Bellringer

• Download today’s notes: American Revolution Causes

• Answer the following question:– What do you think caused the American

Revolution?

The Age of Revolution

The Big IdeaRevolutions changed the governments of Britain, the

American colonies, and France.

Main Ideas• Revolution and reform changed the government of

England.• Enlightenment ideas led to democracy in America.• The French Revolution caused major changes in France’s

government.

Main Idea 2:Enlightenment ideas led to

democracy in America.

Although the power of the monarchs was limited in England, it was not limited in North America. Colonists there grew increasingly unhappy with both the king and Parliament.

Causes of the American Revolution!

The French

and Indian

War

Intolerable Acts

Stamp ActBoston Massacre Boston Tea

Party

Proclamation of 1763Townshend Acts Tea Act

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.

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). They had also fought a war to obtain it.

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.

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, paint, 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.

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. Propaganda battle

http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/winter96/enlargement.html

One account• “…the soldiers pushed several

persons with their bayonets, driving through the people in so rough a manner that it appeared they intended to create a disturbance. This occasioned some snowballs to be thrown at them which seems to have been the only provocation that was given… the backs of the people being toward them when the people were attacked…”

Another account

• “…In my way there I saw the people in great commotion, and heard them use the most cruel and horrid threats against the troops…and with clubs and other weapons threatened to execute their vengeance on him[soldier]. I was soon informed by a townsman their intention was to carry off the soldier from his post and probably murder him..."

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.

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.

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: Colonial leaders met to discuss the conflict.

The First Continental Congress• Met in Philadelphia in the fall of 1774• Decided to resist the British• Created militias to protect

themselves from the British• Already had a tradition of self-

government• Inspired by Enlightenment ideas• The fighting would begin in just a few

months

Connect!

• 1. List three causes of the American Revolution.

• 2. What was the Proclamation Line of 1763?• 2. What is propaganda?• 3. What inspired colonists to resist Britain?