The Road to Revolution

Part 3

A Storm Over Taxes

As Britain celebrated its victory over France, some British officials worried that with France no longer a threat, the 13 colonies might become too INDEPENDENT.

Some Americans like Ben Franklin doubted this. They felt the colonies were just too different from each other.

However, new policies toward the colonies pushed them toward unity.

Trouble on the Frontier

After the French were driven from the Ohio River Valley, more English settlers moved across the Appalachians. The traders also acted differently toward the Indians. They

stopped having feasts and giving them presents, and the price of trade goods went up. More forts were built on Indian ground.

Unhappy Indians found a leader in a man named Pontiac who gained a lot of respect. He spoke out and called the British “dogs dressed in red who have come to rob us of our hunting grounds and drive away the game.”

In “Pontiac’s War”, Indians captured some forts, but settlers fought back. After France was kicked out of North America, Indian nations could not rely on French aid. Eventually they stopped fighting and returned home.

Chief Pontiac urging action against the British

Both sides committed ATROCITIES against the other.

Approximately 400 British soldiers were killed in action, with many others being captured and tortured to death.

Around 2,000 settlers were killed, and several thousand others had to flee from their homes.

The Indian CASUALTIES are unknown.

The Proclamation of 1763

Pontiac’s War convinced Britain to close the western lands to settlers.

A proclamation was issued that drew an imaginary line at the crest of the Appalachian Mountains.

Settlers were forbidden from settling across the line, and settlers already across the line were to go back.

Settlers were not to move west across the

Appalachian Mountains.

To enforce the law, Britain sent 10,000 troops to the colonies. However, most stayed near the coast.

Many settlers were upset, because they wanted to settle in the region, plus they did not want to pay for the troops.

Many of them ignored the new law and moved into the region anyway.

Stamp Act Crisis

The French and Indian War had been very costly to fight. The British Prime Minister decided that the colonists should pay their fair share of taxes to pay for the war. A law was passed that required colonists to pay a tax on legal documents, wills, diplomas, marriage papers, newspapers, almanacs, playing cards, and even dice. A small stamp was placed on each item to prove the tax had been paid.

Many colonists reacted with rage to the taxes. They threw rocks at tax collectors, and tarred and feathered them. Sometimes a dummy was made to look like the local tax collector, and then it was burned.

Britain was surprised the colonists were angry. The main cause of the anger though was:

TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.

Colonists understood taxes had to be paid, but they were upset that they did not have any representatives in parliament.

During the Stamp Act crisis of 1765, one American newspaper proposed, with biting humor, that the hated British stamps take the form of the skull and crossbones.

Protests over taxes still occur today!!!

Boycotting British Goods

Anger over the tax caused the colonies to feel more united.

Delegates from 9 of the colonies met to petition and complain to parliament and the king.

At first they were ignored.

The colonists now joined together and decided to BOYCOTT ,or refuse to buy British goods.

British trade dropped and workers and merchants suffered.

The tax was REPEALED or cancelled.

A political cartoon showing the “death” of the Stamp Act

The Townshend Acts

A year later, new taxes were passed.

Goods such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea were taxed.

The taxes were low, but the colonists hated not having any representation.

Legal documents called WRITS OF ASSISTANCE allowed customs officials to search ships’ cargo without giving reason.

Colonists Fight Back

Nonimportation Agreements were signed. People refused to buy the British goods that were taxed.

People also started making their own items.

Some colonists joined protest groups like the SONS OR DAUGHTERS OF LIBERTY.

COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE were also formed to spread news.

This is a modern version of what the Liberty Tree

may have looked like.

The Liberty Tree in Boston, was a large elm tree that was a gathering place for protests. It was sometimes decorated with banners and lanterns. Other towns and cities around the colonies started having their own “Liberty Trees” or poles.

Centers of Protest

The port cities of Boston and New York became major centers of protest against

British policies. A law called the QUARTERING ACT was passed. It required colonists to house British soldiers and provide

candles, bedding, and drinks to them. New Yorkers lost their legislative assembly when

they would not obey the law. Bostonians were very upset to see soldiers camped out in their

city.

The Quartering Act was extremely unpopular. In fact, when the Bill of Rights was added to our Constitution, the 3rd Amendment prevented

quartering.

The Boston Massacre

On March 5, 1770, a crowd at the Boston Customs House, gathered around some British soldiers and started throwing things at them. They also shouted insults, and called them “lobsterbacks”.

The crowd grew larger and some of the soldiers panicked. Shots were fired, and 5 colonists were killed.

Sam Adams, a leader in the protest movement, quickly wrote to other colonies about the event. He called it the BOSTON MASSACRE.

Paul Revere made a picture engraving showing the massacre in hopes of stirring up feelings toward the British.

The soldiers did receive a fair trial here, and were given light sentences.

Do you have any guesses why Sam Adams

referred to this

tragedy as a

massacre?

Repeal of the Townshend Acts

On the very day of the Boston Massacre, Parliament voted to get rid of most of the taxes. British merchants had complained that the boycotts were really hurting their trade.

However, Parliament chose to keep one tax, just to prove to the colonists that they could tax them if they really wanted to. The tax they chose to keep, was the tax on tea.