Causes of the American Revolution

2. Causes of the American Revolution Proclamation of 1773 Townshend Acts Intolerable Acts Tea Act The French and Indian War Stamp Act Boston Massacre Boston Tea Party

3. French and Indian War • The French and Indian War was a war between Britain and the French/Indians. • Cause: The colonists kept pushing the Indians west. • Effect: The British made the Proclamation of 1763.

4. Proclamation of 1763 • The Proclamation of 1763 was a law prohibiting the colonists to move west of the Appalachian Mountains. • Cause: England was still in debt from the French and Indian War and didn’t want to start another war. • Effect: The colonist still moved west anyway because owning land was important (you needed it to be able to vote). King George

5. Stamp Act • The Stamp Act was a tax on every sheet of every legal document. • Cause: Britain needed money because they were in debt from the war so they taxed the colonists. • Effect: The colonists boycotted British goods. They also organized the Sons of Liberty and the Daughters of Liberty.

6. Townshend Acts • The Townshend Acts used all the money collected for imported goods to pay the salaries of British soldiers. The Townshend Acts also caused a tax for glass, lead, paper, and tea. • Cause: Britain still needed money, but they needed a way to tax the colonies “without offense.” • Effect: The colonists boycotted British goods again.

7. Boston Massacre • The Boston Massacre was a clash between British troops and a group of colonists in which five colonists were killed. • Cause: After lots of ridicule, the tension finally broke. Some colonists started throwing snowball in front of the Boston Customhouse. The soldiers became nervous and started shooting. • Effect: Six of the soldiers were acquitted, and two of them had their thumbs branded for shooting.

8. Tea Act • The Tea Act was a tax on all imported tea from Britain. • Cause: The colonists boycott against British goods had hurt their trade, so the British repealed the Townshend Acts after the Boston Massacre. Parliament only kept the tea tax. • Effect: The Sons of Liberty organized a protest against the Tea Act known as the Boston Tea Party.

9. Boston Tea Party • The Boston Tea Party was a protest organized by the colonists against the British. All the colonists dressed up as Indians and snuck on-board the British ships in the harbor. Then they threw all the tea on the ships into Boston Harbor. • Cause: The colonists were upset by the Tea Act. • Effect: The Intolerable Acts were passed to keep the colonists under control.

10. Intolerable Acts • The Intolerable Acts were four strict laws that gave the British a sense of more control over the colonies. First of all, they closed down the port of Boston until the colonists paid for all of the tea they threw into Boston Harbor. Second, they forbade any meetings without the governor’s permission. Next, they made the colonists house and feed British troops. Finally, instead of British officials being tried for crimes in the colonies, they would be tried in Britain. Also, King George the third appointed General Thomas Gage the new governor of Massachusetts. • Cause: The Boston Tea Party. • Effect: The colonists started the Revolutionary War.