Ch. 5, “Crisis in the Colonies”
1745-1775
European Rivals in North
America
FRENCH TERRITORY
NEW SPAIN
13 COLONIES
FLORIDA
(owned by Spain)
Conflict in the Ohio Valley
France was determined to stop the English
from expanding westward
 Native Americans chose sides
 French – built strong alliances with
Hurons and Algonquins
 English – allied with the Iroquois by
playing on tribal rivalries and offering
trade goods at low prices.

1754 – French & Indian War
Begins
Washington led 150 men
against 700 at Ft.
Duquesne (Ft. Necessity)
 He was only 22 years old!
 Had to surrender, was
eventually released

Fort Duquesne
Fort Necessity
Albany
Congress
Ben Franklin’s
Albany Plan of
Union
 His plan was
rejected

www.michaeldeas.com/
String of British
Defeats under British
General Braddock –
Take off those red
uniforms!!!
1755
General Pitt
turns the tide,
captures Ft.
Duquesne,
changed name
to “Pittsburgh”
1757
British
practice rock
climbing at
the Battle of
Quebec
1759
Treaty of Paris ends war
1763
Death of Wolfe by Benjamin West
Turmoil over taxation
Pontiac’s War
Pontiac, an Ottowa chief who had
fought for the French, led an attack on
British troops at Fort Detroit
 Thought French would come to their aid
 Sorry….the war’s over…!
 Resulted in the Proclamation of 1763

10,000 British Soldiers to the
Rescue!



King George III sent troops
to enforce his proclamation
Most didn’t care for the
backcountry so they hung
out in the cities
Stationing British troops in
the colonies proves to be
very costly
Turmoil over Taxation
The French & Indian war plunged
Britain deeply into debt.
Prime Minister George Grenville
figured that the colonies should
have to share the burden of
taxes.
Taxes, Taxes





Sugar Act – tax on molasses actually lowered
the existing tax but was enforceable
Stamp Act – tax on legal documents
9 Colonies signed a petition saying that
Parliament had no right to tax the colonies.
American’s boycotted British goods so the
Stamp Act was repealed
Townshend Acts – new taxes on certain
goods
Issue?
No taxation without
representation
 The colonies had
no representation
in Parliament and
therefore had no
voice

Colonial Protests Grow
Writ of Assistance (right to search a
ship without reason)
 Sons of Liberty hang tax collectors in
effigy
 Daughters of Liberty started a boycott
of British cloth

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/sons.htm
Samuel Adams


Organized rallies,
stirred up public
support
Started a letter
writing campaign
called the
“committee of
correspondence”
John Adams
Schoolteacher
then lawyer
 Knowledge of
British law made
people respect
him

Abigail Adams


The wife of John Adams, the
first Vice President, and
second President, of the
United States, and the mother
of John Quincy Adams, the
sixth President of the United
States. She was the first
Second Lady of the United
States and second First Lady
of the United States.
Her letters provide an
eyewitness account of the
American Revolution.
Mercy Otis
Warren

Wrote plays
making fun
of the
British
officials
Boston Massacre
Temporary Calm
British merchants harmed by the
colonies’ boycott pressured Parliament
to end the taxes.
 “There must always be one tax to keep
up the right [to tax]” – King George

Boston Tea Party (1773)
Reaction – Intolerable Acts
(1774)
Boston harbor was shut down until
colonists paid for the tea
 Massachusetts colonists were forbidden
to hold meetings more than once a year
 Customs officials and officers had to be
tried in England
 Colonists would have to house officers
in their own homes.

Quebec Act
Set up a government for Canada
 Gave complete freedom to French
Catholics
 Extended borders of Quebec to include
some of the Ohio River Valley
 Angered the colonists even more

First Continental Congress (1774)
12 colonies represented
 Agreed to boycott all British goods until
Intolerable Acts were repealed
 Set up militia

Lexington and Concord (April 18, 1775)
British marched to seize the colonists
stash of weapons and gunpowder
 Paul Revere’s ride
 “The Shot heard round the world”

Old North Church, Boston
“one if by land, two if by sea….”