Road to the Revolutionary War:Acts and Taxes

Ms. Koleczek/Mrs. AndersonTeam Charger

Words to Know!• Writ of assistance-legal document that enabled

officers to search homes and warehouses for goods that might be smuggled (search warrant)

• Internal tax- (inside)taxes paid inside the colonies• External tax- taxes paid when goods entered the

colonies (imported goods)• Act- a legal document stating the ideas of a

committee (In our case, taxes)• Coercive- to force someone to do something they

do not want to do using intimidation (In our case, taxes)

Why Create the Acts?

• Britain was in great debt after the French and Indian War– William Pitt (Secretary of

State of Britain) used any measure possible to secure victory

– Created a giant amount of debt for the country

Why Create the Acts?

• Britain prohibited Colonists from moving west of the Appalachians to secure a constant trade source– To enforce this policy, the King placed 10,000

troops at the border– How will the King pay his soldiers? Tax the

Colonists!• Proclamation of 1763!! The King promised Pontiac that the

colonists would not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Navigation Acts

• Originally created in 1651• Strictly enforced in 1760 by writs of assistance– Why? Starting to gain debt from the French and

Indian War!• External tax• Purpose– Anything imported or exported from the Colonies had

to be shipped on British ships– 75% of crew had to be British– ONLY ALLOWED COLONIES TO TRADE WITH BRITAIN!

The Sugar Act

• Created in 1764• External tax• Purpose– Lowered the tax on imported molasses• Hoped this would encourage Colonists to pay the tax

and not smuggle cheaper sugar in from other countries– Allowed officers to seize (or take without

permission) goods from smugglers without going to court

– Also taxed: wine, whale fins, silk

The Currency Act

• Created in 1764• Got rid of Colonists’ form of money– What did the Colonists have to use now? British

pound• The pound was based on gold, but there were not gold

mines in the Colonies-Where did the colonies get the pounds? Britain shipped them over.

• Why would this upset the Colonists?– They now had to depend on Britain for one more

thing: their money source. They lost some independence!

The Stamp Act• Created in 1765• First internal tax!• Purpose– Taxed most printed products: newspapers, wills, land

deeds, legal documents and playing cards– All printed material received a stamp after tax was paid

• Why did this upset the Colonists?– Taxed without consent– Britain interfered with colonial affairs– Boycotted (refused to buy) British and European goods

• Repealed (canceled) because the merchants were losing business!

The Quartering Act

• Created in 1765 • Purpose– Forced Colonists to provide housing and food to

the troops

• Why would this upset the Colonists?– Invasion of privacy– Financial burden on the Colonists

The Declaratory Act

• Created in 1766 – Effective the day the Stamp Act was repealed

• Purpose– British government could create laws WHENEVER

and HOWEVER they wanted– Parliament had the right to tax and make

decisions for Colonies “in all cases what so ever.”

The Townshend Acts

• Created in 1767• External tax• Purpose– Tax only imported goods like paint/oil, glass, tea,

lead and paper at port of entry (where ever the goods entered the colonies)

• Any British tax angered Colonists– Boycotted British goods– Daughters of Liberty made goods that were boycotted rather than

buy the British goods, coffee and herbal teas were made, calico, homespun cloth was spun by the women.

The Boston Massacre• The Boston Massacre

– March 5, 1770– Colonists were frustrated with the taxes and formed a mob

outside the tax collectors’ customhouse, which was protected by British soldiers

– Sticks, stones, & snowballs were thrown, which frightened the tax collector

– A soldier was knocked down, which caused other soldiers to fire– Five Colonists were killed, including Crispus Attucks, a runaway

slave who gave his life for the cause of American Independence!– Townshend Acts repealed, except for the tax on tea– John Adams, believing everyone deserved a fair trial, defended

the British soldiers in court.

The Tea Act

• Created in 1773• Purpose– To save the British East India Company– Allowed BEIC total trade control over tea trade in

America– Actually lowered cost of tea– BEIC was able to sell directly to shopkeepers• Eliminated the merchants who normally distributed tea• Why would this upset the Colonists?

The Tea Act

• The Boston Tea Party– December 16, 1773– A group of male Colonists disguised as Mohawk

Indians threw 342 chests of tea overboard= $1.7 million dollars in today’s money. Why?????• Colonists were boycotting and forcing ships to turn back• One ship did not, and the governor ordered it to be

unloaded, which upset the Colonists• Organized and lead by Samuel Adams, who was a

member to the Sons of Liberty.

The Intolerable/Coercive Acts• Created in 1774 once King George III heard news of the

Boston Tea Party– “We must master them or totally leave them alone”

• Called Intolerable by Colonies• Purpose– Punish and isolate the people of Massachusetts for

resistance• Other colonies supported Boston by sending them supplies

– Closed Boston Harbor until Colonists paid for ruined tea– Took away rights

• Banned town meetings in New England except for one a year• Forced to shelter troops

The Quebec Act

• Created in 1774• Purpose– Set up a government in Quebec– Gave Ohio River Valley to Quebec, which ignored

the Colonists’ claims to the area– Gave preference to the Roman Catholic faith

People to Know!

• James Otis~Patriot who proclaimed, “There should be NO taxation without representation”! What was Otis saying?

• Patrick Henry~Patriot who said, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

• Paul Revere~A member of the Sons of Liberty, black-smith and artist who created the engraving of the

Boston Massacre. He also was one of the town criers, saying, “The British are coming!”

The Circular Letter

• Samuel Adams created the Circular Letter as well as the Committees of Correspondance.

• Purpose: To get the colonists to secretly communicate with each other and share the news of each colony with the others.

• When the British discovered the Circular Letter, they demanded that it be stopped!

• Both Sam Adams and John Hancock were sought after by the British for treason. What is treason?

• A betrayal of one’s country!

The Continental Congress

• In September, 1774, 55 delegates from all the colonies, except Georgia, arrived in Philadelphia.

• The purpose of the Continental Congress was to represent American interests and challenge British control.

• Political lenders from across the colonies attended the congress.

• The delegates drafted a statement of grievances calling for the repeal of the 13 acts of Parliament.

Battle of Lexington(Draw a soldier or a musket)

• April 18, 1775 in Lexington, Massachusetts• 70 minutemen had been alerted by Paul Revere and

William Dawes that the British were heading through that direction.

• At dawn, when the colonists were facing the great British army, a fire was shot. Still to this day, no one knows if the shot was fired by a nervous minuteman or a British soldier!

• 8 minutemen died on the village green that morning• This shot is known as the ‘Shot Heard ‘Round the World’.

Why?

• April 18, 1775-The British left Lexington to march to Concord, MA to seize the colonial arsenal (a collection shed of ammunition)

• The North Bridge at Concord was the site of the first American victory in the Revolutionary War.

• When the British arrived, they found that most of the militia’s gunpowder had already been removed and they destroyed the remaining supplies.

• At North Bridge, minutemen turned back the British!

The Battle of Concord(Draw a bridge-label it North Bridge)

This is the end of your “Road to Revolution” booklets!

• Make sure you have all of your pages filled in!• Did you color enhance key words, dates, people’s

names?• Do you have a symbol drawn for each act/tax?• Is your booklet easy to read?• Did you do your personal best on the booklet?• IF YOU ARE MISSING PAGES, YOU CAN PULL UP

THE POWER POINT FROM MY QUIA PAGE TO FINISH!

AndersonCharlene