Causes of the American Revolution1750-1776

Navigation Acts & Mercantilism Mercantilism- each nation’s power is measured by its

wealth- to secure wealth, a country needed to maximize its sale of goods abroad. Colonies supply the raw materials and serve as markets

for finished products

Navigation Acts Start in 1651- governed the commerce of the colonies Required the trade be carried out only in English boats Enumerated list- tobacco, rice, indigo, had to be exported

only to England Imports to the colonies had to go through England first

Salutary Neglect As long as the colonies continued to send raw materials

and buy the finished products, England would not enforce the Navigation Acts Allowed colonists to develop self government and prosper

economically Causes tension when the British start enforcing the Acts after

the French and Indian war in order to make money Americans begin smuggling in products to avoid the taxes

imposed by the Navigation Acts

Writs of Assistance- passed in order to get the colonists to stop smuggling- they were a search warrant that allowed British officers to seize illegally imported goods. Allowed them to enter any ship or building where smuggled goods might be hidden.

Sugar Act-1764 Meant to help offset England’s military expenses

Changed the Molasses Act of 1733

Taxed foreign molasses and rum

Said that anyone smuggling rum/molasses would not be tried by a colonial court, but by a British judge

American continued smuggling, England lowered the tax to a penny

Angered merchants in MA, NY, & PA

Stamp Act Crisis 1765-1766 England’s national debt continued to rise- Englishmen

had the second-highest tax rates in Europe By 1765 English tax rates were 26 shillings per person, but

about 0.5 -1.5 shillings per colonist

Parliament passed the Stamp Act in March 1765- which forced colonists to buy stamps for newspapers, customs documents, licenses, college diplomas, playing cards, legal forms for property/wills

Was an internal tax, not external, which meant it was levied directly on property within the colonies so it affected all colonists, not just merchants/ship captains Designed to raise revenue for the King

Stamp Act Crisis 1765-1766 May 1765- Patrick Henry urged the VA House of

Burgesses to adopt 7 strongly worded resolutions denying Parliament’s power to tax the colonies VA Resolutions Only 4 are passed

Protests erupt throughout the colonies

Colonists pressured/threatened British tax collectors- forcing many to resign

Stamp Act Congress- October 1765 Nine colonies met in New York City Decided that Parliament did not have the authority to tax

the colonies and made an agreement to boycott all British goods

Stamp Act Crisis 1765-1766 Since the colonists purchased about 40% of England’s

manufactured products, this scared English businessmen, who convinced Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act

Parliament revokes the Stamp Act in March 1766, but passes the Declaratory Act, which declared the Parliament did have the right to tax the colonists

First time that many colonists began to question their relationship with England

Sons of Liberty form in the colonies

Quartering Act 1765 Ordered colonial legislatures to pay for certain goods

needed by soldiers stationed in their borders

Angered colonists because it obligated colonial assemblies to raise money- colonial assemblies thought they were the only ones who could raise money

Townshend Duties 1767-1770 Taxed glass, paint, lead, paper and tea

Colonists responded with a nonimportation agreement Limited British imports and mobilized colonists

Parliament agreed in April 1770 to repeal most of the duties Repealed all of the taxes, except the tax on tea Colonists were unsure of whether or not to see this as a

victory- continued to voluntarily stop drinking British tea Limited revenue of tea to about 1/6th of what was expected

Townshend Duties 1767-1770 Taxed glass, paint, lead, paper and tea

Colonists responded with a nonimportation agreement Limited British imports and mobilized colonists

Parliament agreed in April 1770 to repeal most of the duties Repealed all of the taxes, except the tax on tea Colonists were unsure of whether or not to see this as a

victory- continued to voluntarily stop drinking British tea Limited revenue of tea to about 1/6th of what was expected

Led to more smuggling in the colonies and British tried to enforce laws John Hancock

“Wilkes and Liberty”- 1768-1770

John Wilkes- member of Parliament who denounced George III’s policies Arrested for libel House of Commons denied Wilkes his seat Wilkes fled to Paris

When Wilkes returned in 1768 and ran for Parliament, and was elected He was arrested by the British government 20,000-40.000 “Wilkesites” gathered outside his prison to

protest Colonists send him tobacco and money to support him

Embolden people to speak out against the government and provided the colonists support for challenging the Parliament and British government

Boston Massacre 1770

British sent 4,000 troops to Boston in 1768 Bostonians saw this as a standing army that threatened their

liberty and was a financial burden

Boston took on the atmosphere of an occupied city Lots of tension

Soldiers and colonists traded insults

Many soldiers were Irish Catholic- colonists were protestant

Soldiers could get jobs while off duty- were willing to work for less money than colonists

Tensions flared and ignited on the night of March 5th

Boston Massacre 1770

What actually happened?

Read the primary source accounts and decide which view you agree with and why. Summarize what each side says happened.

Story Of Us

20:00

Committees of Correspondence 1772-1773

Started in Massachusetts by Sam Adams

First attempt to maintain close and continuing political cooperation

Allowed colonists to consider evidence that their rights were in danger

Linked colonial leaders across the colonies by 1773 First time since stamp act congress

Conflicts in the Backcountry Paxton Boys in PA- occurred because Indians were attacking

in the Backcountry of PA and these residents weren’t receiving equal representation- Franklin reaches a compromise with them

Green Mountain Boys- established Vermont after four years of guerrilla warfare with settlers/government from NY

Regulator Movement in NC- westerners were trying to get representation in their colonial assembly; they are defeated, but the uprising weakened the state, making it harder for them to resist the British authority

Regulator Movement in SC- Vigilantes provided justice in the backcountry because they were not getting help from the colony’s militia- led to judicial circuits in the backcountry

Important because it showed the colonists’ willingness to resort to violence & desire for land

Tea Act 1773 Smuggling and nonconsumption hurt the British East

India Company’s profits- the company was close to bankruptcy

May 1773- Parliament passed the Tea Act Actually lowered the price of the tea below the price of all

competition

Angered many Americans because it would raise revenue, which would go towards royal governors and colonists were angry it put a monopoly on the British tea

Colonists decided not to allow any boats carrying tea into their harbors Boat arrived in Boston December 16- 5,000 Bostonians gathered, with 50 dressed

as Indians (showed American identity)- dumped the tea into the harbor and did not damage anything else

John Adams

44:57- Mercantilism & Tea Act

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-d6eNRownI

Intolerable Acts/Coercive Acts- 1774-1765 Boston Port Bill- Boston Harbor was closed unless the

town paid for the ruined tea within 2 months (April-June) Impossible deadline- led to economic trouble

Massachusetts Government Act- revoked the charter and took over the government= no longer elected by the colonists, but the governor and representatives would be appointed by the crown

Administration of Justice Act (Murder Act)- any person charged with murder while enforcing royal authority in MA would be tried in England or another colony (ex. Boston Massacre)

Quartering Act- governor could take over empty private buildings for housing troops

Pushed colonists to rebellion- were concerned their liberties would all be taken away

John Adams

54:00- Intolerable Acts

http://www.history.com/topics/stamp-act/videos#colonists-protest-british-policies

First Continental Congress Every colony except Georgia sent delegates to

Philadelphia

Trying to find a way to defend the colonists’ rights

Supported the Suffolk Resolves- declared that the colonies didn’t have to listen to the Coercive Acts, colonial government should collect taxes, and defensive measures should be taken if royal troops attack

Agreed to boycott all British imports and halt almost all exports to England until they reached an agreement

Sent a petition to the King- wanted the king to dismiss those responsible for the Coercive Acts and recognize that Parliament could not tax the colonies

Lexington & Concord April 19, 1775 MA Governor sent 700 British soldiers to

take the military supplies the colonists had stored in Concord

Paul Revere and William Dawes warned the colonists

At Lexington about 70 minutemen confronted the soldiers Someone fired- but who was it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ikO6LMxF4

Lexington & Concord 8 minutemen died

British went on to Concord, but the minutemen were waiting to ambush them Americans attacked the British all 16 miles back to Boston British suffered 273 casualties while the colonists had 92

John Adams

First continental Congress- explains what the Congress decided Nonimportation agreements

6:50 Lexington and Concord

Second Continental Congress Most still opposed independence

John Dickinson of PA wrote the Olive Branch Petition with 3 demands Cease-fire at Boston Repeal the Coercive Acts Negotiations to establish American rights

May 1775 voted to create an American continental army with George Washington as the commander

George III received the petition, news of the continental army, and Bunker Hill (where 1,154 British died) George III rejected the petition and in October 1775

declared that all colonies were in rebellion

3 Groups

Moderates

Conservatives

Radicals

John Adams

13:00 Second Continental Congress

Declaration of Independence Written during the 2nd Continental Congress after

Lexington & Concord

Thomas Jefferson was chosen as the author

Declared America independent from England

Representatives from each colony were in Philadelphia

Everyone in attendance and everyone who signed the declaration were considered traitors who committed treason. They could have been killed if America had lost.

Declaration of Independence Influenced by: The ideas of John Locke

“Enlightenment” thinker- development of new ideas about the rights of people and their relationship to their rulers.

John Locke’s ideas, more than any other’s, influenced the American belief in self-government. Locke wrote the following: All people are free, equal, and have “natural rights” of life,

liberty, and property All power resides in the people, and they consent to a “social

contract” to form a government to protect their rights. In return, the people promise to obey the laws established by the government,

Government’s powers are limited to those the people have consented to give to it. Whenever government becomes a threat to the people’s natural rights, it breaks the contract, and the people have the right to alter or overthrow it.

Declaration of Independence Influenced by: Thomas Paine

an English immigrant to America Wrote Common Sense, which challenged the rule of the

American colonies by the King of England. Common Sense was read by many American colonists

during the mid-1700s and led to more people wanting independence from Great Britain.

Declaration of Independence Draft of the Declaration by Thomas Jefferson, reflected

the ideas of Locke and Paine. Jefferson wrote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government….”

Jefferson then went on to detail many of the grievances against the King of England that Paine had earlier described in Common Sense.

Declaration of Independence Key principles of the Declaration of Independence increased

political, social, and economic participation in the American experience over a period of time.

Political participation (equality) Extending the franchise Upholding due process of law Providing free public education

Social participation (liberty) Abolishing slavery Extending civil rights to women and other groups

Economic participation (pursuit of happiness) Regulating the free enterprise system Promoting economic opportunity Protecting property rights