Transcript Trouble in the Colonies - Mr. Helenbolt's Website

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Boycott – when people refuse to buy
certain goods
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Repeal – to end, usually refers to a
law
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Propaganda – information giving only
one side in an argument
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Writs of assistance – special forms
which allowed tax collectors to search
for smuggled goods
Journal #15
Trouble in the
Colonies
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5.3 and 5.4
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What was the name of the war fought
between the Wampanoag and the English
settlers?
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How did the French and Indian War start
off? Who eventually won?
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What was the name of the treaty that
ended the French and Indian War?
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This law prohibited settlers from living
west of the Appalachian Mountains
Bonus Questions
Great Britain’s War
Debts
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Britain was in debt because of
the French and Indian War
(Seven Year’s War)
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Britain was also paying
money to keep an army in
North America to protect
colonists
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Prime Minister George
Grenville asked Parliament to
tax the colonists
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The Sugar Act was passed by Parliament in
1764
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This law put taxes on molasses and sugar
imported by colonists
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This was the first act passed specifically to raise
money, not to regulate trade
The Sugar Act
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Colonies cannot print their own money
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Ships are searched for smuggled goods
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Ships had to give officials a list of their goods
The British give courts the power to
punish smugglers harshly
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Courts had no juries
Suspected smugglers are guilty until proven
innocent
Other British Policies
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Colonists begin to argue that Parliament cannot
take property without personal consent or
representation in government
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James Otis and Samuel Adams are leaders they
argued that:
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The colonists were never asked about being taxed
The colonists had no representatives in Parliament
Colonial Assemblies did not influence Parliament
These two men spread the slogan – “no taxation
without representation”
Colonists Speak Out
Samuel Adams (1722-1803)
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Born in Boston, Massachusetts
1 of 12 children (only 3 lived past age 3)
Came from a Puritan family
Graduated from Harvard, and was an
unsuccessful tax collector and businessman
before he became a politician
Spoke out against many British policies in the
colonies
Started committees of correspondence which
shared information about British laws and how to
change them
Wrote a letter which further divided the British
Parliament and Massachusetts and contributed to
the Boston Massacre
Founding Father of the United States
Cousin of John Adams (2nd President)
Did he simply guide people toward
independence or use propaganda to start mob
violence?
The Stamp Act
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Grenville proposed the Stamp Act in 1765 as an alternative
to the Sugar Act
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This act required colonists to pay for an official stamp
every time they bought paper
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Legal documents, licenses, newspapers, pamphlets, and
playing cards
Those who refused to pay were fined or jailed
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People paid similar taxes in Britain, but the colonists
protested the Stamp Act immediately
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A popular method of protesting British laws was the
boycott
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In some places, colonists formed secret societies
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Samuel Adams helped start the Sons of Liberty
These groups sometimes threatened tax
collectors
Secret Societies
Patrick Henry
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In May 1765 he presents a series of
resolutions to the House of Burgesses in
Virginia
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Says that the Stamp Act violates colonists’
rights
Taxation without representation, no jury
trial
The Colonial Assembly of Virginia
supports some of Henry’s ideas
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1st and 6th post-colonial
governor of Virginia
Known as one of the
most influential, radical
advocates of the
American Revolution
Founding Father of the
United States
“Give me Liberty, or
Give me Death!”
Patrick Henry
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Word of Virginia’s action spreads and in
October 1765 delegates from 9 colonies meet
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They declare that the Stamp Act violates their
rights and ask Parliament to repeal the act
Repealing the Stamp Act
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Pressure to repeal the act grows
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The Stamp Act is repealed in 1766
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London merchants said their trade was
suffering from colonial boycotts
Benjamin Franklin tells Parliament that
colonists will buy goods when the act is
repealed
The colonists celebrate with fireworks
They thank King George and promise to be
loyal
Parliament is upset that the colonists
have challenged their authority
Repealing the Stamp Act
New Taxes and
Tensions
{
5.4
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In 1767 Parliament passed the
Townshend Acts
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Placed duties (tax) on imported glass,
lead, paint, paper, and tea
The money paid for military costs and the
salaries of colonial governors
The British had guaranteed there wouldn’t
be a peacetime army without the colonists’
consent
The British used writs of assistance
which allowed tax collectors to search
for smuggled goods
The Townshend Acts
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Colonists hated these laws and began
boycotting British goods
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The Daughters of Liberty support the boycott
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Colonial legislatures also protest the acts
Response to the Townshend
Acts
Response to the
Townshend Acts
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In 1768 tax collectors seize a
ship on suspicion of smuggling
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The owner of the ship, John
Hancock, was unhappy
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The Sons of Liberty support
Hancock and begin attacking
the houses of customs officials
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Governor Francis Bernard
breaks up the Massachusetts
legislature and calls British
troops in to Boston
The Boston Massacre
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Colonists and British soldiers
disliked each other – name calling
and fights were common
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On March 5, 1770 a British soldier
got into a fight with a colonist
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A crowd gathered and began
throwing snowballs and shouting
insults
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As more people and troops arrive,
the soldiers fire into the crowd,
killing several colonists
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Significance: one of the events that
contributed to the American
Revolution
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Samuel Adams and others used the event as
propaganda against the British
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The soldiers and their officer are charged with
murder, 6 are found not guilty, 2 are found
guilty and given minor punishments
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The soldiers’ lawyer was John Adams
(Samuel’s cousin and future president)
The Boston Massacre
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To reduce tension, Parliament repealed almost all
of the Townshend Acts except the tax on tea
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The colonies were smuggling most of their tea to
avoid the tax
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The British pass the Tea Act in 1773 which would
allow Britain to sell its tea to the colonies at very
low prices
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Colonial smugglers and merchants feared that
cheap British tea would put them out of business
A Tax on Tea
The Boston Tea Party
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A ship carrying British tea arrived in Boston in 1773, two
others arrived later
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The Sons of Liberty demanded that the ships leave – the
Massachusetts governor won’t let them leave
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On the night of December 16, colonists disguised as
Indians snuck onto the 3 ships and dumped 90,000
pounds into Boston Harbor
Reaction to the Boston Tea Party
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The British were united against the
colonists
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It rallied support for revolutionary
colonists like Samuel Adams
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Other colonists, like Benjamin
Franklin, thought it was wrong and
wanted to repay England (Lord
North)
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Lord North and the British Parliament decide to
punish Massachusetts for the Tea Party
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In 1774, they pass the Coercive Acts, which colonists
called the Intolerable Acts
1.
2.
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5.
Boston Harbor was closed until Boston paid for the lost tea
The Massachusetts charter is cancelled
Royal officials’ trials are moved to Britain
Colonists are forced to house and supply British soldiers
(the Quartering Act)
General Thomas Gage becomes the new governor of
Massachusetts
The Intolerable Acts
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The British hoped that these steps would bring
back order and make Massachusetts an
example
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This backfired and made citizens even more
angry at Britain
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Colonial leaders in Boston propose a boycott of
all British goods in the colonies
Reaction to the Intolerable
Acts