Chapter 5
The American Revolution, 1763–
1783
THE CRISIS BEGINS
 Consolidating the Empire
 Cost of the Seven Years’ War led Great Britain to make Colonists share
in its costs
 Taxing the Colonies
 Before war:
 Navigation Acts
 Colonists simply ignored them
 During the war
 Equals
 After the war:
 Subordinates
 Seemed only fair that Americans follow Navigations Acts, help reduce war
debt, and pay for continued British protection
 Virtual Representation
THE CRISIS BEGINS
 The Stamp Act Crisis
 1765
 Directly taxed the colonists
 All printed matter produced in the colonies had to carry a stamp
 Newspapers
 Books
 Court docs
 Taxation and Representation
 Affected nearly every colonist, many of whom felt  The law was passed w/o consent
 It paid for unnecessary British troop presence
 Infringed on traditional English liberties
 Stamp Act Congress (1765)
 Reaffirmed Americans loyalty to Great Britain while insisting on right to
consent to taxation
 Parliament viewed as enemy, not safeguard
THE CRISIS BEGINS
 Liberty and Resistance
 Liberty Trees/ Poles
 Committees formed and communicated to prevent Stamp Acts
implementation
 Inspired by earlier protests of the Sugar and Currency Acts
 Politics in the Streets
 New York & Boston saw huge crowds
 Son’s of Liberty:
 Repealed in 1766
 Declaratory Act (1766):
THE CRISIS BEGINS
 Internal turmoil in colonies
 The Regulators
 South Carolina & North Carolina
 Western backcountry disputes
 The Tenant Uprising
 Tenants in New York stopped paying rent and briefly sized land
 This temporarily led colonial elites to fear resisting British
imperial power
THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION
 The Townshend Crisis
 1767
 New round of taxes
 Lead to colonial boycott on British goods in Boston, then spread
 Homespun Virtue
 Spun own clothing
THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION
 The Boston Massacre
 March 5 th , 1770
 Royal British troops stationed in Boston since 1768*
 5 colonists died, including a free African American = Crispus
Attucks
 John Adams defended the accused soldiers
 Paul Revere and others helped stir up the pot
Propaganda!
 Eventually led to the removal of troops from
Boston and the repeal of all taxes, except on Tea
 Wilkes and Liberty
 Radical journalist within Britain who was
Kicked out of Parliament
 Furthered worried Colonists
THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION
 The Tea Act
 Extremely popular among all social classes
 Tax remained after the Townshend Crisis
 Boston Tea Party (1773)
 The Intolerable Acts
 Parliaments Response to the Tea Party
 Closed the port of Boston
 Allowed soldiers to be housed in colonists’ private homes
 Passed Quebec Act
 Extended Canada’s border
 The Takeaway –
 The THREAT TO LIBERTY IS BECOMING REAL
THE COMING OF
INDEPENDENCE
 The Continental Congress
 Philadelphia (1774)
 All except Georgia
 Patrick Henry “Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!”
 The Continental Association
 Linked colonies
 Se the foundation for revolution
THE COMING OF
INDEPENDENCE
 The Sweets of Liberty
 Idea of liberty being used against Britain itself!
 The Outbreak of War
 Lexington and Concord
 “The Shot Heard Around the World”
 Independence?
 Not a consensus!
 Loyalists, moderates, and patriots
 1/5
2/5
2/5