Road to Revolutio

nThe Sequence

Repaying War Debt•Between 1764 and 1765 British Parliament passed some tax

laws

• These laws were designed to tax the colonists in order to repay some of the war debt (from the French and Indian War)

•Kept the colonies secure and under British control…

Sugar Act• Lowers the tax rates that the

colonists paid• Molasses and Sugar

• This improves the ability of the Parliament to collect taxes

• Colonists just feel like it’s an extra expense

Stamp Act

This just reminded the colonists that their relationship with Great Britain had changed forever….

•Many written or printed items• Newspapers, legal documents, playing

cardsnow had to be printed on special paper that was stamped in Great Britain.

• In order to buy the paper, colonists had to pay the tax

Stamp Act Congress• This was a meeting of colonists which met and published a

document called the Declaration of Rights and Grievances

• This document demands that Great Britain take back the stamp act

• Parliament couldn’t enforce it and so they took back the stamp act…

• This is the first organized meeting of colonists…

Sons of Liberty•Colonists were angry – so

they decided to start forming secret societies…

•This one is formed by Samuel Adams

•Organized protests against the British

•Publicized the beliefs of the colonists

•Boycotted goods

Quartering Act•Required colonists to provide shelter for the British troops

•No colonist wants to be told who will live in their home…

Townshend Acts• Imposed taxes on goods imported into the colonies

• These were everyday items from Britain• Lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea

• Took steps to increase the ability of the British to stop smuggling and enforce the collection of taxes

• In response to these many merchants signed agreements to stop importing goods from Britain…

Daughters of Liberty•Group of colonial women who supported the boycott effort

•Helped make fabric for clothing and other alternative items

•Many famous women were part of this effort including Martha Washington

Boston Massacre• During the cold winter of 1770, a quarrel between one colonist and one soldier ignited what

came to be called the Boston Massacre.• On March 5, 1770, British Private Hugh White stood guard outside the Boston Custom

House, where officials kept track of imports and exports. While on duty, White watched as Captain Lieutenant John Goldfinch made his way back to the barracks where British troops were housed. A young American colonist named Edward Gerrish cried out that Goldfinch had not paid his bill to the wigmaker.• Goldfinch, who was in a hurry and had a receipt for the payment in his pocket, ignored

Gerrish and went on his way. White, however, engaged the boy, and the two argued. When White struck Gerrish in the head, a crowd began to gather and White called for help. British Captain Thomas Preston responded by bringing seven British soldiers to White’s aid. Meanwhile, hundreds of American colonists had gathered, throwing snowballs and other items at the troops. After British soldiers fired on the crowd, five American colonists lay dead, including Crispus Attucks, a runaway enslaved African American and sailor. To some, Attucks is known as the first man to lose his life in the fight for American independence.

Boston Massacre• Happened in response to the

Townshend acts

• British troops fired into the crowd killing 5

• The soldiers were later acquitted of the charges

Committees of Correspondence

• These were committees that promoted the cause of the colonists

• Loyalists – colonists who swore to be faithful to the British Crown

•Patriots – colonists who swore to be faithful to the colonies

Tea Act• Intended to help the British East India

Tea Company• Designed to help the British make

more money• Sent tea from the BEITC to be sold at a

low price to the colonists• Also taxed the tea

• Merchants didn’t want to be told which tea they had to sell…

Boston Tea Party•Sons of Liberty stage a protest

•Dump hundreds of chests of tea into Boston Harbor

•This really annoys the British

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-9pDZMRCpQ

• The British retaliate in the worse way…

Intolerable Acts•Passed in response to the

Boston Tea Party…

• These are a series of new acts and laws intended to punish the colonists

• Closed Boston Harbor to any shipments going in or out until the colonists had paid for all of the tea they destroyed…

• It took power away from the law making authority in Massachusetts – they aren’t allowed to make their own laws any more…

1st Continental Congress• Large fear that the British would continue to use force in

order to maintain control over the colonies

• They needed a new type of response

•Delegates from 12 out of the 13 colonies met • They work on a response to the intolerable acts• Declaration of Resolves• Ask that the British respect the rights of the colonists…

Paul Revere’s Ride• Colonists began to gather and

store weapons in Concord…

•When a British general, General Gage was sent to collect the weapons, Paul Revere took off on his famous ride to warn the colonists…

The Shot Heard Around the World

•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ikO6LMxF4