Revolutionary America
American Pageant Chapters 5-8
1754-1783
Part I: War for the Empire
The French and Indian War
The French and Indian War
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Join or Die: At the height of the problems between the
French and the English, the colonies meet in 1754 to
attempt a unification of the colonies. Ben Franklin
proposed the Albany Plan, which was rejected by the
colonists.
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Great War for the Empire: Washington attempted to work
with the French on the Frontier, which led to a breakout
of war.
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The Iroquois Nation: Allied themselves with the British,
and the other tribes with French
The French and Indian War
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The War lasted nine years and had very distinct
phases that focused the war
Phase I -1754-1755
The Tribes: Made alliances and launched a series of
raids on English settlements.
Braddock and Washington: General Braddock was
mortally wounded in an attack on Fort Duquesne in
1755, and Washington is set the forefront of history.
The French and Indian War
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The First Phase left the British at a disadvantage and they
needed to do more to win the war
Phase II -1756-1757
Global Scale: Fighting took place throughout the British Empire from
India to the West Indes.

Impressment: The British impressed colonials into the army and also
took provisions from the farms, which led to tension among the
colonists and the soldiers.
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William Pitt: Pitt was appointed Prime Minister in 1757. Pitt was
instrumental in changing the direction of the war to favor the British
The French and Indian War
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The second phase brought the English in to a good position.
Their army was reinforced and they started to win battles.
Phase III -1758-1763
Reimburse the Colonists: William Pitt promised to Reimburse the
colonists for all their trouble and the impressment. He turned control
fo the enlistments over the colonial assemblies.

Quebec and Montreal: By 1760, the British had major victories at
Quebec and Montreal, which led to their victory in the war.
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Treaty of Paris 1763: This ended the war. The French had to leave
the continent; they could retain area in the West Indies; and the
Spanish gave England Florida.
The French and Indian War
Effects of the war
1.
Expanded English territory.
2.
Cost of the war enlarged the debt.
3.
English leaders thought that the colonists were inept at
defending themselves during the war, which led to
resentment on both sides.
Part II: The Burdens of Empire
Taxes, Trade and Independence
After the French and Indian War, the
English monarchy looked to the
colonists to ease the burden of war.
A. New Imperialism

After the French and Indian War, The English set out to redefine the
empire. They needed revenue to get out of the debt they suffered from
the war and looked to its colonies for money.
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King George III: Reasserted his control over the monarchy. Only 22 when
he came to throne, his youth added to the problems with the colonies.

George Grenville: Prime Minister in 1763. His plan to help the British
Empire was at the heart of the tension between the colonies and the crown

Proclamation of 1763: an example of the Grenville method. This
forbade settlers to move beyond the mountains and occupy the territory.
It as a move to keep the colonists safe from the Native Americans, but
served as tension between the nations.
B. Grenville Program
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Sugar Act of 1764: Raised the tax on Sugar
to deter trade with the French.
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Mutiny or Quartering Act of 1765: Colonists
were told that they had to help with the
provisions and quarter of the troops.
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Currency Act of 1765: Required that
assemblies stop issuing paper money.
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Stamp Act of 1765: Imposed a tax on every
printed document: Newspapers, almanacs,
pamphlets, deeds, wills, licenses.
C. Stamp Act Crisis
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The Stamp Act was the final straw for the colonists. Colonists united
behind the notion that the colonies were not represented. It went
against the Salutary Neglect that the British had used in the past.
Virginia House of Burgesses: Patrick Henry spoke out against the
act and said “If this be treason, make the most of it.”

Sons of Liberty: Hanged officials in effigy and pillaged Thomas
Hutchinson’s house in Boston. They sponsored a series of boycotts
against British goods.
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Stamp Act Congress: Delegates from nine colonies met to discuss
this issue. It was the only time that they agreed Declaration of
Rights and Grievances.
D. Stamp Act Repealed

Non-Importation Agreements: This made official the
boycotts that drove the British to repeal the Stamp Act.
Merchants were losing too much money, and in
response Parliament repealed the act.
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Declaratory Act: In the process of repealing the act,
Parliament made it clear that they had the right to tax the
colonies of they deemed it necessary.
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Charles Townshend: As Prime Minister he came up with
another way for the colonists to contribute to the British
Monarchy.
E. Townshend Program
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Troops: Townshend forced the colonies to quarter troops. When the
assemblies refused to send supplies, he disbanded the assemblies
starting with NY in 1767.
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Duties: Imposed a Tax on various goods: Lead, Paint, Paper and
Tea
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Navigation Acts: He enforced the acts, which led to merchants
boycotting all British goods.
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Townshend died in 1770. Lord North took the tax off everything,
except Tea. The troops were still an issue. Early in that year there
would be an issue with troops in Boston.
Part III: Rebels
The tension in the colonies led to
issues between the colonists and
the troops.
A. The Boston Massacre
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On March 5, 1770 - British soldiers were at
the docks. Bostonians started to throw
snowballs at them.
Thomas Preston: The British Captain lined
up troops by a nearby building.
First Shots: A soldier fell discharging his
weapon, which led to the rest of the troops
to fire on the crowd.
What really happened on
March 5, 1770?
This was Paul
Revere’s etching.
What do you think he
was trying to say?
Was he effective?
It was used by the
Sons of Liberty as
an example of
British Tyranny.
B. Philosophy of the Revolt

John Locke: The colonists believed that they were protecting the
“Natural Rights” guaranteed under the Lockean notion of “Life,
Liberty and Property.”
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No Taxation Without Representation: The colonists wanted to be
recognized at Parliament. The British believed in “Virtual
Representation” where Ben Franklin was the representative.

Historiography: A modern historian, Gordon Wood, argues that the
Colonists were radical in their approach, because “…all men created
equal.” went against the notion that people were born into wealth
and status. America was a place where there was Social Mobility,
and that was a revolutionary idea.
C. The Issue of Tea

Tea Act of 1773: This act worked in conjunction with the Townshend
tax. It enhanced it by allowing the East India Tea Company, which
was owned by the crown, to directly bring their tea into the colony
without being taxed, which hurt local businesses and gave the
crown a monopoly on the tea trade.
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Authority: The tax was not as much the issue as was the authority
that the crown asserted over the colonists.
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December 16, 1773: The Sons of Liberty dressed up as Mohawks
and threw the tea into the sea from three ships. Parliament
retaliated.
D. Parliament Retaliates
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Coercive Acts: Parliament in the aftermath of the Tea Party 1.
Closed the port of Boston; 2. Reduced the power of the local
government; 3. Royal officers would be tried in Britain. The
colonists called them the Intolerable Acts.
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First Continental Congress: 12 colonies (No Georgia) met to
do the following: Reject a plan to unite under the British; a
Moderate statement of grievances; approved military
operations to stop any further assault on Boston; agreed to a
series of boycotts; and meet the following spring.
E. Shot Heard ‘Round the World
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General Thomas Gage: British General sent out a group to arrest
Sam Adams and John Hancock in Lexington, because of their
affiliations with the Sons of Liberty. He also wanted to take the
munitions from Concord.
April 18, 1775
Lexington: Gage sent a detachment to Lexington Green, where the
first shots were fired in the war.
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Concord: The British went to Concord and the munitions were gone.
The colonists followed the British back to Boston. The British lost
almost three times their men.
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Second Continental Congress: These acts set the stage for the next
congress, where independence was debated.