Causes of the American Revolution
Britain tried to control the colony by telling them what they could grow, make, and with whom they could trade.
Colonists sometimes felt they were treated like children.
American colonists referred to Great Britain as the “Mother Country”.
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1660’s Navigation Acts
British Laws that restricted the colonist’s trade with other
countries.
1733 Georgia Charter creates 13th colony
1733-1752 Trustee Period (Oglethorpe)1752-1776 Royal Colony Period 3 governors
1754-1763 French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War)
Indians, supported by the French, attacked colonists. Britain waged war and won.
Very expensive- wanted colonists to pay.
Results of the War:
• France gave up all its North American colonies as well as French Canada and all the land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.
• Spanish Florida was given to England (no more threat south of the colony)
Proclamation of 1763
British law stated that the colonists could not settle west of Appalachian Mtns. British could not afford to build forts and fight Indians.
Colonists were angry-they wanted the land.
1764 Sugar Act
British taxed sugar, molasses, coffee, indigo, and wine.Lots of smuggling-British ended trial by jury in these cases.
Colonists saw this as a loss of their right as British citizens.
1765 Stamp Act (eventually repealed)
Law placed a tax on all printed material in the colonies: stamps had to be placed on newspapers, licenses, ships papers, and even playing cards.
1765 Stamp Act (eventually repealed)Protesting the Stamp Act of 1765
Groups called the Sons of Liberty led protests against the Stamp Act in the colonies.
Protestors burned effigies of tax collectors, boycotted British goods, and tarred and feathered tax collectors.
Eventually, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but passed the Declaratory Act which stated that Parliament could tax and make decisions for the colonies in any situation.
1767 Townshend Act
Placed a tax on all goods imported by the colonies. This included glass,
lead, paper, and tea.“No taxation without representation”
1768 Quartering Act
To stop rebellion, colonists were forced to house soldiers and pay for
their food
Fights often broke out between the colonists and the soldiers.
1770 Boston Massacre
A soldier was knocked down. Soldiers fired into the crowd. Five colonists were killed including Crispus Attucks, a former slave
When they began throwing snowballs and rocks at him, he called for help.
A crowd gathered on a snowy evening in March and began taunting a British soldier on guard duty.
1773 Tea Act
The British East India Company was given the right to ship tea to the colonies tax free.
Colonial merchants had to pay tax on their tea.
In response, many colonists boycotted tea.
1773 Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773, the Boston Sons of Liberty dressed like Indians and boarded three British East India ships. They threw the tea overboard.The tea was worth thousands of pounds.
1774 Intolerable Acts
Parliament and King George III reacted harshly.
They closed Boston Harbor until the Massachusetts citizens paid for the tea.
Town meetings were forbidden.
ENOUGH!
Boston was placed under martial law.
