The Crisis in the Colonies

1763-1775

George III

• Ruled 1760-1820• 22 years old in 1760

Prime Minister Grenville

• George Grenville• Victory in the Seven

Years War/French and Indian War Gave Britain:

• 1. Territory• 2. Debt

The British Perspective

• Parliament is the defender of Liberty.

• It intercedes between the Monarchy and the People

• Parliament has authority over the Colonies

• Virtual Representation

• The total debt from the war exceeded 150 million Pounds (Trillions today)

The Colonists’ Perspective

• Attitudes Toward Parliament Changed in the 1760s

• Colonial Legislatures Were Viewed as Being like “Colonial Parliaments”

• Colonial Legislatures Came to Reject the Authority of the British Parliament

• Actual Representation

The Proclamation of 1763

• No Settlement West of the Appalachian Mountains

Parliament Takes Control

• The Sugar Act/Molasses Act, 1764– Court of Admiralty

• The Currency Act, 1764

• The Mutiny Act/Quartering Act, 1765

The Stamp Act of 1765

• A Tax on all written, printed documents: Wills, Trusts, Deeds, Contracts, Newspapers, Books, Pamphlets, Dice and Cards

• Alienated Everyone

Responses to the Stamp Act

• Virginia Resolves– House of Burgesses

– Patrick Henry

• “Sons of Liberty”• Stamp Act Congress

Repeal of the Stamp Act

• Declaratory Act, 1766• Marquis de

Rockingham, 1766

Return of William Pitt, 1766

• Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer

• The Townshend Acts, 1767

• Tax on British Lead, Paint, Paper and Tea

Boycotts

Trade Between England and the Colonies, 1763-1775

Frederick, Lord North

• 1770-1781• Repeal of the

Townshend Duties

Trouble in Boston

• March 5, 1770• Five Killed • Six Wounded• John Adams

The Boston Massacre

• Samuel Adams• Paul Revere

The Tea Act of 1773

• East India Tea Company

• John Hancock

The Boston Tea Party

• 12/16/1773

The Intolerable Acts, 1774

• Coercive Acts

The First Continental Congress

• Philadelphia• September 1774• Carpenter’s Hall

Today

Patrick Henry

• March 1775

The Massachusetts Militia

• Minutemen• Paul Revere• William Dawes• Joseph Warren

Lexington and Concord

• General Thomas Gage

Lexington and Concord

• Weapons Arsenal at Concord

• April 19, 1775

Lexington and Concord

The American Revolution, 1775

• April 19, 1775• Old North Bridge