The Stirrings of Rebellion

Chapter 4 Section 1

The Sugar Act - 1764

British Action• Strictly enforced• Halved duty on

foreign molasses (Indirect Tax)

• Placed duties on certain imports (ie. lumber)

• Allowed smugglers to be tried in British courts

Colonial Reaction• Angered over

economics not “Taxation w/o Representation”

• Written protests• Occasional

boycotts

Stamp Act 1765

British Action• First Direct Tax• Taxed legal and

commercial documents (licenses, newspapers, almanacs)

• Special “stamped” paper for legal docs

• Dice and playing cards

Colonial Reaction• Violent protests

(harass tax collectors)

• “Sons of Liberty”• Colonies pass laws to

evade the tax• Stamp Act Congress

issues Declaration of Rights and Grievances

• Further boycotts

Violence against tax collectors

Quartering Act – 1765 and 1774

British Action• Standing army after

French and Indian War• Required colonial

assemblies to house and provision British soldiers

• Soldiers stayed in inns, stables, barns, etc.

• 1774, Use private homes as necessary

Colonial Reaction• 1765, Most colonial

assemblies refused to pay for provisions

• 1774, Wrote petition to King George

Declaratory Act - 1766

British Action• Accompanied

repeal of Stamp Act

• Statement of Parliament’s right to rule the colonies in any way it saw fit

Colonial Reaction• Pleased w/ repeal

of Stamp Act• Continued protest

of other British imposed laws

• Scared that more punitive laws would follow

Townshend Acts - 1767

British Action• Indirect tax on lead,

paper, tea, paint and glass collected at port

• Revenue paid British officials in colonies

• Created customs commission

• Suspended N.Y. assembly for failure to comply

Colonial Reaction• “No Taxation

without Representation” cries from colonists

• Resumed boycott of British goods

• Cut British exports to colonies by 38%

“No Taxation without Representation”

– The English Bill of Rights (1689) – “The crown cannot issue taxes without approval of Parliament”

–The colonists had no representation in Parliament. so they argued that they could not be taxed by Parliament

– Parliament argued that they have the right to speak for the interests of all British subjects not just the districts that elected them.

Boston Massacre - Background

• British agents in Boston seized John Hancock’s colonial ship Liberty

• Customs inspector claimed suspicion of smuggling

• Triggered colonial riots in Boston• British station 2,000 troops in Boston– Troops were poorly paid– Competed for jobs w/ colonists

Boston Massacre

March 5, 1770• Afternoon, Fist

fight over jobs

• That night, a mob gathered in front of customs house

• Armed clash between colonists and guards• 3 colonists

killed • 2 wounded

Tea Act - 1773

• Created to save the failing British East India Co.

• Granted BEIC right to import tea free of tax that colonial merchants paid

• Hoped colonists would buy the cheaper tea

• Bostonians dressed as natives destroy a shipment of tea (Boston Tea Party)

• * 18,000 lbs. of tea dumped into Boston Harbor*

Intolerable Acts - 1774

British Action• George III’s response

to Boston Tea Party• Gen. Gage new

Governor Mass.• Closes Boston

Harbor • Quartering Act of

1774• Places Boston Under

martial law

Colonial Reaction• First Continental Congress: • Representative colonial

assembly – 56 representatives met in Philadelphia

• Declaration of Colonial Rights

• Agreed to fight if attacked• Agreed to reconvene in

May 1775 if demands not met

III. Lexington and Concord• To Concord, By the Lexington Road

• Civilian militia or minutemen begin to stockpile firearms, 1775

• Resistance leaders John Hancock, Samuel Adams hide in Lexington

• Gage sent men along Lexington Road to seize and destroy all weapons & gunpowder

III. Lexington and Concord

• “The Regulars Are

Coming!”

• 700 redcoats sent to capture

leaders, destroy munitions, April

1775

• Paul Revere, William Dawes, Samuel

Prescott warn leaders, townspeople

• Revere reached Adams & Hancock –

continued his famous ride

III. Lexington and Concord “A Glorious Day for America”

April 19, 1775 Battle of Lexington -

British Soldiers attacked 70 minutemen

– 8 killed and 10 wounded

British continued on to Concord, found

nothing & were heading back to Boston

– 3000 to 4000 minutemen attack

Dozens killed they return to Boston

after humiliating loss

Adams says “this is a glorious day for

America”

Review Questions

• List and explain three ways the colonies organized to resist British taxation?

• What were three events & what took place that increased tension before the outbreak of war?

• When, where and what happened at the Battles of Lexington and Concord?