Causes of the American Revolution & Self Government in the Colonies

1. Causes of the American Revolution & Self Government in the Colonies

2. 1660 Navigation Acts • Colonial Response: • They ignored them (It was profitable to trade with other countries) • Salutary (healthy) Neglect (The British did not insist on the strict enforcement of laws, and relaxed enforcement came with continued loyalty) British Action: • They were designed to keep trade in England and support mercantilism. • Colonists could only trade goods with England. • All colonial ships must stop in a British harbor before going to another country.

3. Taxation without Representation • A slogan that originated during the 1750-1760s that expressed a primary grievance of the American colonists. • Colonists believed that because they were not directly represented within the British Parliament, any law that affected them were illegal under the Bill of Rights of 1689. • This denied their rights as Englishmen. • This was a major cause of the American Revolution.

5. French & Indian War (Seven Year’s War) • 1754-1763 • England, with the help of the colonists and Iroquois Indians, defeated France and took control of French territories (Canada and east of the Mississippi River) • The war cost England A LOT OF MONEY!!! • They had to buy weapons, ammunition, and supplies. • At the end of the war, England was in A LOT OF DEBT!!! • Citizens then suffered heavy taxes.

6. Treaty Paris: Proclamation Line of 1763 • Britain claimed land east of the Mississippi River • Proclamation Line: • Banned all settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains (This was to ease tensions with the Native Americans) • This increased the Independent Spirit.

7. Britain’s New Policy for Colonial America • This New Policy had three basic objectives: • It placed the colonies under strict British political and economic control. • It made the colonies respect and obey British laws. • It made the colonies pay their part in maintaining the British Empire.

8. Molasses Act of 1733 • This was an act from Parliament that imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on molasses when it came from places other than those colonized by the British. • The purpose was to protect the sugar plantations the British had in the West Indies. • This act prevented colonists from trading with the French and the Dutch. It required that they get sugar, molasses, and rum ONLY from the British. • This was repealed by the Sugar Act of 1764.

9. Sugar Act of 1764 • AKA The American Revenue Act of 1764 • Why? The Molasses Act didn’t really stop anything –SHOCKER • British Action • It was designed to curb the smuggling of sugar and molasses from places not colonized by the British. • It cut the tax on molasses but raised it on other goods such as textiles, wine, coffee, indigo, and sugar. • Colonial Response • This was the first time a tax had been passed to raise revenue rather than to regulate trade. • Colonial merchants protested the increased duties.

10. Quartering Act of 1765 • British Action: • The purpose was to keep troops in the colonies and to reduce the cost. • Colonists had to keep troops in their homes. • Colonial Response: • Colonists did not get along with the army and did not want them there permanently.

11. Stamp Act of 1765 • British Action: • Required colonists to pay a tax on every piece of paper they used. This included documents, newspapers, and even playing cards by forcing colonists to place a special stamp on the items. • The money collected was used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains. • Colonial Response: • Created the Sons of Liberty • They harassed the stamp distributors. • They boycotted (a collective refusal to use, buy, or deal with) English goods.

12. Stamp Act: The British Respond • Parliament repealed the Stamp Act • Declaratory Act: Asserted Parliament’s right to make laws that “bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever”.

13. Townshend Acts of 1767 • Colonial Response: • They organized a new boycott on goods. • They protested with “No Taxation Without Representation” • There were clashes between colonists and soldiers. • Women got involved in the protests. • British Action: • They put a tax on goods such as paper, glass, paint, and tea. • The revenue raised would be to pay the salaries of British officials in the colonies.

14. Writs of Assistance • Colonial Response: • Boston merchants were outraged. • (Massachusetts governor authorized this) • British Action: • Designed to crack down on colonial smuggling. • Writs of Assistance were documents that served as search warrants, allowing British officials to search any ship or building that they suspected could contain smuggled goods.

15. March 5, 1770: The Boston Massacre • 5 civilians died as a result; 3 died on the scene and 2 died later: Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Samuel Maverick, and Patrick Carr. • All victims of the Massacre were buried at Granary Burying Ground in Boston. • Captain Thomas Preston and eight of his men were arrested for manslaughter – all were later acquitted. • This is considered to be the “Spark” of the American Revolution.

16. The Committees of Correspondence, 1772 • Started by Samuel Adams. • They were provisional Patriot emergency governments throughout the 13 colonies. • They were secret organizations used to pass information between the colonies. • The most influential of the committees were located in the colonies of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.

17. Tea Act of 1773 • The British Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts except for the tax on tea. • This allowed the British East India Tea Company to become a monopoly on tea sales within the American colonies. • The catalyst to the Boston Tea Party.

18. Boston Tea Party: Dec. 16, 1773 • Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded 3 ships in the Boston Harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard.

19. Intolerable/Coercive Acts of 1774 • They were designed to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. • The British closed the port at Boston. • Town meetings were banned in Massachusetts, and Boston was under military rule. • Their attempt to isolate Massachusetts only strengthened the unity between the colonies.

20. First Continental Congress • September 05, 1774 • It was made up of delegates from the colonies, and all were represented except for Georgia. • They met in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia, which was also the seat of the Pennsylvania Congress. • They were divided on the issue of declaring independence. • They sent the Declaration of Rights and Grievances to King George III. • This defended the colonies’ right to run their own affairs. • It also supported the protests in Massachusetts.

21. April 19, 1775 • The “Shot Heard Round the World” was fired at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. • This was the start of the Revolutionary War.