Transcript From Colonial Disunity to a United Front

IS IT EVER
JUSTIFIABLE TO
OVERTHROW THE
GOVERNMENT?
THE CHAOTIC 60s
• 1763: end of salutory
(beneficial) neglect
– No more “virtual selfgovernment”
– No more evasion of
mercantilist policies
– Enforcement of
Navigation Acts (no use
of foreign shipping
colonial goods)
…and the colonists continue to be
displeased with the British…
1764: Sugar Act
lowered existing
duties, increased
enforcement
1765: Stamp
Act- 1st internal
tax levied by
British
1765: Quartering Act
required colonists to
provide food/living
quarters for British
soldiers
How the colonists responded
to the Stamp Act in 1765…
May: Virginia Resolutionsprotest Stamp Act
July: Sons of Liberty
created by Sam Adams
& John Hancock
October: Stamp Act
Congress- first time 13
colonies worked together
November: Boycott (repeal
stamp act)
1766: Stamp
Act repealed
1766: Declaratory
Act (Parliament’s
power extends to
Americas)
1767:
Townshend
Acts (duties
on paper,
glass, paint,
tea)
1770:
Boston
Massacre
Victory!
…or not…
The Boston Tea Party
• Tea Act
(1773)
• Boston
Tea Party
(1773)
British Response to the Boston
Tea Party
• Coercive & Port Acts (a.k.a. Intolerable
Acts) (1774): British closed Boston Harbor until
colonists paid for destroyed tea, permitted British officials
accused of crimes in MA to stand trial in Britain, and
drastically curtailed self-govt. in MA.
• New Quartering Act
• (1774)
Colonial Response to What is
Happening
• 1774: 1st Continental Congress
• King George declares colonies to be in a
“state of rebellion”
• 1775: 2nd Continental Congress extends
Olive Branch Petition
• King George rejects OBP; declares
colonies in rebellion
The Road to Revolution
• April 1775: Battle of Lexington & Concord
• January 1776: Thomas Paine publishes Common
Sense
• July 4, 1776: 2nd Continental Congress adopts
Declaration of Independence
"We must all hang together, or
assuredly we shall all hang
separately.“
-Benjamin Franklin
Final Question
We know how the story ends. The
colonies gain their independence and
ultimately the USA is formed. But do you
think that the colonists were justified in
fighting for independence? Or do you
think they would have been more justified
in simply fighting for their rights as
Englishmen? Explain your response.