Aim #13: What key events caused the
colonists to want to sever ties with
Britain and declare independence?
Do Now!
1. Explain TWO ways the French and
Indian War altered the relationship
between Britain and the colonies?
2. From your homework, why did
many African Americans and Native
Americans join on the side of the
British?
(I) Circumstances in Colonial Life Before the War
a. Victory in F and I War made Britain the master of a vast North American empire
b. A change in their policy was to compel the American colonies to pay for some of the debt
incurred protecting them (start enforcing the Navigation Acts)
c. American settlers didn’t have the age old traditions and social restraints that bound their
ancestors; they got a clean slate to start a new society and way of life (i.e. there was no titled
nobility in the colonies)
d. Property ownership and political participation available to most (whereas in England it was
restricted)
e. Colonists become accustomed to running their own affairs
f. Mercantilism stifled economic initiative
How so???
II. Deep Roots of Revolution
a. 2 Revolutionary ideas took hold in the colonies, leading to revolution
1. Republicanism
• A just society was one in which all citizens willingly subordinated their
private (selfish) interests to the common good „
• Society and government depended on the virtue of their citizens –
selflessness, self-sufficiency, courage, civic involvement „
• Opposed to authoritarian institutions like monarchy and aristocracy
b. “radical Whigs”: group of British political commentators „Feared threat to
liberty posed by monarchs
We are some
radical wigs!
III. Stamp Act Uproar
a. ½ of British debt was incurred defending the American colonies
b. (1763) After war, British navy strictly enforced Navigation Acts
c. (1764) the Sugar Act
1. first law passed by Parliament to raise tax revenue from colonies „
2. Increased duty on imported sugar (molasses) from West Indies
3. „duties lowered after bitter colonial protests „
d. (1764) The Stamp Act
1. stamped paper or affixing of stamps to certify payment of taxes
(required on bill of sale, playing cards, pamphlets, newspapers, diplomas,
marriage certificates)
2. British view of law
• Reasonable request: colonists should pay their fair share of debt
• British citizens had already been paying stamp tax for years
e. “no taxation without representation” became
rallying cry (James Otis)
f. British dismissed American protests because:
1. Power of Parliament is supreme
2. Americans were represented in Parliament via “virtual representation” (every member of
Parliament represented all British subjects, even colonists who couldn’t vote for their members of
Parliament); American didn’t think was valid and wanted a return to salutary neglect (page 186)
g. Stamp Act Congress (1765)
1. 27 delegates from 9 colonies met in New York City
• b. Wrote a statement of grievances and asked for repeal of the Stamp Act
• c. Statement was ignored so colonies refused to import goods from Britain as a way to put
economic pressure on them; brought colonists together towards unity
2. Homespun (homemade) good were used instead
3. Violent protests against Stamp Act
4. Groups formed like the Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty
5. Mobs ransacked houses and hanged effigies of stamp agents (page 188)
Shoving Tea Down a Tax Collector’s
Throat (notice menacing noose on tree
in background
(IV) Other colonial laws that drew colonies closer to war
a. Declaratory Act (1766)
b. Townshend Acts (1767)
1. Reaction was Boston “Massacre” (1770) Page 193 in text
Engraving by Paul Revere: propaganda?
The Boston Massacre (March 5,1770)
V. First Continental Congress (1774)
a. 12 or the 13 (come on Georgia!) came to Philadelphia
b. NOT a call for Independence
c. Wanted a repeal of all oppressive taxing laws
d. Made claims based on freedoms/rights
(remember, not all colonists were in favor of independence because elites like
those in Pennsylvania and New York don’t want commoners having a say in
the political process)
VI. Women and the War
a. “Republican Motherhood”: women should raise children that are
good citizens; primarily responsible for children’s education
b. Abigail Adams: “remember the ladies” (told to John Adams when
discussing the Declaration of Independence) PAGE 244 in text
“Oh Shoot! I knew I
forgot someone
…sorry hon!”
VII. African Americans in the Revolutionary War
a. some slaves fought on side of British: British promised them freedom
after the war (some even went to Britain after the war)(SEE DO
NOW ANSWERS)
VIII. Native Americans in the War (SEE DO NOW ANSWERS)
a. Fought on both sides, but favored British who they saw as their
protectors after the French and Indian War
b. When British lost, settlers pushed west, causing increased devastation
for Natives.
IX. Other Key Important Events of the Revolutionary War
a. April, 1775: Battles of Lexington and Concord (“shot heard around the world”)
b. May, 1775: Second Continental Congress
c. June, 1775: Battle of Bunker Hill
d. 1776 (Pivotal Year)
1. Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”
2. Declaration of Independence written (main author Thomas Jefferson)
3. Washington Crossing the Delaware (Valley Forge)
e. 1777: Battle of Saratoga: turning point in favor of colonists
f. 1783: Treaty of Paris signed
IS WAR REALLY OVER…ARE THE IDEALS OF THE WAR LIVED UP TO???
To Summarize the Lessons Learned from the War…
• Although the American Revolution did not result in a
complete and total upheaval of the pre-existing social and
political infrastructures, the Founding Fathers intended to
create an entirely new political framework that was
unprecedented for the time period.
• The Founding Fathers used the principles of the
Enlightenment as the basis for the major political documents
of the founding of the United States including the US
Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the
Bill of Rights
Thomas Paine: Common
Sense