Road to Independence I. Resistance to British Taxes II. Growing Tensions III. A Declaration of Independence

1. Road to IndependenceI. Resistance to British TaxesII. Growing TensionsIII. A Declaration of Independence Chapter 7

2. AIM: Why did the British government pass laws to tax the colonies after the French and Indian war • DO NOW: William Pitt, a prime minister of England during 1750s and 1760s, summarized the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies… “This is the mother country, and they are the children; they must obey, and we prescribe (order).” no need to copy the quote just answer the question in your class note books • How would you feel if after you grow up and are living independently, your parent still orders you around? (3 mins)

3. Objectives • Why Great Britain passed laws to tax the colonies and how the colonists responded! • Describe events that increased the tensions between the colonies and Great Britain • Explain how the colonists united and decided to break with Great Britain

4. Vocabulary • Frontier – the region just beyond a settled area • Proclamation – an official announcement • Revenue – money received by a government from taxes and other sources • Boycott- a protest in which people refuse to buy certain goods • Repeal – to take back or cancel

5. Cause and Effect The British Parliament wants to raise money Great Britain passes__________ Colonists ______

6. British Economic Policies • The British feel that the colonists are in some sense responsible for the French and Indian War in North America. • They seek to place the war debt onto the colonists because they are British subjects. • The colonists are used to self-governing themselves and electing their own representative governments due to salutary neglect from the British Parliament.

7. Proclamation of 1763 and Quartering Act • The drew an imaginary line down the center of the Appalachian mountains. Colonists were not supposed to cross over to the west of that line. • QUARTERING ACT - Britain decided to station troops in American colonies to make sure colonists followed the Proclamation Act. • Providing food and shelter was expensive, so Britain demanded that colonists supplied quarters and food(colonial assemblies had to buy food) to British soldiers. This was enforced by passing the Quartering Act.

8. British Economic Policies • Britain’s treasury was hurting due to years of war with France and Spain in North America. • The British attempt to reduce their war debt by passing the cost onto the colonists through a series of taxes. • Colonial resistance will vary from mob violence to tactfully designed propaganda to boycott.

9. Sugar Act or Molasses Act • 1764 Act that put a three-cent tax on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine. It banned importation of rum and French wines. These taxes affected only a certain part of the population, but the affected merchants were very vocal. Besides, the taxes were enacted (or raised) without the consent of the colonists. This was one of the first instances in which colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed.

10. Stamp Act Sugar tax did not help pay off all the taxes. Sugar tax affected mainly New England merchants who imported sugar. • Stamp Act placed a tax on all printed items. Newspapers and many other items, including pamphlets and legal documents had to have a stamp showing that tax had been paid. If you were a colonist at that time, how would you react? What actions would you take? Give reasons for your actions?

11. What happened at the Stamp Act Congress, Oct. 1765? • Stamp Act Congress made up of colonial representatives (nine colonies) . They protest the new taxes imposed on the colonies, ask Britain to repeal the Stamp Act and win in 1765. • “No Taxation without Representation”, belief that colonists should vote on their own taxes.

12. Sons of Liberty, 1765 – would meet under Liberty Tree to protest Stamp Act • Formed in Boston as a response to the Stamp Act. Supported by Samuel Adams • The Sons of Liberty use intimidation in the form of tarring and feathering tax collectors. (The aim was to inflict enough pain and humiliation on a person to make him either conform his behavior to the mob's demands or be driven from town) • Andrew Oliver, a tax collector’s home is torn apart • Women formed “Daughters of Liberty” to protest the “Stamp Act.”

13. Forms of Protest • Writing criticisms in the newspapers • Holding public demonstrations • Threatening British officials • Passing out handbills • Boycotting Which method was the most effective and why? • Ït is desired that Sons and Daughters of Liberty would not buy any one thing of (William Jackson) the importer, for in so doing they bring disgrace upon themselves, and their posterity (future relatives), for ever and ever, Amen.” • According to this handbill message why should people not buy goods from the British?

15. Activity • Write and design a handbill that addresses the Stamp Act or other issues that the colonists felt strongly about. • HOMEWORK Use the vocabulary words in a sentence.

16. Vocabulary • Resolution – a formal statement of opinion • Massacre – the brutal killing of a large number of people • Petition – a formal written request • Minutemen – a member of the colonial militia • Patriot – a person who supported independence from Great Britain • Traitor – a person who acts against his or her own country • Declaration – a formal statement

17. More Taxes on Colonists • Laws and Taxes of Townshend Acts • Glass, paint, tea, paper and lead were taxed • Created Board of Customs Commissioners to enforce trade laws and collect taxes • Set up new courts – where British judges, not colonial juries decided fate of colonists accused of breaking trade laws. • Many forms of protest – “Letters if a Pennsylvania Farmer” – essays that convinced many colonists to resist taxes. • Large demonstrations held by Sons of Liberty leaders – Samuel Adams, James Otis • Virginia – colonial legistlature right to tax its citizens; British Government ordered assembly to be dissolved

18. “One of the soldiers having received a severe blow with a stick, stepped a little on one side and instantly fired [his gun]…On this general attack was made on the men…Instantly three or four of the soldiers fired, one after another, and directly after three more in the same confusion and hurry. The mob then ran away, except unhappy men who instantly expired [died.]” • According to this account what caused the soldiers to fire into the crowd? • A protestor had hit one of the soldiers with a stick. (Passage is a report – eyewitness account from British soldier…He said he did not order the firing, soldiers – say they heard “Fire” Incident lasted on 20 mins

19. The Boston Massacre, Dec. 1770 • Colonists are upset that British troops are in Boston and that they are competing for jobs with them. • Crispus Attucks an African American sailor is the first to die in the Revolution • The colonist will look to this incident as another example of King George’s tyranny in the colonies

21. The real story behind the drawing • The British soldiers are shown standing in a straight line shooting their rifles in a regular volley, actually both groups are cussing at one another. • The event occurred around nine o'clock on a cold winter night. • Notice too the absence of snow and ice on the street, Crispus Attucks, a black man is lying on the ground closest to the British soldiers but is shown to be white. • The print of the Boston Massacre was released three times by separate men. Paul Revere was one of those men. All the men benefited financially from the drawing.

22. Committees of Correspondence, 1772 • Groups appointed in the 13 colonies to provide leadership and to show that the colonies, they were experiencing the same thing under the British • Samuel Adams organized the first in 1772

23. Samuel Adams • Harvard educated politician from Massachusetts • Shrewd and politically savvy starts committees of correspondence, Sons of Liberty • Involved in Boston Tea Party

24. Boston Tea Party, 1774 • After Boston Massacre, most Townshend Acts repealed. But tea tax remained. Act made it cheaper to buy tea from British East India Company then the colonists. • Sons of Liberty members quietly and orderly December 13, dump 342 tea crates into Boston Harbor • It is to protest the Tea Act, a British general will be sent to govern Massachusetts • Question – Was the destruction caused by the Boston Tea Party justified or did the Sons of Liberty go to far ? Give reasons/facts to support your opinion.

25. Intolerable Acts • They closed the port of Boston to trade until the colonists paid for the destroyed tea. This law hurt Boston's economy. • They forbade town meetings in Massachusetts without approval. • They established a new Quartering Act after the original one had expired in 1770. • They let British officials, who were accused of crimes, located in Massachusetts to be tried in other colonies or in Britain. • Quebec Act sealed western land north of Ohio river from further settlements

27. Common Sense, 1776 • Author of Common Sense, his writing style is crude, simple and direct to the point • He argues that King George is a tyrant, that England is to far away to rule the colonies and it is time for the colonies to start off on their own

28. Declaration of Independence,1776 • Formal declaration of independence from England • It explains the reasons for the Revolution, lists the injustices made by King George III, and explains a the basic ideas of American government

29. Declaration of Independence,1776