Abou Bakr Belkaid UniversityEnglish Department

Module: ASCCLevel: LMD 2

Teacher : Souad HAMIDI

The American Revolution‘ the revolution was effected before the war commenced. The revolution was in the hearts and minds of the people’ Former President John Adams

The French and Indian War• 1754 to 1763 war fought over the land in

America between the English and French.• It was called the Seven Years War in Europe.• Called the French and Indian War because the

Indians helped the French in the war against the British. The Indians had nothing to lose. The British were taking their land, the French were not.

• The British won, but it cost a lot of money.

Join, or Die Political Cartoon by Benjamin FranklinA political cartoon calling for American colonies to band

together for protection against Indians and the French. First published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754.

Proclamation of 1763

• Forbid colonists to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains.

• Created to protect colonists from the Indians• Many colonists reacted with anger toward the

Proclamation. They did not like being told what to do or where they could live.

The war of Independence• : (also called the Revolutionary war) is the war waged by

the 13 British colonies against Britain to get their independence as the United States of America. The war (1775-1783) was the result of the American Revolution, the acts of rebellion against British tax oppression. It was officially declared with Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence on July 04, 1776 and was fought by Continental Army (minuteman) under the command of George Washington. The military final victory was ensured at the battle of Yorktown, Virginia. In the Autumn of 1781, with the submission of the British General Lord Cornwallis. This started peace negotiation which ended in the General Treaty of Paris ( September 3, 1783) which sealed the official independence of America.

Causes of the American Revolution:1. The distance separating Britain from the colonies. 2. The many years during which the British parliament did not

interfere with the colonial interests or activities.3. The long standing of and respect for representative government in

the colonies.4. The decision made by the British Government to make the colonies

pay a large share of the war dept from the French and Indian War.5. The failure of both colonial and British understanding, diplomacy

and patience6. The spirit of self-reliance fostered by conditions of colonial and

frontier life.

The Laws passed by the British Parliament started with:

• The Navigation Act 1760: laws made to restrict American interest in terms of business. The British imposed taxes. They prevented American colonists from making business for the British were the intermediates. This law was bad for the colonists but good for the British.

The Sugar Act (1764):

• Acts passed by Britain which placed taxes on sugar, wine, coffee and other products commonly exported to the colonies to help raise revenues to pay for Britain’s war against France and its Indian allies.

• This act dealt with taxes whenever the American colonists imported sugar, coffee,…etc, they had to pay taxes.

The Stamp Act: (1765)

• A direct tax in the American colonies imposed by the British parliament, requiring the purchase of stamps as a tax to be affixed to all documents including newspapers, magazines, and commercial papers. This tax with other taxes helped the increase of the colonist’s discontent and outrage which would materialise into the desire for American Independence.

The Act of 1773

• British law that granted to the East India Company a monopoly on the importation of tea to the American colonies for the purpose of undercutting colonial merchants. This was part of the provocation that induced American colonists to ask for independence.

• East India Company: sent ships to Asia to bring tea and sell it all over the world. In fact , it was the business of East India Company which means a monopoly (exclusive exploitation).

No Taxation without Representation

• The colonists claimed “no taxation without representation” because they were being taxed but had no vote in Parliament and had no say in how the colonies were being governed.

• The colonists started a boycott, or a refusal to buy certain goods, from the British.

American political cartoon showing a man aiming a gun at a man representing colonial America; He tells a British member of Parliament, "I give you that man's money for my use", to which the American responds by saying, "I will not be robbed". Boston is burning in the background.

A violent event happened to protest against the Tea Act:

• Boston Tea Party: (1773): the first real reaction against the unjust acts. The British were unjust when they imposed laws on the colonies for there was no representatives from the colonies in the British Parliament. The Boston Tea Party was one of the events of the American Revolution which occurred on December 16, 1773 when 150 Boston Colonists disguised themselves as Indians, boarded the East India Company ships in the Boston Harbour and threw the tea on those ships into the waters below to show their outrage at the tea tax that had been imposed by the British Parliament through the Tea Act of 1773.

The Boston Tea Party

Coercive Act (intolerable Act)• In order to punish the colonists; first, the Boston

harbour had to be closed which means no business. Second, Town meetings were severely restricted.

• The Quartering Act: the British sent 4000 soldiers to protect the harbour and the city of Boston which means that every house was accompanied by a soldier. The act was an escalation in humiliation and injustice. The presence of British soldiers in peacetime made the colonists feel like enemies of the British, not fellow British citizens. Neither King George III nor Parliament paid attention to this colonial attitude. They felt the laws and taxes were reasonable.

The first episode: the war had already begun

First event Second event Third event

British laws Violent reactions The British Retaliation (revenge)

The First Continental Congress• After the retaliation of the British, the

colonists decided to meet to discuss their problems with Britain in the First Continental Congress. This meeting lasted for more than 40 days during which the Delegates discussed and debated. It took place in Philadelphia (PA). The British and the Colonists took decisions together; about 56 delegates met in the First Continental Congress that took place on September the 5th through October 26th, 1774.

Decisions taken at the First Continental Congress:

1. To officially oppose the Coercive Act.2. Boycott British goods.3. The right to petition and assembly.4. Freedom from army.5. Trial by peers (jury); judged by colonists like

them.6. The selection of representatives councils to

collect taxes.

The Second Episode of American History in the Second Continental Congress

• These decisions were written in the Declaration of Rights and Resolves signed by the colonists as a petition and sent to the British Crown and Parliament; the Delegates would meet again if the King didn’t recapitulate (changes his mind) to take other decisions.

Second Continental Congress

• In May, 1775 the American Delegates met again because their demand were not answered by the King. They asked Britain to:

a. To have armed vessels, i. e , a navy.b. To form the Continental Army.c. To make their trade and business free from

any British interference.d. To issue their own currency.

Separation from Mother Country• Not all of the colonists had the same

opinion about the separation; some of them were Loyalists who showed their allegiance to the king and still hoped for a peaceful settlement. To convert these colonists to the cause of independence, Sir Thomas Paine, a recent immigrant from Britain wrote a pamphlet called Common Sense on January 9th , 1776 calling American colonists for independence from Great Britain.

The Declaration of Independence• The United States first needed to declare

independence from Great Britain. • Thomas Jefferson, at the young age of 33, wrote the

Declaration of Independence.• The Declaration of Independence was signed on July

4, 1776.• That is why American celebrate Independence Day on

July 4th.• This is the day that the United States of America

declared their independence from King George and Great Britain.

Benjamin Franklin

• Benjamin Franklin, one of the most famous men in the world, was sent to France to ask for military aid as well as a loan.

• And the war was on!

Sources:

• An Outline of US History, Bureau of International Information Programs U.S. Department of State http://usinfo.state.gov/ 2005

Compare between Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence

• Thank you very much for your attention