The American Revolution, 1775-1789 Chapter 5: Section 3
The American Revolution, 1775-1789
Chapter 5: Section 3
LONG TERM CAUSES
Long-Term Causes
A. ECONOMIC1. French and Indian War, 1756-1763
• Britain owed huge war debt & had to find way to pay it off (tax Americans)
• Treaty of 1763 forced France to leave North America Empire (erased French threat to colonists)
2. Restraints on Trade• Mercantilism no longer working for the Americans
1) want free trade 2) manufacture own goods
• British Navigation Acts prevented them from doing so
Long-Term Causes (cont.)B. POLITICAL
1. Policy of Salutary Neglect• British policy of leaving the 13 colonies pretty much
alone for 150 years• Colonists dev. own system of gov’t almost
independent of Britain
2. Unfair system of taxation• Only their own colonial assemblies (elected
by the colonists) had right to tax them• Parliament could not tax them because
Americans did NOT elect them• “No taxation without representation!”
Long-Term Causes (cont.)
C. SOCIAL“Americanization”• Colonies distance from Britain so
far (3,000 mi.) and so much time had elapsed (150 yrs) that Americans had developed their own unique culture (apart from Britain)
Long-Term Causes (cont.)
D. INTELLECTUALThe Ideas of Enlightenment Core beliefs of the Enlightenment encouraged Americans to revolt
Locke’s “natural rights” (govt. must protect)
Smith’s idea of economic freedom (laissez-faire)
Voltaire’s push for free speech/religion Montesquieu’s separation of powers
IMMEDIATE CAUSES1763 - 1776
Policy of Taxation1. Britain’s New Policies
• 1763: The Proclamation Act• 1764: Sugar Act- tax on sugar & molasses
(rum); hurt New England colonies most• 1765: Stamp Act- tax on all printed materials
(newspapers, deeds, even playing cards)• direct tax• Taxes for sole act of raising revenue illegal (only to
regulate trade)• Stamp Act Congress -NYC
1. Boycott of British goods
Taxation and “Massacre”• 1767: Townshend Acts – Parliament places
tax on certain imports (lead, glass, tea, paint, paper)
• Colonists continue to resist and boycott British goods (make their own)
2. Boston Massacre (March 1770)• British troops stationed in Boston to oversee
unruly colonists• Group of American dockworkers begin hassling
& throwing snowballs at British soldiers• British fire into group and kill 5 colonists
The Boston Massacre Through Patriot Eyes
Two Boston patriots -Paul Revere and Samuel Adams exaggerate the event to raise the anger of the other colonists
A TEA PARTY in BOSTON
3. The Boston Tea Party (1773)• British cut price of tea in attempt to save
struggling British East India Tea Co.• Americans believe that this will drive
American tea merchants out of business• Americans refuse to unload the tea• December, 1773: group of Boston
patriots, disguised as Indians, board British ships in Boston Harbor & dump 300 tons of tea
Britain Responds
• King George III and Parliament demand that damages be paid but Boston refuses
• Parliament passes the Intolerable Acts (1774)1. Closes Boston Harbor2. Repeals Massachusetts’ Charter
(self-govt)3. Quartering Act requires troops to
be housed by colonists4. All British soldiers to be tried in
Admiralty Courts (British military courts)
TO FIGHT, OR NOT…?4. The First Continental Congress- 1774
• Colonists meet to discuss response to Intolerable Acts1. Boycott British goods2. Begin drawing up state constitutions3. Start gathering weapons & ammunition
5. Lexington & Concord (Mass): April 19, 1775 – “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”
• British troops march on minutemen to capture colony’s stored weapons
• Revere’s “Midnight Ride” to alarm colonists• Gunfire breaks out and 49 colonists killed/wounded• Americans ambush British all the way back to Boston (270
killed/wounded)• Blood had been spilled
The Second Continental Congress, 1775
The Second Continental Congress• Meets to discuss events in Boston• Prepares for war
1. Names George Washington as Commander of American “Continental Army”
2. States begin drawing up new constitutions and raising militias
3. Thomas Jefferson called on to explain to rest of the world why the Americans were justified in breaking away from England
The Declaration of Independence, 1776
Preamble:• Influence of Locke’s ideas
1. Natural (inalienable) rights: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness (property)
2. Power to govern from “consent of the governed”
Body:• Lists abuses of the British government towards
the colonies
Conclusion:• Declares the colonies are now to be considered
“independent states” and will be joined as the United States of America
Jefferson’s Declaration
• Ratified by the Second Continental Congress July 4, 1776
1764 Sugar Act
1765 Stamp Act
1767 Townshend Acts
1770 Boston Massacre
1773 Boston Tea Party
1774 Intolerable Acts
1774 First Continental Congress
1775 Lexington and Concord
1776 “Common Sense” published/Dec. of Independence