CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: PART 2

INTRODUCTION

• With the passing of the Sugar, Stamp and Townshend Acts, tensions are at an all time high between the colonies and the British

• Using boycotts and protests, the Colonists wanted to show they were angry and that they expected taxes repealed

• Eventually, with British soldiers coming to American cities to stop these protests, violence will erupt and people will begin questioning whether the colonies should break away from the British Empire

• Sons of Liberty• A protest (terrorist?) group

that organized protests, boycotts and attacked English tax collectors in Boston

• Believed that the taxes on the colonies were unfair• Wanted colonial

representation in Parliament if they were going to be taxed

• Famous members:• Paul Revere• Samuel Adams• Patrick Henry

“NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION”

• With each new tax passed by the British, more colonists begin agreeing with the Sons of Liberty

• Newspapers and Pamphlets circulate to motivate colonists to fight against British taxes and soldiers

• Samuel Adams:• “I look upon British Soldiers

as foreign enemies”

“NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION”

BOSTON MASSACRE (1770)

• Occurred in Boston, MA on March 5, 1770

• A group of colonists protesting the Townshend Acts gather outside the Old North Church in Boston

• During the protest, British soldiers arrive to end the protest,

• Colonists begin throwing snowballs and rocks, threaten soldiers with clubs

BOSTON MASSACRE

• Troops fire upon the crowd, killing 5 colonists• Included is Crispus Attucks, a free

African-American protesting

• Colonial newspapers publish reports of massacre, colonists grow concerned about war

• The soldiers are put on trial in Boston, found not guilty• Soldiers’ lawyer: John Adams

• Significance: First occurrence of violence causes colonists to begin considering independence

BOSTON MASSACRE (1770)

• Parliament’s Response:• Withdraw troops

from Boston• Repeal Townsend

Act• Leave the tax on

tea

TEA ACT AND THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

• Tea Act: Small tax on British tea sold in the colonies

• The Sons of Liberty plan a protest, we call it the Boston Tea Party• Meant to be a visible sign of

Colonial anger over taxes• Cost the British 10,000

pounds

• Parliament Response:• Pass the Intolerable Acts to

punish Massachusetts for its rebellious actions

INTOLERABLE ACTS

• Definition: Laws passed by the British to punish the colonists in Massachusetts

• Four Parts of the Intolerable Acts• Closed Boston Harbor

• Colonists accused of crimes sent to Britain for trial

• British General Thomas Gage becomes Governor of Massachusetts

• Quartering Act: Colonists forced to house/suppport British Soldiers

INTOLERABLE ACTS

• Colonial Response: Delegates from the colonies are sent to Philadelphia to form First Continental Congress• Decide to build

militias in case of war• Send letter of peace

to King, who ignores it

COMMON SENSE

Definition: A pamphlet authored by Thomas Paine making the case that America should not tolerate the British abuse of powerConvinced common people

to support the Revolution movement

Top selling book in the colonies (500,000 copies)

“Paine wrote as a common person speaking to common people”