Tighter British Control

6.1

Tighter British Control

Events Leading to the American Revolution in order from left to right, top to bottom.

 England needed the colonies. Mercantilism was England’s way of maintaining her position of power in the world.  The English suddenly wanted to regain control of the colonies after having left them alone for 150 years.

 The colonists resented the interference.

Not only did the colonists supply raw materials to England, they also bought all of their finished products from England. England was making a killing selling finished products to the colonists.

Imports and Exports between England and North America from 1763-1776

  With the help of the Colonists, the British won the French and Indian War In 1763, The Treaty of Paris awarded England all of the land from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River.

  The colonists were eager to claim the new land west of the Appalachians.

King George, however, didn’t want trouble with the Indians, so he passed a Proclamation forbidding the colonists to move beyond the Appalachian Mountains

King George III enforce the Proclamation of 1763, by keeping 10,000 soldiers in the colonies.

British soldiers were stationed in the colonies after 1763 to keep peace between the colonists and the Native Americans.

 The Colonists were angry over the Proclamation of 1763. They felt they deserved the new land because they had fought for it.

 Then, King George decided the colonists should help pay for the debt he’d acquired fighting the French and Indian War, which had doubled Britain’s debt. So, he passed the Sugar Act which placed a tax on molasses, sugar, and other items shipped to the colonies

  King George wanted to enforce the Proclamation of 1763 by preventing the colonists from moving across the mountains.

He also wanted to make sure the colonists didn’t smuggle goods from other countries to avoid the Sugar Act.

   So, George passed the Quartering Act.

He wanted to keep troops in America to enforce his laws, but he didn’t want to pay for their room and board.

In 1765, Parliament passed a quartering act that stated that British troops in America would be housed in barracks and in public houses unless and until the number of troops overwhelmed the facilities, at which time, the troops could be housed in private commercial property, such as inns and stables, and in uninhabited homes and barns. The quartering would be without compensation and, in fact, owners would be required to provide soldiers with certain necessities such as food, liquor, salt, and bedding, also without compensation.

 Colonists were angry over the Quartering and Sugar Acts.

 Remember, the colonists had enjoyed 150 years of salutary neglect in which they made their own rules.

 They resented the king’s sudden enforcement of laws.

 They especially

resented being taxed without their consent

. They

had no representatives in Parliament

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=mivLguvRF7Y 4:32

Parliament passed the Stamp Act to raise $ in the colonies to pay the costs of defending them.

Britain Passes the Stamp Act The Stamp Act was different from the Sugar Act because the Stamp Act taxed the colonists, while the Sugar Act taxed trade.

Patrick Henry was a member of the House of Burgesses that called for resistance to the Stamp Act.

The Colonies Protest the Stamp Act

The significance of the Stamp Act Congress was that it was the first colonial gathering to consider acting together in protest.

What role did the Sons of Liberty play in the fight for liberty in the colonies? They staged both peaceful and violent protests against Parliament’s laws.

The Colonies Protest the Stamp Act

The Declaratory Act gave Parliament the supreme control to govern the colonies.

Look at your text p. 146

The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man

, 1774 British propaganda print that depicts the tarring and feathering of Boston Commissioner of Customs John Malcolm. This was the second time Malcolm had been tarred and feathered. The Boston Tea Party is shown, but it had occurred four weeks before this event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t 9pDZMRCpQ No More Kings, School House Rock

https://app.discoveryeducation.com/learn/vi deos/455f817c-c87b-478c-86c3 2a2f79553896 The Quartering Act 1:01

 The King wasn’t happy over the colonists’ refusal to pay taxes.

 His finance minister, Charles Townshend, suggested new acts.

 One of these acts suspended New York’s assembly until New Yorkers agreed to house soldiers.

https://app.discoveryeducation.com/learn/vi deos/04d573b0-39ec-4969-b878 06a405de788a The Townshend Acts, Writs of Assistance, and the Boston Massacre 1:28

 The Townshend Acts placed duties or taxes on

imported goods such as glass, paper, paint,

lead, and tea.

 The Townshend Acts also gave soldiers the

right to search colonists homes

as

writs of assistance

.

with warrants known 

These writs could be issued without probable cause to search homes for smuggled goods.

Cartoon in text p. 171

Tools of Protest 

Samuel Adams was the driving force behind the boycott of British goods to protest the Townshend Acts.



Samuel Adams, a brewer, and the leader of the Sons of Liberty led the opposition to the Townshend Acts.

 In the fall of 1768, 1,000 British soldiers arrived in Boston under the command of General Thomas Gage.  These soldiers were to enforce the Townshend Acts  Tension filled the streets of Boston

Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ee1RAhDm3w Write “Facts are stubborn things.” and “Make shipwreck of conscience.” on the board .

On March 5, 1770, a fight called the Boston Massacre broke out between British soldiers and dockworkers.

The Boston Massacre became a symbol of British tyranny.

Finally, the boycott of English goods and the anger of the colonists forced Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts.

BUT. . . . King George left one tax in place . . . The tax on tea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVD lQAMr0FQ 4:02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= mDsItFMX2Ag 1:48

The Road to Lexington and Concord Would Mr. C be willing to show the kids his cd of pictures of this topic?

 England’s rulers were furious over the Boston Tea Party.

  Determined to get the colonists under control, Parliament and King George passed the Coercive Acts. The Colonists called these the Intolerable Acts. https://app.discoveryeducation.com/learn/vid eos/20a02cc2-421d-4c4b-9847-cfb8d84f168e 1:01

4) As tensions rose in late 1773 and early 1774, the old quartering act was supplemented with the Quartering Act of 1774 . This act, passed on June 2, 1774, required colonists to house troops not only as previously required, but also in private homes.

 In response to the Intolerable Acts, the colonists formed the First Continental Congress.

 Delegates voted to ban all trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed.

 In the eyes of the king, this was treason.



British troops march from Boston into the countryside in April 1775 to arrest patriot leaders and destroy the militia’s supplies.



Paul Revere became famous for spreading the news of the British troops movements. https://app.discoveryeducation.com/learn/videos/E386CFB6 5FC9-41D6-8448-3930B3038943 4:34



William Dawes avoided capture while spreading the news that the British were coming.

Use next several slides if videos are unavailable.

April 1775, General Thomas Gage, was ordered to destroy the rebel's military stores at Concord. To do this he put Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Marine Major John Pitcairn in charge. He also composed a relief column under the command of Lord Hugh Percy to leave 6 hours after the main column. In an attempt at secrecy he did not tell his officers his plan until the last minute. The problem with this was that Boston had become a glass fishbowl. All rebel eyes were watching to see the British' next action, and when the garrison committed to an action, the Americans knew their every move.

At midnight on the 19 th , 650-900 troops left Boston, crossed the Charles River, followed closely by the alarm rider Paul Revere. As the British marched towards Concord, the entire countryside had been alerted to their presence, and rebel militia was deployed to meet them.

Up to now, no armed resistance to the British that had resulted in loss of British life. Several months earlier, Gage had attempted to destroy military arms at Salem and met with resistance but no shots were fired, and the British retreated without completing their objective. Lexington Militia Captain John Parker had heard of the events at Salem, and collected his men on Lexington Green to face the British column.

At dawn, Smith's advanced parties under the command of Major Pitcairn, arrived at Lexington Green to see a group of armed Militia in formation across the Green. Pitcairn ordered the militia, led by John Parker, to be surrounded and disarmed. In response Parker ordered his men to disperse. Then a shot rang out. No one really knows who fired first, but the British, hearing the shot, fired upon the small group of militia, killing 8, and wounding 10 more. The militia then retreated into the woods to avoid the British fire.

That was the first battle in the American Revolutionary War.

The British column then marched to Concord, to destroy some cannons believed to be at Provincial Colonel Barrett's farm ran into a group of armed militia at Concord North Bridge. This time when shots rang out the Americans were more prepared, and fired back in "The Shot Heard Round The World.", and so began the American Revolution. The short battle at the bridge was a defeat, and the British abandoned the bridge, retreating to Concord center. Knowing that he was in a dangerous situation, Smith decided to return to Boston as soon as possible. In his retreat the real battle began.

Militia and Minutemen from all surrounding towns had marched toward Concord, and when the retreating column ran into this army they were outflanked, out gunned and scared. The Americans did not fight as the British did. Instead of forming an offensive line the rebels used small squad and company tactics to flank the column and inflicted heavy damage. Because the American's never formed a firing line the inexperienced British had little to shoot at. This style of flanking and shooting from behind trees, walls etc. destroyed the British morale, and they broke ranks while retreating towards Lexington.

Had it not been for the relief brigade of Lord Percy, the British would have been destroyed. Waiting at Lexington, Percy used his two cannon to disperse the rebels and collected Smiths troops back into regiments. He then led the retreat back to Boston. Under Percy's command the retreating column maintained control, even under heavy fire, and the retreat to Boston was a success. The British suffered badly, nearly 20 percent casualties, but more importantly, this action led to the siege of Boston and the start of the Revolutionary War.

Days later, the men of Massachusetts used the engagement as propaganda to turn the public opinion to their cause. At the time of the battle only one third of the population believed in breaking from Britain.



During the Revolutionary War, people who sided with the rebels were called Patriots.

https://app.discoveryeducation.com/learn/videos/9dfc1732-315c-4fdd-a3f0 39762f3495cb The Attack of the Minutemen 4:45 https://app.discoveryeducation.com/learn/videos/173dedb3-92c2-43aa-8492 a9a467e22c44 Samuel Whittmore Fights Back 2:20

Declaring Independence

When armed conflict between bands of American colonists and British soldiers began in April 1775, the Americans were really fighting only for their rights as British subjects. By the following summer, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, the movement for independence from Britain had grown, and delegates of the Continental Congress were faced with a vote on the issue. In mid-June 1776, a five-man committee including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin was tasked with drafting a formal statement of the colonies’ intentions. The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence –written largely by Jefferson –in Philadelphia on July 4, a date now celebrated as the birth of American independence.

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John Hancock, proud to attach his name to the Declaration of Independence, signed in huge, bold strokes —the most prominent signature on the document. To this day, putting your John Hancock on something means to sign it. The most common legend is that he signed his name bigger than everyone else’s so that the “fat old King could read it without his spectacles”. The fact is that as the president of Congress he was the first person to sign the document and because he was the leader of Congress his signature was centered below the text. Another myth reinforced by the Trumbull’s painting of the Declaration of Independence which is now located in the United States Capitol rotunda is that the declaration was signed by all delegates on July 4, 1776. The fact is that signing started August 2 and was not completed until late November.

What would have happened had the American patriots lost their war against Great Britain. British victory in the conflict was entirely possible. Given the significant disparities in resources between the British and the colonists, such an outcome seemed not just possible but likely early on, and at numerous points during the conflict. The Patriots lacked a professional army, a central government, and a navy; the 13 colonies were geographically dispersed and lacked Britain’s political unity. The Patriots waged their war for independence against the world’s most powerful military and its greatest empire, only 15 years from its great triumph over France in the Seven Years’ War.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=uZfRaWAtBVg It’s Too Late to Apologize 3:21

Explain: King George, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben Franklin, John Hancock, Samuel Adams

   Militiamen from all over the colonies gather outside of Boston- 20,000 strong

Washington, a member of the Continental Congress, is chosen as General

They attack and capture British Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775

    Colonists control a hilltop across the bay from Boston 2,200 Redcoats set out to attack colonists British finally won, but at a cost of over 1,000 killed or wounded vs. only 400 colonists The colonists lost, but the battle showed Continental Army was a force to be reckoned with

“Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” Colonel William Prescott at the Battle of Bunker Hill

•Most colonists still wanted peace

  

Olive Branch Petition- 1775 Asked King to restore harmony between Britain and the Colonies King not only rejects petition he also:

 

Uses British Navy to blockade ports Sends German Hessian soldiers to fight

 In early 1776, most Americans STILL wanted to avoid a final break with Britain.

 However,

the publication of a pamphlet titled Common Sense helped convince many Americans that a complete break with Britain was necessary.



Thomas Paine was the author of Common Sense.

   The Continental Congress remained undecided.

Then Congress allowed each of the 13 colonies to establish its own government.

On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a key resolution. It declared that all political connection between the colonies and Great Britain was totally dissolved.

The Committee that Drafted the Declaration of Independence :



Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston



Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776



That’s why we celebrate the 4 th of July or Independence Day!!!!!



The Declaration Contains these words: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

   After much debate, Continental Congress has Thomas Jefferson write the document July 4, 1776 Declaration is adopted Key Points:  People have rights government can’t take away  People have right to challenge government  Explained reasons for breaking with Britain  Declared colonies to be free and independent  http://www.history.com/topics/american revolution/declaration-of-independence 3:49