discussion

The Road to Revolution

1763-1775

What were the reasons for the Revolution?

• What were the reasons for the Revolution?

• Social? Political? Economic?

• Often mercantilism is cited-was it a reason?

Greenville’s Program

• George Greenville was the British Prime Minister-he had to resolve the financial crisis.

• Greenville’s Program:

• End of Salutary Neglect-not to let the colonies do whatever they wanted to do, they needed to be managed and taxed.

• Cost of the Peace-in addition to the war, the British stationed about 10K additional troops in the colonies and royal and tax officials, these people needed to be paid for.

• Greenville’s offer-explained that the colonies owed a share of the debt from the war, and that they could pay as much as they could afford and tax themselves.

Colonial Response to Greenville

•Rejection

•Colonists said that it was the job of the British empire to protect the people of

the Empire. Why should we pay more?

Sugar Act, 1764

• Also known as the Revenue Act.

• Reduced the price of French sugar, but added items to the list that could only be sent to England.

• Colonial reaction was somewhat mild few people were buying French Molasses, and those who did not agree

with the shipping standards could just evade them as

they had always done.

Stamp Act, 1765

• Already in place in England

• It forced all documents, newspapers, almanacs, legal documents, college

diplomas, playing cards, liquor license, and

dice, to be taxed. It was like a sales receipt.

• Parliament planned on keeping the revenue in a separate account used only

for the colonies.

Colonial Reaction to the Stamp Act

• Patrick Henry and Virginia Resolves

• “No taxation without representation”

• Stamp Act Riots

• John Adams

• Stamp Act Congress

• Sons of Liberty

• Sam Adams

British Response to the Colonial Response

• Repeal- 1766

• William Pitt

• John Hancock

• Declaratory Act-1766

William Pitt,

Helped repeal the

Stamp Act.

He was

considered a

friend of the

colonies.

Townshend Duties

Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

British had to respond to old problems and new problems including high unemployment, high grain prices, and unrest.

Passed in 1767 taxed colonial imports of lead, glass, paint, paper, and tea.

This act also specified that the revenue was to be used not only to support British troops in America but also to provide salaries for royal officials who would collect taxes. Such funding would make these officials financially independent of the colonial assemblies.

Results of Townshend Duties

• Liberty

• Bostonians protested fiercely

• Sam Adams, “Hancock and Liberty.”

• British troops marched into Boston 1768.

• Colonial reaction overall more mild with Stamp Act resolved upon Non- importation. Non importation actually helped colonial manufacturers and was another early example of colonial unified action.

• Repeal in 1770- all of the duties except the one on tea. Britain was losing more trade than getting.

The Boston Massacre

March 5, 1770

5 civilians killed

Crispus Attucks was killed

6 others wounded

8 soldiers arrested for murder

Defended by John Adams

6 acquitted

2 guilty of manslaughter, branded on thumb

The Gaspee Affair

June 9, 1772

A British tax ship ran aground

It was boarded, looted, and

burned by colonists.

The Committees of Correspondence

• Secret ways for the colonial governments and colonists to communicate with each other.

Initially formed for the Stamp Act, they

reformed after the Boston Massacre and

Gaspee Affair.

All about Tea

NOT ICE T

Or Iced Tea

Those are both American

British Tea and the Tea Act of 1773

Anger in Boston

Thomas

Hutchinson,

Massachusetts

Governor

Boston Tea Party

• December 16, 1773

• The British East India Tea Company allowed to skirt the taxes, made Americans mad, but the company was on the verge of financial failure.

• Sons of Liberty dressed like Native Americans, paraded through Boston to the harbor, busted tea crates open and dumped them into the Boston Harbor.

• The expense and audacity of this angered the British government.

The Intolerable of Coercive Acts

• Boston Port Act-British closed the port, except for foods and essentials.

• Administration of Justice Act-moved trials of British officials to England.

• Quartering Act-forced people to house British troops.

• Massachusetts Government Act-closed the colonial government.

• Quebec Act-gave all of the Proclamation of 1763 land to Canada.

• And the Minutemen-colonial militia men to be ready to fight on a minute’s notice.

The First Continental Congress

September-October 1774

• Response to the Intolerable Acts

• 56 delegates, all colonies except Georgia sent someone

• Would petition to King George, potentially boycott and meet again if needed

• Agreed to the Suffolk Resolves pushed by Boston and Mass., closed courts in nearly all areas and supported the Continental Congress, urged colonists

to refuse to pay taxes and raise militias

Lexington and Concord

April 19, 1775

• Massachusetts in a state of rebellion

• Get military stores at Concord and arrest rebellion leaders at Lexington

• Paul Revere and William Dawes rode at midnight

• To warn of the Redcoats coming

Public Enemy/Public Enemies

John Hancock, left

Sam Adams, above

Lexington

• Sunrise April 19, 1775

• A mistake led to a shot being fired

• The militia fled, 8 were killed

• No British killed

Concord

Shot Heard Around the World

•W A R

The American Revolution

1775-1783

Second Continental Congress

• Began May 1775

• Ben Franklin, PA and John Hancock, MASS

• 12 Colonies, eventually Georgia sent a rep, then all 13.

• Took charge of war effort

• Create Continental Army

• Elect George Washington as Commanding General

Slaves

• Promised freedom by the British

• Thousands joined or fled plantations

• Not nearly as many joined the British military against the Americans

• Were evacuated to Canada and England

Bunker Hill

June 17, 1775

Breed’s Hill

Not

Bunker Hill

After the Battle

• 1,054 casualties (226 dead and 828 wounded) for the British:

• 1 lieutenant colonel killed; 2 majors killed, 3 wounded; 7 captains killed, 27 wounded

• 9 lieutenants killed, 32 wounded;15 sergeants killed, 42 wounded;1 drummer killed, 12 wounded

• Americans casualties were 450 with 140 of them killed

• Gage was replaced

• British victory, American morale boost

Henry Knox

From Bookstore Owner to Secretary of War

Washington and Dorchester Heights

• The guns brought to the area around Boston by Knox allowed the Americans to bomb the city and harbor.

• The British were forced to evacuate Boston.

• This was considered a victory for the Americans.

• The Americans wanted to move against British Canada, but failed at Quebec.

Quebec

December 1775

Brigadier General

Richard

Montgomery (left,

KIA) and

Colonel Benedict

Arnold (right, WIA)

Major American

defeat

Thomas Paine

• A British Corset Maker Gives America some Common Sense

• Written using language people understood

• Provided a boost to morale and reasons for revolution

• Was read to the American soldiers and sold

over 100,000 copies

Declaration of Independence

July 4, 1776

Thomas Jefferson

• Architect of the Declaration of Independence.

• A Founding Father

• Future President

Benjamin Franklin

• Founding Father.

• Claimed to have said after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “We Must

Hang Together or Surely We Shall Hang

Separately.”

• Acted as an agent for the colonies in England, a virtual representative.

Lessons Learned: L5-

The Road to Revolution

• How fair was it for the British to expect the Americans to pay a portion of the French and Indian War?

• Were the methods used to enact taxes out of line or were the Americans?

• Describe the problems in Boston and across Massachusetts, such as the Massacre, the Tea Party, and the Intolerable Acts. Understand how these made the situation

between the two sides worse.

• Understand the importance of Lexington and Concord.

• The Battle of Bunker Hill was the first real battle of the Revolution, it was a British victory, describe why and how and how it marked things to come.

Review for Lecture 5

• Be sure that you have read all of the Study Questions in the chapter(s) related to this material

highlighted in the blue boxes.

• Be sure that you read over the Chapter Summary, Key Term and People, and Review guide at the end

of the chapter(s)