“No taxation without
representation!”
Actions that led to the
Revolutionary War
Warm Up
What would you do if your
favorite clothes suddenly cost
three times as much as it did
the last time you bought it?
I. TAXES
A. Britain was in debt
after winning the French
and Indian War.
The British felt that the
colonists had benefited
from the war, so they
should help pay for it.
B. Sugar Act
Taxed sugar and
molasses
C. Stamp Act
1. The Stamp Act required
a stamp showing tax was
paid on legal documents,
licenses, newspapers,
pamphlets, and even
playing cards.
2. Protesting the Stamp Act
a. Many colonists refused
to buy the necessary
stamps and boycotted the
goods
b. Samuel Adams claimed
that the British government
had no right to put taxes on
the colonists since there
were no colonial
representatives in
Parliament.
This idea became shortened
to the popular phrase:
No taxation without
representation
c. Stamp Act Congress – 9
colonies sent representatives
to discuss how to protest the
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act Congress
issued a declaration that the
Stamp Act violated the
colonists’ rights as Englishmen
3. Because of pressure from
the colonists and from
English merchants (who were
annoyed that the colonists
were not buying their stuff),
Parliament repealed
(canceled) the Stamp Act
D. The Townshend Acts
1. Taxed glass, paper,
paint, lead, & tea
2. To make sure the taxes
were collected, British
officials used the writs of
assistance, which allowed
tax collectors to board any
ship at any time for any
reason
3. Colonists once again
boycotted British goods
II. COLONISTS RESPOND
A. Colonists boycotted goods
to protest taxes
B. Colonists formed Committees
of Correspondence to connect
the colonies and inform each
other of unfair British laws and
actions
C. The secret society, The
Sons of Liberty, was formed
to take action against the
British.
The Sons of
Liberty
performed
hangings in
effigy,
threatened tax
collectors and
governors, and
organized
colonial protests
Colonial
cartoon
depicting the
tar and
feathering of
a tax collector
(customs
official)
D. Colonists began writing
poems and essays criticizing
British actions. Mercy Otis
Warren even wrote a play
making fun of British officials
in Massachusetts, including
the royal governor.
III. THE TEA ACT….ONE
TAX TOO MANY
A. Parliament passed the
Tea Act to lower the price
on tea
B. Colonists were so
distrustful of Parliament, that
they thought it was a trick to
make them accept
Parliament’s right to make
laws for them
C. Colonists boycotted tea
Instead of drinking tea,
colonists drank “liberty
tea” made of herbs and
spices from the
colonies or they drank
coffee
IV. THE BOSTON TEA PARTY
A. A ship, the Dartmouth,
brought tea to unload at the
Boston harbor
B. The colonists demanded
that the ship leave the
harbor without unloading the
tea
C. The governor refused to
let the ship leave
D. Led by the Sons of
Liberty, Boston colonists
decided to take matters into
their own hands
E.
E. 50 or 60 colonists dressed
as Native Americans and
boarded the Dartmouth
F. The “Indians” destroyed the
tea by throwing it into the
harbor. No one was hurt, but
the tea was completely gone.
V. Britain’s response to the
Boston Tea Party – The
Intolerable Acts
A. The Intolerable Acts were
laws passed to punish
Massachusetts for the Boston
Tea Party and to show other
colonies what might happen
to them if they protested
B. The Intolerable Acts
included…..
1. Closed the port of Boston
2. Took away the charter of
Massachusetts and
eliminated town meetings
3. Dishonest royal officials
were taken back to Britain
and tried
4. The
Quartering Act
meant that
colonists had to
house British
soldiers in their
own homes
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/perspectives/military.html
5. General Thomas Gage
became the new governor of
Massachusetts
C. The Intolerable Acts had the
opposite effect on the colonies
from what Britain was hoping.
The colonies banned together
to help Massachusetts.
D. Colonies even sent
representatives to the First
Continental Congress.
http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/cox_corr/g_exp/first_continental.htm
The first Continental
Congress…
1.Agreed to boycott all
British goods
2. Encouraged each colony
to form its own militia
VI. Boston Massacre
A. Tensions were building
between the colonists and
the soldiers
B. In March 1770, a
colonist and a soldier got
into an argument outside
the customs house in
Boston
C. The crowd got larger and
more soldiers were called in
D. The colonists began
throwing snowballs, rocks,
lobster shells, and ice at the
soldiers
E. To everyone’s surprise, a
shot rang out
F. Thinking they were being
fired on, the soldiers fired into
the crowd, killing 5 civilians
G. Samuel
Adams used the
killing of five
civilians as
propaganda
against the
British and called
it the “Boston
Massacre”
VII. Patriots vs. Loyalists
A. Some colonists were
angry with Britain and
ready to act. But many
still felt loyal to Britain
and were unwilling to go
too far.
Patriot or Loyalist?
• Patriots believed
that British taxes,
laws and policies
had become
oppressive. Most
important, they
believed the time
had come to resist
British policy by
force of arms.
• Loyalists were loyal
to King George III
and Great Britain.
They believed that
they prospered as a
colony of Great
Britain.
Minutemen
B. In New England
the men began
arming themselves.
They were called
Minutemen because
they could be ready
to fight in a minute.
Some practiced
fighting and
marching with
wooden guns.
Others had real
guns.