Causes of the American Revolution 1763 - 1775

Pontiac’s War - 1763

• After 1760 – English settlers moved west

• Lord Jeffrey Amherst sent to frontier

• Amherst raised the price of trade goods

• Amherst allowed settlers to build farms and forts on Indian land

Pontiac’s War - 1763

• Ottawa Chief Pontiac emerged as a leader

• Pontiac attacked Ft.Detroit

• Indians captured most British forts in Ohio Country

• British and colonial troops regained most of them

Pontiac’s War - 1763

• Treaty of Paris ended French power in North America

• Native Americans couldn’t count on French support

• Pontiac’s War ended

King George III and William Pitt

England in Debt

• William Pitt’s policies to win the French and Indian War in North America left England in debt.

• King George III and Parliament felt colonists should be paying more of the costs

• Mercantilism – colonies exist for the good of the Mother Country

England in Debt

• Mercantilism – colonies produce raw materials for the Mother country and buy her manufactured goods

• Navigation Acts – Law passed by Parliament in the 1660’s and 1670’s to put Mercantilism into practice

• Salutary Neglect – Navigation Acts not enforced so colonists would have the money to buy British goods

Proclamation of 1763 – Proclamation Line

• Drew a line down the middle of the Appalachian Mountains

Proclamation of 1763

• No white settlement west of the line

• Fur Traders must get a license

• 10,000 British troops stationed in the colonies to patrol the frontier

Sugar Act and Stamp Act

• Parliament – Law making body in England

• Sugar Act – Regulate Trade

• Stamp Act – Raise Revenue

• Regulate Trade vs. Raise Revenue

• “No Taxation Without Representation”

Sugar Act - 1764

• George Grenville – Prime Minister

• Regulate Trade• Lower tax on sugar

and molasses• Collect the tax• Stop smuggling

Stamp Act - 1765

• Raise Revenue• Tax stamp required on

legal documents – wills, marriage papers, newspapers, almanacs, playing cards and dice

Stamp Act Crisis 1765 - 1766

• “No Taxation Without Representation”

• Methods of ProtestPeaceful – Stamp Act Congress – New

York City – 9 colonies – petitionViolent – Sons of LibertyEconomic - Boycott

Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty

Sons of Liberty

Patrick Henry – Virginia House of Burgesses – “If this be treason

then make the most of it”

Stamp Act Crisis

• Stamp Act repealed in 1766

• Parliament passes the Declaratory Act

Death of Anne Stamp

Townshend Acts - 1767

• Charles Townshend – Prime Minister

• Taxes on paint, paper, lead, glass and tea

• Writs of Assistance – blanket search warrants

Methods of Protest

• Peaceful – petition

• Violent – Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty

• Economic – Non – importation agreements

Sons and Daughters of Liberty

Colonial Leaders

Boston Massacre - 1770

Boston Massacre - 1770

• Townshend Duties repealed except for a tax on tea

• British troops removed from Boston

• Committees of Correspondence organized by Sam Adams

Boston Tea Party - 1773

• Tea Act – British East India Company

• Sons of Liberty dump tea into Boston Harbor

Intolerable Acts ( Coersive Acts)1774

• Boston Port Bill – Boston Harbor closed until the tea is paid for

Intolerable ( Coersive ) Acts - 1774

• Massachusetts Government Act –

Massachusetts Assembly dissolved

Boston under martial law

Thomas Gage – military governor

Intolerable ( Coersive ) Acts - 1774

• Quartering Acts 1765 – troops

quartered in public buildings and public greens

1774 – troops quartered in people’s homes

Intolerable ( Coersive ) Acts - 1774

• Quebec ActEstablished the

boundaries of the Quebec Colony

Allowed the Catholic religion in Quebec

No elected assembly

First Continental Congress - 1774

• Albany Congress – 1754 - 7 of 13 colonies

• Stamp Act Congress – 1765 – New York City - 9 of 13 colonies

• First Continental Congress – 1774 – Philadelphia – 12 of 13 colonies

First Continental Congress

• Voted to cut off colonial trade with England unless Intolerable Acts abolished

• Advise colonies to begin training citizens for war• Wanted to define American rights, place limits on

Parliament’s power and agree on tactics to resist aggressive acts of the English government

• Set up a Colonial Association to enforce an embargo against England

Patrick Henry – March, 1775 – “Give Me Liberty or Give Me

Death”

Colonial Leaders