IS IT EVER JUSTIFIABLE TO

OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT?

THE CHAOTIC 60s• 1763: end of salutory

(beneficial) neglect – No more “virtual self-

government”– No more evasion of

mercantilist policies– Enforcement of

Navigation Acts (no use of foreign shipping colonial goods)

…and the colonists continue to be displeased with the

British…

How the colonists responded to the Stamp

Act in 1765…

Victory! …or not…

The Boston Tea Party

• Tea Act (1773)

• Boston Tea Party (1773)

British Response to the Boston Tea Party

• Coercive & Port Acts (a.k.a. Intolerable Acts) (1774): British closed Boston Harbor until colonists paid for destroyed tea, permitted British officials accused of crimes in MA to stand trial in Britain, and drastically curtailed self-govt. in MA.

• New Quartering Act • (1774)

Colonial Response to What is Happening

• 1774: 1st Continental Congress• King George declares colonies to be

in a “state of rebellion”• 1775: 2nd Continental Congress

extends Olive Branch Petition• King George rejects OBP; declares

colonies in rebellion

The Road to Revolution

• April 1775: Battle of Lexington & Concord• January 1776: Thomas Paine publishes

Common Sense• July 4, 1776: 2nd Continental Congress adopts

Declaration of Independence

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.“

-Benjamin Franklin

Final Question

We know how the story ends. The colonies gain their independence and ultimately the USA is formed. But do you think that the colonists were justified in fighting for independence? Or do you think they would have been more justified in simply fighting for their rights as Englishmen? Explain your response.