level 2. essential questions how did colonial protests against britain escalate? what specific...

The Shift From

Protest to Separation

Level 2

Essential QuestionsHow did colonial protests against Britain

escalate?What specific British policies incited public

opinion in the colonies?

Vocabulary Zenger Case: Court case that promoted the freedom of the press Proclamation of 1763: forbade the settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains Sugar Act: tax on sugar Currency Reform: didn’t allow colonist to use paper money and had to pay taxes

in hard currency Stamp Act: tax on paper Declaratory Act: declared Parliament in control of colonies and could tax them Townshend Acts: import tax on glass, lead, paint, paper and tea and gave the

ability to search property Boston Massacre: British soldiers killed five people that were part of the hostile

crowd around them. Tea Act: tax on tea Intolerable Acts: closed the port of Boston, one town meeting a year, British

officials charged with a crime would be tried in Britain, British officials could quarter troops wherever they chose in a town, allowed Catholicism and French civil law in Canada

Sons of Liberty: organization of rebels set on rebelling against British laws Rebels: (Patriots) wanted to rebel against Britain and start their own country Loyalists: loyal to the King and wanted to stay with Britain Common Sense: pamphlet by Thomas Paine that called for the creation of an American

independent republic

New British Attitude Toward Colonies Following Victory Over

France

The British thought that the: colonies could not protect themselvescolonies were not paying a fair amount toward

their support

New British Policies Antagonized Many Americans

Zenger Case 1735 Zenger was the editor of the New

York Weekly Journal and was sympathetic to the colonist’s position.

Zenger was put on trial for charges of printing false and seditious statements about colonial officials.

Andrew Hamilton, his lawyer, used the defense that Zenger's statements, even if slanderous, were not wrong because they were true.

Even though the judge tried to persuade the jury to find him guilty, the jury found Zenger innocent.

Importance of the Case: Promoted the idea that freedom of the

press was a right.


Proclamation of 1763: forbade the settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains

Why did the British make the Proclamation of 1763? After Pontiac’s rebellion in May of 1763,

in which several Indian tribes joined together and attacked settlements and forts on the frontier, the British realized that they could not defend the frontier and didn’t want more conflicts in it.

Why did the Proclamation of 1763 anger colonists? They saw the French and Indian War as a

way to open the Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley for settlement.


Introducing the Tax Acts


The Sugar Act: (1764) replaced the Molasses Act; lowered duty on imported molasses to stop the smuggling of it by colonists and placed a tax on sugar, indigo, coffee, wines and linens. Purpose: help pay for the protection of the coloniesImportance: raised the question of Britain’s right to

tax the colonies without their actual representation in Parliament.

Effect: colonists were upset about the tax since the money collected from it was revenue to pay for colonial expenses, instead of a tax to regulate trade


Currency Reform (1764): forbade colonists from issuing paper money. It had already been a requirement for New England since 1751 but it now applied to all colonies. It also made colonists pay taxes in hard money; silver and gold. Hard money was scarce in the colonies. Purpose: hard money is more secure than

paper money.


The Stamp Act: (1765) required certain documents be written or printed on paper carrying a stamp from the British treasury office Purpose: raise money to protect the colonies What and who did this affect? commercial and industrial life in the

colonies; lawyers, merchants and editors. These people had the ability to voice their objections to the tax.

Effects: Due to Patrick Henry’s speech in the Virginia House of Burgesses they adopted

the Virginia Resolves which stated that Parliament had no right to tax the colonies without their consent and that only the House of Burgesses had the right to tax the Virginia colonists.

9 Colonies sent representatives to NY to attend the Stamp Act Congress. It denied “virtual representation”. It claimed that only colonial legislatures could tax the colonists. They agreed to not purchase the goods through the use of nonimportation agreements. This showed that the colonies could work together.

The Sons of Liberty coordinated the colonies resistance to British policy. Brought to light the issues between Britain and the colonies:

Status of colonists in the British Empire Taxation powers of Parliament over the colonies

Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766.


Declaratory Act: (1766) stated Parliament held absolute power over the colonies in “all cases whatsoever.” This meant it had the right to tax the colonies.


The Townshend Acts: (1767-1770) import tax on glass, lead, paint,

paper and tea. They were passed to regulate trade so they were the right of Parliament to do so as well as enforce.

Established a Board of Commissioners in the colonies to enforce the Navigation Acts and enforce the collection of duties.

Writs of Assistance: search warrants by British custom officials allowed them to search businesses, homes and ships for smuggled goods.


The Townshend Acts (1767-1770) (Continued)

What was the purpose of the Townshend Acts? Raise money to defend the colonies

Why did the colonists oppose them? They were taxes to raise revenue and not a commercial

regulation.They were not represented in Parliament so they

shouldn’t be taxed by them.Searching and seizing without probable cause was against

natural law and should be void.How did the colonists resist the Townshend Acts?

Tarred and feathered custom agentsHarassed troops that had tried to keep peace and order.


The Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770): the same day the Townshend Acts were repealed by Parliament, British soldiers killed five people that were part of the hostile crowd around them.

Effects: published in newspapers in all of

the colonies as a massacre against unarmed colonists in the form of engravings by Paul Revere and pamphlets by Samuel Adams

anti-British feeling increased Following the link below to view a

short Video http://www.history.com/shows/america-the-story-of-us/videos/boston-massacre

http://www.history.com/shows/america-the-story-of-us/videos/boston-massacre








The Tea Act (1773): Britain tried to help the British East India Company by allowing them to have direct shipment of tea from India to the colonies without having the tea go to London first in order to reduce the price of tea for the colonists and stop the smuggling of Dutch tea. This made British tea cost ½ of what the smuggled tea cost.

Why were the colonists against it? It was just another tax passed by Parliament on the colonists

Effect: The Boston Tea Party About 60 men dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded 3 ships in Boston

Harbor and threw 342 chests of tea worth about $15,000 into the harbor.

Following the link below to view a short Video http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history/videos/the-sons-of-liberty-and-the-boston-tea-party

http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history/videos/the-sons-of-liberty-and-the-boston-tea-party






Intolerable Acts: (1774) also known as the Coercive Acts was a response to the Boston Tea Party and consisted of 5 acts. 1. The Boston Port Act: closed the port of Boston until the colonists repaid the

British East India Company for the tea that was destroyed2. The Massachusetts Government Act: only allowed one town meeting a year;

colonists couldn’t elect representatives to the upper house of their legislature; they would be appointed by the Crown.

3. The Administration of Justice Act: if officials of the Crown committed a crime while enforcing British laws, the trial could be moved to Great Britain.

4. The Quartering Act (1774): British officials could quarter troops wherever they chose in a town, instead of in barracks provided by the colonies.

5. The Quebec Act: to keep the loyalty of the French; allowed Catholicism and French civil law in Canada and created the boundaries of Quebec as the Ohio River on the south, the Mississippi River on the west, and the Proclamation Line of 1763 on the east. The colonists had two problems with this act:

1. Protestants hated the Catholics2. Changed colonial charters claims to lands west of the Appalachian Mountains

Public Opinion was Shaped in Different Forums

Political bodiesSons of Liberty: was formed

by a group of artisans and shop keepers in response to the Stamp Act

Loyalists: colonists who stayed loyal to the Crown throughout and after the American Revolution

Rebels (Patriots): colonists that resisted British policies and eventually wanted independence which many of them fought for


Public display and demonstrationBoston Tea PartyHarassment of the

soldiers before the Boston Massacre

Tar and feathering of custom agents


Print media “Common Sense”: pamphlet by

Thomas Paine that called for the creation of an American independent republic Written with emotional common

language Suggested the abolition of the

Crown and nobility Wanted a republic to get its

power only from the people it governed

Influenced the writers of the US Constitution and they prohibited grants of titles and nobility

Paul Revere: Engraving of the Boston Massacre

Thomas Paine


“Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, 'tis time to part.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

Wide Variety of Viewpoints Evolved

Complete separationMore autonomy for the coloniesNo change in status quo: the Loyalist position

Essential QuestionsHow did colonial protests against Britain

escalate?What specific British policies galvanized

public opinion in the colonies?

level 2. essential questions how did colonial protests against britain escalate? what specific...

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