370 likes | 508 Views
Road to the Revolution!. Chapter 6. Tighter British Control. Chapter 6, Section 1. Political Causes for a break with Britain!. England’s neglect of the colonies! Taxation without representation! What??? Colonists were having to pay taxes without someone to represent them in Parliament!
E N D
Road to the Revolution! Chapter 6
Tighter British Control Chapter 6, Section 1
Political Causes for a break with Britain! • England’s neglect of the colonies! • Taxation without representation! What??? Colonists were having to pay taxes without someone to represent them in Parliament! • Individual rights limited
Economic Causes for Break with Britain! • Taxation • Mercantilism (colonies exist for the trade benefits of the mother country, England). • Trade restrictions – shipping laws that forced the colonists to trade mainly with Britain.
4. Economic power – England failed to enforce trade laws, therefore colonies made money trading with other countries. 5. Free Enterprise – free, unrestricted trade
Don’t forget! French & Indian War! -England and France fought to win control of North America and extend their empires! -French & Indian War: 1754-1763 -British victory! France lost war and race for N.A.
-1763 Peace Treaty: 1. France gave England – all land east of the Miss. river, except New Orleans. 2. France gave Spain (ally for helping) – French land west of Miss. river and New Orleans 3. Spain gave England – Florida **After 1763, Britain tightened control of her vast N.A. empire (almost doubled in size) in a series of actions that seemed fair to Britain, unfair to the colonists, and led directly to the American Revolution! FREEDOM!!!
British Action: 1. Proclamation of 1763 – ban westward settlement on Indian lands and in return protect colonists. 2. 10,000 British troops would protect the frontier line. Colonists required to pay 1/3 of the 1 million dollar annual cost. OUCH!! American Reaction: UNFAIR!! Original laws included land west of the line. Did not like a standing army during peace time!
TAXES!!!!! (not good!) *Taxes had been limited to external taxes on colonists: taxes on imported goods. Internal taxes had always been left to colonial assemblies, as a basic liberty. NOT ANYMORE!!! Remember – colonists do not have representation in Parliament!
Sugar Act (1764) British Action: Tax on sugar and molasses (not just to regulate trade anymore, but to make money for England) Smugglers tried without juries!! Colonial Reaction: Spoke out and protested that taxation with representation and trials without juries is oppression!
Stamp Act (1765) British Action: Required all legal and commercial documents to carry an official stamp showing a tax had been paid (all publications/official documents) -Tax that applied within the colonies. Colonial Reaction: Vigorously protested!! Virginia House of Burgesses called for resistance to the tax. Others believed it was treason!
Quartering Act (1765) British Action: Required the colonists to quarter (house and feed) British troops in America. Can you imagine??!! Colonial Reaction: Forced to house troops. *Most troops housed in New York. Colonists there saw it as a burden and refused to pay to house the troops! Quartering Act wasn’t as effective as the British hoped!
Stamp Act Repealed (canceled) (1766) -Stamp Act Congress wrote a petition to the king protesting the Stamp Act stating the colonial assemblies can tax, not Parliament. -Colonial merchants boycotted British goods. -Peaceful and violent protests. -British officials attacked and fled for their safety. *British merchants thought trade with America would be hurt. *British leaders agreed.
Declaratory Act (1766) British Action: Law that stated Parliament had supreme authority to govern the colonies in all cases. YIKES!! **Colonists celebrated the repeal of the Stamp Act and tried to ignore the Declaratory Act! A great struggle for control had begun!
Colonial Resistance Grows! Chapter 6, Section 2
Townshend Acts (1767) After repealing the Stamp Act, Britain still needed a way to raise money for troops & conflict. -Charles Townshend gave his ideas to Parliament and it was passed. It included: • Suspended N.Y. assembly until they agreed to provide housing for troops. • Imported taxes were placed on goods like glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea. • Would enforce through writs of assistance: search warrants to enter homes/businesses and look for smuggled goods.
American reaction: Boycotted British goods. • Protested that unwarranted searches were a violation of their English rights! **Townshend Acts Repealed! (1770) -All items except tea! Why? Tea was kept to show that Parliament and King George III were still boss! **Would you continue to buy certain items you find a luxury if taxes were raised on them? Why or why not???
The Boston Massacre (1770) *Colonists resented British troops! -March 5, 1770: Tension exploded into violence. -Group of youths were yelling insults and throwing rocks and a fight broke out. -British troops fired. 5 colonists died. -Former slave, Crispus Attucks, is considered the first casualty in the fight for independence. -Propaganda made the British seem responsible and fuel the need to break from Britain. *Was it the soldiers fault or colonists? Who started it?
Tea Act (1773) -Gave the British East India Company control over the American tea trade. -Would arrive in their ships and sold by their merchants. -Colonists that were not paying taxes on smuggled tea, now had to pay a tax on regulated tea! -Enraged colonial shippers/merchants! *What is going to occur b/c of the Tea Act??????
The Boston Tea Party (1773)Was it really a party??? American reaction to Tea Act: United merchants & radicals in protest! -Organized by the Sons of Liberty -Boston, Dec. 16, 1773. -Men disguised as Native Americans boarded 3 tea ships in Boston Harbor -Destroyed 342 chests of tea. Colonists rejoiced! *Colonial leaders offered to pay for the damages if the Tea Act was repealed. Britain refused.
The Road to Lexington and Concord Chapter 6, Section 3
The Intolerable Acts! (Coercive Acts) *Tea party = Britain furious!!! -1774 passed a series of laws to punish the Mass. colony and teach all colonies a lesson!! • Close Boston port until colonists paid for destroyed tea. 2. Banned committees of correspondence (form of self-government) and placed Mass. under military rule of British general Thomas Gage 3. British officials were tried in England if charged with crimes while enforcing laws 4. Issued a stronger Quartering Act!
First Continental Congress Meets *Colonial delegates met to discuss the next move -Meeting held Sept. 1774 (56 delegates) -Ban all trade with Britain until Intolerable Acts were repealed -Declared Coercive Acts unconstitutional! -Declaration of Rights and Grievances: Colonists were defying Britain b/c their liberties as Englishman had been violated! -Continental Congress didn’t seek war or independence, only their rights as Englishmen!
*Few members of Parliament wanted to repeal the Coercive Acts and so did merchants suffering from the boycott *King George III refused! -Parliament stood firm! -Increased restrictions on colonial trade and sent MORE British troops! Yikes! -End of 1774 some colonists were preparing to fight! Minutemen: militiamen trained for action at a minute’s notice!
What will happen next??? *Few expected a war. Colonial leaders thought that a show of force would make Britain change its policies…..WRONG! -Delegate Patrick Henry urged the House of Burgesses for independence in March of 1775, “But as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” -Midnight Ride -British learned militia was storing arms/ammunition in Concord (20 mi. NW of Boston, Mass.)
-General Gage heard that Sam Adams and John Hancock were in Lexington. -April 18 ,1775: Gage ordered troops to arrest Adams and Hancock and destroy the supplies in Concord! -Sons of Liberty prepared! Paul Revere and William Dawes were spreading news about troop movements. • Signal: “One lantern by land, two by sea.” -Rode from Boston to Lexington and Concord spreading the news throughout the night!
Lexington & Concord *Dawn, April 19, 1775: 700 British troops reached Lexington and ordered militiamen to drop their weapons. -Rebels refused! -Shots were fired (to this day, no one knows who fired the first shot! Who do you think it was??? -Eight militiamen dead -Troops march to Concord, destroyed military supplies -British retreated when 4,000 militia lined the road and fired!
*Lexington & Concord: First battles of the American Revolution. *Americans now have to choose sides and back up their opinions by force of arms. Loyalists: supported the British and King Patriots: supported the rebels and wanted independence from Britain. **The conflict divided communities, families, and friends. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION HAD OFFICIALLY BEGUN.
Declaring Independence! Chapter 6, Section 4
The Continental Army is Formed: -May 10, 1775: Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. -Delegates included: John & Sam Adams, Washington, B. Franklin, Patrick Henry, and John Hancock *Agreed to form the Continental Army! -Washington chosen as commanding general
Battle at Bunker Hill -June 1775, militia seized Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill. Built fortifications. -British attacked. -Forced militia off the hill -British won the Battle of Bunker Hill -More than 1,000 British wounded or killed -400 militia casualties “The inexperienced colonial militia had held its own against the world’s most powerful army.” -British General T. Gage
Last Attempt at Peace *Most colonists still hoped for peace. -Parliament was blamed for the terrible events taking place. -July 1775, Continental Congress drafted the Olive Branch Petition: Document that asked the King to restore harmony between Britain and the colonies. -King rejected it and announced new measures to punish the colonies! What a creep!
Block American ships from leaving their ports. • Send thousands of hired German soldiers to fight. -British soldiers were professionally trained. -Colonists had little training and were poorly equipped.
Common Sense -Published in 1776, Common Sense helped convince many Americans that a complete break from Britain was necessary. -Made a strong cause for independence -Author, Thomas Paine -Ridiculed the idea that kings ruled by the will of God. -Argued that all monarchies were corrupt. -Instant success. Sold more than 100,000 copies in 3 months.
A Time of Decision *Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence. -Committee included: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. -Jefferson was chosen to compose the Declaration. -July 2, 1776: adopted a resolution authorizing each of the 13 colonies to establish its own government – considered themselves independent from this point forward!
The Declaration is Adopted -July 4, 1776: Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence – proclaimed independence and explained reasons for breaking with Britain. Declared colonies to be free and independent states! *John Hancock, President of the Congress was the first to sign. *Britain saw this as betrayal! *Americans had officially declared their independence. Now, they had to win their freedom on the battlefield.
That’s it for the causes leading up to the American Revolution!Yippee