Causes of the American Revolution

1. Causes of the American Revolution 1750-1776

2. Navigation Acts & Mercantilism • Mercantilism- each nation’s power is measured by its wealth- to secure wealth, a country needed to maximize its sale of goods abroad. • Colonies supply the raw materials and serve as markets for finished products • Navigation Acts • Start in 1651- governed the commerce of the colonies • Required the trade be carried out only in English boats • Enumerated list- tobacco, rice, indigo, had to be exported only to England • Imports to the colonies had to go through England first

3. Salutary Neglect • As long as the colonies continued to send raw materials and buy the finished products, England would not enforce the Navigation Acts • Allowed colonists to develop self government and prosper economically • Causes tension when the British start enforcing the Acts after the French and Indian war in order to make money • Americans begin smuggling in products to avoid the taxes imposed by the Navigation Acts • Writs of Assistance- passed in order to get the colonists to stop smuggling- they were a search warrant that allowed British officers to seize illegally imported goods. Allowed them to enter any ship or building where smuggled goods might be hidden.

4. Sugar Act-1764 • Meant to help offset England’s military expenses • Changed the Molasses Act of 1733 • Taxed foreign molasses and rum • Said that anyone smuggling rum/molasses would not be tried by a colonial court, but by a British judge • American continued smuggling, England lowered the tax to a penny • Angered merchants in MA, NY, & PA

5. Stamp Act Crisis 1765-1766 • England’s national debt continued to rise- Englishmen had the second-highest tax rates in Europe • By 1765 English tax rates were 26 shillings per person, but about 0.5 -1.5 shillings per colonist • Parliament passed the Stamp Act in March 1765- which forced colonists to buy stamps for newspapers, customs documents, licenses, college diplomas, playing cards, legal forms for property/wills • Was an internal tax, not external, which meant it was levied directly on property within the colonies so it affected all colonists, not just merchants/ship captains • Designed to raise revenue for the King

6. Stamp Act Crisis 1765-1766 • May 1765- Patrick Henry urged the VA House of Burgesses to adopt 7 strongly worded resolutions denying Parliament’s power to tax the colonies • VA Resolutions • Only 4 are passed • Protests erupt throughout the colonies • Colonists pressured/threatened British tax collectors- forcing many to resign • Stamp Act Congress- October 1765 • Nine colonies met in New York City • Decided that Parliament did not have the authority to tax the colonies and made an agreement to boycott all British goods

7. Stamp Act Crisis 1765-1766 • Since the colonists purchased about 40% of England’s manufactured products, this scared English businessmen, who convinced Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act • Parliament revokes the Stamp Act in March 1766, but passes the Declaratory Act, which declared the Parliament did have the right to tax the colonists • First time that many colonists began to question their relationship with England • Sons of Liberty form in the colonies

8. Quartering Act 1765 • Ordered colonial legislatures to pay for certain goods needed by soldiers stationed in their borders • Angered colonists because it obligated colonial assemblies to raise money- colonial assemblies thought they were the only ones who could raise money

9. Townshend Duties 1767-1770 • Taxed glass, paint, lead, paper and tea • Colonists responded with a nonimportation agreement • Limited British imports and mobilized colonists • Parliament agreed in April 1770 to repeal most of the duties • Repealed all of the taxes, except the tax on tea • Colonists were unsure of whether or not to see this as a victory- continued to voluntarily stop drinking British tea • Limited revenue of tea to about 1/6th of what was expected

10. Townshend Duties 1767-1770 • Taxed glass, paint, lead, paper and tea • Colonists responded with a nonimportation agreement • Limited British imports and mobilized colonists • Parliament agreed in April 1770 to repeal most of the duties • Repealed all of the taxes, except the tax on tea • Colonists were unsure of whether or not to see this as a victory- continued to voluntarily stop drinking British tea • Limited revenue of tea to about 1/6th of what was expected • Led to more smuggling in the colonies and British tried to enforce laws • John Hancock

11. “Wilkes and Liberty”- 1768-1770 • John Wilkes- member of Parliament who denounced George III’s policies • Arrested for libel • House of Commons denied Wilkes his seat • Wilkes fled to Paris • When Wilkes returned in 1768 and ran for Parliament, and was elected • He was arrested by the British government • 20,000-40.000 “Wilkesites” gathered outside his prison to protest • Colonists send him tobacco and money to support him • Embolden people to speak out against the government and provided the colonists support for challenging the Parliament and British government

12. Boston Massacre 1770 • British sent 4,000 troops to Boston in 1768 • Bostonians saw this as a standing army that threatened their liberty and was a financial burden • Boston took on the atmosphere of an occupied city • Lots of tension • Soldiers and colonists traded insults • Many soldiers were Irish Catholic- colonists were protestant • Soldiers could get jobs while off duty- were willing to work for less money than colonists • Tensions flared and ignited on the night of March 5th

13. Boston Massacre 1770 • What actually happened? • Read the primary source accounts and decide which view you agree with and why. • Summarize what each side says happened.

16. Story Of Us

17. Committees of Correspondence 1772-1773 • Started in Massachusetts by Sam Adams • First attempt to maintain close and continuing political cooperation • Allowed colonists to consider evidence that their rights were in danger • Linked colonial leaders across the colonies by 1773 • First time since stamp act congress

18. Conflicts in the Backcountry • Paxton Boys in PA- occurred because Indians were attacking in the Backcountry of PA and these residents weren’t receiving equal representation- Franklin reaches a compromise with them • Green Mountain Boys- established Vermont after four years of guerrilla warfare with settlers/government from NY • Regulator Movement in NC- westerners were trying to get representation in their colonial assembly; they are defeated, but the uprising weakened the state, making it harder for them to resist the British authority • Regulator Movement in SC- Vigilantes provided justice in the backcountry because they were not getting help from the colony’s militia- led to judicial circuits in the backcountry • Important because it showed the colonists’ willingness to resort to violence & desire for land

19. Tea Act 1773 • Smuggling and nonconsumption hurt the British East India Company’s profits- the company was close to bankruptcy • May 1773- Parliament passed the Tea Act • Actually lowered the price of the tea below the price of all competition • Angered many Americans because it would raise revenue, which would go towards royal governors and colonists were angry it put a monopoly on the British tea • Colonists decided not to allow any boats carrying tea into their harbors • Boat arrived in Boston • December 16- 5,000 Bostonians gathered, with 50 dressed as Indians (showed American identity)- dumped the tea into the harbor and did not damage anything else

20. John Adams • 44:57- Mercantilism & Tea Act • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-d6eNRownI

21. Intolerable Acts/Coercive Acts- 1774-1765 • Boston Port Bill- Boston Harbor was closed unless the town paid for the ruined tea within 2 months (April-June) • Impossible deadline- led to economic trouble • Massachusetts Government Act- revoked the charter and took over the government= no longer elected by the colonists, but the governor and representatives would be appointed by the crown • Administration of Justice Act (Murder Act)- any person charged with murder while enforcing royal authority in MA would be tried in England or another colony (ex. Boston Massacre) • Quartering Act- governor could take over empty private buildings for housing troops • Pushed colonists to rebellion- were concerned their liberties would all be taken away

22. John Adams • 54:00- Intolerable Acts • http://www.history.com/topics/stamp-act/videos#colonists-protest-british-policies

23. First Continental Congress • Every colony except Georgia sent delegates to Philadelphia • Trying to find a way to defend the colonists’ rights • Supported the Suffolk Resolves- declared that the colonies didn’t have to listen to the Coercive Acts, colonial government should collect taxes, and defensive measures should be taken if royal troops attack • Agreed to boycott all British imports and halt almost all exports to England until they reached an agreement • Sent a petition to the King- wanted the king to dismiss those responsible for the Coercive Acts and recognize that Parliament could not tax the colonies

24. Lexington & Concord • April 19, 1775 MA Governor sent 700 British soldiers to take the military supplies the colonists had stored in Concord • Paul Revere and William Dawes warned the colonists • At Lexington about 70 minutemen confronted the soldiers • Someone fired- but who was it? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ikO6LMxF4

25. Lexington & Concord • 8 minutemen died • British went on to Concord, but the minutemen were waiting to ambush them • Americans attacked the British all 16 miles back to Boston • British suffered 273 casualties while the colonists had 92

26. John Adams • First continental Congress- explains what the Congress decided • Nonimportation agreements • 6:50 Lexington and Concord

27. Second Continental Congress • Most still opposed independence • John Dickinson of PA wrote the Olive Branch Petition with 3 demands • Cease-fire at Boston • Repeal the Coercive Acts • Negotiations to establish American rights • May 1775 voted to create an American continental army with George Washington as the commander • George III received the petition, news of the continental army, and Bunker Hill (where 1,154 British died) • George III rejected the petition and in October 1775 declared that all colonies were in rebellion

28. 3 Groups • Moderates • Conservatives • Radicals

29. John Adams • 13:00 Second Continental Congress

30. Declaration of Independence • Written during the 2nd Continental Congress after Lexington & Concord • Thomas Jefferson was chosen as the author • Declared America independent from England • Representatives from each colony were in Philadelphia • Everyone in attendance and everyone who signed the declaration were considered traitors who committed treason. They could have been killed if America had lost.

31. Declaration of Independence • Influenced by: The ideas of John Locke • “Enlightenment” thinker- development of new ideas about the rights of people and their relationship to their rulers. • John Locke’s ideas, more than any other’s, influenced the American belief in self-government. Locke wrote the following: • All people are free, equal, and have “natural rights” of life, liberty, and property • All power resides in the people, and they consent to a “social contract” to form a government to protect their rights. In return, the people promise to obey the laws established by the government, • Government’s powers are limited to those the people have consented to give to it. Whenever government becomes a threat to the people’s natural rights, it breaks the contract, and the people have the right to alter or overthrow it.

32. Declaration of Independence • Influenced by: Thomas Paine • an English immigrant to America • Wrote Common Sense, which challenged the rule of the American colonies by the King of England. • Common Sense was read by many American colonists during the mid-1700s and led to more people wanting independence from Great Britain.

33. Declaration of Independence • Draft of the Declaration by Thomas Jefferson, reflected the ideas of Locke and Paine. Jefferson wrote: • “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. • “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. • “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government….” • Jefferson then went on to detail many of the grievances against the King of England that Paine had earlier described in Common Sense.

34. Declaration of Independence • Key principles of the Declaration of Independence increased political, social, and economic participation in the American experience over a period of time. • Political participation (equality) • Extending the franchise • Upholding due process of law • Providing free public education • Social participation (liberty) • Abolishing slavery • Extending civil rights to women and other groups • Economic participation (pursuit of happiness) • Regulating the free enterprise system • Promoting economic opportunity • Protecting property rights