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The American Experiment. Goals: Understand why Americans desired freedom from England Understand the main arguments of the Declaration of Independence. How did Britain’s policies toward the colonies change? Why did the colonists resist British control?
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The American Experiment Goals: Understand why Americans desired freedom from England Understand the main arguments of the Declaration of Independence
How did Britain’s policies toward the colonies change? • Why did the colonists resist British control? • How did the colonists organize to resist British control? • What was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence? • What were the Declaration of Independence’s main arguments? Today’s Main Questions
Britain incurred large debts in the French-Indian War (1756-1763) • British felt that American colonists should pay their fair share for British protection • Proclamation Act (1763) forbade colonists from settling in Indian territory • The Stamp Act (1765) introduced a tax on official documents • The Quartering Act (1765) required colonists to house British troops The Relationship Changes
New regulations challenged the colonists’ understanding of representative gov. • Felt that new taxes should only be passed in legislatures where they have representation • Sons of Liberty engaged in political agitation that triggered mob action • Many resisted by refusing to buy British goods • British Writs of Assistance gave royal officials broad authority over searches and seizures • Boston Massacre made colonists feel the British would use force if necessary • Britain and the colonies went back and forth with retaliation The Colonists Resist
Each of the following accounts is based on the experiences of colonists in America • Each has at least one British violation of a right that Americans thought they should have • If you had been an American colonist at the time, what rights would you claim on the basis of such experiences? Thinking Caps on!
Your name is Mary Strong • You’ve lived in Charlestown most of your life and have definite feelings about how Massachusetts is being governed • When you speak your mind freely, you find yourself arrested and put in an iron device that fits over your head like a mask to prevent you from talking What right is being violated?
Your name is Elsbeth Merrill • While you were baking bread, an agent of the king arrived to inform you that you must shelter four British soldiers in your home What right is being violated?
Your name is Lemuel Adams • You have a warehouse full of goods near Boston Harbor • The king’s magistrate gives British officials a writ of assistance that permits them to search homes, stores, and warehouses near the harbor to look for evidence of smuggling What right is being violated?
Your name is James Otis • You represent colonists who’ve been imprisoned and are being denied their right to a trial by a jury from their own communities • You argue that denying them their traditional rights as Englishmen is illegal • The royal magistrate denies your request and sends the prisoners to England for trial What right is being violated?
Your name is William Bradford • You’ve been arrested and your printing press in Philadelphia has been destroyed because you printed an article criticizing the deputy governor • In the article you said the governor was like “a large cocker spaniel about five foot high” What right is being violated?
Each colony (except Georgia) sent delegates to the First Continental Congress • They voted to ban colonial trade with England • Great Britain saw this as defiance against the crown • Some colonists began forming a colonial militia • April 19, 1775, 700 British troops tried to march to Concord, MA to seize an armory • This instigated the first battle of the War for American Independence Organizing Against the British
Britain had declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion • It appeared that independence was the only solution • The colonial congress appointed men to draft a declaration of their intentions to become independent • The document was drafted to justify their actions to other nations and to identify the basic principles of legitimate government The Declaration is Drafted
Natural Rights – The rights of people are based on a higher law than the laws made by humans • Human Equality – Humans are politically equal • Government by Consent – The governed give consent to a government as long as it protects rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” Main Ideas of the Declaration
Destroying the authority of colonial legislatures • Obstructing the administration of justice • Keeping standing armies in a time of peace without approval of colonial legislatures • Quartering soldiers amongst civilians • Imposing taxes without consent of those taxed • Depriving the right of a trial by a jury of their peers • Altering charters, laws, and colonial constitutions “A long train of abuses…”
Due Friday, August 26th • Despite the fact that Jefferson owned slaves, he denounced slavery and the slave trade in his draft of the Declaration • After Southerners objected, Congress deleted the passage • Search for a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence online • What do you think are the most significant differences between the rough draft and the final Declaration? • Why do you think the changes were made? Your assignment
