Tensions Arise. I. Tensions Mount After the French and Indian War tensions between the colonists and Britain continued to grow. 1. Britain needed a way

Tensions Arise

I. Tensions Mount

After the French and Indian War tensions between the colonists and Britain continued to grow. 1. Britain needed a way to pay off its war

debts and the growing number of troops that were in the colonies.

What’s the easiest way for a government to get money quickly?

I. Tensions Mount

a. The easiest way to do this was through taxes.

Problems with Colonists

• To pay for the war King George puts George Greenville in position of prime minister.

• Greenville enacts Sugar Act to raise money to pay for war.–Reduced tax on foreign made molasses–Placed duties on imports– Strengthened the enforcement of the law of

prosecuting smuggling cases.

I. Tensions Mount

A. The Stamp Act1. In March 1765, Parliament through Prime

Minister George Grenville passed the Stamp Act.

I. Tensions Mounta. The Stamp Act required colonists to:

i. Purchase special stamped paper for every legal document, license, newspaper, pamphlet, and almanac. ii. Pay special “stamp duties” on playing cards, and dice

b. The Stamp Act impacted everyone in the colonies

I. Tensions Mount

B. Stamp Act Protests were led by the Sons of Liberty, a group of Boston shopkeeper, artisans, and laborers.

1. Samuel Adams was one of the founders

I. Tensions Mount

2. The Sons of Liberty spent the summer of 1765 harassing customs workers, stamp agents, and royal governors. a. Stamp Act agents resigned all over the colonies after facing mobs and threats.

I. Tensions Mount

3. The Stamp Act was to become effective on November 1, 1765 but no stamps were ever sold due to colonial protests

I. Tensions Mount

4. The Colonial Assemblies spent the years of 1765 and 1766 confronting the Stamp Act measure. a. Virginia’s lower house, led by Patrick Henry, adopted several resolutions

i. They stated that Virginians could be taxed only by the Virginia assembly- their own representatives

I. Tensions Mount

b. Other colonies followed with the same resolutions.

c. For the first time, the colonies were ready to work together for a common goal.

I. Tensions Mount

C. The Stamp Act Congress1. In October 1765 nine colonies sent representatives to meet in New York City. 2. The Congress issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances

a. It said that Parliament did not have the power to put taxes on the colonies because the colonists were not represented in Parliament.

I. Tensions Mount

3. Merchants in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia agreed not to import goods manufactured in Britain until the Stamp Act was repealed.

a. They expected British merchants would force Parliament to repel the Stamp Act.

I. Tensions Mount

D. End of the Stamp Act1. The boycott worked and Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in March of 1766. 2. On the same day, however, Parliament stressed its power by issuing the Declaratory Act.

a. It asserted Parliament’s right to make laws- especially in the colonies

I. Tensions Mount E. The Townshend Acts

1. Charles Townshend came up with a new method to gain money from the colonies.

2. His ideas were passed in 1767 by Parliament.

I. Tensions Mount

E. The Townshend Acts3. These taxes were indirect taxes, unlike the Stamp Act.

a. They were taxes put on goods imported into the colonies such as glass, lead, paint, and paper.

b. They also placed a 3-penny tax on tea, the most popular drink in the colonies.

I. Tensions Mount

F. Resistance to the Townshend Acts1. Colonists reacted instantly saying, “No taxation without representation!”

I. Tensions Mount

2. American women became involved in the protests.a. Writer Mercy Otis Warren of Massachusetts

urged women to, “lay their British female ornaments aside,” such as’ “feathers, furs, rich satins, and capes.”

b. Wealthy women stopped buying British luxuries and joined spinning bees to show the boycott of British cloth.

c. Housewives boycotted British tea and made homemade tea from birch bark and sage.

I. Tensions Mount

G. Seizure of the Liberty1. In June of 1768 John Hancock, a wealthy Boston merchant, had his ship the Liberty seized by custom agents.

a. They claimed he had smuggled wine into the colonies without paying the customs tax.

Tensions Mount

2. The seizure of the Liberty triggered riots against customs agents in Boston.

3. In response, the British stationed 2,000 redcoats in Boston.

The presence of British soldiers charged the air of Boston with hostility.

I. Tensions Mount

H. The Boston Massacre1. Colonists and soldiers were forced to compete for jobs in the shipyards of Boston. 2. On the afternoon of March 5, 1770 a fistfight broke out over jobs between colonists and British soldiers. 3. That evening a mob gathered in front of the Customs House and taunted the guards.

I. Tensions Mount

4. Crispus Attucks and several dockhands appeared and an armed fight broke out. a. At the end, Attucks and four others were dead in the snow.

5. Samuel Adams and others labeled the fight the Boston Massacre.

Why?

I. Tensions Mount

I. Rhode Island1. The next two years were fairly

peaceable in the colonies. 2. In 1772, a British customs schooner,

patrolling the coast of Rhode Island looking for smugglers, ran aground.

a. Colonists boarded the vessel and burned it to the waterline.

King George III

I. Tensions Mount

3. King George responded by making a special commission to find suspects and bring them to England for trial. a. This scared colonists.

i. Committees of correspondence were set up by Massachusetts and Virginia to talk with other colonies about the threats to American liberties.

http://www.ctbw.com/jones.htm

I. Tensions Mount

J. The Boston Tea Party1. The British East India Company had held a monopoly on tea imports.

a. The boycott of tea by the colonists left the business with 17 million pounds of tea and facing bankruptcy.

I. Tensions Mount

J. The Boston Tea Partyb. Lord North in 1773 came up with the Tea Act.

i. It allowed the East India Company the right to sell tea without taxes directly to colonists.

ii. This way colonial merchants would be cut out of the tea trade.

I. Tensions Mount

J. The Boston Tea Partyc. Instead of buying cheaper tea, the colonists protested.

I. Tensions Mount

2. On the evening of December 16, 1773 a large group of Boston rebels, including the Sons of Liberty, disguised themselves as Native Americans and took action. a. The men went to the Boston harbor and boarded three ships full of tea.

i. the chests of tea were heaved overboard.

I. Tensions Mount

3. This became known as the Boston Tea Party. a. 18,000 pounds of The East India Company’s tea were dumped into the harbor that night.

I. Tensions Mount

K. The Intolerable Acts1. King George and Parliament were outraged. In 1774 they responded by passing laws the colonists called the Intolerable Acts.

I. Tensions Mount

2. The Acts did the following:a. Shut down Boston Harbor

i. Until the colonists paid for the damaged teab. Passed the Quartering Act

i. This allowed British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings

I. Tensions Mount

2. The Acts did the following:c. General Thomas Gage was appointed

the new governor of Massachusetts i. He placed Boston under martial

law

I. Tensions MountL. First Continental Congress

1. The Committees of correspondence quickly took action. 2. In September 1774, 56 delegates from the colonies met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights.

First Continental Congress

I. Tensions MountL. First Continental Congress

a. Defended the colonies’ rights to run their own

affairs

b. Supported the Massachusetts protests

c. Stated that if the British used force against the

colonists, the colonies would fight back.

d. Agreed to meet again in May 1775 if necessary.

I. Tensions Mount

M. Lexington and Concord1. After the Continental Congress many New England towns prepared militarily.

a. Minutemen stockpiled firearms and gunpowder

2. General Gage learned about this and prepared to take action.

I. Tensions Mount

M. Lexington and Concord3. In March 1775, Gage checked out rumors that there was a stockpile of arms and munitions in Concord.

a. His agents came back with detailed maps of the locations of the stockpiled weapons. 4. Gage also learned that John Hancock and Samuel Adams were in Lexington, only 5 miles east of Concord.

I. Tensions Mount

M. Lexington and Concord5. Minute men and the resistance knew the British would strike soon. 6. Doctor Joseph Warren was in charge of most of the resistance in Boston.

a. On April 18, Warren learned the British would march on Concord by way of Lexington.

i. The British would capture Adams and Hancock and destroy the munitions.

I. Tensions Mount

M. Lexington and Concord7. Paul Revere was sent for to warn that 700 British regulars were headed to Concord. a. On the night of April 18, Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott rode out to spread the word. As they rode, Revere shouted, “The Regulars are coming!!”

One If by Land, Two if By Sea

Paul Revere had prearranged signals for his upcoming ride to warn the surrounding countryside of the British.

From the tower of Old North Church in Boston, one lantern would be shown if the British were coming by land, Two lanterns if by sea.

Old North Church

Two Lanterns

• Two lanterns had been hung briefly in the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston, indicating that troops would row "by sea" across the Charles River to Cambridge, rather than marching "by land" out Boston Neck.

• b. Revere burst into the house with Adams and Hancock, saving them.

• Revere's Ride

http://www.paulreverehouse.org/ride/virtual.html

The Regulars are Coming!!

M. Lexington and Concord8. Revere and Dawes were captured and then released. 9. On the morning of April 19, 1775 British troops reached Lexington.

a. 70 minutemen awaited them on the village green.

The Shot Heard Round the World

M. Lexington and Concordb. The British ordered the minutemen to leave. c. The colonists began to move out with their rifles. d. Someone fired a shot and the British sent a volley of shots into the departing militia.

This is called the Shot Heard Round the World

I. Tensions Mount

M. Lexington and Concorde. The Battle of Lexington lasted only 15 minutes.

i. 8 minutemen were killed, 10 were wounded

ii. One British soldier was injured

I. Tensions Mount

M. Lexington and Concordf. The British marched on to Concord

i. The arsenal was emptyii. There was a short clash with

minutemen

I. Tensions Mount

M. Lexington and Concordg. The British began their march back to Boston.i. 3,000- 4,000 minutemen had assembled and

fired at the British troops from behind stone walls and trees.

ii. The British fell by the dozensiii. When the British reached Boston they were

humiliated and bloodied. shot

http://www.earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm

Growing Conflicts

II. Ideas Start a Revolution

II. Ideas Start a RevolutionA. Second Continental Congress

1. In May 1775 a second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to debate their next move.

2. The colonies were divided both in their loyalties and in their plan of action.


a) John Adams of Massachusetts wanted a radical plani. For each colony to set up their own

government and be independentii. The militiamen surrounding Boston

should belong to the Continental Army and a general should be named


3. In June the Congress agreed to:a. Make a Continental Army with George Washington at its head. b. Authorized the printing of paper money to pay troopsc. Organized a committee to deal with foreign nations


B. Battle of Bunker Hill1. General Gage decided to attack militiamen camped on Breed’s Hill near Bunker Hill outside of Boston. 2. The British attacked on June 17, 1775.3. The colonists waited until the last minute then fired.

a. It took the British 3 attempts to defeat the colonists.


B. Battle of Bunker Hill4. This would be the bloodiest battle of the war.

a. 450 colonists died and over 1000 British


C. The Olive Branch Petition1. The delegates of the Continental Congress, like most colonists, felt loyalty to King George III.

a. They sent the Olive Branch Petition to the king asking for a return to the former harmony.

b. King George refused then said that colonies were in rebellion and asked Parliament for a naval blockade of the coast and hired Hessians.


D. Common Sensea. Thomas Paine wrote an anonymous 50 page pamphlet attacking King George III. b. He declared the time had come for the colonies to become an independent republicc. He claimed it was “America’s destiny” to become independent- a republicd. It sold 120,000 copies


D. John Locke

Not!

II. Ideas Start a RevolutionE. John Locke was an English philosopher.

1. He wrote about the powers of government and the rights of people.

He said that, “the power to govern was obtained from the permission of the people. He thought that the purpose of government was to protect the natural rights of its citizens. He said that natural rights were life, liberty and property, and that all people automatically earned these simply by being born. When a government did not protect those rights, the citizen had the right and maybe even the obligation of overthrowing the government. “


F. The Declaration of Independence1. Congress was ready to declare the colonies independence by the summer of 1776.

a. North Carolina declared itself independent along with most Virginians.

b. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia said that, “ these United Colonies are, and of a right ought to be, free and independent States.”

II. Ideas Start a Revolution2. Thomas Jefferson was asked to prepare a formal declaration as to the reasons for the colonies actions.

a. He wrote the Declaration of Independence b. It used John Locke’s ideas throughout

ii. Natural rights of peopleiii. Consent of the governed

iv. The right of the people to alter or abolish and unjust government


3. On July 2, 1776 the delegates voted unanimously for the colonies to be independent. 4. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.


5. The Declaration was read aloud to a crowd outside of the Philadelphia State House, now called Independence Hall


However now the tough part would begin. Which side would each person take?

Loyalist?Patriot?

III. The War for Independence

A. Valley Forge

1. Served as the winter camp for the Continental Armya. Problems faced by Patriots

i. Makeshift hutsii. Underfediii. Freezingiv. Lack of supplies including clothes

B. War in the Middle States

1. Britain decides to stage war in New York City and left Boston in 1776

a. General Howe and Admiral Howe join forces on Staten Island

b. British employ Hessians

War in the Middle States

2. Washington is vastly outnumbered and his troops are untraineda. By late fall Washington is pushed across

the Delaware into Pennsylvaniab. Most of his men had deserted or been killed or captured

i. Only 8,000 men leftc. Terms of enlistment are due on Dec. 31st

3. Battle of Trentona. Washington risked everything on one bold

movei. On Christmas night 1776 he led 2,400 men

across the Delaware in a stormii. They marched all night in the snow until

the reached Trentoniii. Patriots defeat Hessians kill 30 and

capture 918iv. 8 days later they win another battle in

Princeton

4. Fight for Philadelphia

a. Spring of 1777 General Howe decided to try and capture the American capital in Philadelphia

b. Continental Congress fledc. Washington unable to keep out the redcoatsd. Howe settled in and enjoyed Philadelphia

5. Saratoga

a. “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne had a plan to isolate New Englandi. He was to meet with Howe ii. He left from Canada to go to Albany New York

iii. He met with swamps, underbrush, and gullies

5. Saratoga

b. General Horatio Gates(patriot) gathered militiamen and soldiers i. He clashed with Burgoyneii. Howe was occupied in Pennsylvaniaiii. Burgoyne surrendered in Saratoga to

General Gates on Oct. 17, 1777• Changed British war strategy–They kept to the coast

6. Turning Point

The Continental Congress sent Benjamin Franklin to Paris to negotiate a Treaty.

6. Turning Point

b. French sent weapons to Patriotsc. Saratoga made French support Americans by

recognizing them as independenti. French and Americans signed an alliance

d. Washington and his troops spent another miserable winter in Valley Forge

7. Civilians

a. Congress ran out of gold and silver so it printed more and more paper money called Continentalsi. This caused inflation- rising pricesii. Everything had to be smuggled iniii. Robert Morris was appointed as superintendent

of financei. They raised money to pay troops’ salary

Civilians

b. Women took over farms and businessesi. Made ammunition from household silver

ii. Some followed the meniii. Some went into combat• Margaret Corbin- replaced a gunner• Mary McCauly – took husband’s place at cannon,

she also took water to troops and became known as “Molly Pitcher”–Washington made her a noncommissioned

officer

IV. The Road to Wining

The Road to Winning

A. Training1. Marquis de Lafayette- French

Aristocrat (20)2. Friedrich von Steuben- Prussian

captain and drillmastera) Taught army members drills and

techniques

The Road to Winning

B. After Saratoga the British move south1. Took Savannah Georgia2. Cornwallis took Charles Town, South

Carolina 1780a. African Americans joined the British

who promised freedom

The Road to Winning

C. 1781 Nathaniel Greene marched south and harasses Cornwallis as he retreated1. He divided his troops into 2 forces

2. Cornwallis moved to Virginia where he met up against von Steuben and Lafayette

a. He moved to Yorktown when he failed

D. Yorktown

1. Lafayette suggested that the American and French forces meet and attack at Yorktowna. French defeat British naval forces and block

Chesapeake Bay- closing of rescue by sea

b. Meanwhile French and American troops surround the British and bombard them day and nighti. Siege lasted a month

2. On October 17, 1781 Cornwallis surrendered

E. Peace1. Peace talks began in Paris in 17822. Representatives from United States, Great Britain, France,

and Spain3. Treaty of Paris 1783

a. Confirmed US independenceb. Set the boundaries of US

i. Atlantic to the Mississippi and Canada to Florida border

ii. Did not say when British would leave their fortsiii. Americans agreed to pay British debts

F. Egalitarianism

1. Belief in equality of all people– Ability, effort, and virtue defined one’s worth

Documents

Tensions Arise. I. Tensions Mount After the French and Indian War tensions between the colonists and Britain continued to grow. 1. Britain needed a way