Causes of the American Revolution

French and Indian War - The French and British were in competition over land in America. The British win and the French are forced out.

Colonists move west of the Appalachian Mountains and have trouble with the Indians. The British cannot provide the colonists protection.

Proclamation of 1763Because the British could not protect the colonists from the Natives, they passed the Proclamation of 1763. This forbids the colonists from settling west of the Appalachians.

Proclamation of 1763 (cont.) The colonists were angry because

they wanted to settle the Ohio River Valley and the ignored the law.

The British wanted the land to remain in the hands of the Native Americans.

The British government left 10,000 soldiers in the colonies to enforce the Proclamation and keep peace.

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Quartering Act In 1765 Parliament passed

this act which required colonists to house the British soldiers and provide them with food and supplies.

Although this reduced costs, it did not provide the revenue (income) needed by Britain to pay off the large debt created during the French and Indian War.

Sugar Act Britain wanted to pay off their debt

and for the first time Parliament voted to tax the colonies directly.

In 1764, The Sugar Act was passed. It placed a tax on all sugar and molasses shipped to the colonies. It called for strict enforcement of the act and harsh punishment for smugglers.

James Otis claimed that they had no right to tax because the colonies had no representation in Parliament. “Taxation without representation is tyranny!”

Stamp Act Passed in 1765, this law

required all legal and commercial documents to carry an official stamp showing that a tax had been paid.

All diplomas, contracts and wills had to carry a stamp. Even newspapers had to be printed on special, stamped paper.

Colonists Protest

Patrick Henry from the Virginia’s House of Burgesses, called for resistance to the tax.

In Oct. 1765, nine colonies meet to write a petition to the king protesting the tax. Britain ignores the petition.

Colonial merchants organized a boycott (refusal to buy) of British goods.

NO TAX Boycott

Sons of Liberty A secret society formed

to oppose British policies. Many members were

lawyers, merchants, and craftspeople – those affected most by the Stamp Act.

Not all protests were peaceful. In 1766 Parliament repealed the

Stamp Act and passed the Declaratory Act stating that Parliament had supreme authority to govern the colonies.

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Copy on a new sheet of paper!

Bostonians Paying the Taxman

Townshend Acts New Yorkers were tired of housing

the British troops and refused to continue.

Britain still needs money to pay its debts.

Charles Townshend came up with a way to raise revenue and in 1767, Parliament passed his plan

Townshend Acts (cont.) First it suspended New York’s

assembly until housing was once again provided.

Next it placed import taxes on goods brought into the country such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea.

To enforce the acts, writs of assistance (search warrants) would be issued to enter homes and search for smuggled goods.

Townshend Acts (cont.) Once again, colonists protested

and boycotted British goods. Samuel Adams, a leader of the

Boston Sons of Liberty, was a driving force in this action.

Colonists tried peaceful protests but riots still tended to break out.

As a result, in the fall 1768, 1000 British soldiers arrived in Boston.

The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street

The Boston Massacre On March 5, 1770, youths and dock

workers started trading insults in front of the custom House.

A fight broke out, soldiers started firing. Four laborers and Crispus Attucks were

killed in the attack. The soldiers were arrested for murder. John Adams defended them in court

stating that “law should be deaf…to the clamors of the populace.”

The Tea Act On the day of the Boston Massacre,

Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts – all except the tax on tea.

Samuel Adams started Committees of Correspondence in various towns to exchange letters on colonial affairs.

He didn’t want people to forget the cause of liberty.

The Tea Act (cont.) Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773. This gave the British East India

Company control over American tea trade.

People who were avoiding the taxes with smuggled tea, would now have to pay taxes.

Protests began to take place all over the colonies.

The Boston Tea Party The Sons of Liberty organized what

came to be known as The Boston Tea Party.

On Dec. 16, 1773 a group of men disguised as Native Americans boarded three tea ships docked in Boston Harbor. They destroyed 342 chests of tea, hoping Britain would see how strongly colonists opposed taxation without representation.

The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party

The Intolerable Acts Called the Coercive Acts by the British,

these acts were passed to punish the Massachusetts Colony and serve as a warning to the others.

One act would close the port of Boston until the colonists paid for the destroyed tea.

Others banned the Committees of Correspondence, allowed British to house troops wherever necessary, and let British officials stand trial in Britain.

The Intolerable Acts (cont.)

General Thomas Gage was appointed governor of Massachusetts.

Once the Intolerable acts were passed, other colonies immediately offered MA their support by sending food and money to Boston.

The Committees of Correspondence called for a meeting of colonial delegates to discuss what they would do next.

First Continental Congress In September of 1774, delegates met from

all of the colonies except Georgia. They voted to ban all trade with Britain until

the Intolerable Acts were repealed. They called on each

colony to begin training troops.

Georgia agreed to be part of this action even though it did not send delegates.

They planned to meet again in seven months.

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The British are Coming On April 18, 1775 an attack was

ordered by General Gage but the Sons of Liberty were ready.

Messengers (Paul Revere and Williams Dawes) were sent to spread the news of the attack.

At dawn on April 19, some 700 British troops reached Lexington.

The British are Coming Captain John Parker and 70 militiamen

awaited them. No one knows who fired the first shot but

within minutes eight militiamen were dead.

The British headed on to Concord where nearly 4000 militiamen awaited them.

The British quickly retreated.

Lexington and Concord These were the first battles of the

Revolutionary War. Americans now had to choose

sides Loyalists

supported the British

Patriots sided with the rebels

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The Continental Army After the battles at Lexington and

Concord, about 20,000 troops gathered around Boston.

In May, Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys captured Britain’s New York fort and all its artillery.

That same day the Second Continental Congress met and agreed to form the Continental Army.

George Washington was chosen as its commanding general.

The Battle of Bunker Hill As the British troops advanced,

Colonel William Prescott ordered “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”

Although the Americans lost the battle, they held their own against the Brits – killing and wounding over 1000 while suffering only 400 casualties of their own.

The Death of General Warren at Bunker Hill

Olive Branch Petition In July 1775, the moderates in congress

drafted this petition and sent it to London hoping to restore peace.

The king rejected the petition and announced new measures to punish the colonists.

George Washington continued training the troops and sent Benedict Arnold to Canada in the hopes of gaining support there.

They failed in their attack and returned home.

Common Sense A pamphlet written

by Thomas Paine that was published in early 1776.

He claimed all monarchies were corrupt.

He believed America should follow its own destiny.

The Declaration of Independence

In June of 1776 Congress appointed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence.

Members included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson was selected to write the document because he was an excellent writer from Virginia.

It was completed by July 2, 1776.

The Declaration of Independence

It is adopted on July 4, 1776. John Hancock was the first to sign it. The core idea of it was based on the idea

that people have unalienable rights (rights the government can’t take away).

It explained the reasons from breaking with Britain and declared the colonies to be free, independent states.

The “people” referred to in the document only included free white men.

Signing the Declaration