had opposed the Stamp Act because Parliament imposed it.

• The colonists believed that (1) it was not right for Britain to get involved in colonial affairs and (2) that they should not be taxed without fair representation.

• However, many British government officials did not understand this point.

Charles Townshend• Charles Townshend, the

British finance minister, was one of the many British officials to not understand why the colonies objected to the Stamp Act.

Charles Townshend

• He believed that the colonists opposed the tax because it collected within the colonies.

• He reasoned that, if the taxes were instead collected at colonial ports, the colonies would not object.

Townshend Acts

• Parliament agreed with Townshend and passed the Townshend Acts of 1767, which placed import duties on common goods like tea, lead, glass, and dyes for paint.

• British customs officials revived the use of search warrants--- writs of assistance– to enforce the law. – Writs of assistance, unlike today’s search warrants which

must be specific, were general warrants. With the writ alone, an official could fully search any private property (ship, home, etc) to see if it contained smuggled goods.

Opposition• The writs of assistance aroused powerful opposition

and many colonial courts refused to issue them.• As well, although the colonists generally accepted

Britain's right to regulate colonial trade, they strongly objected to duties intended strictly to raise money.

• The Crown, fearing renewed protests, stationed additional soldiers in the colonies.

Quartering Act

• When England stationed soldiers in the ports, the New York assembly responded by refusing quarter (house and supply) these troops.

• However, this action directly opposed the Quartering Act of 1765, which required the colonies to quarter their soldiers.

• In response, the British government promptly suspended the New York assembly.

Boston

• The real center of protest was Boston. • In 1768, the Massachusetts legislature drafted

a letter attacking taxation without representation and sent it to other colonial assemblies for endorsement.

Boston

• The British government responded by dissolving the Massachusetts assembly.

• This only fueled more protests and a new round of nonimportation agreements amongst merchants. – Many colonists began to produce their own goods,

to make due without the use of British goods.

Thomas Gage

• In 1768, to quiet the protests and enforce the writs of assistance, British General Thomas Gage dispatched forces.

• However, tensions exploded into one violent confrontation in 1770.

Protests

• On March 5, 1770, an angry crowd of some 50 or 60 colonists faced a small group of British soldiers.

• The crowd yelled insults and began throwing items– such as snowballs, rocks, oyster shells, and pieces of coal--- at the soldiers. At one point, according to John Adams, the crowd pressed so hard against the soldiers that no one could move.

• At one point, one soldier either fell or slipped and his gun discharged.

Boston Massacre

• When the soldiers gun discharged, other soldiers began to open fire onto the crowd. Three colonists, including an escaped slave, died. Two more died later.

Boston Massacre

• News of the clash stunned the colonists. Lt. Governor Thomas Hutchinson claimed that the people of Boston “are run mad”.

• Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty dubbed the incident The Boston Massacre and denounced British aggression.

Aftermath

• The victims received elaborate funerals and inspired poems and songs of patriotic resistance.

• The British soldiers, however, were tried for murder. Josiah Quincy and John Adams– Sam Adam’s cousin– defended them. Although neither man did not sympathize with the British, they believe it only fair the soldiers receive a fair trial. – Both soldiers were convicted of a lesser charge during

the trial and were released.

Consequences of the Boston Massacre

• The Boston Massacre is considered one of the most important events that turned the colonies against Britain.

• Survivors of the Boston Massacre served as reminders of British hostility.

Question: Do you think the colonies overreacted? The shots were more than likely a misunderstanding/accident than deliberate.

Continuing Issues• In 1770, Frederick North

became Britain’s prime minister and hoped to pacify the colonies through a partial repeal of the Townshend Acts.

• He also allowed the Quartering Acts to expire.

• However, he kept one tax on tea, because in his words, there must “always be one tax to keep up the right.”

Unrest

• The repeal only caused a short-lived peace. In 1772, the Crown announced that it would pay the salaries of the Massachusetts governor and judges, rather than the colonial legislature.

• The Crown reasoned that if these officials did not depend on the legislature for their pay, they might more readily ignore colonial demands.

Committee of Correspondence

• In response to the sudden control of colonial officials by the British, colonists began to form committees.

• Bostonians, lead by Sam Adams, challenged the threat by creating a 21-member Committee of Correspondence charged with keeping the rest of the colony--- and “the world”--- informed about the events happening.

Committee of Correspondence

• From 1772-1776, similar committees formed in the colonies and helped shape public opinion about British rule.

• These committees became leaders in the American Resistance to British actions.– They promoted patriotism and they began to gradually

extend their power over many aspects of American public life.

– They even established espionage networks to identify disloyal elements and began to supervise elections, which began to take over operation of many colonial governments.

Tea Act of 1773• In 1773, the powerful British East India Company was

almost bankrupt. • To save the company, Parliament passed the Tea Act of

1773.• The law excused the company from paying certain duties

and permitted it to bypass the wholesalers and sell tea directly to American agents.

• As a result, the price of tea was lower than it had ever been before.

Opposition

• Most colonists, however, opposed the Tea Act and refused to buy tea. Many were concerned over the possible monopoly of the tea trade by the East India Company.

• American wholesalers and merchants feared that other British companies could secure similar privileges from Parliament and force them out of business.

Reaction by the Sons of Liberty• The Sons of Liberty in

Philadelphia and New York threatened anyone who imported tea. However, the most famous protest occurred in Massachusetts.

• On December 6, 1773, after the governor refused demands to send three shiploads of tea back to England, the colonists held a mass meeting in Boston's Old South Church.

Boston Tea Party

• In the night of December 16th, a well-organized group of colonists dressed as Natives, boarded British tea ships in Boston Harbor and dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into the water.

• News of the Boston Tea Party drew wide-spread attention at home and abroad. Many colonists supported the destruction, while others were shocked by such disregard for property rights.

Question: How do you think the British will respond to the Tea Party?

Consequences

• The Boston Tea Party proved to be a turning point that escalated the nation into the American Revolution.

• However, the more immediate effects would soon become well known, as British officials would discover what the colonists did to their imports.– British response would be harsh.

Reactions to the Boston Tea Party

Colonists• Some colonists supported the

idea and Samuel Adams began to work to publicize the event by stating that it was not a lawless mob, but rather a principled protest against the British attacking their rights.

• Others were appalled by the events and some--- such as Benjamin Franklin– argued that the tea must be paid for.

British• The British, however,

viewed the Tea Party as an act of hostility against them. British officials, including the Prime Minister, felt that punishment was necessary for such actions against them.

Intolerable Acts of 1774

• Parliament responded to the Boston Tea Party by passing the Coercive Acts of 1774 (or as the colonists called them, the Intolerable Acts).

• The Coercive Acts were a group of 4 laws that were designed to punish Boston and Massachusetts while strengthening British control over the colonies.

First Act– Boston Port Act

• The Boston Port Act closed the port of Boston until the colonists paid for the destroyed tea.

• Colonists objected that the Port Act punished all of Boston rather than just the individuals who had destroyed the tea and that they were being unfairly punished.

Second Act– Massachusetts Government Act

• The second act revoked the Massachusetts charter of 1691 and forbade Massachusetts colonists to hold town meetings.

• Ultimately, it brought the whole of the Massachusetts government under control of the British.

Third Act– Administration of Justice Act

• The third act allowed royal officials charged with crimes related to their duties to be tried in England, rather than in Massachusetts. The British argued that the officials would not get a fair trial in the colonies.

• This upset the colonists because they believed that officials and soldiers could commit crimes and then be lightly punished or escape punishment entirely in Britain.

Fourth Act- The Quartering Act

• The fourth act required local officials to provide food and housing, even in private homes, for British soldiers stationed in the colonies.

• Unlike the others, however, this act applied to all the colonies.

• As well, this Act also generated the least protest among the acts.

Reactions

• The Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) deepened colonial hostility toward Britain.

• Colonists everywhere responded with sympathy to Massachusetts and denounced King George III, the Parliament, and any threat to colonial liberty.

Quebec Act

• Although not one of the Intolerable/Coercive Acts, the Quebec Act enflamed colonists.

• The act stipulated that the Quebec’s boundaries be extended south into Ohio territory, thereby overriding claims of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia in Western Lands.

• It also granted full religious rights to Roman Catholics, which upset the protestant colonists.

Quebec Act

Effects of the Acts

• By 1774, the colonists quickly became unified in their belief that the British were becoming oppressive.

• A new identity– not yet American, but not fully British– was forming in the colonies as the colonist began to question their loyalty to Britain and seek out independence for themselves.

Questions?

• If you have any questions, please ask.

British East India Company is going

Bankrupt. How did Britain Respond?

Tea Act of 1773• What did the Tea Act

do?• How did the Colonies

React?

Sons of Liberty cause the Boston Tea Party• How does Britain

Respond?

They create the Coercive Acts• What are the effects of

the Coercive Acts?

• Closed the Port of Boston

• Revoked the Massachusetts Charter

• Allowed British to be tried in England

• Quartering Act

Quebec Act• What did it do? • How did Colonists

respond?

Both Protestants and expanded

colonies lose land claims

Colonists view the British as being

oppressive

Colonists respond by questioning British loyalty– • leading into the

American Revolution

Cause and Effect in History:The last lesson was entirely cause and effect. Lets go through it step by step.

No More Kings

• Schoolhouse Rock! Video

• Questions:– What king are they talking about?– Who helped the Pilgrims when they landed in

Plymouth?– What taxes was the video discussing and what

grievances did the colonists have with new taxes?– Ultimately, why did the colonists not want a king any

longer?

Review Objectives

• Identify continuing disagreements between the British and the Colonies

• Explain what the colonists did in response to these tensions

• Analyze the impact of colonial resistance to the British (such as the Boston Tea Party).

Next Lesson

• In the next lesson, we will be discussing the beginnings of the American revolution

Review1. How did the colonists react to the Tea Act of 1773? Why did

colonial businesses and merchants oppose the act? 2. What was the effect of the Boston Tea Party on the colonies

(i.e., how did the British respond)? Explain your answer. 3. How did British presence in Boston lead up to the Boston

Massacre? 4. Why did the colonists oppose the British paying the salaries

of the Massachusetts governor?5. Why did the British pass the Townshend acts despite prior

Colonial Protests against the Stamp Act?6. Why did the Quebec Act upset Protestants? 7. Ultimately, how did both the Coercive Acts and Quebec

Acts help unify the colonies?

Homework Assignment

• Please take home and read the “Declaration of Resolves”.

• Be prepared to discuss the document during the next lesson (I recommend that you write down some things that you read within the document).