Breaking Away from Britain UNIT 1 LESSON 2: ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN NATION: REVOLUTION
Breaking Away from Britain
UNIT 1 LESSON 2: ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN NATION: REVOLUTION
L.E.Q.: Why did the colonists fight a war for independence against Great Britain?
Drill:
Consider what you now know about the British Colonies and life of a colonists. Why might you begin to resist British law and influence in the New World?
Seeds of Revolution:1. New ideas developed in the 1600s (Age of Reason/Enlightenment) =
govt. should protect the natural rights of life
2. Disagreements over the way in which Great Britain treated the colonies versus the way the colonies felt they should be treated
L.E.Q.: Why did the colonists fight a war for independence against Great Britain?
Drill:
What were the Townshend Acts?
A: Tax's on sugar
B: Duties on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea
C: Laws against murder
D: Laws against freedom of religion
Seeds of Revolution:British Red Coats arrive in Boston in 1768 to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by the Townshend Acts of 1767: tax on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies
1770 – Boston Massacre – 5 Bostonians killed by British soldiers
The Stamp Act of 1765 - imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies
Seeds of Revolution:1773 – Boston Tea Party – act of defiance and protest against taxes by colonists in Boston; threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor
Coercive Acts 1774 – closed Boston Harbor, Quartering Act, restrictions on Fur Trade, restricted town meetings in Massachusetts, immunity for British soldiers
The Patriot: Council meeting
The Revolutionary WarFirst shots rang out April 19, 1775 in Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 was the first great American victory of the war and a turning point, the French join as American ally
The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, and Great Britain acknowledged America's independence
American casualties = 4,435
WeaponsMuskets w/ bayonets
Cannons
Flintlock Pistol
Swords an Sabers
L.E.Q.: How was government crafted through compromise?
Drill:What is the purpose of the Constitution of the United States? “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Preamble to the U.S. Constitution
The Articles of Confederation Adopted in 1777 and went into effect 1781
Established a framework for a central national government
The states were sovereign and the central government was weak
sovereignty – the ability to rule absolutely within a territory