Tension Between England and the Colonies
Essential Question:
What caused the relationship between Britain and the Colonies to deteriorate?
 British government
o Limited monarchy
 King George III
 Parliament
 Law-making body
 Similar to U.S. Congress
 Early acts of Parliament
o Proclamation of 1763
 Prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian
Mountains
 Purpose = reserve land for Native Americans
o Quartering Act (1765)
 Required colonists to provide housing and supplies for British
soldiers
o Stamp Act (1765)
 Motivated by England’s war debt
 Required colonists to pay a tax on most paper including newsprint
and legal documents
 Rallying cry against it: “No taxation without representation!”
 Colonists’ reactions
o Boycott
 A refusal to buy or participate
 American colonists organized boycotts on British goods
 Forced Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act
o Petition
 A formal request made to the government
 Colonists petitioned the government to try to get acts of Parliament
repealed
o Sons of Liberty
 Secret societies
 Samuel Adams
 One of the leaders
o Boston Massacre (1770)
 Clash between British soldiers and colonists
 5 colonists were killed
 Crispus Attucks
o Former slave
o Considered the 1st martyr of the Revolution
 Paul Revere’s exaggerated engraving
 Fueled pro-revolutionary feelings
 Example of propaganda
o Definition: the organized spreading of ideas to
influence public opinion
 Soldiers were put on trial for murder
 John Adams served as their attorney
 All found not guilty except two who were given light
sentences
 Clash over tea
o Tea Act (1773)
 Gave Britain complete control over American tea trade
 Placed a small tax on tea
o Boston Tea Party
 Done to protest the Tea Act (1773)
 Colonists destroyed over 300 chests of British tea in Boston
Harbor
o Intolerable Acts
 Parliament’s reaction to the Boston Tea Party
 Severely restricted the rights of all colonists in Massachusetts
 United the colonies against the British
o First Continental Congress
 Meeting of delegates (representatives) from all the colonies (except
Georgia) in Philadelphia
 Agreed to:
 Petition the King
 Boycott all British goods until the Intolerable Acts were
repealed
 Begin training soldiers
o Minutemen
 Term for the colonial militia
 Non-professional army made up of
ordinary citizens
 Name referred to the idea that they were ready
to fight at a minute’s notice
 Lexington and Concord (April 1775)
o British troops from Boston marched toward Concord to seize colonial
military supplies and capture leaders
 Minutemen were warned by riders like Paul Revere
o Lexington
 Small battle on Lexington Green
 1st battle of the Revolutionary War
 “Shot heard ‘round the world”
 Small force of Minutemen
 Easily won by the British
o Concord
 Important victory for Minutemen at Concord Bridge
o British soldiers struggled to return the 20 miles to Boston
 Harassed by Minutemen along the road
 Choosing sides
o Patriots
 Colonists who supported American independence
o Loyalists
 Colonists who remained loyal to Britain
 Also called Tories
o Many colonists remained neutral