French and Indian War – A British victory put England in debt. They would attempt to make the colonists pay for their protection. Proclamation of 1763 – prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. Colonists, outraged, settled there anyway.
1764 Sugar Act – taxed foreign sugar – strictly enforced the Navigation Acts – cracked down on colonial smuggling. 1764 Quartering Act – required colonists to provide food and living quarters for British troops
1765 Stamp Act – revenue stamps were placed on most printed paper including all legal documents, newspapers pamphlets and ads. Reaction – “no taxation without representation”Stamp Act Congress – NYC – Declaration of Grievances Sons and Daughters of Liberty – Sam Adams- tarred and feathered tax collectors, destroyed revenue stamps. Boycott (refusal to buy) British goods Liberty Trees, Liberty Poles Stamp Act Repealed – Declaratory Act 1766 issued to colonies – parliament had the right to tax and make laws for the colonies.
Second Phase – 1767-
1773 1767 Townshend Acts – tax on colonial imports of tea: glass and paper. Officials could search homes using writ of assistance for smuggled goods. Indirect tax paid by merchants at ports. Reaction- Boycotts and Spinning bees – women created homespun clothes to wear rather than buy British goods Townshend Acts Repealed 1770
Boston Massacre – guards killed 5 people including dockworker Crispus Attucks. Guards were defended by John Adams and were not punished for their acts. Committees of Correspondence – British were conspiring against colonial liberties. Committees exchanged letters about suspicious or potentially threatening British activity. 1772 Gaspee - British customs ship that caught a number of smugglers ran ashore and was burned by colonists
1773 Tea act – Parliament made the price of the British East India Companies tea thecheapest in the colonies. Colonists refused to buy the tea because it would recognize the right of the British to tax the colonies. Boston Tea Party – Colonists dumped 342 chests of teas into the harbor
1774 Coercive Acts a. Port Act closed Boston Harbor b. Reduced power of Mass. Legislature c. Royal officials to be tried in England d. Quartering Act applied to all colonies September 1774 – First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia a. Tried to determine what to do about the loss of rights and liberties from the Intolerable Acts. b. Called for repeal of Intolerable Acts and boycott of British goods c. Another Declaration of Rights and Grievances asked for colonial rights to be restored. Response a. Massachusetts declared to be in a state of rebellion. British troops increased presence in colony.
Lexington and Concord a. April 18, 1775 British soldiers were sent to seize colonial military supplies in Concord. b. Paul Revere and William Dawes warned minutemen who met these soldiers on the village green in Lexington. Eight minutemen were killed under heavy British fire. c. British continued onto Concord where they destroyed military supplies d. On their return they were attacked by hundreds of minutemen who fired frombehind stonewalls at the troops. The British suffered 250 casualties. Bunker Hill a.
June 17, 1775 British and the colonial militia of Massachusetts fought on Breed’s Hill. The British suffered over a thousand casualties taking the hill. Colonists claimed a victory.
May 1775 Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia a. George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of colonial army b.
July 1775 Olive Branch Petition sent to King George III, which pledged their loyalty and asked for protection of colonial rights. c. King George rejected plea and declared colonies in rebellion
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense a. Pamphlet argued that colonies become independent and break all ties with England. b. It was against common sense for a large continent to be controlled by a small distant island.
Also, to pledge loyalty to a King whose government was corrupt and whose laws unreasonable.
July 4, 1776
The Declaration of Independence a. Thomas Jefferson wrote document, which proclaimed colonial independence from Great Britain. b. It also mentioned that individuals have unalienable rights that are to be protected by a government.
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