Unit 5: Causes of Am. Revolution
I. French and Indian War (Imperial War)
A. Britain and France both claimed Ohio
River Valley for valuable fur trade
B. G. Washington sent to force the French
out- he had to surrender Fort Necessity
1
C. AKA Seven Years’ War: Britain wins, signs
Treaty of Paris 1763 (French Empire gone
in Am.)
2
D. Conflict on Western Frontier
1. Indians rebelled against Br. settlement &
attacked colonists moving west
2. To keep settlers safe, King George issued
Proclamation Act: No
colonists west of Mtns.
(to stop conflicts with
Indians
like Pontiac)
3
II. Conflict in Colonies
A. War debt & Br. redcoats protecting settlers
leads to new taxes and colonial resistance
1. Sugar Act – taxed sugar & molasses
2. Navigation Acts colonists could ONLY
trade with Br. (enforced for 1st time)
3. Br. run courts (guilty until proven innocent)
Britain BIG
war debt
4
4. Committees of Correspondencecolonists wrote letters to
encourage protests against Br.
5.“No Taxation without Representation”
B. Stamp Act: Taxed all papers (required an
official stamp)
1. Colonists Protested
•Sons of Liberty: Secret group that
“encouraged” colonists to stop
buying the Stamps
•Stamp Act Congress
(Patrick Henry)
5
C. Stamp Act repealed (removed): replaced with
Townshend Acts: taxed lead, paper, paint,
glass and tea and sent troops to enforce
D. Boston Massacre: snowball fight turns into
violent event, killing 5 colonists (Crispus Attucks)
6
Reality
Revere’s propaganda
E. Townshend Acts repealed, except Tea tax,
so colonists protest with Boston Tea Party
7
F. Intolerable Acts passed to punish Boston
•Harbor closed
•Massachusetts Legislature cancelled
(Martial Law under General Gage)
•Quartering Act- colonists had to house
Br. soldiers
8
III. Revolution Begins
A. First Continental Congress met in
response to Intolerable Acts:
continued boycott, sent letter to King
George III
B. Lexington & Concord, April 1775,
British tried to take colonists’ gun powder
1. Revere and Dawes sounded the
alarm
2. “Shot heard round the world”
fired
at Lexington (8 minutemen
killed)
tactics
3. Americans used guerrilla
and forced Br.
9
C. 2nd Continental Congress
1. Picked George Washington to head
Continental Army
2. Sent Olive Branch Petition, then
3. Wrote Declaration of Independence
Olive Branch Petition
10
D. Early Battles
1. Fort Ticonderoga 1775: Americans
surprised British and won 100
cannons
2. Bunker Hill 1775: British won only
because Americans ran out of
ammunition
3. Dorchester Heights 1776: Washington
used cannons from Fort
Ticonderoga to blast Br.
out of Boston
11
Timeline
1763 Treaty of Paris ends French and Indian war
1773 Boston Tea Party
1774 Intolerable Acts
1775 Lexington & Concord
12
ACT
LAW SAID
Proc.
No one west Hated it,
Ignored law
of Mtns.
Intol.
Sent soldiers
Tax on paper,
paint, lead,
glass, tea
Tax on tea
Boston Tea Party
Intolerable
Acts
Closed port,
Martial law
Formed militia
(citizen army)
Sent more
soldiers
Colonists increasingly
Angry with British
Concord
& Lexington
papers
Tea
BR. REACT
Refused to pay
Stamp Act Congress
Sons of Liberty
Boycott
Boston Massacre
Propaganda
Stamp Tax on all
Town.
COLONISTS PROTEST
Quart. Redcoats in
your house
Repealed,
Replaced with
Townshend Act
Repealed, but
kept tea tax