The Spirit of
Independence
THINK ABOUT THIS?
The King of England started to tax the
colonists for different reasons.
The colonists didn’t want to pay the taxes
WHAT IS A TAX?
– A fee imposed by the
government people MUST pay.
The Colonies & Britain Grow
Apart
During the French &
Indian War, colonies &
Britain fought side by
side.
Proclamation of 1763
– no colonists could settle
west of the Appalachian
Mountains
Proclamation Line
ORV
King George III
King George III, the British King
during the Revolutionary War
– wanted to enforce the Proclamation so
he sent 10,000 British troops into the
colonies.
Sugar Act & Quartering Act
1764 Parliament passed the Sugar Act
– This put a tax on sugar & molasses
brought into America (used to cook)
1765 Parliament passed the Quartering Act
– This required colonist to house, feed, &
provide supplies for British soldiers
WHY?
– Britain had a large debt from the French &
Indian War and needed $$$$.
Taxation Without Representation
Many colonists claimed Parliament (British
government) had no right to tax the colonists
without asking permission.
– Colonists were not represented in Parliament.
“No Taxation Without Representation!”
Stamp Act
1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act
– all legal & commercial documents must have
an official stamp showing a tax had been paid
on the document
Ex: newspapers, diplomas, contracts, playing cards
Colonial merchants organized a
boycott of British goods as a
result of the Stamp Act.
– Boycott is a refusal to buy goods
Sons of Liberty / Townshend Acts
Many colonists formed secret societies to
oppose British rule.
– Sons of Liberty
staged protests against the acts
Samuel Adams was their leader
1767 the Townshend Acts passed
– placed taxes on goods the colonists used
daily
glass, paper, paint, lead and tea
Boston Massacre
In 1770
– British soldiers and colonists began
shouting insults, then throwing snowballs
at each other
– A fight broke out and British soldiers fired
– 5 Americans died
– Crispus Attucks
The Boston Massacre
Crispus Attucks?
Tea Act
1773 Parliament passed Tea Act
– A tax put on tea brought into the
colonies
Samuel Adams began to form
committees of correspondence
– groups who exchanged letters and
information on colonial affairs
Boston Tea Party
As a result of the Tea Act, colonists
dressed up to look like Mohawk
Indians
– They boarded British ships carrying goods
into the Boston Harbor
– dumped only the tea from the ships into
the Boston Harbor – 342 chests of tea
(about 1 million dollars worth in today’s
money)
The tea party is an example of civil
disobedience
The rioters underlined their “pure” political
motives by punishing those who sought
personal gain; a Son of Liberty who stole
some of the tea was “stripped of his booty
and his clothes together, and sent home
naked.”
The Boston Tea Party
Other Acts of Disobedience
Is this an
example of
“civil
disobedience”?
Intolerable Acts
A series of laws passed by Parliament in
1774
Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)
– Closed the port of Boston
– Made town meetings illegal
– Had to house British troops
– British officials could go to Britain to go on trial
Chamber pots with figures in them. (Napolean)
First Continental Congress
Delegates (members) from all colonies
met in Philadelphia, PA
First Continental Congress
– Agreed to begin training troops for war
– Wanted to fight for colonists rights &
independence
– Banned trade with Britain
TO ARMS!!
By the end of 1774, colonists began to
prepare for a war
– Militia – force of armed civilians ready to fight
for their country.
– Minutemen – civilian men ready to
act at a minute’s warning
– Redcoats – nickname for British
soldiers
Paul Revere
Paul Revere
– rode to Lexington and Concord
(Massachusetts)
– British troops
were going to attack militia and steal artillery
wanted to capture Hancock and Adams
“The British are coming, the
British are coming!!”
Paul Revere’s Ride
Lexington and Concord
British troops found about 70 minutemen
waiting.
Shots were fired…the war had begun
– ‘the shot heard round the world’
– the first battles of the Revolutionary War
Patriots and Loyalists
Those who supported the
British in the war were
called Loyalists.
Those who supported
the colonists (rebels) in
the war were called
Patriots.
The Continental Army
The Continental Army
began to form
– army of colonists fighting
for independence
– Over 20,000 militiamen
showed up in Boston
George Washington
– Commanding General
Battle of Bunker Hill
British soldiers forced the militia off
the hill in a very bloody battle
– 1,000 British killed or wounded
– 400 militiamen killed
British redcoats
won this battle
“Don’t fire ‘til you see
the whites of their eyes!”
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called
Common Sense
– a complete break away from England was
necessary
“Every thing
– sold 120,000 in 3 months
that is right
or natural
pleads for
separation.
The blood of
the slain, the
weeping
voice of
nature cries,
'tis time to
part.”
Opposition to Separation
“ America is far from being yet in a
desperate situation. I am confident she may
obtain honourable and advantageous terms
from Great Britain”
- Charles Inglis
Let’s Declare Independence!
At the Second Continental Congress a group
was chosen to draft a document called the
Declaration of Independence
On July 4, 1776 (Independence Day)
Congress adopted
– Thomas Jefferson
wrote in 17 days
Declaration of Independence
What’s in the
Declaration?
– unalienable rights
– Reasons for
separating from
Britain
– Declared colonies
to be free and
independent states
Unalienable Rights
Unalienable right
– a right that cannot be taken away
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Debate Over Independence
Not all were in favor of Independence
(video links)
The Road to the Revolution
The
Proclamation
of 1763
Boston Tea
Party
Townshend
Acts
Stamp Act
1765
1767
Boston
Massacre
Tea Act
1773
1773
1770
Intolerable
Acts
First Continental
Congress
Battles of
Lexington &
Concord
1774
1774
1775
Declaration of
Independence
written
1776
Revolutionary
War begins
1775