The War for Independence
SS8H3 The student will analyze the role of GA in the American Revolution
a. Explain the immediate and long-term causes of the American Revolution
and their impact on Georgia; include the French and Indian War (Seven
Years War), Proclamation of 1763, Stamp Act, Intolerable Acts, and the
Declaration of Independence.
b. Analyze the significance of people and events in GA in the Revolutionary
War; include Loyalists, patriots, Elijah Clarke, Austin Dabney, Nancy Hart,
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton, Battle of Kettle Creek; and
the siege of Savannah.
British fought against the French and Indians over territory in the
Ohio River Valley. The Treaty of Paris was the official end to the
war. In the treaty, Britain claimed all of North America east of the
Mississippi River.
Georgia was relatively calm during the war because most of the
fighting was to the north. The war began the same year that John
Reynolds became the first royal governor of the colony.
1754 – 1763
Timeline of Events
Leading up to American Revolution
1763
1764
1765
of 1763
1767
Stamp
Act
Sugar
Act
Proclamation
1765
Quartering
Act
1770
Boston
Massacre
Townshend
Act
1773
1774
Intolerable
Acts
Boston
Tea Party
Proclamation of 1763
•The colonists helped the British win the
French and Indian war.
•This victory gave England the land west
of the Appalachian Mountains, all the
way to the Mississippi River.
•The King made a PROCLAMATION or an
announcement in 1763 that the colonists
could not go past the Appalachian
Mountains.
•This Proclamation angered the colonists
since they also helped fight for that land!
Click flag for timeline
Treaty of Augusta
*Georgia was different from the other British colonies.
*It was the youngest and had the smallest population
*Governor James Wright negotiated the Treaty of
Augusta with the Creek
*Treaty affirmed earlier agreements and fixed a
definite boundary between the colony and Creek
territory
*It nearly tripled the area in which colonists could live.
Sugar Act of 1764
• The first piece of legislation passed by Parliament
that was intended to raise revenue in America.
• It put a three-cent tax on foreign refined sugar and
increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain
kinds of wine.
• This was one of the first instances in which
colonists wanted a say in how much they were
taxed.
*These taxes affected only a certain part of the
population, but the affected merchants were very
vocal. Besides, the taxes were enacted (or raised)
without the consent of the colonists
Quartering Act 1765
King George III sent British soldiers to
the colonies to “protect” the colonists
from the French.
To pay for the protection that the
colonists were receiving, they were
required to provide supplies and
barracks (housing) for the British
troops.
The colonists were ordered to provide
housing, food and transportation. This
was a way for the King to put an
indirect tax on the colonists.
Click flag for timeline
The Stamp Act-1765
Example of a
stamp
showing that a
colonist paid
the stamp tax.
•The Stamp Act was a law passed which
imposed a tax on all American colonists. It
required them to pay a tax on every piece of
printed paper they used.
•The Stamp Act required all legal
documents, licenses, commercial contracts,
newspapers, pamphlets and playing cards
to carry a tax.
•The money collected by the Stamp Act was
to be used to help pay the costs of the
British soldiers who were in America
protecting the frontier.
Click the stamp
to learn more
and to see other
examples!
•Colonists boycotted British goods in order
to get the Stamp Act repealed.
•
Click flag for timeline
Stamp Act Congress
Colonists met to discuss
the new taxes and what
they should do.
No one from GA attended
because the legislature was
not in session.
“No taxation without representation!” James Otis
Townshend Act-1767
After the Stamp Act was repealed, a man by the name of Charles
Townshend imposed an indirect tax on items such as lead, glass, paper
and tea.
Townshend hoped that the colonists would not notice the price
increase.
This indirect tax was collected at the sea ports before items
reached colonial stores. Therefore, when the colonists went to buy
these items, the tax was already included in the price. (Unlike the
Stamp Act, where the colonists were aware of the added tax)
The colonists did recognize the indirect tax and once again
boycotted British goods. Colonists were extremely upset with the
unjust form of “Taxation without Representation!”
Boston Massacre-1770
•Tensions were growing higher between the
colonists and the British soldiers.
•On March 5, 1770 a crowd of people gathered in
front of the Customs House and began harassing
a British soldier.
•The soldier called for helped and nine more
soldiers were sent.
Engraving by: Paul Revere
•Insults and snowballs were thrown at the soldiers
and in the commotion someone yelled, “Fire!.”
•Many shots were fired and when the smoke
cleared a total of 5 townspeople had been killed.
Click the newspaper to read the
March 12, 1770 edition of the
Boston Gazette reporting the
Boston Massacre.
•The people of Boston were furious and demanded
that the soldiers be tried and executed for the
killings.
Committees of Correspondence
*Samuel Adams of Boston proposed establishing committees of
correspondence in towns across Massachusetts.
*These committees would spread news from town to town.
*Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and South
Carolina formed committees as well.
Sons of Liberty
*A group of colonists who opposed British policies
and pressured merchants not to sell taxed items.
*This group called for the first Tea Party.
Boston
Tea Party
1773
On December 16, 1773 the Sons of Liberty, who were led by
Samuel Adams, dressed up as Mohawk Indians and headed to
the Boston Harbor.
These Radical Patriots quickly and quietly boarded three
different ships arming themselves with axes and hatchets.
The group disguised as Native Americans threw 342 crates of
tea overboard, destroying the precious British tea.
This act of defiance made King George III furious and he told
the Patriots they would be punished!
Click flag for timeline
Intolerable Acts ~ 1774
*Due to Massachusetts’ constant resistance to parliamentary rule and as
punishment for the Boston Tea Party, the King and his Parliament
passed a series of laws to limit political and geographical freedoms.
These laws were called the Coercive Acts or Intolerable Acts.
1. The Boston Harbor would be closed until the East India Tea Company
was repaid fully for the tea lost at the “Tea Party.”
2. Quartering Act was extended to publicly occupied buildings.
3. British Officials could not be tried in colonial courts for their crimes;
instead, they would be sent back to Britain to receive punishment.
1. Colonial charters, which stated rules and government set up, were
annulled and British Governors were in complete control of town
meetings.
2. The border of Canada was now extended into the western colonies of
Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia.
KG
First Continental Congress
1774
The American colonists banded together to fight
back after the British enforced the Intolerable Acts.
Representatives met in Philadelphia to try to figure
out a compromise that could be made with England.
Congress voted to cut off colonial trade with Great
Britain until Parliament abolished the Intolerable
Acts.
Congress also decided to begin training men for
war, fearing war with England was inevitable.
King George III and Parliament did not
acknowledge or respect the requests of the colonists.
Click on Paul Revere
to learn more!
BATTLE OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD-1774
•The British soldiers marched out of Boston to seize the colonists’ gunpowder and
firearms in Concord, Massachusetts.
•Paul Revere helped alert the Minutemen that the British were on the move by
hanging lanterns in the church steeple. He also rode through the town to warn that,
“The British are coming!”
•Although the Minutemen were ready for the British in Lexington, Massachusetts,
they were out numbered and defeated.
•Messengers were able to warn colonists in Concord, Massachusetts and only a
portion of the supplies were destroyed.
Why did the Colonists go to War?
By 1775 the colonist had grown tired of being
unfairly controlled by King George III and his
parliament. As the "mother country," Britain
expected obedience from her "children," the
colonies. The colonists believed that they had
certain rights which Britain should respect. Each
side refused to give in, which led to an all out war
and eventual independence for the colonies.
http://www.libertyskids.com/pt_tips_adults.html
Loyalists and Patriots in Georgia
*Georgians were divided on the issue of the Revolutionary War because
Georgia was the youngest colony and was dependent on Great Britain for
economic and military support.
*The colony was doing well, but they opposed the British taxes
*Many resented the restrictions of the Proclamation of 1763.
*The Scots around Darien were against the British.
*The Jewish, in Savannah, were strong Patriots.
*The Quakers and Salzburgers wanted to remain neutral
because of religious beliefs.
The War for
Independence