Transcript The Road to Revolution

Road to Revolution
What causes the colonists to revolt
against British rule?
Mercantilism (1650s)
• Idea a nation could increase its wealth by1) getting lots of gold
& silver 2) sell more goods than you buy 3) control all trade
• British Parliament passes Navigation Acts
1) British ships must be used in all colonial trade
2) Ships had to have a majority British crew
3) Colonial products had to be shipped to England first
1754-1763: French and Indian War
• France & Native Americans v. Britain & Am. Colonists, ambush
techniques by Indians causing British to lose
• British Gen. William Pitt allies with Iroquois & defeats French
•1763: Britain gain all of Canada
•Proc of 1763 issued: no
settlements west of
Appalachians, colonists upset!
Early Problems for Colonists (1764-1770)
1. Sugar Act, 1764
• British need money to pay for Fr & In war
• Most foreign molasses is smuggled, Parliament cuts tax on
British molasses
• Hoping colonists will pay the tax instead of smuggling it
since smugglers lose right to trial by jury, plan fails
2. Stamp Act, 1765
• Tax on documents & printed items (wills, newspapers, etc.)
•First direct tax on everyday needs
• Samuel Adams starts Sons of Liberty, a resistance group in
Boston to protest the new acts
3. Townshend Acts, 1767
• British repeal stamp act but pass new act taxing many items
never taxed before (glass, ink, paint, paper, tea)
• Sons of Lib. slogan “No taxation w/out representation!”, start a
boycott of British goods
Boston Massacre - 1770
• Increased presence of soldiers due to protests
• Soldiers open fire on protestors, kill 5 colonists
• Paul Revere’s depiction further angers colonists
http://www.history.com/shows/america-the-story-of-us/videos/bostonmassacre#boston-massacre
• Every story has two sides. Read two eyewitness accounts of
what happened in Boston in 1770.
• Which side seemed more believable to you and why?
• Explain if the eyewitness accounts match the video clip.
• Look at the engraving by Paul Revere on the back. What side
of the story does this show?
• Could the engraving be propaganda against the British? Why?
Boston Tea Party, 1773
• British East India Co. losing money on tea. Parliament passes
Tea Act, Colonists could only buy British Tea
• BEIC pays no export tax, but Townshend Act still in affect on tea
• Colonists dressed as Indians dump British tea into Boston
Harbor (including King George’s personal tea)
Intolerable Acts, 1774
1. Boston Harbor is shut down
2. Quartering Act: forced colonists to house British soldiers
3. Reduced right of self-government , Mass Assembly
suspended + 4. Boston Massacre trial moved to London
Somethin
g must be
done!
First Continental Congress, 1774
• 56 delegates meet in Philadelphia, agree colonist have rights
• If British use force, colonists should fight back
• Create a militia called the Minutemen
Lexington & Concord
• British increase number of troops
• Paul Revere’s famous ride “redcoats are coming”
• Lexington, MA: British troops kill 8 Minutemen
• Concord, MA: Minutemen attack British, kill few dozen soldiers
Second Continental Congress: May, 1775
• Colonists debate two main issues:
1. Should we declare independence from Britain?
2. Should we work things out with King George?
• 2nd Con. Congress tries #2, sends “Olive Branch Petition”.
• King George rejects the peace offer!
• Bunker Hill: Deadly battle between Minutemen & Red Coats
Let’s give
the King
another
Chance
I don’t
think so
rebel
scum!
Declaration of Independence: 1776
• Thomas Jefferson – primary author, writes two versions
• Influenced by Locke’s natural rights, Magna Carta, English Bill
of Rights & Common Sense
• Jefferson writes: People have right to life, liberty & pursuit of
happiness & “All Men are Created Equal”.
• Ratified July 2, 1776 and adopted July 4, 1776