Terms for Events leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Terms for Events leading up to the Revolutionary War

Key Terms

Quarter: Provide Living Space

Boycott: Refuse to buy

Coercive: Forcing someone to act in a certain way by using threats

Indirect Tax: Tax that increase the price of a good.

Remember what led to these events

American colonists and the British had just won a war against the French. American colonist wanted to move “west”…which back then was Ohio, not California like we think today.

However, the British did not want Americans to cross the Appalachian mountains to avoid conflict with the natives. The British were also in debt and needed money so they created new taxes…

Quartering Act (1765): Issued by King George III to save money by having the colonists house (or quarter) troops in their homes. This way England doesn’t pay for it. This is the first measure to pay for the French and Indian War. -British Event

Stamp Act (1765): A tax on documents imposed to pay for the French/Indian War. It was a tax the colonists had no say in….taxation without representation.

British law will cause 2 reactions:

Stamp Act Congress (1765): After the Stamp Act angered colonists; they got together for the first time to consider acting together in protest as one united group. This Congress said the colonists had the right to tax themselves and NOT Parliament

American Response to Stamp Act

Sons of Liberty and Boycotts (1765): The was a group of colonists who organized to discuss and act on British policies. Sam Adams was their leader. An example of their actions was to boycott taxed products (not buy them) so the English merchants suffered. This got their point across.

American Response to Stamp Act, which will cause…..

Townshend Acts (1767): The British cancelled the Stamp Act but imposed the Townshend Acts by taxing imports that the colonists used.

British response to American protest

Boston Massacre (1770): 5 colonists were killed by British soldiers when they were throwing snowballs and taunting them. From the colonists point of view it was unprovoked.

British event – but most likely colonists provoked the British. Will cause….

Committees of Correspondence (1771) An organization put together to communicate what was going on in the colonies. This allowed far off colonies to understand the events occurring. This will allow for uniting easier later on.

American response to Boston Massacre

Tea Act (1773): The British got rid of the Townshend Acts but kept the tax on tea (an important import) to send a message that they still control the colonies.

British act that caused…..

Boston Tea Party (1773): To protest the Tea Act, members of the Sons of Liberty destroyed tea from a ship in Boston Harbor. This was a form of protest.

American response to the law. British will respond with…..

Intolerable Acts (1774): These acts were meant to punish the Massachusetts Colony for the Boston Tea Party. They were also called the Coercive Acts since the colonists were Coercive (traitorous) in this act. This warning to the other colonies required Boston to close their port, pay back the tea, and reaffirmed the quartering of troops as well as others.

1st Continental Congress (1774): The colonies decided to organize to discuss the events and what to do. They didn’t decide too much (just to ban trade with England) but it showed unity. They will meet again later and draft a declaration of independence.

American Response to Intolerable acts

All of the events listed above led to the English wanting to stop the Colonial “uprising” for self-government. They chose to take the leaders of the Sons of Liberty (Sam Adams and John Hancock) captive in Lexington, Massachusetts and attack the armory at Concord, Massachusetts to disarm the colonists.

Paul Revere and John Dawes were but a few men who sounded an alarm to alert the countryside to the British movements. At Concord the first shots of the Revolution were fired on Lexington Green in the early morning hours. On their march to Concord, the British troops were harassed and shot at by “minutemen” all along their route to Concord and back to Boston.

Now was the time for the Colonials to decide….am I a Loyalist to the King, or am I a Patriot for colonial freedom? Of course, if you were in England, you would call the Patriots traitors, after all, they were British subjects.

How does this help the take home essay? Remember the Q

Using John Locke’s ideas about natural rights as examples, what are natural rights and when do people have the right to revolt from authority? Describe 3 pre-revolution events that would push the colonists to meet the requirements of John Locke’s ideas. Identify 2 choices the colonists had when forced to make a decision about England’s abuse and describe both positive and negative consequences of both choices.

Last item…Declaration of Independence.

New Vocabulary Word

Sectionalism: Loyalty to the interests of ones own region or section of the country. This is probably the most important word to know for the rest of the year-REMEMBER IT!

After Lexington and Concord American people were split on what to do.

Background

Three events that preceded the Declaration were:

Battle of Bunker Hill and Breeds Hill outside Boston: British won but lost 1000 men (Continental Army can hold their own) “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”

Olive Branch Petition: Last attempt to ask the King to make things right

“Common Sense”: A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine describing why the colonists should declare their independence. (sold 100,000 copies in 3 months)

Declaration of Independence will be written by Thomas Jefferson

So before we read…

Overview

The Declaration of Independence is like a break up letter:

1. Explained the situation - (preamble) 2. Explained your beliefs - (ideas of govt) 3. Discuss the complaints 4. Efforts to fix the problem 5. Conclusion..ending the relationship

Rights of the People

We Hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal - Thomas Jefferson is only including white men, not women, African American slaves (which he owned) and those without property.

Declaration Answers

What Rights Cannot Be taken Away?-Life, Liberty, and Happiness( Property )– Natural

Rights taken from John Locke

Where does Government get its Power?The People Hold the Power

What Can People do if government denies rights?-Remove the government from power and create a

new government.

Declaration Answers

What kind of Person Should not rule?A Tyrant – someone who abuses power.

Example of how the colonists tried to avoid separation

- Olive Branch Petition and Petition of Redress.

Declaration Answers

What are they dissolving?

They are officially breaking away from the British Empire through this Declaration.

What are the signers pledging?They are pledging their Lives, Fortunes

(wealth), and honor.

Review

The Declaration of Independence is like a break up letter:

1. Explained the situation 2. Explained your beliefs 3. Discuss the complaints 4. Efforts to fix the problem 5. Conclusion..ending the relationship