The Road to Revolution: (1770-1776)

1. The Road to Revolution: (1770-1776) By: Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY

2. Was the American Revolution Inevitable??

3. Questions to Consider 1. What factors led a people who were the freest and most prosperous in the western world to launch a revolution? 2. Where American patriots justified in asserting a “right to revolution?” 3. Could the revolution have been averted---and, if so, what difference would it have made? 4. How were the American colonists, who had a long history of quarreling among themselves, able to prevail against the world’s strongest military power?

4. 1. What factors led a people who were the freest and most prosperous in the western world to launch a revolution?

5. Mercantilism 1. Goals of Mercantilism Some political & Economic Freedom 2. British Management of Colonies up to 1783 Colonies are prosperous 3.Economic structure of colonies – North, Middle, South – in relation to mercantilism 4. Colonial political independence, benefits & burdens of mercantilism 5. British change in policy

6. “Salutary Neglect” abandoned King George III and the Whigs want to solve Britain’s financial woes War was expensive Military costs money Colonists should help pay costs  strict enforcement of Navigation Acts and new taxes Reorganization of Empire

7. Theories of Representation Real Whigs Q->What was the extent of Parliament’s authority over the colonies?? Absolute? OR Limited? Q->How could the colonies give or withhold consent for parliamentary legislation when they did not have representation in that body??

8. George Grenville's Program (1763 - 1765) 1. Sugar Act - 1764 2. Currency Act - 1764 3. Quartering Act - 1765 4. Stamp Act - 1765

9. Tax Burden in the British Empire in 1765 So why were the colonists so upset about their taxes? 12 pence (pennies) = 1 shilling

10. # 8 on Reading Quiz The American Revolution was the product of 40 years of abuses by the British authorities that many colonists regarded as a threat to their liberty and property. But people do not act simply in response to objective reality but according to the meaning they give to the events. What meaning did the colonists give to the taxes?

11. Birth of American Freedom British: History of Liberty Magna Carta, Petition of Right, Common Law, wars between liberty & tyranny, Who was considered “free” in British society? Puritans: “spiritual liberty” Enlightenment: Deism, Locke, Rouseau Colonists: -Meeting point between republican & liberal understandings of gov. & society. -Economic autonomy “Thus, if the roots of American freedom lay in the traditions of Christian liberty and of the freeborn Englishmen, its emergence as a new and distinct ideology grew out of the struggle for independence…” (Foner, 1998)

12. Questions to Consider 2. Where American patriots justified in asserting a “right to revolution?” 3. Could the revolution have been averted---and, if so, what difference would it have made?

13. Rethinking Their Empire British -->Proclamation Line of 1763 Colonials -->Paxton Boys(PA)

14. Rethinking Their Empire Br. Gvt. measures to prevent smuggling: *1761 -->writs of assistance -- James Otis’ case-- Protection of a citizen’s private property must be held in higher regard than a parliamentary statute. -- He lost --> parliamentary law and custom had equal wt.

15. George Grenville's Program (1763 - 1765) 1. Sugar Act - 1764 2. Currency Act - 1764 3. Quartering Act - 1765 4. Stamp Act - 1765

16. Revenue Stamps

17. Stamp Act Crisis Loyal Nine - 1765 Sons of Liberty – began in NYC – Samuel Adams Stamp Act Congress – 1765*Stamp Act Resolves Declaratory Act – 1766

18. Townshend Duties Crisis (1767 - 1770) 1767 -->William Pitt, P. M. & Charles Townshend, Secy. of Exchequer *Shift from paying taxes for Br. war debts & quartering of troops --> paying col. gvt. salaries. * He diverted revenue collection from internal to external trade. * Tax these imports --> paper, paint, lead, glass, tea. * Increase custom officials at American ports.

19. Tar and Feathering

20. The Boston Massacre (March 5,1770)

21. The Gaspee Incident(1772) Providence, RI coast

22. Committees of Correspondence Purpose warn neighboring colonies about incidents with Br. broaden the resistance movement.

23. Tea Act (1773) • British East India Co.: • Monopoly on Br. tea imports. • Many members of Parl. held shares. • Permitted the Co. to sell tea directly to cols. without col. middlemen (cheaper tea!) • North expected the cols. to eagerly choose the cheaper tea.

24. Boston Tea Party (1773)

25. The Coercive or IntolerableActs (1774) 1. Port Bill 2. Government Act 3. New Quartering Act Lord North 4. Administration of Justice Act

26. The Quebec Act (1774)

27. First Continental Congress (1774) 55 delegates from 12 colonies Agenda How to respond to the Coercive Acts & the Quebec Act? 1 vote per colony represented.

28. The British Are Coming . . . Paul Revere & William Dawes make their midnight ride to warn the Minutemen of approaching British soldiers.

29. The Shot Heard ’Round the World! Lexington & Concord – April 18,1775

30. Questions to Consider How were the American colonists, who had a long history of quarreling among themselves, able to prevail against the world’s strongest military power?

31. British Strengths • Population • Advantage in Monetary wealth and naval power

32. British Weaknesses • International Conflict • Internal conflict at the outset: Tories v. Whigs

33. Colonist’sStrengths • Outstanding Leadership • Self-Sustaining in terms of Agricultural goods • Rally cry of a just cause

34. Colonist’sWeaknesses • Poor Organization • Continental Congress was a debate club with no continental congress power • Jealousy between military appointments • Funding – continental money

35. Was the American Revolution Inevitable??

36. The Second Continental Congress(1775) Olive Branch Petition

37. Thomas Paine: Common Sense

38. Declaration of Independence (1776)

39. Declaration of Independence

40. Independence Hall

41. New National Symbols