Lead up to the Revolutionary War

French and Indian War - 1763• Between England and France• Fighting over the beaver fur trade (lots of money)• War costs a lot and England was nearly broke• George III decided to get more money from colonies by implementing

taxes

Sugar Act - 1764• Reduced taxes on molasses to America from the East Indies• Meant to curb the smuggling problem• Could be convicted on smuggling without a jury trial

• Colonists saw this as having to pay a premium for an imported product

Stamp Act - 1765 • All paper goods had a new tax (newspapers, contracts, govt. docs)• Did not clear the new tax with the colonists• Patrick Henry and Sons of Liberty• “Taxation without representation is tyranny.”

• Total boycott, could be tarred and feathered if didn’t• 1766 Stamp Act was repealed

Townshend Acts - 1767• New taxes on all imported goods into the colonies• Especially Boston

• Colonists began to boycott British goods again• Led to a rise in tension between locals and British soldiers

The Boston Massacre - 1770• Street fight between 50 colonists and a squad of British

soldiers after riots had been breaking out• Colonists threw stones, snowballs and sticks• Soldiers shot into the crowd, stated self defense, later

acquitted• 3 dead in streets, 8 wounded, 2 more die later• British had to evacuate all troops stationed in Boston.• Polarizing moment that drew a lot of people to the rebel

cause

Newspaper Assignment• The Boston Massacre was a great propaganda (one-sided

news meant to sway public opinion) tool for the Revolutionaries• You are a journalist who is reporting on the massacre.• You will either defend the British soldiers or the civilians for

their actions• The first paragraph will be the facts of the Boston Massacre• The second paragraph will be your opinion on who were the

victims and who were the assailants

Tea Act• Tax on tea (same as a government tax on caffeine)• Last straw for people in Boston• Led directly to Samuel Adams leading the Boston Tea Party• Dressed as Native Americans and dumped the tea• Very organized and peaceful for a mob• 300 chests of tea thrown into the harbor• 4 millions dollars lost that night

Intolerable Acts - 1774• English response to the Boston Tea Party• Meant to punish the people of Massachusetts• Closed Boston’s port• Had to pay for dumped tea• No towns meetings• Soldiers would stay and be fed by locals

• Ended up making all of the colonies angry at the British

The First Continental Congress - 1774• 12 of 13 colonies met in Philadelphia• Georgia opted out

• Most of the major founding father attended• Washington, John & Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry

• “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

• Trying to figure out how to resist the British• Not everyone is ready for war but it is moving in that direction

Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence• Was in Philadelphia and was annoyed that he wasn’t drafting the

Virginia Constitution• Took his main ideas from his notes for the Virginia Constitution• Wrote it in roughly two weeks• Very little editing except for some over exaggerated grievances on

Jefferson’s part • It is our official declaration of war on England • The colonists and British had already been fighting by the time this

was drafted

Guided Reading of the Declaration of Independence• As we are reading the document, write down five

problems that the colonists list as reasons for declaring war on England.• You will use those five references to write your own

amendments to the Declaration. Make sure to address each requirement below:• What do you this is missing from the document?• Do you think that anything should be removed?• Write at least three grievances of your own that should

have been added to the Declaration of Independence.