The Colonies and Britain Grow Apart
James Otis – My dear sister, I hope, when
God Almighty in his righteous providence shall take me out of time into eternity, that it
will be by a flash of lightning.• colonial leader who gave the first public speech demanding English liberties for the colonists
The Colonies and Britain Grow Apart
Proclamation of 1763 –
• law forbidding settlement west of the Appalachians
The Colonies and Britain Grow Apart
• The after effects of the French and Indian War led to difficulties in the colonies:– Britain had a huge new territory to
govern and sought ways to do so uniformly
– Britain had a huge debt to repay and sought help from the colonists
Summary –
British Troops and Taxes
Quartering Act –
• required colonies to provide housing and supplies for British troops stationed in America
revenue –• income
British Troops and Taxes
Sugar Act – • tax (collected in England) on colonial
exports like sugar, molasses, wine and whale fins...also provided harsh punishments for smugglers
(slogan) –
• “No Taxation Without Representation”
British Troops and Taxes
tyranny –
• absolute power in the hands of a single ruler
George III – • British king (tyrant?) who
stationed 10,000 soldiers in the colonies to enforce the Proclamation of 1763
British Troops and Taxes
James Otis – • colonial leader in the fight
against the Proclamation and the new taxes (it’s his slogan!)
Summary –• Because the debt had been incurred
protecting the colonies, Britain expected the colonists to help pay it.
British Troops and Taxes
Summary (continued) –
• To keep the debt from growing, colonists were forbidden to settle in the West, and troops were stationed in the colonies to enforce the law
• Colonists began to feel oppressed by the new taxes and the presence of troops
Britain Passes the Stamp Act
Stamp Act –
• tax (collected in America) on legal & commercial documents
Britain Passes the Stamp Act
Patrick Henry –
• member of Virginia’s House of Burgesses who called for resistance to British taxation
Britain Passes the Stamp Act
Summary –
• Colonists especially hated this new tax because it was collected in America but was not approved by Americans. They felt they were being taxed without their consent.
• first meeting of the colonies to consider acting together to protest policies of the British government
boycott – • a refusal to buy goods
The Colonists Protest the Stamp Act
Stamp Act Congress –
The Colonists Protest the Stamp Act
Sons of Liberty –
• secret society that often used violence to enforce boycotts
The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man or Tarring & Feathering — Philip Dawe(?)
The Colonists Protest the Stamp Act
Declaratory Act – • passed when Parliament repealed the
Stamp Act ..... said Parliament had supreme authority to rule the colonies
William Pitt – • popular leader in Parliament who agreed
with the Americans about taxation and warned against further angering the colonists
The Colonists Protest the Stamp Act
Summary –
• Colonists began to organize to oppose the Stamp Act.
• Colonial efforts were so successful that Britain’s economy was hurt.
• Parliament was forced to repeal the Stamp Act – but they continued to assert their right to govern the colonists.