Transcript The Birth of a Democratic Nation

The Birth of a Democratic
Nation
Chapter 2 Sec. 2
Section 2 Vocabulary
• Mercantilism
• Boycott
• Repeal
• Delegates
• Independence
Colonial resistance and rebellion
• The British government began to tighten its
grip on the American colonies
• Adopted a policy of mercantilism, the theory that
a country should use its colonies to produce and
sell more goods than it buys
• Britain wanted to buy American raw materials at
cheap prices and sell them finished products at a
higher price
• Britain won land in America from the French
and Indian War
• In order to pay off war debts and costs of ruling
the new land, Britain raised taxes
Colonial resistance and rebellion
• Colonists resented these taxes because
they had no one to represent them in
the British Parliament
• “No taxation without representation”
• The colonists began to boycott, or
refuse to buy British goods
• Due to this, Parliament agreed to repeal,
or cancel, some of theses new taxes. They
would eventually replace them with new
taxes
Colonial resistance and rebellion
• The British Parliament soon would pass the
Tea Act, which raised the cost of Tea in the
colonies
• In response, the colonists dressed up as Native
Americans and dumped all the Tea into the
Boston Harbor. This became known as the Boston
Tea Party. It cost the British lots of money.
• The British responded with the Coercive
acts, which restricted the rights of the
colonists
Boston Tea Party
Movement toward independence
• The colonies sent delegates, or
representatives, to a meeting in
Philadelphia called the First Continental
Congress.
• They demanded that King George III
restore their rights
• The king responded with force, and sent
troops
Movement toward independence
• The Revolutionary War begins
• The first battles were at Lexington & Concord
• This made the colonists question their loyalty to
Britain
• They began to talk about independence, or selfreliance and freedom from outside control
• Colonists call for a Second Continental
Congress
• Some delegates wanted independence while
others wanted to remain loyal
• Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense helped
sway public opinion towards independence so the
Second Continental Congress finally agreed.
Discussion Question
Why do you think some of the delegates
of the second Continental Congress
opposed independence?
Lexington and Concord
The Declaration of Independence
• The Declaration of
Independence was
mostly written by
Thomas Jefferson
• It explained why the
colonies thought they
should be a free nation.
• It listed abuses by the
king, and argued that the
British government did
not look after the
colonies best interests
The Declaration of Independence
• The Declaration said that the purpose of
government is to protect the rights its
citizens. Government is based on the
consent of the people, and if it disregards
those rights, the people are entitled to
change or overthrow it
• These ideas were influenced by philosopher John
Locke. He saw government as a contract between
the people and the rulers.
• The Second Continental Congress approved
the Declaration on July 4, 1776