The Stirrings of Rebellion
Chapter 4 Section 1
Following the French and Indian War, Britain
needed to raise revenue to pay for debt.
Date
1764
British Action
Sugar Act:
1765
Stamp Act:
Quartering Act:
1766
Declaratory Act:
1767
Townshend Acts:
1773
Tea Act:
1774
Intolerable Acts:
Colonial Action (Reaction)
The Sugar Act - 1764
•
•
•
•
British Action
Strictly enforced
Halved duty on foreign
molasses (Indirect Tax)
Placed duties on certain
imports (ie. lumber)
Allowed smugglers to
be tried in British courts
Colonial Reaction
• Angered over
economics not
“Taxation w/o
Representation”
• Written protests
• Occasional boycotts
Stamp Act 1765
•
•
•
•
British Action
First Direct Tax
Taxed legal and
commercial documents
(licenses, newspapers,
almanacs)
Special “stamped”
paper for legal docs
Dice and playing cards
•
•
•
•
•
Colonial Reaction
Violent protests (harass
tax collectors)
“Sons of Liberty”
Colonies pass laws to
evade the tax
Stamp Act Congress
issues Declaration of
Rights and Grievances
Further boycotts
Violence against tax collectors
Quartering Act – 1765 and 1774
•
•
•
•
British Action
Standing army after
French and Indian War
Required colonial
assemblies to house
and provision British
soldiers
Soldiers stayed in inns,
stables, barns, etc.
1774, Use private
homes as necessary
Colonial Reaction
• 1765, Most colonial
assemblies refused to
pay for provisions
• 1774, Wrote petition to
King George
Declaratory Act - 1766
British Action
• Accompanied repeal of
Stamp Act
• Statement of
Parliament’s right to
rule the colonies in any
way it saw fit
Colonial Reaction
• Pleased w/ repeal of
Stamp Act
• Continued protest of
other British imposed
laws
• Scared that more
punitive laws would
follow
Townshend Acts - 1767
•
•
•
•
British Action
Indirect tax on lead,
paper, tea, paint and glass
collected at port
Revenue paid British
officials in colonies
Created customs
commission
Suspended N.Y. assembly
for failure to comply
Colonial Reaction
• “No Taxation without
Representation” cries
from colonists
• Resumed boycott of
British goods
• Cut British exports to
colonies by 38%
“No Taxation without Representation”
• Based on your prior knowledge, synthesize the
meaning of the saying above in one (1) to two
(2) written sentences.
– The English Bill of Rights (1689) – “The crown cannot issue taxes
without approval of Parliament”
–The colonists had no representation in
Parliament. so they argued that they
could not be taxed by Parliament
– Parliament argued that they have the right to speak for the interests of
all British subjects not just the districts that elected them.
Boston Massacre - Background
• British agents in Boston seized John Hancock’s
colonial ship Liberty
• Customs inspector claimed suspicion of
smuggling
• Triggered colonial riots in Boston
• British station 2,000 troops in Boston
– Troops were poorly paid
– Competed for jobs w/ colonists
Boston
Massacre
March 5, 1770
• Afternoon, Fist fight
over jobs
• That night, a mob
gathered in front of
customs house
• Armed clash
between colonists
and guards
• 3 colonists killed
• 2 wounded
Tea Act - 1773
• Created to save the
failing British East India
Co.
• Granted BEIC right to
import tea free of tax
that colonial merchants
paid
• Hoped colonists would
buy the cheaper tea
• Bostonians dressed as
natives destroy a
shipment of tea (Boston
Tea Party)
• * 18,000 lbs. of tea
dumped into Boston
Harbor*
Boston Tea Party
• December 16, 1773, large group of Bostonians
disguised as Native Americans dump 18,000
pounds of the East India Company’s tea into
Boston Harbor.
The Intolerable Acts - 1774
• King George III was angered over the events in
Boston.
– Parliament passes the Intolerable Acts
• Shut down Boston Harbor until colonists pay for
damaged tea
• Reissued Quartering Act, forcing colonists to house
British soldiers in private homes
• General Thomas Gage (British commander in America)
becomes Governor of Massachusetts
• Boston placed under Marshall Law (rule imposed by
military forces)
The Committees of Correspondence
• Committees developed by colonies to
communicate with one another following the
Boston Massacre
• After the Intolerable Acts are passed, committees
assemble the First Continental Congress
– September, 1774, 56 delegates meet in Philadelphia to
draw up a declaration of colonial rights
• If the British use force against the colonies, they should fight
back.
• Agree to meet again in May 1775 if demands are not met.
1. Was this source created
by British Loyalists or
Colonial Patriots?
Describe at least three
(3) reasons for why you
made the decision you
made.
Fighting Erupts at Lexington and
Concord
• Minutemen – Civilian soldiers that began to
quietly stock up on firearms and gunpowder.
– General Gage learned about this and prepared to
strike.
– British agents ordered to find stockpiles in
Concord and arrest John Hancock and Samuel
Adams in Lexington
– April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, William Dawes, and
Samuel Prescott rode out to spread word that
700 British soldiers were coming
Battles at Lexington and Concord
• April 19, 1775, British troops killed 8 out of 70
minutemen in Lexington
• British reached Concord, but munitions were
gone.
• On march back to Boston, 3-4,000 minutemen
slaughtered British using guerilla warfare.
Describe the events surrounding the
map below.
Second Continental Congress
• May 1775, colonial leaders met to discuss new plans on
how to deal with Britain.
• John Adams suggested:
– each colony should set up its own government
– The militia set up around Boston should be called the
Continental Army
– They should select a General
• Congress agreed to name the militia the Continental
Congress and named George Washington their leader.
Also began printing paper money and appointed
ambassadors to deal w/ foreign nations.
The Battle of Bunker Hill
• British General Gage wanted to attack the
militia on Breed’s Hill overlooking Boston
• British lost 1,000 men – Colonists lost 450