The American Revolution, 1775-1789

Chapter 5: Section 3

LONG TERM CAUSES

Long-Term Causes

A. ECONOMIC1. French and Indian War, 1756-1763

• Britain owed huge war debt & had to find way to pay it off (tax Americans)

• Treaty of 1763 forced France to leave North America Empire (erased French threat to colonists)

2. Restraints on Trade• Mercantilism no longer working for the Americans

1) want free trade 2) manufacture own goods

• British Navigation Acts prevented them from doing so

Long-Term Causes (cont.)B. POLITICAL

1. Policy of Salutary Neglect• British policy of leaving the 13 colonies pretty much

alone for 150 years• Colonists dev. own system of gov’t almost

independent of Britain

2. Unfair system of taxation• Only their own colonial assemblies (elected

by the colonists) had right to tax them• Parliament could not tax them because

Americans did NOT elect them• “No taxation without representation!”

Long-Term Causes (cont.)

C. SOCIAL“Americanization”• Colonies distance from Britain so

far (3,000 mi.) and so much time had elapsed (150 yrs) that Americans had developed their own unique culture (apart from Britain)

Long-Term Causes (cont.)

D. INTELLECTUALThe Ideas of Enlightenment Core beliefs of the Enlightenment encouraged Americans to revolt

Locke’s “natural rights” (govt. must protect)

Smith’s idea of economic freedom (laissez-faire)

Voltaire’s push for free speech/religion Montesquieu’s separation of powers

IMMEDIATE CAUSES1763 - 1776

Policy of Taxation1. Britain’s New Policies

• 1763: The Proclamation Act• 1764: Sugar Act- tax on sugar & molasses

(rum); hurt New England colonies most• 1765: Stamp Act- tax on all printed materials

(newspapers, deeds, even playing cards)• direct tax• Taxes for sole act of raising revenue illegal (only to

regulate trade)• Stamp Act Congress -NYC

1. Boycott of British goods

Taxation and “Massacre”• 1767: Townshend Acts – Parliament places

tax on certain imports (lead, glass, tea, paint, paper)

• Colonists continue to resist and boycott British goods (make their own)

2. Boston Massacre (March 1770)• British troops stationed in Boston to oversee

unruly colonists• Group of American dockworkers begin hassling

& throwing snowballs at British soldiers• British fire into group and kill 5 colonists

The Boston Massacre Through Patriot Eyes

Two Boston patriots -Paul Revere and Samuel Adams exaggerate the event to raise the anger of the other colonists

A TEA PARTY in BOSTON

3. The Boston Tea Party (1773)• British cut price of tea in attempt to save

struggling British East India Tea Co.• Americans believe that this will drive

American tea merchants out of business• Americans refuse to unload the tea• December, 1773: group of Boston

patriots, disguised as Indians, board British ships in Boston Harbor & dump 300 tons of tea

Britain Responds

• King George III and Parliament demand that damages be paid but Boston refuses

• Parliament passes the Intolerable Acts (1774)1. Closes Boston Harbor2. Repeals Massachusetts’ Charter

(self-govt)3. Quartering Act requires troops to

be housed by colonists4. All British soldiers to be tried in

Admiralty Courts (British military courts)

TO FIGHT, OR NOT…?4. The First Continental Congress- 1774

• Colonists meet to discuss response to Intolerable Acts1. Boycott British goods2. Begin drawing up state constitutions3. Start gathering weapons & ammunition

5. Lexington & Concord (Mass): April 19, 1775 – “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”

• British troops march on minutemen to capture colony’s stored weapons

• Revere’s “Midnight Ride” to alarm colonists• Gunfire breaks out and 49 colonists killed/wounded• Americans ambush British all the way back to Boston (270

killed/wounded)• Blood had been spilled

The Second Continental Congress, 1775

The Second Continental Congress• Meets to discuss events in Boston• Prepares for war

1. Names George Washington as Commander of American “Continental Army”

2. States begin drawing up new constitutions and raising militias

3. Thomas Jefferson called on to explain to rest of the world why the Americans were justified in breaking away from England

The Declaration of Independence, 1776

Preamble:• Influence of Locke’s ideas

1. Natural (inalienable) rights: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness (property)

2. Power to govern from “consent of the governed”

Body:• Lists abuses of the British government towards

the colonies

Conclusion:• Declares the colonies are now to be considered

“independent states” and will be joined as the United States of America

Jefferson’s Declaration

• Ratified by the Second Continental Congress July 4, 1776

1764 Sugar Act

1765 Stamp Act

1767 Townshend Acts

1770 Boston Massacre

1773 Boston Tea Party

1774 Intolerable Acts

1774 First Continental Congress

1775 Lexington and Concord

1776 “Common Sense” published/Dec. of Independence