Events Leading to American Independence

1. Events Leading to American Independence

2. Events Leading to American Independence • The French and Indian War (1754-1763) • The winning of the F&I War creates a huge debt for Great Britain; • Colonial leaders like Washington learn to lead troops and learn the “Art of War;” • Colonists no longer fear the French and thus need Britain’s protection much less; • With the French gone, Colonists begin to settle into the Ohio River Valley.

3. Events Leading to American Independence • Proclamation of 1763 • Chief Pontiac leads Indians against colonists on the frontier after the F&I War. This convinced Britain that defending the colonies will be too expensive. Britain is nearly broke. • Colonists refuse to raise an army to protect themselves against Indians • Indians want colonists out of the Ohio River Valley. This will also allow Britain to trade furs without Colonial interference. • So . . Parliament makes the Proclamation of 1763 stating that colonists must stay east of the Appalachian Mountains.

4. Events Leading to American Independence • Britain begins Taxing the Colonies & Enforcing the Navigation Acts. • Needed in order to pay for Britain’s F&I War debt; • Writs of Assistance allow the British to search Colonial ships (used during the F & I War when some Colonists were trading with the French); • 1764 - Currency Act is passed by Parliament to help British trade by getting rid of inflated colonial paper money; • 1764 - Sugar Act lowers the tax on sugar and hurts Colonial smugglers like John Hancock; • 1765 - Stamp Act - raises revenue by placing a tax on all official documents (including wills), cards, newspapers, etc. It is similar to one Parliament has passed in Great Britain. • British Army will now be needed in the Colonies to enforce the Navigation Acts and enforce new taxes.

5. Events Leading to American Independence • Protest Cry Becomes: “No Taxation without Representation!” • Colonial Protest Begin • Colonists believe this a basic right - Magna Carta No Taxation • yet minority representation in Parliament will do little; • the high debt of Britain after the F & I War as well as the end of Salutary Neglect means Britain cannot let Colonial Assemblies deprive her of needed revenue from taxes without • Stamp Act Congress Takes Action (Oct. 1765) • Stamp Act Congress meets in New York City • Petition King George III and Parliament declaring Britain has no legal right to pass an “internal tax” in the colonies.. Representation • Calls for a Colonial boycott of British trade goods • British merchants suffer - trade falls off 14% • British Merchants & Ben Franklin get Parliament to Back Down - 1766 • Parliament repeals Stamp Act - passes Declaratory Act.

6. Events Leading to American Independence • Parliament makes it clear it has the right to tax in all cases • Declaratory Act - 1766 • Townshend Acts - May, 1767 • Parliament taxes glass, paper, silk, lead, and tea imports • Tax officials once again use Writs of Assistance to search a ship’s cargo (Many expect bribes to turn their head). • Non-Importation Agreements (Boycott) • Boycott agreement are signed by Colonial Planters and Merchants; • Sons of Liberty use threats to tax collectors and merchants who fail to sign these agreements; • Daughters of Liberty pledge to not use British items; • Lanterns hung on “liberty Trees;” • British Officials hung in “effigy” (dummies of officials hung).

7. Events Leading to American Independence No Taxation Without Representation! • Colonial Leaders Emerge • Boston, Massachusetts - Sam Adams, James Otis, young John Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock. • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Ben Franklin • Williamsburg, Virginia - Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington. • These leaders and others will lead The Sons of Liberty, Committees of Correspondence and many protests. Patrick Henry in the House of Burgesses, • Many other Colonists Call for Patience

8. Events Leading to American Independence • Requires the Colonists to pay for housing British Soldiers • Quartering Act - 1766 • New York Assembly refuses to pay for this housing • Royal Officials dissolve the colonial assemblies of New York, Massachusetts and Virginia for that year • Protesting Colonists see this as a loss of Basic Rights as Englishmen • Large Force of British Soldiers Arrive in Boston -1768 • They tent in Boston Common • Gen. Gage is made Royal Governor by the King • Tensions are constant between British soldiers and colonists who are facing economic hard times now with loss of smuggling (free trade). • Many fights between colonists and soldiers.

9. Events Leading to American Independence • Late hour crowd (emptying out of bars) gathers at the Custom House (where imports are taxed) to harass British guards; • Boston Massacre - March 1768 • At first snowballs, then rocks are thrown at guards; • Reinforcements are called as crowd turns into a mob; • No command to “fire” is given but a shot rings out and many soldiers open fire; • Sam Adams & Paul Revere depict this incident as a “massacre” of peaceful citizens and use it as propaganda to gain support. • Most colonists accept Revere’s famous picture as the facts; • Young John Adams will prove the superiority of “Colonial Justice” and get soldiers innocent verdicts or light sentences.

10. Events Leading to American Independence • Revere’s famous engraving is propaganda at its finest. It’s printed throughout the colonies and all see and believe it. • Revere’s Boston Massacre - 1770 • A planned and ordered killing in broad daylight of innocent colonists is shown. It omits all facts.

11. Events Leading to American Independence • William C. Nell’s Boston Massacre - 1857 • Nearly 90 years later Willard Nell draws this version that is much like Revere’s but more realistic and immortalizes black colonist Crispus Attucks as an early revolutionary martyr.

12. Events Leading to American Independence • Alonzo Chappel’s Boston Massacre - Late 1800’s • Alonzo Chappel gives the first historically accurate depiction of the events and reminds Americans that even John Adams called the colonists “a motly rabble of jack tarrs.”

13. Events Leading to American Independence • Parliament Backs Down After Boston Massacre • Non-Importation Agreements Cripple Trade • British Merchants pressure Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts. • Tax on tea is left by Parliament as a symbol of Britain’s right to tax colonies. • Boycott ends. • Sam Adams and Joseph Warren use The Committees of Correspondence in 1772 to initiate protests throughout the colonies. Over 100 are formed. • set up to keep the Colonists informed and united • Committees of Correspondence will plan and coordinate future protests throughout the colonies.

14. Events Leading to American Independence • King George III • Believes all of his subjects must be loyal. • Deaf to Colonial Arguments of Rights and especially to “No taxation without Representation.” • British Leaders • Lord North • Prime Minister (leader of Parliament) of Britain from 1770 until the Revolution. • Shares King George III’s view about Colonies. • Both Believe Colonists can’t have more rights and lower taxes than the people in Britain.

15. Events Leading to American Independence • Brewer Sam Adams of Boston, Massachusetts • Organizes against the Stamp Act, • Creates the Son’s of Liberty, Committees of Correspondence • Organizes the Protest Against the Boston Massacre and Organizes the Boston Tea Party. • American Colonial Leaders • James Otis of Boston, Mass. • Frames the Legal Arguments for Colonial Rights • Speaks against the legality of Writs of Assistance and British Tax Laws. • “ No taxation without representation.” • Paul Revere of Boston, Mass. • Leader of the Sons of Liberty • Makes the famous picture of the Boston Massacre. • Most famous rider sent to warn Minutemen of British Advance from Boston to Lexington and Concord.

16. Events Leading to American Independence • John Adams of Boston, Massachusetts • Writes and speaks of Colonial Rights to self government. • Believes in the “Natural Rights of Man.” • Defended the British Soldiers involved in the Boston, Massacre to show that American justice was superior to Britain’s. • American Colonial Leaders • Abigail Adams of Boston, • Not important in years leading up to the Revolution but will later write about the Rights of Women in a famous letter to her husband John during the creation of the Declaration of Independence.

17. Events Leading to American Independence • John Hancock of Massachusetts • One of the richest Men in the Colonies. - He smuggles. • Defended by John Adams when his ship the Liberty is seized by the British, he manages to avoid being caught as a smuggler. • Later, first to Sign Declaration of Independence • American Colonial Leaders • Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia • Most famous man in the Colonies • Writer, Publisher, Scientist, philosopher, • Represents the colonial view to parliament.

18. Events Leading to American Independence • Patrick Henry of Virginia • Outspoken member of the House of Burgesses • Coins the phrases “Give me liberty or give me death!” and “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” • American Colonial Leaders • Thomas Jefferson of Virginia • Member of the House of Burgesses • Founder of Virginia’s Committees of Correspondence • Natural rights philosopher and writer. • Writes the Declaration of Independence • George Washingtonof Virginia • Hero of the French and Indian War • Major land and plantation owner • Unhappy about the Proclamation of 1763.

19. Events Leading to American Independence • The Gaspee Incident - 1770 • Hated British ship patrolled waters off Providence Rhode Island runs aground while chasing a smuggler. • Locals board the ship • Force crew ashore • Burn the Gaspee • Protest Ignite • British investigatehopingto punish those who took part • They will try to get other colonists to squeal. • No colonists will help the British. • Commission returns to Britain empty handed. • Committees of Correspondence become more active in the colonies.

20. Events Leading to American Independence • The Boston Tea Party - 1770 • British Parliament lowers the tax on tea to Save the British East India Company from bankruptcy • Believes the colonists will be pleased since the price of tea will be lowered. • Colonial smugglers hurt by this because it’s harder to compete. • Colonists are angry at the special favoritism given to the British East India Company • Protest Ignite • “Boston Tea Party”is organized by Sam Adams • Carried out by the Sons of Liberty dressed as Indians • aimed at the special favoritism given to the British East India Company • Thousands of dollars of tea is thrown into Boston Harbor. Committees of Correspondence organize other “Tea Parties” in other colonies.

21. Events Leading to American Independence • Britain Responds to the Boston Tea Party with the Intolerable Acts (Called the Coercive Acts in Britain) • 1. Close the Port of Boston until the colonists pay for the tea. • This depresses Boston’s Economy and punishes all for the act of some. • 2. Suspends town meetings • Loss of a basic right to assembly. • 3. Custom Officials Charged with Crimes are no longer to be tried in the Colonies. • Less possibility of stopping bribery and the loss of a right to punish wrongdoers. • 4. New Quartering Act • Citizens now force to find housing for British soldiers in their homes in Boston. • Protest Ignite

22. Events Leading to American Independence • Parliament also makes the Quebec Act • 1. Recognized the new colony of Quebec as part of Canada. • 2. Protects the Rights of French Catholics in Quebec (Formally New France) • French Catholics are favored over Protestant Englishman? • 3.Recognizes a “Non Representative Government” in Quebec • Is this what Britain intends for the English Colonies - non representativecolonial govts.? • 4. Gives Quebec Control of the Ohio River Valley • These are the people that the colonists fought to gain control of that land. Does Britain favor them over English Colonies? • Protest Ignite

23. Events Leading to American Independence • Protest Ignite • Colonists in other Colonies Unite in Support of Boston • Food and other aid is sent to Boston. • Thomas Jefferson calls for a “Day of Prayer” to be set aside for Boston • Royal Governor of Virginia then dismisses the House of Burgesses. • Other Colonies copy the idea and shops close and church bells ring in support • Colonists unite because they know that what happened in Boston can happen to them.

24. Events Leading to American Independence • Protest Ignite • First Continental Congress • Called in sympathy for Massachusetts • All Colonies except Georgia make it to the Congress which is at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. • Some call for a moderate approach and just want to patch-up with Britain • Other colonies urge for firm action against Britain • In the end, these Colonies Agree to: • Side with Massachusetts against the Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts). • Boycott all British goods and cut off exports with Britain until the acts are repealed • Each colony is urged to set up and train its own militia (citizen army) for defense. • Agree to meet again in May of 1775. War would change these plans

25. Events Leading to American Independence • Protest Ignite • The British Are Coming! • 4,000 British Troops massed in Boston. • The Massachusetts Militia, known as the Minutemen, prepare for fighting by storing arms at Concord. • British General Gage learns of this through loyalist colonists. • Gage sends 700 troops to surprise Minutemen and seize the arms by surprise and to capture Sam Adams and John Hancock. • Sons of Liberty warn riders across Boston Harbor of the British approach toward Concord. • Two lamps are hung from the Old North Church of Boston. Danger!

26. Did the British leave Boston by land or by sea? There were three riders. Who really made it to Concord?

27. Events Leading to American Independence • Protest Ignite • The British Are Coming! • Only Prescott rides all the way to Concord. • Revere and Dawes are stopped at Lexington. • But Revere is better known and the poet Longfellow gave him credit since his name rhymed.” • The Colonists and British first clash when 70 Minutemen meet them at Lexington on April 19, 1775 • 8 Colonists and 1 British soldier are killed that morning. • The British go to search Concord, but all weapons and Sam Adams and John Hancock are not to be found. • The British return to Boston. April 19, 1775

28. Events Leading to American Independence • British retreat to Boston becomes a slaughter. • Minutemen hide behind walls and trees and ambush them. • 73 British troops are killed and 200 wounded. War!