Chapter 2 Section 2. The Colonies on Their Own Colonists owed allegiance to the monarch and British...
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Transcript of Chapter 2 Section 2. The Colonies on Their Own Colonists owed allegiance to the monarch and British...
UNITING FOR INDEPENDENCEChapter 2 Section 2
The Colonies on Their Own
Colonists owed allegiance to the monarch and British government
Colonies served as a source of raw materials
Colonist became accustomed to governing themselves
Colonists remained loyal in return for self-rule and protection from the French
Britain Tightens Control
French and Indian War (1754-1763) Tightened Britain’s hold on the continent Started as land struggle between France
and Britain Great Britain won the war
Causes of Independence Movement
The British were left with a large war debt – expected the colonies to help repay
George III had different ideas about how the colonies should be governed
Taxing the Colonies
To help pay for the war, taxes were levied on tea, sugar, glass, paper, other products
Stamp Act of 1765 First direct tax Tax on legal documents, pamphlets,
newspapers, playing cards, etc.—things printed on paper had to show a “stamp” indicating a tax had been paid.
Stamp Act
Britain’s revenue increased
Colonial resentment grew Protests
Refusal to buy British goods (boycott) Boston Tea Party – British tea dumped
into Boston Harbor
British response to Colonial protests
Intolerable Acts (1774)(Referred to as the Coercive Acts in Great Britain)
Closed the Boston Harbor Withdrew the right of MA to govern itself
Colonial Unity
Albany Plan of Union (1754)
Benjamin Franklin Plan for uniting the colonies Colonies rejected it
Gave too much power to an assembly made up of representatives from all 13 colonies
British policies spurred an American sense of community
Colonist began to think of themselves as Americans
Taking Action
Stamp Act Congress (1765) New York Delegates sent First meeting to protest King
George’s Action Petition sent to king
Committees of Correspondence
Colonial committees urging resistance to the British and keeping in touch with one another as events unfolded
Samuel Adams established first committee in Boston (1773)
The First Continental Congress Delegates from all the colonies
except Georgia met in Philadelphia in 1774
Key Leaders Patrick Henry Samuel Adams Richard Henry Lee George Washington
Embargo – an agreement prohibiting grade, on Britain, and agreed not to use British goods
April 19, 1775 British arrive – Lexington and
Concord
“Shot heard ‘round the world”
The Second Continental Congress
Assumed the powers of a central government
President – John Hancock Voted to organize an army and navy
and to issue money
George Washington – commander of the Continental Army
Served as the acting government of the colonies throughout the war
Purchased supplies, negotiated treaties, rallied support for the colonists’ cause
Independence
Common Sense Thomas Paine Argued that monarchy was a corrupt
form of government; George III was an enemy to liberty
Samuel Adams declared that America was already independent
The Declaration of Independence Committee
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman
Prepare a written declaration of independence. Jefferson was author.
June 28, 1776 – edited draft to Congress
July 4, 1776 – Congress approves final draft
John Hancock first to sign 56 delegate signatures
“The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America”
Key Parts of the Declaration Ideas from thinkers such as Locke
and Rousseau
Set out the colonists reasons for proclaiming their freedom
Justify the revolution and to put for the founding principles of the new nation
Three Parts of Dec. of Ind.No government at that time had been
founded on the principles of human liberty and consent of the governed.
1) Begins with a statement of purpose and basic human rights.
2) The middle section lists specific complaints against George III
3) The conclusion states the colonists’ determination to separate from Great Britain
The First State Constitutions
Transformation of the colonies into states subject to no higher authority
By the end of 1776, 10 states had adopted written constitution
Most contained a Bill of Rights
All recognized the people as the sole source of authority in a limited government with only those powers given by the people