Road to Revolution

1. Road to Revolution By: Ms. Astle

2. Influential People

3. John Locke • Declared the purpose of government was to protect people’s natural rights of life, liberty, and ownership of property. • Declared if government failed to protect these rights then government should be changed.

4. Benjamin Franklin • Wrote “Poor Richard’s Almanack” • Inventor of bifocals and the lightning rod • Created first library and organized post office

5. George Grenville • Prime Minister of England • Began enforcing existing laws and passing new policies. • Passed laws allowing smugglers to be sent to vice-admiralty courts (no jury.)

6. King George III • King of England

7. Sons of Liberty • Protest group of colonists • Helped lead boycotts and the Boston Tea Party

8. Daughters of Liberty • Made up of colonial women. • Urged Americans to wear homemade fabrics and produce other goods that were only available from Britain before. • Participated in boycotts.

9. Patrick Henry • Young lawyer who belonged to the Virginia House of Burgesses • Spoke out against taxes and proposed resolutions • Famous for saying “Give me liberty or give me death.” • Persuaded the Burgesses to take action against the Stamp Act.

10. Samuel Adams • Leader of the Sons of Liberty • Spoke out against Parliament in speeches and newsletters • Led the Boston Tea Party • Organized the Committees of Correspondence

11. Crispus Attucks • African American sailor killed in the Boston Massacre

12. Paul Revere • Part of the Sons of Liberty. • Openly opposed British Rule. • Created an engraving of Boston Massacre. • Famous for his midnight ride warning “the British are coming, the British are coming” to Lexington and Concord.

13. James Otis • Young lawyer of Boston. • Argued that no part of England’s colonies could be taxed without their consent…every part has a right to be represented.

14. Tension in America

15. Tension in America • After the French and Indian War the British planned to keep 10,000 troops in America to protect their interest. • To help pay for the war Britain passed a series of taxes on the Colonies to help pay off the debt Britain and accumulated. • The colonists said there should be “no taxation without representation!” • To get around the taxes colonists began smuggling goods into America to bypass the taxes.

16. Tension in America • England passed a law that allowed Writs of Assistance---legal documents allowed custom officers to enter any location to search for smuggled goods. • Colonists believed their rights as Englishmen were being violated. Writs of Assistance violated the right to be secure in their homes. Vice-admiralty courts violated their right to a trial by jury.

17. Taxes and Acts

18. Proclamation of 1763 • Forbade colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains • Britain stationed troops in frontier forts to enforce this act

19. Sugar Act of 1764 • Lowered tax on imported foreign molasses and sugar. • Allowed officers to seize goods from smugglers without going to court.

20. Quartering Act 1765 • Required colonist to pay for quartering (housing and feeding) of British soldiers in their area in taverns, inns, vacant buildings, and barns. It also expected them to provide food and drink.

21. Stamp Act 1765 • Tax on almost all printed items. • Newspapers, pamphlets, playing cards, and legal documents like diplomas, wills, and licenses. • All material had to have a stamp which was applied by British officials to show the tax had been paid.

22. Declaratory Act-March1766 • Made right after the repeal of the Stamp Act. • States parliament had the right to tax and make decisions for the British colonies “in all cases.”

23. Townshend Acts 1766 • Applied to imported goods and the tax was paid at the port of entry. • Placed import tax on paint, glass, lead, paper, and tea. • The colonies had to import these goods since they did not produce them.

24. Tea Act 1773 • Gave the East Indian Company exclusive rights to sell tea directly to the Americans without paying the British import tax. • Cut business for colonial sea captains and merchants. • The company could bypass colonial merchants and sell its tea directly to shopkeepers at a low price. • This made the East India Company tea cheaper than any other tea in the colonies.

25. Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) Spring 1774 • Closed Boston Harbor until the destroyed tea was paid for. • Prevented arrival of food and other supplies that came by ship into Boston. • Royal officers accused of a crime were to be tried in other colonies or Britain rather than Boston courts. • Banned most town meetings in Boston. • British troops could be quartered in any town in Massachusetts even in private homes

26. Resistance and Boycotts

27. Summer of 1765 • Protesters burned effigies—rag figures—representing unpopular tax collectors. • Protestors raided and destroyed houses belonging to royal officials. • Protestors marched through streets shouting that only Americans had the right to tax Americans.

28. Stamp Act Congress October 1765 • Delegates from 9 colonies met in New York at the Stamp Act Congress. • Drafted a petition to the King and Parliament declaring the colonies could not be taxed except by their own assemblies. • Urged merchants to boycott British and European goods.

29. Stamp Act Congress • Thousands of merchants, artisans, and farmers signed non-importation agreements—pledged not to buy or use goods imported from Britain. • British merchants lost so much business they begged Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act. • March 1766 Parliament repealed the Stamp Act.

30. Summer of 1768 • Custom officers sent word to Britain that the colonies were on the brink of rebellion. • Parliament responded by sending 2 regiments of troops to Boston.

31. Boston Massacre- March 5, 1770 • Fighting broke out between townspeople and soldiers. • British tried to calm crowd but angry townspeople moved through town towards the customs house on King Street picking up sticks, stones shovels, and clubs. • The sentry on duty panicked and called for help. More soldiers arrived and the mob surrounded them throwing stones, oyster shells, snowballs, and wood at the soldiers. They yelled at the redcoats to fire and taunted them. • When one soldier was knocked down the nervous redcoats fired into the crowd. • 5 people were killed. Crispus Attucks was among them.

32. Boston Tea Party--December 16, 1773 • Three tea ships arrived in Boston. The Governor whose house had been destroyed by Stamp Act protestors, refused to let the ships turn back. • He ordered the ships to be unloaded. • Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty acted swiftly. • East India Company sent ships to New York City, Philadelphia, Boston and Charles Town. • Colonists forced ships sent to New York City and Philadelphia to turn back. • Tea sent to Charles Town was seized and stored in a warehouse.

33. Boston Tea Party • The Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded the ships at midnight and threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor. • England is furious and demanded that the tea be paid for. Colonists refuse and Britain closes the port of Boston until the tea is paid for.

34. Sources • The Electronic Ben Franklin (1999-2007). Independence Hall Association at URL: http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/pictures/index.htm • American History Picture Packs Collection C: CD-Rom (2007). IRC at URL: www.historypictures.com • John Locke (2007). Global Chritianity at URL: http://demo.lutherproductions.com/historytutor/basic/modern/people/locke.htm • The Southern Appalachian Mountains in Autumn (2001) Donald W. Hyatt at URL: http://www.tjhsst.edu/~dhyatt/fall/ • Wikipedia: Paul Revere (2008) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc at URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere • Wikipedia: James Otis, Jr. (2008) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. at URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Otis,_Jr. • Wikipedia: Crispus Attucks (2008) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. at URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispus_attucks • Wikipedia: Molasses (2008) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. at URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses

35. Sources • Wikipedia: American Revolutionary War (2008) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. at URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_revolutionary_war • Wikipedia: Paper (2008) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. at URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper • Wikipedia: Paint (2008) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc at URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint • Thoughts from Gut Bacteria (2008) Scienceforums.net at URL: http://blogs.scienceforums.net/ecoli/category/medicine/ • Encarta: Tax Stamps (2008) Microsoft at URL: http://encarta.msn.com/media_461555319_761576420_-1_1/Tax_Stamps.html • Heather Astle Photographs Boston, MA (June 2009)