American Revolution

What began the revolution?

• King George III (from England) thought it was time to tighten his control on the colonies for several reasons:

• The Indians were still enemies of England and the British settlements.

• The French and Indian War had cost a lot of money. King George wanted the colonists to pay for the war through higher taxes.

Proclamation

• When: 1763• Who: King George III to

the colonies• What: Stated that the

colonists could not move westward over the Appalachian Mountains.

• Why: ?• Would these laws upset

you?

The Sugar Act

• When: 1764 • What: The Sugar Act • Who: The English Parliament • Why:

• To offset the war debt brought on by the French and Indian War • To help pay for the expenses of running the colonies and newly

acquired territories.• This act increases the duties on imported sugar and other

items such as textiles, coffee, wines and indigo (dye). It doubles the duties on foreign goods reshipped from England to the colonies and also forbids the import of foreign rum and French wines.

The Currency Act

• 1764 • King George III to the colonies• The Currency Act • Prohibited the colonists from issuing any legal

tender paper money. This act threatened to destabilize the entire colonial economy of both the industrial North and agricultural South, thus uniting the colonists against it.

No Taxation without Representation!

• October, 1765• Nine colonies sent people to a meeting in New York City to talk about

the Stamp Act. • The decision was made that the Parliament could not tax the

American colonies since they had no representation in Parliament.• The phrase stated by James Otis, a Boston lawyer, "No taxation

without representation" was heard throughout the colonies. • The men at this meeting sent a letter asking Britain to repeal the

Stamp Act. • The British would not listen. Instead they placed new taxes on the

colonies.In 1767 the British passed the Townsend Act. This act placed taxes on tea, glass, paper, and paint. Many colonists refused to pay the taxes or to buy any goods made in England.

Quartering Act

• March, 1765 • Quartering Act• Required colonists to house

British troops and supply them with food.

The Stamp Act

• March, 1765• English Parliament to the colonies• The Stamp Act• This act taxed all printed materials and was the first direct

tax on the American colonies.• English Parliament made this act to offset the high costs

of the British military organization in America. • Thus for the first time in the 150 year old history of the

British colonies in America, the Americans will pay tax not to their own local legislatures in America, but directly to England.

• 1767 • The Townsend Act-– This act placed taxes on tea, glass, paper, and

paint. Many colonists refused to pay the taxes or to buy any goods made in England.

• May 10, 1773• The Tea Act• British Parliament to the colonies• Maintained a three penny per pound import tax on

tea that arrived in the colonies.• It also gave the near bankrupt British East India

Company a virtual tea monopoly by allowing it to sell directly to colonial agents, bypassing any middlemen, thus underselling American merchants.

• October 1773 Britain sends three ships full of tea to the colonies at Boston Harbor.

• November 29/30,1773• Boston, Massachusetts• Colonists met to decide what to do about the tea aboard

the three ships docked in Boston harbor.• Colonists decided to send the tea on the ship, Dartmouth,

back to England without paying any import duties.• The Royal Governor of Massachusetts, opposed and

ordered harbor officials not to let the ship sail out of the harbor unless the tea taxes had been paid.

The Boston Tea Party• December 16, 1773• Boston, Massachusetts• About 8000 Bostonians gathered

to hear Sam Adams announce that Royal Governor Hutchinson had repeated his command not to allow the ships out of the harbor until the tea taxes were paid.

• That night, the Boston Tea Party occurred, colonial activists disguised themselves as Indian, boarded the ships and dumped all 342 containers of tea into the harbor.

• March, 1774 • English Parliament passed the first of a series of

Coercive Acts (called Intolerable Acts by Americans) in response to the rebellion in Massachusetts.

• The Boston Port Bill shut down all commercial shipping in Boston harbor until Massachusetts paid the taxes owed on the tea dumped in the harbor and also reimburse the East India Company for the loss of the tea.

Questions

• Why did King George begin taxing the colonists?

• Why were the colonists upset by this?• Which act forced colonists to house British

soldiers?• What did the Stamp Act tax?• What did the Townsend Act tax?

“The British are Coming!”• Boston to Lexington• April 18, 1775 • General Gage ordered 700

British soldiers to Concord to destroy the colonists' weapons depot.

• That night, Paul Revere and William Dawes were sent from Boston to warn colonists. Revere reached Lexington about midnight and warned Sam Adams and John Hancock who were hiding out there.

…Continued• Lexington Green• Dawn, April 19 • 70 armed Massachusetts

militiamen vs. the British advance guard.

• An unordered 'shot heard around the world' began the American Revolution.

• A volley of British muskets followed by a charge with bayonets left eight Americans dead and ten wounded.

Fort Ticonderoga

• Fort Ticonderoga, New York• May 10, 1775 • American forces led by

Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York. The fort contains a much needed supply of military equipment including cannons which are then hauled to Boston by ox.

Battle of Bunker Hill• Boston, Massachusetts• June 17, 1775 • The first major fight between British and American troops.• American troops are dug in along the high ground of Breed's Hill (the actual

location) and are attacked by a frontal assault of over 2000 British soldiers who storm up the hill.

• The Americans were ordered not to fire until they can see "the whites of their eyes."

• As the British get within 15 paces, the Americans let loose a deadly volley of musket fire and halt the British advance.

• The British then regroup and attack 30 minutes later with the same result• A third attack, however, succeeds as the Americans run out of ammunition and are

left only with bayonets and stones to defend themselves.• The British succeed in taking the hill, but at a loss of half their force, over a

thousand casualties, with the Americans losing about 400, including important colonial leader, General Joseph Warren.

• Cambridge, Massachusetts• July 3, 1775,• George Washington takes

command of the 17,000 man, Continental Army.

• July 5, 1775 • The Continental Congress • Adopted the Olive Branch Petition• Expressed hope for a reconciliation with Britain,

appealed directly to the King for help in achieving this.

• On August 23, 1775, King George III refused to even to look at the petition and instead issued a proclamation declaring that Americans were in a state of rebellion.

Common Sense

Common Sense by T. Paine

• January of 1776 • Thomas Paine • Published a small book called Common Sense. • This book was very critical of British governement and

King George in particular. • Paine stated that America needed to be independent

of Britain. • This book became a best-seller. It made Americans

believe that America should be a free and independent nation.

Declaring Independence

• June 11, 1776• Congress selected a committee of five men to draft a

proclamation to the world that the colonies were independent from England.

• John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. The committee assigned Jefferson the task of writing the original document. After minor alterations were subsequently made by Franklin and Adams, the document was submitted to Congress.

Signing of The Declaration

• Though drafted a month earlier, The Declaration of Independence was signed in Phillidelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776.

John Adams

• Massachusetts native