CRIMES AGAINST THE COLONIES
Starting in 1765 England began to enforce tough tax policies on
the American colonies.
QUARTERING ACT 1765: Ordered that
American colonists must allow British
soldiers to live in their private homes.
STAMP ACT OF 1765: Ordered
Americans to buy a tax stamp that had to be
placed on all paper goods.
What would you do if the government
ordered you to pay a tax on what you
considered to be an everyday good?
AMERICAN COLONISTS FIGHT BACK!
•American colonists were furious about having to pay taxes,
especially when they were not represented in the English Parliament.
NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!!!
•OCT 26th, 1765: Representatives from all 13 colonies meet and
demand that the British REPEAL, or cancel the Stamp Act.
•Colonists began to BOYCOTT, or refuse to buy British Goods. This
began to hurt British merchants selling goods to the colonies.
•MARCH 18th, 1766: The British Parliament REPEALS, or cancels the
Stamp Act.
•The TOWNSHEND ACTS 1967: The British taxed tea, issued
WRITS OF ASSISTANCE, or blanket search warrants and denied
colonists the right to a fair trial.
•The relationship between England and her colonies was getting worse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_OXkkogRCk&feature=player_detailpage
THE BOSTON MASSACRE MARCH 5TH, 1770
•British soldiers had occupied Boston and were harassed by a group
of Americans from a local pub.
•The Americans started pelting the British troops with snowballs and
a single British soldier fires his weapon. This causes all of the
soldiers to fire their weapons.
•When the incident is over 5 Americans lay dead on the ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iloGkp5f_Hk
THE SONS OF LIBERTY
Sam Adams
Paul Revere
John Adams
Benedict
Arnold
John
Hancock
Patrick Henry
THE SONS OF LIBERTY: Were a group of men who organized
resistance to British rule and tax collecting in the colonies. They
called for Independence from the British.
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY (DEC 16TH, 1773)
•Members of the SONS OF LIBERTY dressed as native Americans
sneaked aboard the Dartmouth and dumped 342 chests of tea into
Boston Harbor.
•The value of the Tea was estimated at between $2,000,000 and
$6,000,000.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwEX_YVyAS4
•The King demands to know who dumped his Tea into Boston
Harbor, but no one from Boston is willing to come forward.
•The King signs the Coercive Acts, which the Americans call the
INTOLERABLE ACTS.
•Boston Harbor is closed
•Boston is put under Martial Law.
•Citizens are denied the right to a trial by jury.
•British ships blockade Boston Harbor.
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
MEETS
•12 Colonies send representatives to the 1st Continental Congress
meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Georgia was the only colony that
didn’t send a representative / delegate.
•Members of the 1st Continental Congress agree to meet again if
conditions got worse between the colonies and England.
•Committees of Correspondence: Letter writing becomes the
most popular way to keep the colonies / Founding Fathers in touch
with each other.
THE BATTLES OF LEXINGTON AND
CONCORD APRIL 17TH - 19TH 1775
•British troops begin the march towards Lexington, Massachusetts to seize a
weapons cache and members of the Sons of Liberty.
•Paul Revere, William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott both ride across the
country warning people that the British were on the way.
•Upon arrival in Lexington the British are met by 75 armed men
“Minutemen” and they refuse to back down. No one knows who fired the
first shot, but the battle is known as “THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE
WORLD!”
•The British quickly march on to Concord, MA and seize some supplies.
They encounter heavy resistance and retreat back to Boston.
•Along they way they lose 73 men with 174 more wounded.
•Conditions get much worse between England and the Colonies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiIFRCk1hxY
THE 2ND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
MEETS
•May 10th, 1775: Delegates from all 13 colonies meet to discuss
what to do about British actions against the colonies.
•1st Order of Business: The Congress votes to form an Army and
George Washington is named the commander of the Continental
Army.
•July 4th, 1776: The Declaration of Independence is signed and
America formally declares independence from England.
John Adams
Sam Adams
Ben Franklin
John Penn
John Hancock
THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE
The Declaration of Independence is a list of grievances “complaints” about the
King of England.
•He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the
public good.
•He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of
our legislatures.
•He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
•For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
•For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they
should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
•For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
•For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
•For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
•For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: