The Steps On The Path To Revolution

1. Salutary Neglect• British allowed Colonies to, more or

less, govern themselves from 1607 to 1763• Good for Americans – built a

tradition of self-government• Good for British – didn’t cost the

British anything to administer

2. Trade & Navigation Acts (1640s – 1660s)

• British attempt to enforce mercantilism by controlling Colonies’ imports & exports

• Bad for Americans – led to a trade deficit (debt) with England (less money for Americans)

• Good for British – led to a trade surplus with America (more money for British)

3. French & Indian War (1754 – 1763)

• War against France in which the British gained control of all of North America east of the Mississippi River• Good for Americans – opened up the

Ohio River Valley for settlement• Bad for British – led to huge war

debts

4. Proclamation of 1763• England banned colonists from settling west of

the Appalachian mountains in order to maintain peace with the Native Americans

• Bad for Americans – closed the frontier they had fought to open in the French & Indian War

• Good for British – ensured good trade relations with the Native Americans

5. Sugar Act (1764)• Placed a tax on sugar and other trade

items coming into the Colonies• Bad for Americans – made price of the

goods taxed go up; had no say in decision to tax (taxation without representation)

• Good for the British – generated tax revenue to help pay debts of the French & Indian War

6. Currency Act (1764)• British banned the use of paper money in

the Colonies• Bad for Americans – made it much

harder to pay off debts to British merchants

• Good for British – kept the value of currency high, ensured profits for British merchants

7. Stamp Act (1765)• Placed a tax on all paper goods

(newspapers, wills, playing cards, etc.)• Bad for Americans – made price of the

goods taxed go up; had no say in decision to tax (taxation without representation)

• Good for the British – generated tax revenue to help pay debts of the French & Indian War

8. Sons of Liberty (1765)• Group of colonists who resorted to terror

tactics against British tax collectors (tar and feathering, burning homes)

• Good for Americans – believed British deserved the threats & attacks for failing to recognize colonists’ rights

• Bad for British – they saw theses actions as criminal acts

9. Stamp Act Congress (1765)

• Colonial assembly which petitioned England to repeal the Stamp Act

• Good for Americans – re-enforced their concept of self-government and basic rights

• Bad for English – seen as an act of defiance against British authority to tax

10. First Quartering Act (1765)

• Required Colonies to build housing for British soldiers at their own expense

• Bad for Americans – forced them to pay to house British soldiers sent to police the Colonies

• Good for British – reduced the cost of keeping troops in the Colonies

11. Declaratory Act (1766)• Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but

maintained they had the authority to tax the Colonies

• Good for Americans – tax was repealed• Bad for Americans – rights weren’t recognized• Bad for British – lost revenue from Stamp tax• Good for British – maintained their right to tax

12. Townshend Acts / Writs of Assistance (1767)

• New tax on goods imported into Colonies and removed search & trial rights of those accused of smuggling

• Bad for Americans - made price of the goods taxed go up; had no say in decision to tax; loss of civil rights

• Good for British – generated new tax revenues, deterred smuggling

13. Boston Massacre (1770)• Violent confrontation between Bostonian

civilians and British soldiers that saw 6 colonists killed

• Bad for Americans – saw event as British oppression

• Good for Americans – unified colonists in opposition to British

• Bad for British – riled up American opposition

14. Gaspee Affair (1772)• Colonists burned a British ship that had been

patrolling for smugglers• Good for Americans – satisfaction of standing

up to British oppression• Bad for Americans – British further cracked

down on smugglers• Bad for British – Americans growing more

willing to use violence

15. Committees of Correspondence (1773 – 1781)

• Effort by the Colonies to remain in constant communication and to present a united front against British oppression

• Good for Americans – unifying force, allowed for a consistent response to British acts

• Bad for British – Americans still pursuing self-government and challenging British rule

16. Tea Act (1773)• Allowed East India Company to sell tea

directly to Colonists duty-free (tax-free)• Bad for Americans – cut American

merchants (and smugglers) out of the tea trade

• Good for the British – kept the East India Company from going bankrupt and damaging the British economy

17. Boston Tea Party (1773)• Destruction of East India Company’s tea cargo

by Bostonian colonists• Bad for Americans – led to passage of the

punitive Coercive Acts (a.k.a. Intolerable Acts) by the British

• Bad for the British – Acts of colonial defiance growing; viewed the destruction of the tea as criminal destruction of private property

18. Coercive/Intolerable Acts (1774)

• Closed port of Boston, put Massachusetts under direct royal control, allowed British soldiers to be tried only in England, allowed the housing of British soldiers on private property, gave Ohio Valley to Quebec (Canada)

• Bad for Americans – damaged economy, loss of self-government, loss of civil rights, loss of territory

• Good for British – asserted their authority to act against colonial disobedience

• Bad for British – further angered colonists

19. Second Quartering Act (1774)

• One of the Intolerable Acts – allowed for British troops to be housed on private property

• Bad for Americans – failed to recognize their protections under the English Bill of Rights

• Good for British – allowed them to maintain law and order by decentralizing their troops and housing them in areas of unrest

20. First Continental Congress (1774)

• Colonial meeting in Philadelphia that called for a repeal of the Intolerable Acts, organized a boycott of British goods, but still expressed loyalty to the King

• Good for Americans – further promoted unity

• Bad for British – Americans’ still denying Britain’s right to tax

21. Lexington & Concord (1775)

• First battles between colonial militias and British troops; Britain had moved to seize weapons stores used by these militias

• Good for Americans – they had stood up for their rights

• Bad for Americans – now at war with Britain• Bad for British – attempts to exert authority

have failed

22. Second Continental Congress (1775 – 1783)

• Met to determine a course of action now that fighting has started. Agreed to both extend the “Olive Branch Petition” (seeking peace) and to create a Continental Army commanded by George Washington

• Good for Americans – organized and united colonial opposition; created an army

• Bad for British – Americans now moving towards full independence

23. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (1776)

• Pamphlet calling on colonists to support declaring their independence from British rule

• Good for Americans – its effective arguments convinced many colonists to support rebellion

• Bad for British - its effective arguments convinced many colonists to support rebellion

24. Declaration of Independence (1776)

• Document which listed Americans’ complaints against the King and declared that the Colonies were no longer under British rule

• Good for Americans – tied the 13 Colonies together and asserted their right to self-governance

• Bad for British – Americans now in open and declared rebellion