A Declaration of Independence

1. A Declaration of Independence Unit 1, Lesson 1, PowerPoint 3

2. Signs of Trouble • “No taxation without representation.” • American colonists were not represented in Parliament. The taxes imposed on them were considered unjust and hated by the colonies. • Stamp Act • Colonists would pay a tax on almost anything written or printed.

3. The Stamp Act • Virginia Resolves (5 Resolutions adopted by the House of Burgesses) • Supported the idea that only the people’s elected representatives could lawfully tax them. • Stamp Act was deemed unconstitutional. • Stamp Act Congress met and approved the Resolutions. • Two big statements: • That the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances cannot be, represented in the House of Commons in Great Britain. • No taxes should be imposed on them but by their respective legislatures.

4. The Big Win • Merchants in New York ran a complete boycott of British goods. • There was a continent-wide resistance to local authority. • “Stampmen” (tax collectors) couldn’t be found. Nobody wanted the job. • John Adams wrote, the people were: • “more attentive to their liberties” • “more inquisitive about them” • “more determined to defend them” • Parliament was forced to repeal the tax.

5. Internal vs. External Taxes • The Stamp Act was an internal tax. Internal taxes are taxes on items produced and sold within the colonies. • The Townshend Acts of 1767 • Taxes (duties) on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. These were things imported by the colonies. The British argued that this was an external tax. If you wanted the goods, you had to pay up.

6. Trouble in the North • Quartering Act of 1766 • Required colonists to provide redcoats (British troops) with food, water, and shelter. • There began to be a great increase in the number of redcoats. • Boston had the most. • Writs of Assistance – search warrants • Issued by royal authorities. • Custom officials did not have to specify the goods to be searched for. • Custom officials could break in anywhere…even private homes.

7. Custom officials seized John Hancock for smuggling Madeira wine and imposed a fine. • A mob chased the officials out of town and trashed their homes. • Samuel Adams, the leader of “The Son’s of Liberty,” spread news of the Boston outrages.

8. The Boston Massacre • A mob of young men and boys cornered a group of redcoats in Boston. • The frightened soldiers fired on the mob, killing five colonists. • Paul Revere’s exaggerated depiction of the killings was sent throughout the colonies.

10. John Adams • John Adams was given the task of defending the redcoats who were convicted of murder and charged with hanging. • He made a name for himself when all but two were found not guilty.

11. The North Administration • Lord North persuaded parliament to repeal all of the Townshend Acts except the tax on tea. • Between 1771-1773 there was a lessening of tensions. • Lord North issued a Tea Act that gave the East India Company a monopoly on tea.

12. Boston Tea Party • December 16, 1773 men disguised as Mohawk Indians climbed aboard three ships and dumped their cargoes of tea into the harbor. • In today’s terms, the losses to the East India Company would be valued at $1 million.

13. The King Lashes Back • King George III issues the “Intolerable Acts” • Closed the port of Boston • Colonists lost the right to elect member s of the Upper House of their assembly. • Quartering Act that allowed royal officials to place soldiers in colonists’ homes at the colonists’ expense. • Soldiers indicted for murder while suppressing riots should be tried in London. • Quebec Act that extended the southern border of Quebec to the Ohio River (I can take away your liberties)

14. The Continental Congress • Patriot (whig) – supporter of the American revolution • Patriot leaders elected delegates to attend the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774. • Continental Congress adopted the “Suffolk Resolves” • Declared the Intolerable Acts null and void. • Parliament refused to appeal the Acts.

15. March 23, 1775 • Patrick Henry gives his famous speech to his fellow Virginians. He urges Virginia to take up arms and stand beside Boston. • “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

16. A Storm is Coming • Boston knew the British response to colonial defiance was coming. • A signal was set up in Boston. Two lanterns in the Old North Church warned Paul Revere that the British regulars were moving out. • He brought the news to Lexington where Minutemen positioned themselves to stop the British.

17. The Shot Heard Round the World • The Battle of Lexington • First shot of the Revolutionary War • Rebel soldiers were fired upon by the British. • British fought there way to Concord where they destroyed militia stores. • On the way back they were under constant attack by Minutemen.

18. Continental Army • Army that pledged its loyalty to Congress, and not the individual colonies, as was the practice in the militia. • George Washington was nominated to command all American forces, with the rank of general.

19. Independence • Patriots began to realize that no European state would support them while they were still members of the British empire. They had to split and form their own nation. • Congress named a committee to draft a declaration of causes for independence. • John Adams nominated Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence.