1763-1776
THE SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE
Taxation Without
Representation
 Essential Question:
 Following the French and Indian War, how
did the British government anger the
American colonists?
Relations With Britain
 After the French and Indian War, Great Britain
passed laws to protect British interests in the
colonies
 Proclamation of 1763
 Prevented colonists from moving west of the
Appalachian Mountains
 Keeps colonists near east coast to ensure markets
for British goods in coastal cities
 Allowed Britain to control fur trade on the frontier
 Britain instates new taxes on colonies to help
pay for cost of French and Indian War
Britain’s Trade Laws
 Stricter trials for colonists who smuggled
goods
 No trial by jury
 1767 – Parliament authorized writs of
assistance
 Allowed customs officers to enter any location
to search for smuggled goods
The Sugar Act
 Lowers tax on imported molasses to
discourage smuggling
 Let officers seize smuggled goods without
going to court
 Colonists believed these violated their rights
as English citizens
 Writs of assistance violated their right to be secure
in their homes
 No trial by jury
 Contradicts British law of “innocent until proven
guilty”
New Taxes
 As British government passed new tax laws,
resistance by the colonists grew
 Stamp Act: This law placed a tax on almost all
printed materials
 Newspapers
 Wills
 Playing Cards
 Opposition to the Stamp Act centered on two
points
 Parliament interfered in colonial affairs by taxing the
colonies directly
 Taxed colonists without their consent
Protesting the Stamp Act
 Boston: Samuel Adams organizes the Sons of
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Liberty and burns rag figures of tax collectors,
destroyed houses belonging to royal officials
Stamp Act Congress: Nine colonies drafted a
petition to king and parliament
Colonial cities and citizens boycott British
goods
1766 – British Parliament repeals Stamp Act
1766 – Parliament passes the Declaratory Act
 Right to tax and make decisions for the British
colonies in all cases
The Townshend Act
 Passed in 1767
 Taxes only on goods imported from Britain
 Taxed at the time of entry
 Daughters of Liberty urged Americans to buy
only American made goods
Making Connections
 What advantages did Britain gain by limiting
Westward Expansion
 Critical Thinking: How did the British and the
colonists differ on the issue of taxes?
 Parliament believed that the colonists should
b taxed to pay their part of the cost of Britain’s
huge debt
 The colonists claimed that they shouldn’t be
taxed by Parliament or taxed without their
consent
Making Connections
 Analyzing: We talked about the development of
the American Spirit. How did the events of the
1770’s unify the colonists in their opposition to
the British?
 Answer the Essential Question: Following the
French and Indian War, how did the British
government anger the American colonists?
Building Colonial Liberty
 To enforce tax laws, British troops arrived in
Boston. Conflict soon erupted. On March 5,
1770, a Boston merchant wrote: “The 29th
(regiment) on duty. A quarrel between the
soldiers and inhabitants;… A party of the 29th…
fired on the people; they killed five, wounded
several others … The inhabitants are greatly
enraged.” From The Diary of John Rowe
Essential Question:
 How did the colonists react to British
policies?
Trouble in Boston
 A violent clash between townspeople and
British soldiers in Boston intensified antiBritish feeling in the colonies
 Britain, believing colonists on the brink of
rebellion sent troops to occupy the colonies
The Boston Massacre
 March 5, 1770
 Angry townspeople approached a
customhouse where British taxes were
collected
 Fight broke out between Bostonians and the
soldiers
 Redcoats fired, killing 5 colonists
Boston Massacre
The Word Spreads
 Colonial leaders used the killings as
propaganda
 Boston Massacre led colonists to call for
stronger boycotts on British goods
 Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts
except for the tax on tea
A Crisis Over Tea
 1773 – British Parliament passed the Tea
Act
 Allowed British East India Company to have
complete control of trade in America
 Let the company sell tea directly to
shopkeepers and bypass colonial merchants
 Colonial merchants quickly called for new
boycott on tea
The Boston Tea Party
 1773 – Three tea ships arrive in Boston
Harbor and are ordered to unload
 Boston Sons of Liberty acted quickly
 Dressed as Mohawks, they boarded the ship at
midnight
 Threw 342 chests of tea overboard
 Word of the act of defiance spread quickly
but most colonists still see themselves as
British citizens.
The Intolerable Acts –
“Coercive Acts”
 1774 – King George III intended to punish the
people of Massachusetts for their resistance
to British law
 Coercive Acts closed Boston Harbor until they
paid for the ruined tea
 Forced Bostonians to shelter soldiers in their
homes
 Other colonies send food and supplies to
Boston and name these actions, “The
Intolerable Acts”
Making Connections
 How did Samuel Adams and Paul Revere try to
sway public opinion about the Boston Massacre?
 Portrayed it as a deliberate slaughter of innocent
colonists
 Heightened colonial resistance to British laws
 Answer the Essential Question: How did the
colonists react to British policies?
 Used Boston massacre as anti-British propaganda
 Tea act spurred protest and boycotts
 Intolerable Acts led colonies to support Massachusetts
and oppose British law
A Call To Arms
 Essential Question:
 What brought about the clash between
American colonists and British soldiers at
Lexington and Concord?
A Call To Arms
 Many colonists were frustrated by British
efforts to exert authority over the colonies. At
an inn, John Adams overheard a
Massachusetts farmer saying: “If Parliament
can take away Mr. Hancock’s wharf…they can
take away your barn and my house.” Another
replied, “Well it’s high time for us to rebel. We
must rebel…and we had better rebel now.”
Taken from the book John Adams
The Continental Congress
 September 1774 – 55 delegates from all
colonies except Georgia arrived in
Philadelphia
 They went to establish a political body to
represent American Interests and challenge
British control
 Delegates included John Adams, Samuel
Adams, John Jay and George Washington
Decisions of the Congress
 Drafted a statement of grievances calling
for the repeal of 13 Acts of Parliament
 Believed laws violated “the laws of nature, the
principles of the English Constitution and the
several charters” of the colonies
 Voted to boycott British trade
 Called on people to arm themselves
against the British
 People form militias
The First Battles
 Colonists expected fighting to break out in
New England
 Militia companies held training sessions,
made bullets and stock piled rifles and
muskets
 Minutemen boasted they would be ready to
fight on a moments notice
Britain Sends Troops
 King George III sends several thousand
British troops to the colonies
 British learned militia was storing weapons and
ammunition at Concord, MA
 Troops ordered to seize weapons and arrest
colonial leaders
 As the British organized on April 18, 1775, Paul
Revere and William Dawes (Sons of Liberty) rode
to Lexington (east of Concord, MA) to warn them
that the British were coming
Lexington and Concord
 Redcoats approached Lexington at dawn and
were met by 70 militiamen
 First shot is called the “shot heard ‘round the
world”
 Redcoats killed 8 and kept moving
 When they arrived at Concord, most of the
supplies had been moved
 Ordinary people and militia men fired at
redcoats all the way back to Boston
 174 wounded, 73 dead (redcoats)
 The battle for independence had begun
Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Bunker Hill
 June 16, 1775
 British attack 1,200 militiamen to remove
them from strategic location outside of
Boston
 Americans ran out of gunpowder and lose the
battle but killed or wounded 1,000 redcoats
 British learn quickly that defeating Americans
would not be quick or easy
Choosing Sides
 Americans face major decision
 Loyalist – did not consider unfair taxes and
regulations good reason for rebellion
 Patriots – Believed British rule was
unbearable. Supported the war for
independence
 Not just a war against British. Civil War
among colonists.
Venn Diagram
Answer the Essential
Question:
 What brought about the clash between
American colonists and British soldiers at
Lexington and Concord?
 Americans were arming themselves because they
expected confrontation
 Americans have an excuse to attack the British
when they march to Concord to seize
weapons and ammunition
Moving Toward Independence
 Essential Question:
 Why did the American colonies choose to declare
independence?
Moving Toward Independence
 Colonists debated the wisdom of pursuing peace or
declaring independence from Britain. Thomas
Paine wrote: “I have heard it asserted by some,
that as America has flourished under her former
connection with Great Britain, the same
connection is necessary towards her future
happiness… Nothing can be more (false)… We
may as well assert that because a child has thrived
upon milk, that it is never to have meat… A
government of our own is our natural right.”
From Common Sense
Colonial Leaders Emerge
 When the Second Continental Congress met for
the first time, many leaders were not yet ready
to call for independence
 Delegates included George Washington, John
Adams, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, John
Hancock and Thomas Jefferson
 Printed money, set up post office
 Created the Continental Army and
named George Washington the
commander
The Colonies Take The
Offense
 Washington realized the men lacked
discipline, organization and leadership
 Worked hard to shape armed civilians into an
army
 March 1776, Continental Army attacked
British forces in Boston with cannon fire
 British troops retreated to Nova Scotia
Moving Toward Independence
 In early 1776, support for the position of
absolute independence was growing. In
January 1776, Thomas Paine published a
pamphlet called Common Sense. In bold
language, Paine called for complete
independence. Common Sense greatly
influenced opinion throughout the colonies.
Moving Toward Independence
 Thomas Jefferson is selected to write the
Declaration of Independence
 Drew on the philosophies of English
philosopher John Locke
 Believed people were born with natural rights to
life, liberty and property
 If a government interfered with these rights it
could be rightfully overthrown
 Jefferson’s draft was approved with a few
changes on July 4, 1776
The Declaration of
Independence
 Announced the birth of a new nation and committed
Americans to a struggle for independence
 John Hancock was the first to sign ahead of 56 other
delegates
 Declaration has 4 major sections including a preamble
or introduction
 Colonists list the rights they think they should have and
their complaints against Britain
 Proclaims the existence of a new nation
 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”