Transcript Slide 1
Action Taken by Great Britain Long Term Cause! Conflict between Great Britain & the Colonies grew over issues of taxation, representation, & liberty! STAMP ACT, Passed in 1765. required colonists to purchase special stamped paper for documents, licenses, newspaper, etc. Violators would be tried in ViceAdmiralty (royal) courts. Unit 1 #4 Re-Action Taken by the American Colonies STAMP ACT, Passed in 1765. 1. Organized Sons’ of Liberty. Harassed customs workers, stamp agents 2.Colonial assemblies made collective protest. Stated Parliament lacked authority to impose taxes on colonies. 3. Boycotted British manufactured goods. OUTCOME: March 1766, Parliament repealed Stamp Act Action Taken by Great Britain Re-Action Taken by the American Colonies TOWNSHEND ACTS: Passed in 1767. In-direct taxes (duties) on imported materials, glass, lead, paint, etc. PLUS, 3-penny tax on tea. TOWNSHEND ACTS: more organized resistance, more boycotts. SEIZED SHIP: Brits claimed J. Hancock ship did not pay taxes. Stationed 2,000 troops in Boston BOSTON MASSACRE: mob gathered in front of customs house, armed clash w/ soldiers, left 5 colonists dead. *The assemblies of Massachusetts set up committees of correspondence* TEA ACT: Great Britain grants British East India Tea Co. right to sell tea untaxed to colonists. Colonial merchants have to pay tax, so this cut out the colonial merchants. BOSTON TEA PARTY: Colonists protested, Dec 1773, group of Bostonians disguised as natives, boarded 3 tea ships in the harbor & dumped 18,000 pounds of tea. The Boston Massacre (March 5,1770) Action Taken by Great Britain INTOLERABLE ACTS: 1.Shut down Boston Harbor 2. Quartering Act-forced homes to house soldiers 3.Martial law-Gage is appointed governor of Mass., imposes military rule TROOPS TO CONCORD. Gage received reports of munitions kept outside Boston. Sent troops to seize & destroy munitions. Re-Action Taken by the American Colonies 1ST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS: Met in Philadelphia, 1774. If Brits used force, colonies could fight back. Colonies had right to run their own affairs. SONS OF LIBERTY ACT: Paul Revere, Wm. Dawes & Sam Prescott ride through countryside to warn people. Battle of Lexington started next morning. Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventyfive; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882 Written April 19, 1860 He said to his friend, "If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light, One, if by land, and two, if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm. The Road to Revolution Continues June 1775: Misnamed, actually happened at Breed’s Hill. British troops are surrounded in Boston. Took 3 tries, but they finally broke out of Boston. Colonists extend the Olive Branch Petition to King George III, in a hope for peace. The King rejected this petition. Summer 1776: Continental Congress decides to issue a formal declaration. Thomas Jefferson is chosen to write it. [“their just powers from the consent of the governed”] July 2, 1776, voted unanimously, and adopted on July 4th. The Declaration of Independence was read to a crowd on July 4th, 1776. The closing vow was “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.” POST DECLARATION: Colonists now had to pick sides. Many choose, for various reasons, to stay loyal to the crown. Others supported the patriot cause, mostly for economic opportunity. Half the population stayed neutral. Ideas for Revolution Ideas are very powerful. Words can provoke actions. Words for Revolution Common Sense Thomas Paine wrote…time to declare independence, trade freely. A chance for a better society Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson wrote…greatly influenced by John Locke, natural rights= unalienable rights.