Copy Study Questions 6.2 on NB-24.

Lesson 6.2: Colonial Resistance Grows

Today we will describe several

events that increased tension between colonists

and the British government.

Vocabulary • writ – a legal document issued by the

government or the courts• propaganda – words or images designed

to persuade an audience to act, feel, think, or believe in a specific way

• summarize – give a brief description• prompted – caused to happen• correspondence – communication by

exchanging letters

Check for Understanding• What are going to do today? • Who issues writs?• Do your parents ever use propaganda

with you?• Why is correspondence less common

today than it was in the 1770s?

What We Already Know

Ever since the Proclamation of 1763, relations between the British government and the American

colonists had been growing increasingly

hostile.

What We Already Know

Parliament’s attempts to raise revenue by taxing the colonies were met with protests,

petitions, and boycotts.

What We Already Know

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that emphasized reason and science, and its

scholars believed that all government should be based on natural laws and natural rights.

The Townshend Acts Are Passed

• Parliament had canceled the Stamp Act. But it still needed to raise money to pay its expenses in America.

• Charles Townshend, the king’s finance minister, suggested a series of laws that would raise revenue in the colonies.

• One of the Townshend Acts stopped New York’s legislative assembly from meeting until the colonists agreed to quarter British troops.

The Townshend Acts

• To enforce these laws, British officers used writs of assistance. These were search warrants used to enter homes or businesses to find smuggled goods.

• Another act placed taxes on certain goods brought into the colonies. The money raised would help to pay the salaries of British officials in the colonies.

The Reasons for Protest• Anger over the new

taxes and the closure of the NY assembly

• “Parliament has no right to tax us directly!”

• The writs of assistance also angered manycolonists.

• These acts threatened their natural rights and freedoms.

John Locke and Natural Rights

• Natural rights had been described by English philosopher John Locke during the Enlightenment.

• Locke wrote that the law of nature teaches that “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”

Tools of Protest

Colonists in Boston decided to protest the Townshend Acts by calling for another boycott of British goods, which spread

throughout the colonies.

Tools of Protest

Samuel Adams, a leader of the Boston Sons of Liberty, led

the protest.

Tools of Protest• The Sons of Liberty asked

shopkeepers not to sell goods made in Britain.

• The Daughters of Liberty urged colonists to weave their own cloth and to use only American goods.

• Trade with Britain dropped.• Some colonial leaders

called for peaceful protests.

John Dickinson

The “Liberty” Incident• Customs officials in Boston tried to search the

merchant ship Liberty, which was carrying smuggled goods.

• Colonists rose up in protest and a riot broke out.• British officials reacted by calling for more

British troops to be sent to Boston.

The Boston Massacre • In the fall of 1768,

about 1,000 British soldiers arrived in Boston to keep order.

• Poorly paid British soldiers often hired themselves out as workers when off-duty, leading to competition with colonists for jobs.

Tension filled the streets, as soldiers and colonists openly taunted each other.

The Boston Massacre

Ned, they’re

comin’ right for us!

On March 5, 1770, a scuffle broke out between colonists and a group of redcoats guarding the

Customs House.

Frightened British recoats feared for their

lives.

The Boston MassacreThe soldiers fired on the protesting

colonists, and five were killed, including a sailor and former slave

named Crispus Attucks.

The Boston Massacre

Colonial leaders called the

shooting the Boston Massacre.

They said that the five colonists gave their lives for freedom.

• The Sons of Liberty turned the tragedy into anti-British propaganda.

• Paul Revere’s illustration of the event was circulated throughout the colonies.

The Boston Massacre

• Thousands of colonists were outraged by news of the killings.

• The British soldiers involved in theshooting were arrested for murder.

• John Adams, a cousin of Samuel Adams, successfully defended the soldiers in court.

• He wanted to prove that the colonies followed the rule of law.

The Boston Massacre

To many colonists, however the Boston Massacre would stand as a

symbol of British tyranny.

Repeal of the Townshend Acts • Parliament repealed all the Townshend Acts

except the tax on tea, in order to continue demonstration of its power to govern the colonies.

• Most colonists were content and believed the crisis was

over.

Repeal of the Townshend Acts

• Samuel Adams, however, wanted to make sure that the colonists did not forget the cause of liberty.

• He helped to form committees of correspondence in various towns in Massachusetts.

Committees of Correspondence

• These groups wrote letters to one another about colonial matters.

• Soon these committees were exchanging letters throughout Massachusetts, as well as with committees formed in other colonies.

• The committees kept opposition to the British alive by exchanging letters on colonial affairs.

The Tea Act• The British East India Tea Company was a

major part of the British economy, but in 1773 it was facing bankruptcy.

• Many members of Parliament were investors in the company, and didn’t want to see it fail.

• In 1773, Parliament gave the company a monopoly on the colonial tea trade.

• The tea would come to the colonies in the company’s ships and would be sold in the colonies only by the company’s merchants.

• Colonists would have to pay the tax on the tea, which was a very popular

drink in all the American colonies.

• Many colonists began protests against the Tea Act, because

they feared what Parliament

might do next.

The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party

Tea was not unloaded, and tea ships were

blocked from landing.

The Boston Tea Party

East India Tea Company agents were harassed

and assaulted by the Sons of Liberty.

The Boston Tea Party• On December 16,

1773, a group of colonists in Boston boarded three tea ships.

• Dressed as Native Americans, they dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. This event became known as the Boston Tea Party.

The Boston Tea Party• Many colonists believed

that the tea party would show Britain how much they opposed being taxed without representation.

• Others questioned whether destroying property was the best way to respond to British taxes.

• Some colonial leaders offered to pay for the tea if Parliament would agree to end the Tea Act.

The Boston Tea Party

• An angry Parliament turned down the offer. • It wanted the colonists to pay for the tea. • It also wanted the people responsible to be

brought to trial.• It wanted Massachusetts to be punished.