The smell of Revolution is in the

Air

Causes of the American Revolution

• Learning Target: To identify and discuss how various events

which occurred between England and the colonies lead to the

Revolutionary War

Causes of the American Revolution

• Things to remember which you have already learned!

– Enlightenment– Great Awakening– Seven Years’ War (French and Indian

War)– Pontiac’s Rebellion

• Proclamation of 1763

– Albany Plan of Union of 1754

French & Indian War The French & Indian War

A) exerted economic pressure on France, but not Great BritainB) brought recognition to George Washington both in the colonies and Great Britain for his courageous role in a bloody battleC) eliminated tensions between settlers and Indians in the Ohio River ValleyD) brought in a number of mercenary Hessian soldiers to aid the BritishE) resulted in France acquiring a great deal of territory in North America

Answer: B) brought recognition to George Washington both in the colonies and Great Britain for his courageous role in a bloody battle

Explanation: Washington, though at one point forced to surrender in action against the French, gained fame for his leadership following the death of General Braddock at the battle of Monongahela in 1755. The French & Indian War brought economic pressure to both France and Great Britain, leading Britain to demand more tax revenues from the American colonies. Tensions between settlers and Indians continued during and after the war.

Sources of Revolutionary Ideology

One important ideological source of colonial resistance to British authority in the period leading up to the Revolutionary War was

A) the writings of King George IIIB) Richard Hakluyt's accounts of visitors to the New WorldC) Great Awakening preachingD) the Council of TrentE) John Jacques Rousseau's novel Emile

Answer: C) Great Awakening preaching

Explanation: The emphasis on individual responsibility for one's moral behavior and the challenge to the religious authority and orthodoxy in the Great Awakening were important sources of anti-authority sentiments that arose with the new British imperial policies that developed in the decades leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Imperial Attitudes

An elaborate political cartoon mocking the "death" of the

Stamp Act

Which of the following best characterizes the British political leadership in relation to the American colonies following the French & Indian War?

A) a reluctance to defend mercantilist policiesB) a willingness to seek common ground with colonists expressing dissatisfactionC) a recognition that strong economic growth in the colonies made the British Empire stronger as a wholeD) misunderstanding and a general lack of knowledge of conditions and attitudes prevalent in the coloniesE) creativity and flexibility in governance

Answer: D) misunderstanding and a general lack of knowledge of conditions and attitudes prevalent in the colonies

Explanation: Following the French & Indian War, British political leaders sought sources of revenue and turned to the colonies, which had enjoyed lax enforcement of mercantilist policies and a relatively free trade environment. As new laws such as the Sugar Act and Stamp Act were enforced, colonists complained and resisted, sometimes with violence. Rather than seeking compromise, British authorities continued to increase pressure, causing even more tension.

King George IIIassumes the throne in 1760

Age of Revolution

• End of Seven Years’ War–How to defend the colonies and pay off the

Enormous Debt?• Proclamation Act of 1763• Question of who will pay? (150 mill pounds)

–Taxes– Molasses Act, Sugar Act, Revenue Act, Currency

Act, and

Stamp Act

Sugar Act

The Sugar Act proved quite

unpopular in the colonies

Which of the following statements about the 1764 Sugar Act are accurate?

I. It actually reduced the tax on molasses. II. It hindered colonial trade, particularly with the French West Indies. III. Its passage followed the imposition of the Stamp Act. IV. Colonists had mostly evaded the previous taxes set under the Molasses Act.

A) I, II, and IV only B) II, III, and IV onlyC) I and II onlyD) I, II, and III onlyE) all of the statements are accurate

Answer: A) I, II, and IV only

Explanation: The Sugar Act, along with the Currency Act, helped set the stage for the protest that erupted following the passage of the Stamp Act. While reducing the tax on molasses from six to three pence but stepping up enforcement, Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Grenville attempted to exert greater control over colonial trade and limit trade with non-British suppliers of molasses. The colonial rum industry suffered immediate economic hardship.

Stamp Act's Impact

The Stamp Act led to significant

protests in several colonies

"Never did the British Parliament, [until the Stamp Act], think of imposing duties in American for the purpose of raising a revenue. . . . This I call an innovation, and a most dangerous innovation."

This quote is from which of the following documents?

A) Thomas Paine's Common SenseB) Thomas Jefferson's A Summary View of the Rights of British AmericaC) John Dickinson's Letter from a Pennsylvania FarmerD) Patrick Henry's 1775 speech to the House of BurgessesE) Richard Henry Lee's Westmoreland Resolution

Answer: C) John Dickinson's Letter from a Pennsylvania Farmer

Explanation: Dickinson logically and carefully explained why the Stamp Act and the Townshend Duties expanded the power of Parliament in a way that threatened the freedom of the colonists. While he acknowledged the right of Parliament to rule the British Empire, he contended that taxing the colonies to raise revenue rather than to control trade should not take place.

Age of Revolution

• Taxation but what about Representation?– Remember the Albany Plan?– Parliament

• Virtual Representation • Rights of Englishmen

– Colonist• No Taxation without Representation

Age of Revolution

• Were Not Going to Take It (Kinda!)

• Stamp Act Congress–Sons of Liberty

–Elm Tree & Liberty Pole

–boycott

Protesting the New Imperial Policies

The first British internal revenue tax in the American colonies,the Stamp Act, resulted in protests and boycotts

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons--public domain)

"No free people ever existed, or can ever exist, without keeping, to use a common, but strong expression, “the purse strings,” in their own hands. Where this is the case, they have a constitutional check upon the administration, which may thereby be brought into order without violence: But where such a power is not lodged in the people, oppression proceeds uncontrolled in its career, till the governed, transported into rage, seek redress in the midst of blood and confusion...Never did the British Parliament, till the period abovementioned [Stamp Act], think of imposing duties in American for the purpose of raising a revenue. . . . This I call an innovation, and a most dangerous innovation."

The persuasive arguments below were written by(A) Thomas Paine in Common Sense in 1776(B) John Dickinson in Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania in 1767(C) Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence in 1776(D) Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanac in 1769(E) George Mason in the Fairfax Resolves in 1774

Answer: (B) John Dickinson in Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania in 1767

Explanation: Dickinson's Letters logically and persuasively argued that Parliament did not have the right to tax the colonists internally without their consent. His argument aided those protesting the Stamp Act and the subsequent Townshend Duties, both of which helped unite those seeking independence for the American colonies.

Committees Committees of Correspondenceof Correspondence

PurposePurpose warn neighboring colonies warn neighboring colonies about incidents with Britain about incidents with Britain

encouraged opposition to encouraged opposition to the the Sugar and Currency ActsSugar and Currency Acts

broaden the resistance broaden the resistance movement exchanging ideas movement exchanging ideas and and information within information within the coloniesthe colonies

Age of Revolution• British Response

–Writs of assistance (already, smuggling)

–Repealed the Stamp Act but–Declaratory Act-

“Parliament could pass laws…in all cases whatever.”

Don’t questions us! (sound like your parents?)

Age of Revolution

• Townshend Taxes– Charles Townshend

• More Taxes, consumer goods

– Pay customs commissioners, governors, judges and suppress smuggling

– Colonist--Nonimportation

Age of Revolution

• Boston Massacre– Homework assignment, compare two pieces of art

work showing the Boston Massacre– Also with a partner, you will write two different

newspaper articles reporting on the Boston Massacre.

• One partner will write an article which would appear in a Boston Newspaper

• The other partner will write an article which would appear in a London newspaper.

Age of Revolution

Paul Revere John Bufford

Age of Revolution

• Importance of Boston Massacre– March 5, 1770– Five people killed

Crispus Attucks

The Gaspee IncidentThe Gaspee Incident (1772)(1772)

Providence, RI coastProvidence, RI coast

United States History Question of the Day

American colonists burned the Gaspee

in 1772 to protest British trade policies

Which of the following would be the most likely argument made by an American colonist for opposing Parliament's taxation in the year 1770?

(A) "the overall tax rates are higher here in the colonies than in England" (B) "Parliament does not have the authority to levy an internal tax on us as colonists" (C) "British subjects should not pay taxes of any kind" (D) "the money raised by taxing the colonies will be spent elsewhere in the British Empire" (E) "only the Continental Congress should have the power to administer any form of taxes"

Answer:

(B) "Parliament does not have the authority to levy an internal tax on us as colonists"Explanation: The argument that taxation should not be assessed on the colonists because they were not actually represented in Parliament proved persuasive to many colonists. The tax rate for American colonists was actually lower than the residents of England. The colonists understood the need for taxation to pay for services, but the shift in imperial policy in 1763 worried many. It's important to remember that many colonists did not want to separate from Great Britain, but wanted policies in place that respected them as British subjects.

Age of Revolution

• Tea Act

–East India Company (bankrupt)

–Government to the rescue

Tea Act Tea Act (1773)(1773)8 British East India Co.:British East India Co.:

Monopoly on Br. tea Monopoly on Br. tea imports.imports.

Many members of Many members of Parl. held shares.Parl. held shares.

Permitted the Co. to Permitted the Co. to sell tea directly to sell tea directly to cols. without col. cols. without col. middlemen middlemen (cheaper tea!)(cheaper tea!)

8 Lord North expected the Lord North expected the cols. to eagerly choose cols. to eagerly choose the cheaper tea.the cheaper tea.

Boston Tea Party Boston Tea Party (1773)(1773)

The availability of cheap English tea

led to a major confrontation in Boston

Results of the Boston Tea Party

All but which of the following resulted from a group of colonists dumping tea into Boston Harbor in 1773?

(A) Massachusetts town meetings were strictly restricted(B) the event was immediately referred to in Great Britain and the colonies as the Boston Tea Party(C) a call for a Continental Congress attracted representatives from 12 of the 13 colonies to a meeting in Philadelphia(D) a boycott throughout the colonies halted virtually all trade with Great Britain(E) British soldiers gained immunity from local trials for acts committed during civil unrest

Answer: (D) a boycott throughout the colonies halted virtually all trade with Great Britain

Explanation: The Coercive (or as they were called in Boston, "Intolerable") Acts in response to the Boston Tea Party harshly punished Boston for the destruction of British East India tea. The port of Boston was closed to shipping, town meetings were restricted, British soldiers gained immunity from local prosecution, and the colony's charter was rewritten to increase the governor's power. Angry Bostonians responded by calling for a boycott throughout the colonies which proved unsuccessful. But they also called for a meeting in Philadelphia to discuss the situation. This meeting, the First Continental Congress of 1774, helped unify those calling for separation from Britain. The event was not referred to as the Boston Tea Party until the mid-19th century. Before then, some writers were embarrassed by the destruction of property and it was rarely included in early histories of the Revolutionary War.

Tar and Feathering 1774

Age of Revolution

• England Responds – Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)

• Boston Port Bill-Closed port, pay for the tea• Massachusetts Government Act -Curtailed town meetings• Quartering Act• Administration of Justice Act

At the same time (fueled the fire)The Quebec Act

The Quebec Act The Quebec Act (1774)(1774)

First Continental First Continental Congress Congress (1774)(1774)

55 delegates from 12 55 delegates from 12 coloniescoloniesAgendaAgenda How How to respond to to respond to the Coercive the Coercive Acts & the Acts & the Quebec Act?Quebec Act?

1 vote per colony 1 vote per colony represented.represented.

Age of Revolution

• Continental Congress 1774– Try and est. dual government assemblies– Declaration of Resolves (Appeal to King)

• Let’s look at one Patriot– Patrick Henry-

“Give me Liberty or Give me Death!”

Initial Revolutionary War Fighting

•

Doolittle hand-colored engraving of opening battles of Revolutionary War, 1775

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons--public domain)

Explanation: Some historians feel that Paul Revere instructed that two lanterns be lit in the Old North Church spire, indicating the British would approach Lexington and Concord by boats across the Charles River. Revere, along with William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, did warn colonists of the approach, though Revere was captured before reaching Concord. After briefly engaging colonists in an exchange of fire at both Lexington and at Concord, the British troops retreated to Boston, suffering 273 casualties. Governor Hutchinson's house was burned down, but that was in 1765 in protest of the Stamp Act.

• Over a year before the Declaration of Independence was signed, fighting broke out between colonists and British regulars in Massachusetts Bay Colony when

• (A) Paul Revere warned the British that the residents of Lexington and Concord were ready to fight

• (B) one lantern was hung in the Old North Church with one light, indicating the British were coming to attack by land

• (C) armed colonists met the approaching British soldiers at Lexington and exchanged fire, resulting in the deaths of eight colonists

• (D) the British established a garrison in Concord because of active resistance in the area

• (E) a mob burned down Governor Hutchinson's house in Boston

• Answer: • (C) armed colonists met the approaching

British soldiers at Lexington and exchanged fire, resulting in the deaths of eight colonists

The British Are The British Are Coming Coming . . .. . .

Paul ReverePaul Revere & & William DawesWilliam Dawes make make their midnight ride to warn the their midnight ride to warn the

MinutemenMinutemen of approaching British of approaching British soldiers.soldiers.

In 1774 and the Spring of 1775 Paul Revere was employed by the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety as an express rider to carry news, messages, and copies of resolutions as far away as New York and Philadelphia. On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren and instructed to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them. After being rowed across the Charles River to Charlestown by two associates, Paul Revere borrowed a horse from his friend Deacon John Larkin. While in Charlestown, he verified that the local "Sons of Liberty" committee had seen his pre-arranged signals. (Two lanterns had been hung briefly in the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston, indicating that troops would row "by sea" across the Charles River to Cambridge, rather than marching "by land" out Boston Neck. Revere had arranged for these signals the previous weekend, as he was afraid that he might be prevented from leaving Boston). On the way to Lexington, Revere "alarmed" the country-side, stopping at each house, and arrived in Lexington about midnight. As he approached the house where Adams and Hancock were staying, a sentry asked that he not make so much noise. "Noise!" cried Revere, "You'll have noise enough before long. The regulars are coming out!" After delivering his message, Revere was joined by a second rider, William Dawes, who had been sent on the same errand by a different route. Deciding on their own to continue on to Concord, Massachusetts, where weapons and supplies were hidden, Revere and Dawes were joined by a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott. Soon after, all three were arrested by a British patrol. Prescott escaped almost immediately, and Dawes soon after. Revere was held for some time and then released. Left without a horse, Revere returned to Lexington in time to witness part of the battle on the Lexington Green.

The Shot Heard The Shot Heard ’’Round Round the Worldthe World!!

LexingtonLexington & & ConcordConcord – April – April 18,177518,1775

The Second The Second Continental Continental

CongressCongress(1775)(1775)

Olive Branch Olive Branch PetitionPetition

Thomas PaineThomas Paine: : Common SenseCommon Sense

Common Sense by Thomas Paine(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons--public domain)

Thomas Paine's Common Sense

(A) was written in a dry and legalistic style(B) avoided criticizing the British monarchy in arguing for independence(C) directly called for independence from Great Britain(D) cautiously presented a balanced approach to the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain(E) was issued following the Declaration of Independence and echoed several of Thomas Jefferson's arguments

Answer: (C) directly called for independence from Great Britain

Explanation: Common Sense was published in 25 editions in 1776 alone, making it the single most read document produced in the colonies. In a clear, accessible style, it spelled out why America should be free of British rule. Its strong arguments for independence preceded the Declaration of Independence by six months.

Common Sense What is the main theme of this passage from Thomas Paine's Common Sense?

I have heard it asserted by some, that as America hath flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, that the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing

can be more fallacious than this kind of argument. We may as well assert, that because a child has thrived upon milk,

that it is never to have meat; or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty. But

even this is admitting more than is true, for I answer roundly, that America would have flourished as much, and

probably much more, had no European power had any thing to do with her.

A) a continent should not be ruled by an islandB) King George III is a tyrantC) the American colonies are an asylum for mankindD) monarchical government is incompatible with democracyE) while the colonies may have benefited from British control at one time, that time has past

Answer: E) while the colonies may have benefited from British control at one time, that time has past

Explanation: When Common Sense was published in 1776, it helped those urging separation from Britain by presenting a number of arguments. Paine logically described the reasons why the American colonies would be better off if they were free from British control.

Declaration of Independence Declaration of Independence (1776)(1776)

Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration of Independence

Independence HallIndependence Hall

• Which of the following is not a phrase from the Declaration of Independence?• (A) "We the people of the United States"• (B) "these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states"• (C) "when in the course of human events"• (D) "all men are created equal"• (E) "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty

and the pursuit of happiness" Answer: (A) "We the people of the United States"

Explanation: "We the people..." are the opening words of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution which was proposed by the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Many individuals confuse the two documents. Most recently, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said "We don’t need to rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America, we need to reread the Constitution and enforce the Constitution,” Cain said. “And I know that there are some people that are not going to do that, so for the benefit of those that are not going to read it because they don’t want us to go by the Constitution, there’s a little section in there that talks about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...Because that’s when it says when any form of government becomes destructive of those ideals, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it,” he added. The phrases in bold are both part of the Declaration.

Revolutionary Ideas

The Second Continental Congress, 1776Which of the following statements is not part of the Declaration of Independence?

A) "these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States"B) "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal"C) "Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe"D) "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it"E) "He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people"

Answer: C) "Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath

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