Events Leading To The American Revolution Gallery Crawl Information

Triangular Trade

The Triangle Trade was a system of shipping goods and slaves between Africa, England, and the 13 colonies.

The Great Awakening

Religion was a major part of people’s lives in the early American Colonies. In the mid-1700s a religious movement known as the Great Awakening swept over the 13 colonies. Religious leaders, such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, traveled, preaching to thousands of followers that Americans needed a spiritual and moral rebirth. The Great Awakening helped to religiously unify the 13 colonies.

George Whitefield

Sermon Scene

Navigation Acts

In the 1600s, the British government passed as series of Navigation Acts. These acts stated that the13 colonies (belonged to England) could trade only with the mother country (England). Around the 1750s, England began to strictly enforce the Navigation Acts which upset many colonists, particularly the colonies whose economy depended on trade and shipping.

French and Indian War

Between 1754 and 1763, Britain and France fought the French and Indian War.

The French and the English were competing for land and trading rights in a territory called thee Ohio Valley, just west of Pennsylvania. Each nation saw this territory as vital in its effort to increase its own power and wealth while also limiting the strength of its rival.

The English victory in the war decided the colonial fate of North America. The war left England broke. To gain more money the British government started taxing the colonists.

In addition, to keep colonists from starting a war with the Native Americans in the Ohio Valley the English created the Proclamation of 1763.

British Soldier

Battle Scene

Proclamation of 1763

The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, particularly in the new Ohio Valley. This proclamation was in response to conflict between Native Americans and colonists.

England created the Proclamation Line to stop movement of colonists. This measure was intended to halt wars but by instead greatly angered the colonists.

Stamp ActThe stamp act was a special tax put on all paper goods in 1765. The taxed items carried the stamp, which gave it the name stamp act.

After the French and Indian War, England’s government needed a way to raise money to pay for the expensive war. England felt that since the war benefited the colonies, that the colonists should pay for it.

Since the colonies already had a long history to self-government, they were not about to pay a tax to the English government that they had no say in. In response, colonists refused to pay it, boycotted the goods with the tax and even tarred & feathered tax collectors. England eventually repealed (took away) the Stamp Act.

Stamp Act Seal

Tar and Feathering

Tea ActIn 1773, after several attempts to get money out of the colonies through taxes, England passed the Tea Act.

England’s East India Company was in financial trouble. In order to help the company out, England passed the Tea Act which said the 13 colonies could buy tea only from the East India Company.

Even though the Tea Act made tea cheaper for the 13 colonies, the colonists were furious that they could only buy tea from one company. Many colonists boycotted (refused to buy) the tea.

The Boston Tea Party

The famous protest called the Boston Tea Party occurred in 1773.

The Tea Act elicited many responses from the colonists from boycotts to refusing to allow the tea off the ships.

Members of the Sons of Liberty in Boston, a colonial protest group led by Samuel Adams, boarded British Tea ships disguised as American Indians and dumped the tea into the harbor.

Thousands of dollars in tea were destroyed. King George and the Parliament of England were so upset with the colonists’ actions that they made a series of laws called the Coercive Acts to punish the 13 colonies.

The Intolerable Acts (a.k.a. Coercive Acts)In 1773, the Parliament of England passed the Coercive Acts, but the colonists referred to them as the Intolerable Acts.

After the Boston Tea party, King George and Parliament wanted to punish the colonies by closing Boston Harbor, the cities life line for food and trading. The acts also temporarily ended Town Meetings in New England.

The Coercive Acts were so hurtful to the colonies, especially New England, that colonists considered them intolerable.

Eventually fighting broke between colonial militias and the British soldiers at the battles of Lexington and Concord. Also, because of their anger, the colonies joined together to help Boston and formed the 1 st Continental Congress and later the 2 nd Continental Congress .

The 1st Continental Congress

First Political Cartoon of the Colonies

It urged the colonies to join together to fight

Second Continental Congress

In the early summer of 1776, representatives (from the 13 colonies) met in Philadelphia to discuss the upcoming war with England.

The Continental Congress was called together to unify the colonies against the oppressive Parliament and the King of England. The individual colonies realized that unless they joined together, they would not be able to win a war against England.

While at the 2nd Continental Congress, many members wanted to create a statement to the King informing him of their reasons for breaking away from England. This statement was written by Thomas Jefferson and called the Declaration of Independence.

The writing of the Declaration of Independence

General George Washington

The Declaration of IndependenceIn 1776, at the 2nd Continental Congress, the colonies decided to create a statement to the King of England.

Most members of the Continental Congress felt a Declaration of Independence was important to justify the fighting that had already begun between the colonies and England. Thomas Jefferson, the main writer of the Declaration of Independence, used the writings of John Locke to justify the reasons for declaring independence.

Once the Declaration was signed and approved, the colonies officially had decided to break away from England and form their own country. Today it serves as one of the most important foundational documents for the United States of America.

Thomas Jefferson

The Declaration of Independence