Chapter 4 Sections 1 and 2

Causes of the American Revolution and the Beginning of the American

Revolution

Objectives• List examples of colonial resistance to taxation.• Explain the battle of Lexington and Concord.• Explain efforts made to avoid bloodshed as the

colonies hovered between war and peace.• Analyze the philosophical and political ideas of the

Declaration of Independence.• Contrast the attitudes of Patriots and Loyalists.

Why did the colonists protest Britain’s taxes?• 1765- Stamp Act (colonists

had to buy and place stamps on items like wills, playing cards) Directly taxed the people.

• Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams led boycotts. (No taxation without representation)

• Patrick Henry(Virginian)- “Give me Liberty or give me Death.”

What were the Townshend Acts?

• Passed in 1767.• Placed taxes on glass,

paint, lead, and tea• Protest by colonists

led to British troops being stationed in America.

What was the Boston Massacre (1770)?

• Group of Boston protesters threw snow balls at British soldiers.

• The British soldiers fired and killed 5 colonists including African American Crispus Attucks.

What were the committees of correspondence?

• Allowed colonies to communicate with one another.

• Helped unite colonies.

What was the Boston Tea Party (1773)?• Colonists were angry

at another tea tax passed with the Tea Act.

• Sons of Liberty dressed as American Indians dumped thousands of pounds of tea in Boston Harbor.

What were the Intolerable and Coercive Acts (1774)?

• Boston Tea Party angered King George III.

• Parliament passed these acts that put Boston under martial law and closed Boston Harbor.

What happened at Lexington and Concord (1775)?• 1st Battle of the American

Revolution• Minutemen- colonial civilian

soldiers• British seize weapons at

Concord• Paul Revere warned the

British were coming.• Lexington lasted 15 minutes. • Concord many British

soldiers were killed.

What was the Second Continental Congress (1775)?• Urged independence

from Great Britain• Created Continental

Army under the leadership of George Washington.

• Approved the Olive Branch and then the Declaration of Independence.

What was the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775)?• More than 1,000

British soldiers killed.• Colonists lost 311

men.• Deadliest battle of the

war.• “Don’t fire until you

see the whites of their eyes”

What was the Olive Branch Petition (1775)?• Continental Congress

sent a peace offering to King George III.

• Return to harmony prior to the war.

• Rejected by King George III.

• Ordered Parliament to blockade America.

What was the importance of Common Sense (1776)?

• Written by Thomas Paine in January 1776.

• Independence would lead to a better American society.

• Colonies had outgrown relationship with Britain.

What are the main ideas of Declaration of Independence?• Written July 4 1776 by

Thomas Jefferson.• Used Enlightenment

theories of natural rights from John Locke.

• Social contract of government

• Right to Revolution • Consent of the governed• “All men are created

equal”

Who were the Patriots?

• Those colonists who supported independence from England.

• Only 1/3 of colonists were Patriots.

• Farmers, landowners, artisans, merchants, Quakers, some African Americans.

Who were the Loyalists?

• Supported the British and were loyal to the King.

• Also called Tories.• Felt the King could protect

their rights better than the colonial government.

• 1/3 of colonists were Loyalists.

• Most American Indians and some African Americans supported the British.

Objectives• List examples of colonial resistance to taxation.• Explain the battle of Lexington and Concord.• Explain efforts made to avoid bloodshed as the

colonies hovered between war and peace.• Analyze the philosophical and political ideas of the

Declaration of Independence.• Contrast the attitudes of Patriots and Loyalists.