CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION

Goals:Understand the colonist’s political heritageUnderstand the reasons colonists protested

COLONISTS’ POLITICAL HERITAGE 3 Branches of Government Bicameral (2 house) legislature Wealthy men should be in control of the

government

COMPARING BRITISH AND COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS

Great Britain American ColoniesKing Governor

• Inherited executive power •Appointed by and served the king but paid by the colonial

legislatureParliament Colonial Legislatures

House of Lords• Aristocrats with inherited

titles also inherited legislative power

Upper House or Council• Appointed by governor• Prominent colonists but

without inherited titlesHouse of Commons

• Elected by men who held significant amounts of

property• Less than ¼ of British men

qualified to vote

Lower House or Assembly• Elected by men who owned

property• About 2/3 of colonial men

qualified to vote

NEW TAXES UPSET COLONISTS French and Indian War racked up huge

amounts of debt for Great Britain Parliament needed to raise money, both

to pay off the debts and to protect the new territories

People in Britain paid far more taxes than did the colonists, which seemed unfair

Parliament decided the colonists should help foot the bill for their own protection

THE SUGAR, QUARTERING, AND STAMP ACTS Smuggling and bribing was a huge part

of trade in the colonies Great Britain began asserting duties and

taxes already in use The Sugar Act lowered the price of

molasses, but assigned more agents to actually collect taxes

Quartering Act required colonists to provide housing for British troops

Stamp Act required colonists to pay a tax on all printed materials

TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION Colonists hated the Stamp Act Colonial leaders questioned Parliament’s

right to tax the colonies directly If they had no representation in

Parliament, they shouldn’t be taxed by Parliament

Many believed accepting this tax was a slippery slope

Many in Britain were confused because cities in England didn’t have representation, yet still paid taxes

Parliament felt their arguments were selfish

COLONIAL PROTESTS INTENSIFY Leaders felt everyone was granted the

natural rights of life, liberty, and property as stated by political philosopher John Locke

Locke insisted the government exists for the good of the people

Any government that refused to protect the natural rights of their citizens should be protested

Patrick Henry argued the colonies had the right to tax themselves

PATRIOTS AND BOYCOTTS Sons of Liberty (led by Samuel Adams) led

protests which often ended in angry mobs In August 1765, a Sons of Liberty mob tore down

and damaged the house of a stamp tax collector Through intimidation, mobs got all tax collectors

to resign their posts Many felt a boycott of British goods would be a

better protest Women began making fabrics in the home

instead of British manufactured fabrics Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but

continued to pass tax legislation on the colonies

QUESTIONS How did colonial governments differ

from the British government? Why did the British impose new taxes on

the colonies What three tactics did colonists use to

protest British taxes? Why did Parliament not understand the

colonists’ argument “no taxation without representation”?

THE CALL FOR REVOLUTION! Based on the text in the book, you’re

going to create a poster calling for independence!

This poster needs:A HeadingReasons why independence is necessaryA pictureColor