Chapter 5
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Chapter 5 Section 1
I. Relations with Britain (Pages 132–134)
A. A feeling of distrust between the colonists and Britain grew due to
1. British soldiers stationed in the colonies and on the frontier
2. The Proclamation of 1763
3. The passing of trade laws and the Sugar Act
Colonists feared that British soldiers might interfere with their liberties, and they saw the
proclamation as limiting their freedom.
B. George Grenville, the British finance minister, began to watch colonial trading more
closely in order to catch colonists who were involved in smuggling. In 1764, customs
officials were able to obtain writs of assistance to search homes and warehouses for
smuggled goods. Colonists were outraged by this intrusion without warning.
C. Parliament passed the Sugar Act in 1764 to stop the molasses smuggling between the
Colonies and the French West Indies.
1. The act lowered the tax on imported molasses.
2. The British hoped that by lowering the tax, the colonists would be encouraged to
pay the duty on foreign molasses. When Britain collected the taxes, its revenues
would increase.
3. The Sugar Act also allowed special courts that had judges, not juries, to hear
smuggling cases. The colonists were outraged again because this took away their
basic right of trial by jury.
II. The Stamp Act (Page 134)
A. The Stamp Act taxed almost all printed material in the colonies such as newspapers,
pamphlets, wills, and playing cards. British officials placed a stamp on all printedturn
materials. Colonists were opposed because the British Parliament taxed the colonists
directly, and it had passed the act without their consent.
B. The colonists protested this act.
1. In Virginia, Patrick Henry, although accused of treason by his opponents, persuaded
the burgesses to take action against the Stamp Act. They passed a resolution saying
that they had the “sole exclusive right” to tax their citizens.
2. The Sons of Liberty, originally organized in Boston by Samuel Adams, protested
by burning effigies, raiding and destroying houses of British officials, and marching
along the streets to protest Britain’s taxing of Americans.
3. Boycotts against importing British and European goods occurred. Nonimportation
agreements signed by merchants, artisans, and farmers hurt British merchants.
C. In October, Congress petitioned the king and Parliament saying that only their own
assemblies could tax the colonies. In February 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act.
D. Parliament passed another act, the Declaratory Act of 1766, on the same day it
repealed the Stamp Act. The act allowed Parliament the right to tax and to make decisions
for the British colonies “in all cases.”
II. New Taxes (Page 135)
A. Parliament passed the Townshend Acts in 1767, which taxed imported goods at the
port of entry. It taxed basic items such as glass, tea, paper, and lead––items that the
colonists did not produce and therefore had to import.
B. Another boycott occurred in hopes of showing Britain that only the colonies’ representatives
had the right to tax them. The Daughters of Liberty, an active group in the
protest, urged Americans to wear homemade fabrics and produce other goods so as
not to buy British products.
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Chapter 5 Section 2tion 2end
I. Trouble in Boston (Pages 136–138)
A. Parliament sent two regiments of troops (often referred to as redcoats) to Boston. They
set up camp in the heart of the city. These soldiers were in some cases rude and violent
toward the colonists. Because Boston resented the presence of the soldiers,
fighting broke out between the redcoats and Bostonians and continued throughout the
next year.
B. The Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, was a result of the heated tension between the
redcoats and the Bostonians. Townspeople wielding weapons marched through the
streets toward the customhouse. The redcoats fired, killing five colonists. Among the
dead was Crispus Attucks, an African American dockworker.
C. The Boston Massacre led colonists to call for stronger boycotts of British goods.
Colonial leaders used the killings as propaganda against the British.
D. Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts except the tax on tea.
E. Some colonial leaders still called for resistance to British rule. In 1772 Samuel Adams
revived the committee of correspondence in Boston to circulate colonists’ grievances
against Britain. Other colonies began committees of correspondence that brought
together protesters opposed to British measures.
II. A Crisis over Tea (Pages 138–139)
A. Parliament passed the Tea Act of 1773 to save the British East India Company from
going under. This act gave the East India Company a favorable advantage over colonial
merchants because it was able to ship its extra tea to the colonies without paying
most of the tea taxes.turn
B. Because its tea was sold directly to the shopkeepers at a low price and bypassed colonial
merchants, the tea from the East India Company was cheaper than any other tea.
The colonists again boycotted British goods to denounce the British monopoly.
C. The Daughters of Liberty marched through town and burned the East India Company’s
tea. Colonists in Boston and Philadelphia planned to stop the company’s ships from
unloading. In all colonial ports except Boston, colonists forced the company’s ships to
return to Britain.
D. In Boston Harbor in December 1773, the royal governor ordered the tea unloaded. At
midnight on December 16, the Boston Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks boarded
the ships and threw 342 chests of tea overboard. This became known as the Boston Tea
Party.
E. The king and Parliament vowed to punish Boston and the people of Massachusetts for
using the Boston Tea Party to resist British rule. They passed the Coercive Acts.
F. These acts closed Boston Harbor until the colonists paid for the ruined tea. Closing the
harbor prevented Bostonians from receiving food and other supplies.
G. The laws also banned town meetings and forced Bostonians to house British soldiers
in their homes.
H. The colonists renamed these acts the Intolerable Acts.
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Chapter 5 Section 3
I. The Continental Congress (Pages 141–142)
A. The Continental Congress was a group of prominent colonial leaders who met in
September 1774 to establish a political group that would fight for American interests
and challenge British rule. Among the delegates who attended were Samuel Adams,
John Adams, John Jay, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, and George Washington.
B. The delegates worked together to draft a statement of grievances. They called for
repeal of the 13 acts of Parliament. They voted to boycott all British goods and trade.
C. They also passed a resolution to form militias, or groups of citizens, so that the
colonies would have their own armed forces.
II. The First Battles (Pages 142–144)
A. The British also prepared themselves for battle. British General Sir Thomas Gage had
3,000 soldiers in and around Boston. In April 1775, his orders were to take away
weapons and arrest the militia leaders.
B. Paul Revere and William Daws rode to Lexington, a town near Concord, to warn
Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming.
C. The redcoats approached Lexington and continued to Concord. They found that the
gunpowder was removed, but they destroyed the remaining supplies.
D. The minutemen were waiting all along the British return trail from Concord to Boston.
They ambushed the British. More than 200 British were wounded, and 73 of them
were dead. The battles of Lexington and Concord began the struggle for independence
from Britain.
III. More Military Action (Pages 144–145)
A. Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain boys captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake
Champlain on May 10, 1775.
B. The colonial militia grew to 20,000 after committees of correspondence enlisted more
volunteers.
C. The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 16, 1775. Although the British won the
battle, they suffered heavy losses and learned that defeating the Americans would not
be easy.
D. Americans chose sides. Those who wanted to fight the British until they won their
independence were called Patriots. Loyalists wanted to remain with Britain.
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Chapter 5 Section 4
I. Colonial Leaders Emerge (Pages 147–150)
A. The Second Continental Congress met for the first time on May 10, 1775. In addition
to the delegates from the first Continental Congress, Benjamin Franklin, John
Hancock, and Thomas Jefferson were new delegates.
B. The Congress governed the colonies. It
1. authorized the printing of money
2. set up a post office
3. established a Continental Army with George Washington as the commander
4. sent a formal request to King George III asking for peace and for the king to protect
the colonists’ rights. King George III refused this Olive Branch Petition and
prepared for war.
C. Washington trained the army, and on March 17, 1776, led his troops into Boston after
surrounding the city and forcing the redcoats to withdraw. The British sailed to
Halifax, Nova Scotia.
D. After an attack on New York by the British in Canada, the American troops at Fort
Ticonderoga struck and captured Montreal in November. American troops failed to
capture Quebec but stayed outside the city through the winter and returned to Fort
Ticonderoga in 1776.
II. The Colonies Declare Independence (Pages 150–151)
A. The Second Continental Congress debated a resolution to support independence.
Some delegates thought the colonies were not ready to separate, and others felt that a
large part of the population wanted to separate from Britain.
B. The Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence. Members
included Jefferson, Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert
Livingston of New York.
C. On July 2, 1776, twelve colonies voted for the resolution for independence. On July 4,
they approved the Declaration with some changes. John Hancock was the first to sign
it. His signature was large so that the king would have no trouble reading it.
D. The Declaration has four main sections:
1. The preamble, or introduction
2. a list of the right of the colonists
3. a list of the grievances against Britain
4. a proclamation claiming the emergence of a new nation