Colonial Resistance Grows

SECTION 2

Review During the last class, we looked at: ◦ The Proclamation of 1763 ◦ The Quartering Act ◦ The Sugar Act ◦ The Stamp Act ◦ The Sons of Liberty ◦ Boycott

Tightening British Control Britain hoped to avoid further conflicts with the colonists.

British Parliament passed the Declaratory Act .

This act stated that Parliament was in control over all colonial affairs.

The Townshend Acts Parliament then passed the Townshend Acts . These placed taxes on imports such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea.

The Townshend Acts They also allowed the British to issue writs of assistance .

Writs of assistance allowed the British to enter homes and businesses to search for smuggled or illegal goods.

Anger Over the Townshend Acts The colonists were furious about the Townshend Acts and Writs of Assistance since they were being taxed and search without consent.

They wanted local officials to decide on taxation issues.

Anger Over the Townshend Acts “We cannot be happy without being free…we cannot be free without being secure in our property…we cannot be secure in our property, if taxed without our consent.” - John Dickenson

Colonists Protest Boston organized another boycott of British goods.

Other colonies followed Boston’s lead. The colonies were uniting for a common cause.

Political Activism Spreads Women formed the Daughters of Liberty.

They urged colonists to weave their own cloth and to use American products instead of British goods.

Political Activism Spreads Colonial leaders urged the people to remain calm and not to protest violently. Many continued to form mobs.

Political Activism Spreads Samuel Adams was a violent protester and leader of the Sons of Liberty.

“We will destroy every soldier that dare put his foot on shore…I look upon them as foreign enemies!”

The Boston Massacre More violence occurred when 1000 more redcoats arrived in Boston starting in 1768.

The Boston Massacre March 5, 1770: A mob of colonists surrounded a small group of soldiers in front of Boston’s State House.

They began trading insults…

The Boston Massacre The colonists began to throw snowballs packed with ice.

The British feared for their safety.

A British soldier fired his musket and the others fired as well. Five colonists were killed.

The Boston Massacre The people of Boston and other colonies were outraged.

The colonies began to print and distribute anti-British pamphlets and posters.

The British were depicted as evil.

The dead colonists were seen as heroes of liberty.

The Boston Massacre The soldiers who fired were arrested and charged with murder.

They were defended in court by John Adams, the cousin of Samuel Adams.

The Boston Massacre Many colonists were angry with John Adams.

Adams believed everyone deserved a trial and wanted to demonstrate that everyone was under the rule of law.

The Boston Massacre Adams argued that the soldiers acted in self-defense.

The jury agreed and acquitted the soldiers.

Economic Interference In April 1770, Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts.

The boycott worked.

The only tax that remained was the tea tax.

The Tea Act Increases Anger The colonists refused to drink tea imported from British merchants.

They drank smuggled tea.

The British merchants lost money.

The Tea Act Increases Anger In response, Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773.

This act lowered prices, but it forced colonists to buy tea only from the British east India Company.

Colonial Unity Expands The colonists set up committees of correspondence – organization formed to exchange information about British policies and resistance.

The Boston Tea Party In Boston, the Sons of Liberty organized the Boston Tea Party .

December 16, 1773, a group of men dressed up like Native Americans and boarded British merchant ships.

They threw 342 chests of tea into the ocean in protest to the Stamp Act.

The Boston Tea Party “We then were ordered by our commander to open the hatches and take out all the chests of tea and throw them overboard…In about three hours from the time we went on board, we had thus broken and thrown overboard every tea chest to be found in the ship; while those in the other ships were disposing of the tea in the same way, at the same time.” - George Hewes

The Boston Tea Party Colonial leaders offered to pay for the tea if Parliament repealed the Tea Act.

Britain would not compromise.

Because of the lack of compromise, many colonists felt rebellion was the answer.