The War for Independence

SS8H3 The student will analyze the role of GA in the American Revolution

a. Explain the immediate and long-term causes of the American Revolution and their impact on Georgia; include the French and Indian War (Seven Years War), Proclamation of 1763, Stamp Act, Intolerable Acts, and the Declaration of Independence.

b. Analyze the significance of people and events in GA in the Revolutionary War; include Loyalists, patriots, Elijah Clarke, Austin Dabney, Nancy Hart, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton, Battle of Kettle Creek; and the siege of Savannah.

1754 – 1763

British fought against the French and Indians over territory in the Ohio River Valley. The Treaty of Paris was the official end to the war. In the treaty, Britain claimed all of North America east of the Mississippi River.

Georgia was relatively calm during the war because most of the fighting was to the north. The war began the same year that John Reynolds became the first royal governor of the colony.

Timeline of EventsLeading up to American Revolution

Proclamation

of 1763

1765

Quartering Act

1765

Stamp Act

Townshend Act

1770

Boston Massacre

Boston Tea Party

1773 1774

Intolerable Acts

1763 17671764

Sugar Act

Proclamation of 1763

Click flag for timeline

•The colonists helped the British win the French and Indian war.

•This victory gave England the land west of the Appalachian Mountains, all the way to the Mississippi River.

•The King made a PROCLAMATION or an announcement in 1763 that the colonists could not go past the Appalachian Mountains.

•This Proclamation angered the colonists since they also helped fight for that land!

Treaty of Augusta*Georgia was different from the other British colonies.

*It was the youngest and had the smallest population

*Governor James Wright negotiated the Treaty of Augusta with the Creek

*Treaty affirmed earlier agreements and fixed a definite boundary between the colony and Creek territory

*It nearly tripled the area in which colonists could live.

Sugar Act of 1764• The first piece of legislation passed by Parliament

that was intended to raise revenue in America.

• It put a three-cent tax on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine.

• This was one of the first instances in which colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed.

*These taxes affected only a certain part of the population, but the affected merchants were very vocal. Besides, the taxes were enacted (or raised)

without the consent of the colonists

Quartering Act 1765

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King George III sent British soldiers to the colonies to “protect” the colonists from the French.

To pay for the protection that the colonists were receiving, they were required to provide supplies and barracks (housing) for the British troops.

The colonists were ordered to provide housing, food and transportation. This was a way for the King to put an indirect tax on the colonists.

*Quartering*

Act 1765

Click here to

read the

Quartering

Act

•The Stamp Act was a law passed which imposed a tax on all American colonists. It required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used.

•The Stamp Act required all legal documents, licenses, commercial contracts, newspapers, pamphlets and playing cards to carry a tax.

•The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of the British soldiers who were in America protecting the frontier.

•Colonists boycotted British goods in order to get the Stamp Act repealed.

•

The Stamp Act-1765

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Example of a stamp

showing that a colonist paid

the stamp tax.

Click the stamp to learn more and to see other examples!

Stamp Act Congress

Colonists met to discuss the new taxes and what they should do.

No one from GA attended because the legislature was not in session.

“No taxation without representation!” - James Otis

Townshend Act-1767After the Stamp Act was repealed, a man by the name of Charles

Townshend imposed an indirect tax on items such as lead, glass, paper and tea.

Townshend hoped that the colonists would not notice the price increase.

This indirect tax was collected at the sea ports before items reached colonial stores. Therefore, when the colonists went to buy these items, the tax was already included in the price. (Unlike the Stamp Act, where the colonists were aware of the added tax)

The colonists did recognize the indirect tax and once again boycotted British goods. Colonists were extremely upset with the unjust form of “Taxation without Representation!”

Engraving by: Paul Revere

Boston Massacre-1770

Click the newspaper to read the March 12, 1770 edition of the Boston Gazette reporting the

Boston Massacre.

•Tensions were growing higher between the colonists and the British soldiers.

•On March 5, 1770 a crowd of people gathered in front of the Customs House and began harassing a British soldier.

•The soldier called for helped and nine more soldiers were sent.

•Insults and snowballs were thrown at the soldiers and in the commotion someone yelled, “Fire!.”

•Many shots were fired and when the smoke cleared a total of 5 townspeople had been killed.

•The people of Boston were furious and demanded that the soldiers be tried and executed for the killings.

Committees of Correspondence*Samuel Adams of Boston proposed establishing committees of correspondence in towns across Massachusetts.

*These committees would spread news from town to town.

*Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and South Carolina formed committees as well.

Sons of Liberty

*A group of colonists who opposed British policies and pressured merchants not to sell taxed items.

*This group called for the first Tea Party.

Click flag for timeline

Boston Tea Party

1773

On December 16, 1773 the Sons of Liberty, who were led by Samuel Adams, dressed up as Mohawk Indians and headed to the Boston Harbor.

These Radical Patriots quickly and quietly boarded three different ships arming themselves with axes and hatchets.

The group disguised as Native Americans threw 342 crates of tea overboard, destroying the precious British tea.

This act of defiance made King George III furious and he told the Patriots they would be punished!

Intolerable Acts ~ 1774*Due to Massachusetts’ constant resistance to parliamentary rule and as

punishment for the Boston Tea Party, the King and his Parliament passed a series of laws to limit political and geographical freedoms. These laws were called the Coercive Acts or Intolerable Acts.

1. The Boston Harbor would be closed until the East India Tea Company was repaid fully for the tea lost at the “Tea Party.”

2. Quartering Act was extended to publicly occupied buildings.

3. British Officials could not be tried in colonial courts for their crimes; instead, they would be sent back to Britain to receive punishment.

1. Colonial charters, which stated rules and government set up, were annulled and British Governors were in complete control of town meetings.

2. The border of Canada was now extended into the western colonies of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia.

KG

First Continental Congress1774

The American colonists banded together to fight back after the British enforced the Intolerable Acts.

Representatives met in Philadelphia to try to figure out a compromise that could be made with England.

Congress voted to cut off colonial trade with Great Britain until Parliament abolished the Intolerable Acts.

Congress also decided to begin training men for war, fearing war with England was inevitable.

King George III and Parliament did not acknowledge or respect the requests of the colonists.

BATTLE OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD-1774

Click on Paul Revere to learn more!

•The British soldiers marched out of Boston to seize the colonists’ gunpowder and firearms in Concord, Massachusetts.

•Paul Revere helped alert the Minutemen that the British were on the move by hanging lanterns in the church steeple. He also rode through the town to warn that, “The British are coming!”

•Although the Minutemen were ready for the British in Lexington, Massachusetts, they were out numbered and defeated.

•Messengers were able to warn colonists in Concord, Massachusetts and only a portion of the supplies were destroyed.

Why did the Colonists go to War?

By 1775  the colonist had grown tired of being unfairly controlled by King George III and his parliament. As the "mother country," Britain expected obedience from her "children," the colonies.  The colonists believed that they had certain rights which Britain should respect.  Each side refused to give in, which led to an all out war and eventual independence for the colonies. 

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Loyalists and Patriots in Georgia

*Georgians were divided on the issue of the Revolutionary War because

Georgia was the youngest colony and was dependent on Great Britain for

economic and military support.

*The colony was doing well, but they opposed the British taxes

*Many resented the restrictions of the Proclamation of 1763.

*The Scots around Darien were against the British.

*The Jewish, in Savannah, were strong Patriots.

*The Quakers and Salzburgers wanted to remain neutral

because of religious beliefs.

The War for Independence