Causes of the American Revolution

Causes of the American Revolution Coach Moore This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Proclamation Line of 1763 • Late 1763, King George 111 used the Proclamation of 1763 announcing…… • Colonists were prohibited from moving west of the Appalachians Mountains and any settler that had already moved west was supposed to move back. • Colonists were MAD!!! This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Why issue the Proclamation • The British hoped to make peace with the American Indians because they were in debt from the French and Indian War and could not afford another War • King George 111 hoped peace between the British and American Indians would allow the two groups to start a trade relationship (Fur trade business) • Britain wanted to better defend and maintain its colonies by building forts along the proclamation line to better monitor and enforce trade in the colonies. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Why were the colonists so MAD? • Colonists wanted to settle the frontier west of the Appalachians • They believed after helping Britain defeat France they earned the right to settle there. • Colonists continued to push west of the Appalachians anyway making it very difficult for Britain to enforce the Proclamation.

Debt and Taxes • Britain had let the colonies manage their own affairs for many years but began to assert more control in the 1760’s and 1770’s. • Britain also needed more money to pay its LARGE debts from the French and Indian War and to cover costs of its army protecting the colonies. • The answer to the problem? Imposed MANY taxes. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

British Laws Imposed on the Colonies • Writs of Assistance • Stamp Act • Quartering Act • Declaratory Act • Townshend Acts This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

British Laws Imposed • Writs of Assistance • Imposed in 1761 • Authorized general searches of homes for smuggled goods • Stamp Act • Imposed 1765 • Colonist had to buy a government stamp for every paper document such as newspapers and legal documents • Intention: To pay for troops defending the frontier • Colonists did not like it because they saw it as a way for Britain to make money without colonial approval. • Great Britain repealed the Stamp Act a year later due to resistance from colonists and British merchants

British Laws Imposed • Quartering Act • Imposed in 1765 • Colonists had to give room and board to British soldiers stationed in the colonies. • Colonists saw this as another tax because they had to spend money to take care of British troops. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

British Laws Imposed on the Colonies • Declaratory Act • Imposed in 1766 • On the same day Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, they passed the Declaratory Act. • Declared that the colonists were part of the British empire and while not physically represented in Parliament, they had “Virtual representation” in Parliament because members of Parliament considered the interests of all subjects when passing laws. • This gave Britain complete authority to pass any law they saw fir for the colonies. • Townshend Acts • Imposed in 1767 • Colonists had to pay taxes on tea, glass, paper, lead, and paint, all of which they had to buy from Britain. • Colonists cried out over taxation without representation. • Passive and hostile resistance to these acts continued.

Protests • Colonists protested these new laws • They viewed these laws and taxes as angers to their liberty. • They viewed it as a system that supported corrupt British officials • Sons of Liberty • A secret patriotic society that organized protests and boycotts • Played a key role in ending the Stamp Act • The group rose again after the Townshend Acts by organizing a boycott of British items. • British trade suffered and Britain was forced to repeal the Townshend Acts of 1770.

Boston Massacre • Growing protests in the colonies caused Britain to send more soldiers to Boston in the late 1760’s. • In March of 1770, growing tensions and conflicts between British troops and colonists over the enforcement of taxes led to the event known as the Boston Massacre This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Boston Massacre • March 5, 1770 • Group of colonists gathered to protests the taxes • The colonists began arguing and insulting with British soldier. • More soldiers arrived and the colonists pelted them with stones, ice, and snowballs. • It is believed that something struck one of the British soldiers, causing him to fire into the crowd in fear. • Other soldiers began to fire. • Three colonists died on the scene and 2 died later. • It was this event that stoked the colonists anger and united them even more against the British This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Tea Act • The British government repealed the Townshend Act in April of 1770, however, the tax on tea remained. • The problem was the colonists did not buy the English tea because of a boycott and instead smuggled tea in from the Dutch companies. • In 1773 Britain passed the Tea Act • The British East India Company could sell tea directly to the colonies without going through colonial merchants. • The company paid no taxes • Colonial merchants and other traders could no longer compete with the East India Company. • Their tea now was the cheapest on the market and held a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies

Boston Tea Party • Many colonists did not like the Tea Act • Colonists were still angry that Britain taxed them yet allowed them no representation in government. • Protests swiftly followed • December 16, 1773, colonists dressed as American Indians dumped hundreds of chests of British Tea from three ships into the Boston Harbor. • Caused a chain reaction around the colonies.

British response to the Boston Tea Party • Parliament passed the Coercive Acts • Closed the port of Boston until the colonists paid for the dumped tea • Banned town meetings and placed a military governor in control of Massachusetts • Created a new Quartering Act, forcing colonists to house British troops in empty buildings • Colonists views and response of these new laws • Unreasonable • Attack on their rights • Created the First Continental Congress • This meeting of colonial leaders would determine the message they would send to Great Britain

Uniting for cause • Uniting against the British was not the first time the colonists had come together nor the Sons of Liberty. • Benjamin Franklin • Before the French and Indian War her tried to convince members of the congress to unite against France and defend the colonies • Proposed the Albany Plan to unite the colonies. It was adopted by Congress, the colonial assemblies did not. • It did become a inspiration for future leaders who wanted colonies united as a whole

Uniting for Cause • Ben Franklin designed this to unite the colonies for “management of Indian relations” and defense against France prior to the French and Indian war, but in 1765 American colonists used it again to urge colonial unity against the British. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

First Battles for Independence • King George 111 made it very clear that the colonies would NOT become independent without a fight • In 1772, the colonists gave the British just that

Lexington and Concord • Colonial militias were preparing for a fight against British troops by storing ammunition in Concord Massachusetts. • The British troops learned of this secret and headed to seize the supplies and arrest Colonial leaders. • The colonial leaders learned that the British wee headed to Concord and went out to face them This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Lexington and Concord • Night of April 15th, 1775 • Paul Revere and William Dawes rode on horseback all night to let the minutemen know that the British troops (Redcoats) were coming • Minutemen –Colonial militia who would be ready to fight at a minutes notice. • Revere arrived first in Lexington, followed by Dawes, and a third rider by the name of Samuel Prescott • Together they left Lexington for Concord warning others that the British were “coming”. • The British troops arrived in the town square of Concord early morning where they faced the colonists. • Someone fired a shot – no one knows who fired the first shot • Shooting began and with the Redcoats outnumbering the minutemen, chased them back • The British moved onto Concord • However, the Colonial militia at Concord were more successful, defeating the British troops and forced them to retreat back to Boston

Battle of Bunker Hill • The colonial militia wanted to prevent another Lexington and Concord style Battle…. So they surrounded most of Boston to keep British troops from raiding the countryside • The British decided to take some high ground overlooking the harbor. • In response…. The colonial militia built a defense on nearby Breed’s Hill. This surprised the British who then set out to take the hill. • The colonists resisted well at first but eventually the British troops made it to the top of the hill and sent the colonial militia fleeing even though the British suffered heavy losses with the colonists still having them cornered in Boston. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Results of the Battle of Bunker Hill • Boosted morale and confidence for the colonists • It demonstrated they were ready to challenge the British Troops • Showed Great Britain the colonists were in open rebellion and to start preparing for war This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Causes of the American Revolution