CHAPTER 7:
THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION
1763-1775
AP US
Unit 3: The Revolutionary Era
Effects of the French and Indian War
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England was in debt
Did not ask colonists to help
with war debt
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Instead – asked colonists to pay
1/3 of the cost of maintaining
British troops in America
Colonists couldn’t move west
because England could not
protect them

Proclamation Line of 1763
America in 1750
America in 1763
EARLY ACTS OF
TAXATION BY GRENVILLE
Sugar Act of 1764
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Tax on imported sugar
First law for raising tax revenue for the crown in the
colonies
Eventually reduced
Quartering Act of 1765
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Required certain colonies to provide food and
quarters (housing) for the troops
The Stamp Act of 1765
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To raise money to
support the army
All paper for contracts
had to have a stamp
On over 50 items
including playing
cards, newspapers,
marriage licenses…
Colonists Rebel Against Stamp Taxes
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Refused to comply with the Quartering Act
Made worse because offenders were tried in
admiralty courts
No taxation without representation
Stamp Act Congress of 1765
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Leaders from 9 colonies joined to voice problems
against the Stamp Act and the King
Began unity against England in the colonies
No one really cared at the time, but it helped later
The Declaratory Act
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1765 – All the stamp act agents were forced to
resign and the Stamp Act couldn’t begin
 Nullification
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England suffered from protests at home
1766 repeal of the Stamp Act, but passage of the
Declaratory Act
 Parliament
had the right to bind colonists in all cases
whatsoever – yeah…
OUT WITH GRENVILLE, IN
WITH TOWNSHEND
Townshend Acts
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Charles Townshend became the new Prime
Minister
Promised to whip the colonists into shape
Installed new taxes that would be applied at the
ports when items were imported
 This
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difference did not matter to the colonists
Revenue from taxes would pay salaries of royal
governors and judges
Townshend Acts - 1767
Taxes On:
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Glass
Tea
Paint
White lead
Paper
Colonists’ Reactions:
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•
Revived Non-Importation
Agreements
Got smuggled tea
cheaply
Angry Colonists – John
Dickinson Letters from a
Farmer in PA
Prompted Massachusetts
Circular Letter
Non-importation Agreements
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American men and women
chose not to buy British
goods
If you were found violating
the non-importation
agreements, you were
tarred and feathered!
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As were British officials
The Sons of Liberty were
one of the major enforcers
of the Non-importation
Agreements
The Daughters of Liberty
were major participators
Massachusetts Circular Letter
As in it circulated, not as in it was round…
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Massachusetts called for other colonies to pass
petitions calling for Parliament to repeal the acts
Troops were sent to Boston and threatened to
dissolve the Mass legislature
 Other
colonies that voted for the circular letter would
also have their legislatures dissolved
 MA, MD, VA, DE, SC
Non-importation led to
British exports to America
dropping by 40% in a
few months
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Boston "Massacre"
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Arrival of troops in
Boston upset
Americans
British soldiers fired
on the crowd March
5, 1770 (were
provoked)
Crispus Attucks –
first to die
Sons of Liberty
spread word of the
“massacre”
Townshend Acts Repealed
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Repealed in 1770 by Lord North and Parliament
Tea tax remained to demonstrate Parliament’s right
to tax
 Taxed
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tea was cheaper than smuggled tea
Half the troops in Boston removed
Relations improved until 1773
Gaspee Incident -1771
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British warship Gaspee ran
aground near Rhode Island
pursuing smugglers
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Was renowned for bullying smaller
ships and stealing cattle and fruit trees
Sons of Liberty dressed as Indians
and, after removing the crew from
the ship, set it on fire
Committee was created to punish
the group, but they were never
found
Committees of Correspondence 17721773
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Organized by Sam Adams
To spread propaganda and information by
exchanging letters
Kept opposition to British alive
Became intercolonial
 Evolved
directly into the first American congresses
The Tea Act Crisis

The British East India Company was given a
monopoly on the American tea trade
 Corporate
bailout by British government
 Tea would be even cheaper

Americans were very upset
 Saw
this as an attempt to trick colonies into
accepting the tax through cheaper tea
Boston Tea Party - Dec 16, 1773
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Sons of Liberty
Dressed as
Indians
Boarded 3
ships
Smashed 342
chests of tea
and dumped it
into the harbor
"Intolerable Acts" (Coercive Acts) - 1774

The Coercive Acts were designed to punish Boston:
 Boston Port Act - harbor remained closed until the
damages were paid
 Massachusetts charter revoked
 Colonial Justice shut down since enforcing officials who
killed colonists would now be tried in England
 Quartering Act - troops would be quartered in Boston
Quebec Act - 1774
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Coincided with the Intolerable Acts (as in coincidence)
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Not intended to punish the colonies
French in Canada were guaranteed the right to practice
Catholicism
Quebec territory extended into the Ohio River Valley
French kept old customs - no representative assembly or
trial by jury
Colonial Reactions:
Viewed it as an attempt to create a new French Canadian and
Indian threat in the Ohio River Valley
 Anti Catholic sentiment rose - seen as an attack on Protestantism

The First Continental Congress,
September 5 - October 26, 1774
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Committees of Correspondence urged the colonies
to act quickly
 Bostonians
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agreed to end all trade with England
All colonies present except for Georgia
Delegates included Sam Adams, John Adams,
George Washington, and Patrick Henry
Continental Congress #1 - The
Suffolk Reserves

1st step of the Continental Congress was to endorse
several resolutions known as the Suffolk Reserves:
 Denounced
Intolerable Acts
 Urged colonies to organize a militia for defensive
purposes
 Called on colonies to suspend all trade with England
 Urged citizens not to pay taxes
Continental Congress #1 - Rejection
of the Galloway Plan
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Joseph Galloway called for a colonial union that
would have to approve all parliamentary laws
affecting the colonies
Like Franklin’s Albany Plan
Most members of the Continental Congress were too
conservative to endorse such a radical view
Continental Congress #1 Declaration and Resolves
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Main purpose of the Convention
Petition for redress of grievances
Gave colonists the legal right to assemble to seek redress
Created a bill of rights (would show up again later…)
The Association - called for a complete boycott of British
goods: nonimportation, nonexportation, nonconsumption
Congress still restated allegiance to the King
If grievances were not redressed - would meet again in
May 1775
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King and Parliament did not respond to the Declarations and
Resolves
Lexington and Concord, 1775
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General Gage of Mass was ordered to arrest the
leaders of the rebellion and prepare for military
action
Sought to prevent bloodshed by disarming the local
militia
April 1775, 700 British redcoats were secretly sent to
Lexington and Concord to seize gunpowder and arrest
Sam Adams and John Hancock
Lexington and Concord, 1775
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Paul Revere and William
Dawes warned the
militia (the minutemen)
Battle began when the
Minutemen refused to
disperse on the
Lexington green and
shots were fired
8 Americans killed, 10
wounded, who fired the
first shot?
Lexington and Concord, 1775
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Redcoats (British) continued on to
Concord 6 miles away
British were forced to retreat by
American reinforcements
 Militia
picked off British soldiers as
they retreated to Boston
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By the end of the day there were
273 British casualties and 95
American casualties
Minutemen camped outside the city
and lay siege to Boston