Unit 1
Colonial Era
and American Beginnings
CHAPTER 4
The War for
Independence
(Part A)
The Stirrings of Rebellion
 At the end of the French and Indian War,
Parliament turned to the colonies to help pay off
the war debts.
 Stamp Act-1765. This was the first tax levied
directly on the colonist’s goods and services.
 The Stamp Act required colonists to purchase
special stamped paper for every legal document,
license, newspaper, pamphlet, almanac, and even
cards and dice.
 Those who disobeyed the Stamp Act were
usually tried in the vice-admiralty court.
 Several Stamp Act protests took place.
 The Sons of Liberty became the leading group of
protestors against the Stamp Act. This group was
led by Samuel Adams.
 Many colonies adopted resolutions stating that
only the colonial governments could levy taxes.
 Daughters of Liberty-participated in boycotts of
tea and manufactured goods from England, made
homespun clothing, helped the war effort, etc.
 The Stamp Act Congress passed a resolution
stating that the colonies could not be taxed unless
they were represented in Parliament. (This is the
first time that the colonies acted as a body)
 Merchants started a boycott against British
goods. It was so successful that Parliament was
forced to repeal the Stamp Act in 1766.
 Mostly all of the colonial citizens joined in
a boycott of British goods. This boycott
was started by Samuel Adams.
 After a riot in Boston over the merchant
ship, Liberty, 4000 British troops were
placed in Boston.
 The Boston Massacre……
 The Boston Massacre occurred because of
tension over jobs in Boston. Fist fights sprang up
often between civilians and off-duty soldiers who
were looking for extra work.
 One such confrontation led to gunfire, killing a
local dockworker, Crispus Attucks.
 This led Parliament to repeal most of the
Townshend duties, except for that on tea.
 Committees of Correspondence were
created as a way to communicate between
the colonies.
 The East India Company was hit hard by
the boycotts. They had millions of pounds
of tea stored in Boston, but no where to sell
it and no one to buy it.
 Parliament passed the Tea Act, which
allowed the East India Co to sell tea to the
colonists with no tax. This forced the
colonists to buy their tea (because it was
cheaper) instead of other teas.
 A group of rebels dressed as Indians took
charge of some ships and dumped 15,000
pounds of tea into the Boston harbor.

King George III of England was infuriated with
the colonists and had Parliament pass the
Intolerable Acts.
 These acts did several different things:
1. Shut down Boston harbor until the tea was paid
for by the colonists.
2. Passed the Quartering Act which said the
British could take over any house they wished
and quarter (or house) their troops there.
3. Boston was placed under martial law.
 Colonists were greatly upset and threatened by
these new Intolerable Acts.
 They started to stock-pile weapons and
ammunition.
 General Gage sent a British detachment to collect
all guns from Concord.
 Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel
Prescott rode throughout the countryside warning
people of the approaching British Army.
 http://www.earlyamerica.com/paul_revere.htm
Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventyfive;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal
light,-One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and
farm,
For the country folk to be up and to
arm."
 The British met 70 minutemen at
Lexington and ordered them to leave the
area. As the militia marched away, a shot
rang out…
 The British Army opened fire at the
retreating militia, killing and wounding
several men.
 At Concord, the British found the local
munitions arsenal empty and came under
attack of the constantly growing militia.
 The American Revolution had begun.
 http://www.earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm
Test tomorrow:
 You are responsible for all info contained
in the guided notes, as well as the
vocabulary, and anything that is found in
the chapters in the book. (READ!)
 The test will be Multiple Choice and short
answer that will be from your
review/vocab sheet.