CH. 4-1 THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION

1. AMERICAN HISTORY CH. 4-1 THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION

2. BRITAIN PASSES NEW LAWS • GRENVILLE AND THE SUGAR ACT • French and Indian War left Britain with large war debt • Colonists thought British troops were there to intimidate them • British PM George Grenville decided the colonists should directly pay for troops • Grenville decided to tax the colonies to raise money

3. Sugar Act • Tax on sugar and molasses imported from the French and West Indies • Northern merchants feared the tax would hurt the rum industry • “No taxation without representation”

4. THE STAMP ACT BRINGS PROTESTS • Stamp Act 1765 • Required a government stamp on all legal documents, such as contracts and licenses • Newspapers, almanacs, and even printed sermons and playing cards had to have official stamps • First direct tax on American people

5. Rep. Patrick Henry (VA) said colonists should only pay taxes voted on by the people of VA • Stamp Act Congress (October 1765) • Parliament did not have the right to tax • “Sons of Liberty” organized protests • Group originally made up of unskilled workers, artisans, and small farmers • Merchants and lawyers joined • Women joined as Daughters of Liberty

6. Boycotts organized • British merchants asked Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act • Quartering Act (1765)—colonists must find quarters, or living space, for British troops stationed in America

7. TOWNSHEND ACTS • 1767—Minister Charles Townshend proposed a tax on lead, paint, paper, glass, and tea that were imported from Great Britain • Writs of Assistance—gave soldiers the right to search colonial homes for smuggled goods—without a warrant • This violated a person’s right to privacy

8. THE COLONISTS RESPOND • Colonists formed groups against importation • Most of the Townshend Acts repealed in March 1770 • THE BOSTON MASSACRE • Seeing British troops on city streets reminded colonists of British control

9. March 5, 1770—A crowd of colonists began throwing snowballs at the sentry guarding the customs house • British soldiers were brought in to help • Workers taunted the soldiers—known as redcoats—calling them “lobster scoundrels” • Someone shouted “FIRE” • British soldiers opened fire

10. 5 people were killed including an African American sailor named Crispus Attucks (potential leader of the colonists) • This event called the Boston Massacre • Colonists called it an intentional attack on civilians • Soldiers were put on trial for murder but released • Troops moved out of Boston

11. Samuels Adams introduced “Committees of Correspondence” • Spread the news of British injustices from colony to colony • THE TEA ACT AND THE INTOLERABLE ACTS • The Tea Act caused the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773

12. INTOLERABLE ACTS • --closed the port of Boston • --gave the royal governor more power in MA • --imposed rules for quartering soldiers • THE QUEBEC ACT • --expanded the province of Quebec south to the Ohio River & west to the Mississippi River

13. --The Roman Catholic Church would be legal and French Catholics were guaranteed their rights • Colonists alarmed • Settling on the western frontier would be limited

14. THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS • September 1774 – Philadelphia, PA • Patrick Henry, George Washington, John & Samuel Adams, John Jay • Each colony would have 1 vote during the Congress • “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginians but an American” – Patrick Henry

15. Colonists realized that had to work together • Declaration of Rights • --accepted Parliament’s right to regulate trade • --called for the removal of British troops • --repeal of taxes and the Intolerable Acts • Congress agreed not to import or use British goods

16. --stopped exporting goods to Britain • --created “minuteman”—colonial soldiers ready to resist British attacks with short notice. • Congress agreed to meet again in the Spring of 1775

17. THE BATTLES OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD • Minutemen in MA were drilling and stockpiling weapons and gunpowder. • British General Thomas Gage was becoming more hostile toward the colonists • April 1775—King George III ordered Gage to arrest colonial leaders—especially Samuel Adams and John Hancock—and capture colonial gunpowder and weapons

18. Gage planned a surprise attack on the night of April 18, 1775 • At 10:00 pm, 700 British troops crossed the Charles River in small boats and set out for Concord • SPREADING THE ALARM • Ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes

19. LEXINGTON AND CONCORD • Militia was waiting for the British at Lexington • 70 minutemen vs. 700 British redcoats • British leader Major Pitcairn shouted at the colonists: “Ye villains, ye rebels, disperse!” • A shot rang out from somewhere on the Lexington green

20. 8 minutemen were killed • No one is sure who fired the first shots of the Revolutionary War – Colonists or British • Minutemen were more successful at Concord • British casualties far greater than colonial casualties

21. THE SHOT HEARD ‘ROUND THE WORLD • July 4, 1837—Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a poem for the dedication of the Battle Monument at Concord • Emerson wrote: “Here once the embattled farmers stood/And fired the shot heard ‘round the world.” • THE END