Toward Revolution:What eventually led to the Declaration of

Independence and the beginning of the Revolutionary War?

1763-1775

AFTER the French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War in Europe)

Figure 5.1 The Growing Power of the British State (p. 137)

(Queen Anne’s War)

(King William’s War)

(King George’s War)

War of the League of Augsburg,

1689-1697

(French and Indian War)

(Revolutionary War)

(Colonial Name)

French and Indian War

• Britain helped colonists defeat French in war

• Britain needed money to pay for war expenses

• Taxed colonists, restricted settlements and limited self-govt.

Map 5.3 British Troop Deployments, 1763–1775 (p. 148)

Revenue Act (Sugar Act) 1764• Revenue Act of 1764• (Sugar Act)• April 5, 1764• Revised duties on

sugar, tea, coffee, wine; expanded jurisdiction of some courts.

• Protests about taxation

George Grenville, Architect of the Stamp Act (p. 139) The Earl of Halifax, Garrowby, Yorkshire.

The Stamp Act (p. 139) Library of Congress.

Stamp Act of 1765• Stamp Act

• March 22, 1765 thru March 18, 1766

• Documents must contain a revenue stamp to be legal.

• All deeds, wills, marriage licenses, even newspapers affected.

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Quartering Act of 1765• Quartering Act• March 24, 1765• British troops must be

given housing on demand from colonists.

• New York Assembly punished for not complying.

• King could not house troops in subjects homes in England

• Permitted to do so in the colonies.

Declaratory Act of 1766• Declaratory Act• March 18, 1766• Parliament declares

sovereignty over colonies in all cases.

• Enacted on the same day that Parliament repealed the Stamp Act

• Positioning so England wouldn’t lose face for giving in to the colonies.

Townshend Acts• Townshend Acts• June 26, 29, July 2, 1767;

repealed April 12, 1770 (some texts list a March date. This is wrong) except for tax on tea.

• Includes duties on new items including tea, glass and other goods available in the Western Hemisphere

Parliamentary Acts….

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Various protests:

•Patrick Henry’s speech

•Sons and Daughters of Liberty

•Benjamin Franklin’s visit to Parliament

•Boston Massacre

Samuel Adams

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The Boston Massacre

Map 5.3 British Troop Deployments, 1763–1775 (p. 148)

Tea Act of 1773• May 10, 1773

• The British East India Tea Company (near bankruptcy) granted sole right to sell tea directly to Americans; some duties on tea reduced

• Tea was a popular drink throughout the colonies.

• Since 1770, tensions reduced between the countries, but the Tea Act led to resumption of tensions.

• Committees of Correspondence denounced the plan

• Endangered colonial representative government

• Dec. 16, 1773, Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

• Lower price on British tea

• Colonists still pay taxes

• Boycotted British tea• Sons of Liberty

dressed in disguise and dumped British tea overboard

The Boston “Tea Party” (p. 153) Library of Congress.

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Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts) 1774• March-June, 1774

1.Boston Port Bill

2.Massachusetts Government Act (May 20)

3.Quebec Act (May 20)

4.Quartering Act (updated and extended to include public buildings)

Map 5.3 British Troop Deployments, 1763–1775 (p. 148)

Boston Port Bill• Boston Port Bill

(June 1), The Royal Navy blockades the Boston Harbor so no colonial goods could be sent out until tea was paid for.

Massachusetts Government Act• Massachusetts Governme

nt Act (May 20) Revoked Mass colonial charter

• The King assigned British General Gage to be Massachusetts governor.

• restructured Mass. Government = less democratic

• Banned holding of more than one town meeting per year

Quebec Act• Re-established

Canadian borders.• Re-drew the

qualifications for officeholders.

• British colonists objected to pro-French Canadian, pro-Catholic legislation.

Map 5.4 British Western Policy, 1763–1774 (p. 151)

Net Effect of the Intolerable Acts• Convinced people in all

colonies that British were out to destroy representative government and civil liberties in America.

• Virginia rallied to side of Massachusetts

• Convening of First Continental Congress (September, 1774)

Figure 5.2 Trade as a Political Weapon, 1763-1776 (p. 149)

First Continental Congress: 1774• All colonies except

Georgia sent delegates to Philadelphia, Sept. 1774.

• Suffolk Resolves: advised colonials to arm themselves against attacks by royal troops

Rights and Resolves

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Conflict at Lexington and Concord•British General Gage learns of hidden weapons in Concord

•Two lanterns hung in church tower to warn the British coming by “sea” (Charles River)

•Paul Revere and William Dawes make midnight ride to warn Minutemen of approaching British soldiers

British Troops Occupy Concord (p. 132) Courtesy, Concord Museum.

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The Revolution Begins

Lexington

250 British casualties vs. less than 100 colonists’ casualties

“Shot heard round the world”

April 18, 1775

Concord

Paul Revere and William Dawes

April 19, 1775

Redcoats

Where muskets of militia members were believed to be stored

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Second Continental Congress: 1775

Representatives brought money to help

establish the…

Continental Army

(i.e. pay soldiers, buy guns, bullets, food,

and uniforms

The Olive Branch PetitionMost colonial delegates still

hoped for reconciliation and offered the Olive Branch Petition to George III

Olive Branch Petition:• Cease fire at Boston• Repeal of the Coercive Acts• Negotiations to establish

American Rights

British ignored this and declared colonists in rebellion Dec. 1775

Thomas Paine: Common Sense (1776)• Paine's political pamphlet brought

the rising revolutionary sentiment into sharp focus

• Placed blame for the suffering of the colonies directly on the reigning British monarch, George III.

• Common Sense advocated an immediate declaration of independence, postulating a special moral obligation of America to the rest of the world.

(www.earlyamerica.com)

Declaring IndependenceWho was involved?

• Benjamin Franklin

• John Adams

• Robert R. Livingston

• Roger Sherman

• Thomas Jefferson