Causes of the American Revolution

1. Why would loyal British subjects to become willing to fight for independence? Causes of the American Revolution

2. Paying for the French and Indian War • Taxes in Great Britain were raised to pay for the war. • The taxes in England were much higher than the colonists had to pay. • Many in England pushed to raise taxes in America to help pay off the war debt.

3. The Proclamation of 1763 • Chief Pontiac attacked Detroit and the British had to send in troops to defend it. • The British limited colonization west of the Appalachian Mountains to try to avoid conflict with the Indians. • This upset the colonies, which wanted to expand west.

4. Enforcing the Navigation Acts • Laws restricting trade between the colonies and other countries besides Great Britain had been made since early colonial times, but were seldom enforced. To secure revenue to pay for the war, Great Britain began to enforce the laws. • Writs of assistance - British officials could search homes looking for smuggled goods without warrants.

5. The Sugar Act (1764) • This law actually lowered the tax on sugar, but the money went to Great Britain not to the colonial legislatures. This was the first direct tax on the colonies. • Special courts were set up to try cases without juries. • James Otis – “No taxation without representation.” James Otis

6. Patrick Henry The Stamp Act (1765) • A tax stamp had to be placed on all printed material in the colonies. • Colonial legislatures were ignored in their opposition to the tax, breaking the colonial tradition of self-government. • Patrick Henry – “Give me liberty, or give me death.” • Samuel Adams formed the Sons of Liberty to protest the Stamp Act • Boycotts of British goods. • Nonimportation Agreements with farmers. Samuel Adams

7. The Stamp Act Congress • October 1765 • Nine colonies send representatives to New York City to protest the Stamp Act. This was the first time the colonies formed a type of political union. • The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766.

8. The Townshend Acts (1767) • Named for British Finance Minister Charles Townshend • Taxes on imported goods to be paid at the ports. • Revenue was to pay for royal governors in the colonies.

9. The Townshend Acts (continued) • Boycotts on British goods were even greater than during the Stamp Act. • More British troops sent to America to put down protest. Off duty British soldiers would often take jobs to supplement their income. This angered Americans because of the unemployment already caused by the decrease in trade.

10. Daughters of Liberty • Daughters of Liberty formed. Women would make homemade goods rather than buy British. • The Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770, except for the tax on tea.

11. The Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770) • A mob protesting the Townshend Acts began throwing snowballs and rocks at a group of British soldiers. • Seven British soldiers fired into the mob killing five people, including Crispus Attucks, a black dockworker that was the leader of the protest. • An engraving by Paul Revere made the massacre famous. • John Adams was a patriot, but he defended the soldiers so they would have a fair trial. They were acquitted on reason of self-defense.

12. Boston Massacre engraving by Paul Revere

13. The Battle of Alamance (1771) • The Regulators were a group of western North Carolinians who protested the poll tax, corrupt tax collectors, and the control of the western people by easterners and England. • In September 1770, 150 Regulators broke into the Orange County courthouse in Hillsborough, drove the judge from the bench, then went to tax collector Edmund Fanning’s home, looted the place and took Fanning outside and publicly whipped him.

14. The Battle of Alamance (continued) • 1,450 militia were sent to put down this rebellion. The Regulators numbers had grown to 2,000. • In a 2-hour battle at Alamance, the Regulators were beaten. • Six leaders of the Regulators were executed. • Thousands were pardoned after pledging allegiance to the colonial legislature. • Thousands migrated into the mountains, including the area where we live.

15. The Tea Act and The Boston Tea Party (1773) The Tea Act lowered the tax on tea, but greater restrictions on tea sold by other countries were made Americans kept the boycott on British tea, protesting any tax. • The Sons of Liberty under Samuel Adams dressed up like Mohawk Indians and threw the British tea off the boats into the harbor. • Other tea parties followed throughout the colonies including one in North Carolina.

17. The Intolerable Acts (1774) (The Coercive Acts) The Intolerable Acts were a group of laws made to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. • Boston Harbor was closed. • Town meetings became illegal without the royal governor’s approval. The governor was British General Thomas Gage. • Quartering Act – British soldiers were to be housed in private homes at the expense of the homeowner. • British officials could not be tried in America, but only in England.

18. Committees of Correspondence • Committees of Correspondence, first begun by Samuel Adams, began writing to keep in touch with what the British were doing in each of the colonies.

19. The First Continental Congress (1774) • The 1st Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in September 1774. Every colony except Georgia sent representatives. • The focus of the Congress was how to end the protests and reach a compromise with the King. • The Declaration of Rights and Grievances.

20. The Declaration of Rights and Grievances • Said Parliament had no right to tax the colonies since the colonies were not represented in Parliament. • Called for boycotts of all British goods, taxed or not, until the taxes and Intolerable Acts were repealed. • King George III ignored the declaration. King George III

21. Conclusion • At the end of the French-Indian War, most of the colonists in America were loyal British subjects, but between 1763 and 1775, the Americans and the British pulled apart leading to the American Revolution.