The American Revolution

Shaneena Wapinsky-Smith & Zachary Tarolli

8 Events in History

1. French & Indian War (1754-1763)

2. Sugar Act (1764)

3. Stamp Act (1765)

4. Declaratory Act (1766)

5. Boston Massacre (1770)

6. Tea Act/Boston Tea Party (1773)

7. Coercive Acts (1774)

8. Battles of Lexington & Concord (1775)

Goals

This presentation aims to:

• Accurately represent moments within the first 150 years of American history that most reflect the division between Britain and America.

• Clearly support the above assumptions by citing scholarly resources.

• Provide the reader with a timeline of events leading up to the American Revolutionary War.

Objectives

After observing this PowerPoint, viewers will:

• Have an increased knowledge of the historical events leading up to the American Revolution.

• Be able to describe the social, economical, and political influence of such events on the colonies, British, other global powers, and Native Americans that intersected to lead up to the American Revolution.

• Have a fuller understanding of the events as turning points in American history.

French & Indian War (1754-1763)

• Fought between the colonies of Great Britain and New France• Aided by European military troops and native allies

• North American theater of the Seven Years War• Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) was a global military war involving Europe,

North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines

• Great Britain overtook Canada and Florida, resulting in British dominance of North America

• Officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763

(Boundless 2:4)

Social Impacts of the French and Indian War

• French power was eliminated from North America• Colonists lost strong ally

• No equal balance to power- Britain dominated

• Native Americans were driven from Florida• Increased tension between Choctaw and Creek

• Majority of Spanish Catholic left Florida

• John Stuart maintained a standing army of ten thousand British regular troops in the colonies to protect them

(Boundless 2:4)

Political Impacts of the French and Indian War

• British colonies functioned independently of each other and were removed from the British government• After the start of the war, the British Army attempted to regulate and control

the colonial administrations

• Great Britain now dominated North America

• George III's Proclamation of 1763 restricted settlement beyond Appalachians• Colonies eager to acquire native lands were outraged

(Boundless 2:4)

Economical Impacts of the French and Indian War• France suffered large financial and territorial losses

• British government substantially increased its national debt

• George Grenville replaced Bute and sought immediately to restore the nation's finances• He devised the Sugar Act of 1764 to raise those funds

(Boundless 2:4; 3:1)

Summation

• Officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763

• French power was eliminated from North America

• Great Britain now dominated North America

• George III's Proclamation of 1763 restricted settlement beyond Appalachians

Sugar Act (1764)

• “Also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on April 5, 1764” (Boundless 3:1)

(Boundless 3:1)

Social Impacts of the Sugar Act

• Increased colonial concern about the intent of the British Parliament• Colonists had refused to pay taxes from the Molasses Act

• Sugar Act was an attempt by British government to enforce a modified version of Molasses Act

(Boundless 3:1)

Political Impacts of the Sugar Act

• Starting in 1750, Parliament began to ban, restrict, and tax several more products• This enraged the colonist despite American’s tax being far less than Europe’s

• As the Crowns rule increased the colonist resentment increased more and more for British rule• The Colonies began to establish Legislative Councils and Assemblies to hold

representation along side of the Crown appointed Governor

(Boundless 2:2)

Economical Impacts of the Sugar Act

• The Sugar Act was a revenue-raising act• Parliament reduced the Molasses Act by 3 pence to help increase regulation and

collection of the Sugar Act

• The bill made it clear that the purpose of the legislation was not to just regulate trade but to actually raise revenue

• A significant portion of the economy was involved with providing food and supplies to the British Army during the French and Indian War • The colonist felt this was the major culprit for their economic struggles and

demands for repeal were almost immediate

(Boundless 3:1)

Summation

• Unpopular acts of Parliament, such as the Sugar Act started

• Tax collection became highly enforced

• Resentment grew towards the British

• Colonist were having economic struggles due to the tax

Stamp Act (1765)• The Stamp Act 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British

Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used

(Boundless 3:1)

Social Impacts of the Stamp Act

• The purpose of the tax was to pay for troops to stay stationed in the America’s after victory in the Seven Years' War• By taxing newspapers, textiles, and the production of printed money made it more

difficult for information, social agendas, and propaganda, to be disseminated among the colonies

• This only made the colonists more aware of the British imposition, and increased their motivation to rally

• Unified protest began against British taxation• “No taxation without Representation” was the battle cry of the times

• Summer of 1765, the Stamp Act Riots took place in Boston

(Boundless 3:2; Helicon p. 4109h)

Political Impacts of the Stamp Act

• Taxation without Representation• The Act violated the rights of Englishmen to representation in Parliament

• Threatened the independence the colonies grew accustomed to

• Vice-Admiralty courts would handle the tax violations • They had no jury trials

• It violated the colonist right to a fair trial

(Boundless 3:1; Helicon p. 4109h)

Economical Impacts of the Stamp Act

• The British merchants stores began to starve

• Colonies began to experience the effects of a depression

• Radical groups such as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty and Stamp Act Congress began to form• Harassment of tax collectors

• Leaders in the boycotts and riots in New York and Boston

Helicon p4117u)

Summation

• Caused a constant presence of the British military

• Protests and Riots started in New York and Boston

• Taxation without Representation

• Risked colonist rights to a fair trail

• Started the formation of groups like Sons and Daughters of Liberty and the Stamp Act Congress

Declaratory Act (1766)

• Declaratory Act, (1766), declaration by the British Parliament that accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act, stated that the British Parliament’s taxing authority was the same in America as in Great Britain

(Britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/155205/Declaratory-Act)

Social Impacts of the Declaratory Act

• “In all cases whatsoever”• Parliament asserted its complete authority to make binding laws on the

American colonies

• It was designed to clarify the relationship between Britain and America’s

(Encyclopedia Britannica)

Political Impacts of the Declaratory Act

• The over turn of the Stamp Act Congress, Parliament could pass any law they saw fit

(Encyclopedia Britannica)

Economical Impacts of the Declaratory Act

• Parliament had the absolute right to tax America• Imposed Imperial taxation

• Parliament declared the Stamp Act Congress null and void

(Encyclopedia Britannica)

Summation

• Parliament asserted its complete authority

• The Stamp Act Congress was over turned

• Imposed Imperial taxation

Boston Massacre (1770) - background

• The Townshend Acts (1767) - series of laws named after Charles

Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, passed by British

Parliament. Comprised of five laws:

• Revenue Act of 1767

• Indemnity Act

• Commissioners of Customs Act

• Vice Admiralty Court Act

• New York Restraining Act(Boundless 3:2)

Boston Massacre (1770) - background

• “The purpose of the Townshend Acts was to raise revenue in the colonies that paid the salaries of governors and judges so they would be independent of colonial rule. The acts were also meant to create a more effective means of enforcing compliance with trade regulations, to punish the province of New York for failing to comply with the 1765 Quartering Act, and to establish the precedent that the British Parliament had the right to tax the colonies.”

(Boundless 3:2)

Boston Massacre (1770) – The Incident on King St.

• March 5, 1770 outside of Customs House on King Street

• Colonists gather and surround guard on duty

• Harassment, verbal abuse, snowball throwing at guards

• Captain Preston calls for 8 troops for backup

• Does not give order to fire, however one officer does anyways

• Chaos ensues, resulting in 5 deaths

• Crispus Attucks – considered first American casualty of the war

Boston Massacre (1770) - aftermath

• Trials for the troops found guilty of manslaughter

• Turned MA and colonial sentiment against the King and Parliament

• Used as colonial propaganda

• John Adams – “On March 5, 1770, the foundation of American independence was laid”

• Neil Langley York – “It is perceived as a significant event leading to the violent rebellion that followed”

(Boundless 3:2)

Tea Act (1773)

• Need arose from two situations:1. Financial problems of British East India Company

2. Dispute over Parliament’s control and authority on colonies

• The Tea Act retained the 3 pence Townshend duty on tea imported to the colonies

• Once again, the Tea Act was met with great resistance from the colonists and resulted in one of most infamous rebellions in colonial history

(Boundless 3:3)

East India Company – in debt

By late 1772 the East India Company, one of Britain's most important commercial institutions, was in a serious financial crisis.

(Boundless 3:3)

The Boston Tea Party (1773)

• Political protest led by the Sons of Liberty – Sam Adams disputably planned, organized, publicized

• While protestors prevented taxed to be unloaded in 3 other colonies, MA Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson did not allow tea to be shipped back to Boston

• December 16 – culmination of events led to hundreds of crates of tea dumped in Boston Harbor

• Protestors dressed as Mohawks boarded ships at night and emptied crates

(Boundless 3:3)

The Boston Tea Party (1773) - aftermath

• “No taxation without representation”• Issue was less of tax on tea but rather the tax passing sans American input

• Lord North – “Whatever may be the consequences, we must risk something; if we do not, all is over”

• Port of Boston is closed

• Led Parliament to enact Coercive Acts as colonial punishment

• John Adams – and many others – viewed tea drinking as unpatriotic after the events, leading to American lasting preference for coffee

(Boundless 3:3)

Coercive Acts (1774)

• Sponsored by British Prime Minister Lord North

• Enacted in 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party

• Comprised of 5 laws:

• Impartial Administration of Justice Act

• Massachusetts Bay Regulating Act

• Boston Port Act

• Quartering Act

• Quebec Act

(Boundless 3:3)

Coercive Acts (1774) cont.

• Impartial Administration of Justice Act – allowed the royal governor of a colony to move

trials out of the colony as he saw fit for fear of unfair jury

• Massachusetts Bay Regulating Act – all law officers were to be subjected to appointment

by royal governor; banned town meetings without approval of the royal governor

• Boston Port Act – closed the port of Boston until the dumped tea price was realized and

repaid; moved capital of Massachusetts to Salem; Marblehead became the new official

port of entry in Massachusetts

(Boundless 3:3)

Coercive Acts (1774) cont.

• Quartering Act – provided royal troops shelter in colonists’ homes/buildings in

lieu of proper barracks; citizens had no say and had to give troops shelter without

notice

• Quebec Act – granted civil government and religious freedom to Catholics who

lived in Quebec

(Boundless 3:3)

Coercive Acts (1774) - reaction

• Harshest of all the Acts passed by Royal Parliament

• Acts aimed at taking away MA’s self-government and rights

• Met with criticism and colonial outrage and resistance

• September-October 1774 - First Continental Congress assemblies in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Georgia only colony to not send delegates

(Boundless 3:3)

Battles of Lexington & Concord (1775) – terms to know

• Powder Alarm – a massive popular reaction to the removal of gunpowder from a magazine by British soldiers under orders from General Thomas Gage, royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, on September 1, 1774

• Thomas Gage (1719 or 1720–April 2, 1787) - British general, best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as military commander in the early days of the American Revolution

• Minutemen - members of teams of select men from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War

(Boundless 3:4)

Battles of Lexington & Concord (1775)

• A British attempt to seize military stores in Lexington and Concord led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.

• British General Thomas Gage, military governor and commander-in-chief in North America, received orders to disarm the colonial rebels who had supposedly hidden weapons in Concord, and to imprison the rebellion's leaders.

• April 19, 1775 – colonial militia fight valiantly against Royal troops, resulting in significant casualties

• The Battles of Lexington & Concord are the general consensus as the commencement of the American Revolution.

(Boundless 3:4)

British troops in Concord

The Battle of Lexington

Battles of Lexington & Concord (1775) - aftermath

• “In the morning, Gage awoke to find Boston besieged by a huge militia army, numbering 20,000, which had marched from throughout New England. This time, unlike during the Powder Alarm, the rumors of fighting were true, and the Revolutionary War had begun. The militia army continued to grow as surrounding colonies sent men and supplies. The Continental Congress would adopt and sponsor these men into the beginnings of the Continental Army. Even now, after open warfare had started, Gage still refused to impose martial law in Boston. He persuaded the town's selectmen to surrender all private weapons in return for promising that any inhabitant could leave town.”

• And the Revolution has begun!

(Boundless 3:4)

Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull

Works Cited• Boundless. (n.d.) US to 1877. Retrieved from http://www.boundless.com

• Boundless. “The Townshend Acts.” US History to 1877. Boundless, 14 Nov. 2014. Retrieved 21 Mar. 2015 .

• Boundless. “The Boston Massacre and Military Occupation.” US History to 1877. Boundless, 14 Nov. 2014. Retrieved 21 Mar. 2015.

• Boundless. “The Boston Tea Party.” US History to 1877. Boundless, 14 Nov. 2014. Retrieved 21 Mar. 2015.

• Boundless. “Lexington and Concord.” US History to 1877. Boundless, 14 Nov. 2014. Retrieved 21 Mar. 2015.

• "British Legislation and Colonial Reactions: Conflict in the Colonies." Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <http://www.teacherweb.com/MA/WilliamDiamondMiddleSchool/Diamond-Barrym/Timeline-Chart-COMPLETE.pdf>.

• Encyclopedia Britanica. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britanica. Retrieved from

• Helicon, P. (2006). Hutchinson Inside American History. Abingdon, Oxfordshire, GBR: Helicon Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com

• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/375578/mercantilism

• http://www.stamp-act-history.com/timeline/declaratory-act/