Causes of the American Revolution !

1. Causes of the American Revolution! Proclamation of 1773 Townshend Acts Intolerable Acts Tea Act The French and Indian War Stamp Act Boston Massacre Boston Tea Party

2. French and Indian War 1756-1763 • The French and Indian War was a war between Britain and the Indians. • Cause: The colonists kept pushing the Indians west. • Effect: The British made the Proclamation of 1763 and went into a great amount of debt

3. Proclamation of 1763 • The Proclamation of 1763 was a law prohibiting the colonists to move west of the Appalachian Mountains. • Cause: England was still in debt from the French and Indian War and didn’t want to start another war. • Effect: The colonist still moved west anyway. King George

4. Navigation Acts • Series of laws put in place by Britain to control sea-trade in the colonies • Cause: To enforce trade laws that benefited England • Effect: Created triangle trade and made England more rich

5. Sugar Act – April 5th, 1764 • $.03 tax on Molasses – per gallon • Cause: Great Britain needed money to pay off war debt • Effect: Hurt consumers, merchants and shippers – caused smuggling

6. Stamp Act – November 1st, 1765 • The Stamp Act was a tax on every sheet of every legal document. • Cause: Britain needed money because they were in debt from the war so they taxed the colonists. • Effect: The colonists boycotted British goods. They also organized the Sons of Liberty and the Daughters of Liberty.

7. Townshend Acts 1767 • The Townshend Acts used all the money collected for imported goods to pay the salaries of British soldiers. The Townshend Acts also caused a tax for glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. • Cause: Britain still needed money, but they needed a way to tax the colonies “without offense.” • Effect: The colonists boycotted British goods again.

8. Boston Massacre March 5th, 1770 • The Boston Massacre was a clash between British troops and a group of colonists in which five colonists were killed. • Cause: After lots of ridicule, the tension finally broke. Some colonists started throwing snowball in front of the Boston Customhouse. The soldiers became nervous and started shooting. • Effect: Six of the soldiers were acquitted, and two of them had their thumbs branded for shooting.

9. Tea Act May 10th, 1773 • The Tea Act was a tax on all imported tea from Britain. • Cause: The colonists boycott against British goods had hurt their trade, so the British repealed the Townshend Acts after the Boston Massacre. Parliament only kept the tea tax. • Effect: The Sons of Liberty organized a protest against the Tea Act known as the Boston Tea Party.

10. Boston Tea Party December 16th, 1773 • The Boston Tea Party was a protest organized by the colonists against the British. Colonists dressed up as Indians and snuck on-board the British ships in the harbor. Then they threw tea on the ships into Boston Harbor. • Cause: The colonists were upset by the Tea Act. • Effect: The Intolerable Acts were passed to keep the colonists under control.

11. Intolerable Acts 1774 • The Intolerable Acts were four strict laws that gave the British a sense of more control over the colonies. First of all, they closed down the port of Boston until the colonists paid for all of the tea they threw into Boston Harbor. Second, they forbade any meetings without the governor’s permission. Next, they made the colonists house and feed British troops. Finally, instead of British officials being tried for crimes in the colonies, they would be tried in Britain. Also, King George the third appointed General Thomas Gage the new governor of Massachusetts. • Cause: The Boston Tea Party. • Effect: The colonists started the Revolutionary War.

12. Quartering Acts - 1775 • Law that forced colonists to house and feed soldiers against their will. • Cause: Boston Tea Party / Intolerable Acts • Effect: Last Straw leading to the revolution