Tensions Arise
I. Tensions Mount
After the French and Indian War tensions
between the colonists and Britain continued
to grow.
1. Britain needed a way to pay off its war
debts and the growing number of troops
that were in the colonies.
What’s the easiest way for a government
to get money quickly?
I. Tensions Mount
a. The easiest way to do this was through taxes.
Problems with Colonists
• To pay for the war King George puts George
Greenville in position of prime minister.
• Greenville enacts Sugar Act to raise money to
pay for war.
– Reduced tax on foreign made molasses
– Placed duties on imports
– Strengthened the enforcement of the law of
prosecuting smuggling cases.
I. Tensions Mount
A. The Stamp Act
1. In March 1765, Parliament through Prime
Minister George Grenville passed the
Stamp Act.
I. Tensions Mount
a. The Stamp Act required colonists to:
i. Purchase special stamped paper for every
legal document, license, newspaper,
pamphlet, and almanac.
ii. Pay special “stamp duties” on playing
cards, and dice
b. The Stamp Act impacted everyone in the
colonies
I. Tensions Mount
B. Stamp Act Protests were led by the Sons of
Liberty, a group of Boston shopkeeper,
artisans, and laborers.
1. Samuel Adams was one of the founders
I. Tensions Mount
2. The Sons of Liberty spent the summer of 1765
harassing customs workers, stamp agents, and
royal governors.
a. Stamp Act agents resigned all over the
colonies after facing mobs and threats.
I. Tensions Mount
3. The Stamp Act was to become effective on
November 1, 1765 but no stamps were ever
sold due to colonial protests
I. Tensions Mount
4. The Colonial Assemblies spent the years of
1765 and 1766 confronting the Stamp Act
measure.
a. Virginia’s lower house, led by Patrick Henry,
adopted several resolutions
i. They stated that Virginians could be
taxed only by the Virginia assembly- their own
representatives
I. Tensions Mount
b. Other colonies followed with the same
resolutions.
c. For the first time, the colonies were ready to
work together for a common goal.
I. Tensions Mount
C. The Stamp Act Congress
1. In October 1765 nine colonies sent
representatives to meet in New York City.
2. The Congress issued a Declaration of Rights
and Grievances
a. It said that Parliament did not have the
power to put taxes on the colonies because the
colonists were not represented in Parliament.
I. Tensions Mount
3. Merchants in New York, Boston, and
Philadelphia agreed not to import goods
manufactured in Britain until the Stamp Act
was repealed.
a. They expected British merchants would
force Parliament to repel the Stamp Act.
I. Tensions Mount
D. End of the Stamp Act
1. The boycott worked and Parliament
repealed the Stamp Act in March of 1766.
2. On the same day, however, Parliament
stressed its power by issuing the Declaratory
Act.
a. It asserted Parliament’s right to make
laws- especially in the colonies
I. Tensions Mount
E. The Townshend Acts
1. Charles Townshend came up with a new
method to gain money from the colonies.
2. His ideas were passed in 1767 by Parliament.
I. Tensions Mount
E. The Townshend Acts
3. These taxes were indirect taxes, unlike the
Stamp Act.
a. They were taxes put on goods imported
into the colonies such as glass, lead, paint, and
paper.
b. They also placed a 3-penny tax on tea, the
most popular drink in the colonies.
I. Tensions Mount
F. Resistance to the Townshend Acts
1. Colonists reacted instantly saying, “No
taxation without representation!”
I. Tensions Mount
2. American women became involved in the protests.
a. Writer Mercy Otis Warren of Massachusetts
urged women to, “lay their British female ornaments
aside,” such as’ “feathers, furs, rich satins, and
capes.”
b. Wealthy women stopped buying British
luxuries and joined spinning bees to show the
boycott of British cloth.
c. Housewives boycotted British tea and made
homemade tea from birch bark and sage.
I. Tensions Mount
G. Seizure of the Liberty
1. In June of 1768 John Hancock, a wealthy
Boston merchant, had his ship the Liberty
seized by custom agents.
a. They claimed he had smuggled wine
into the colonies without paying the customs
tax.
Tensions Mount
2. The seizure of the Liberty triggered riots
against customs agents in Boston.
3. In response, the British stationed 2,000
redcoats in Boston.
The presence of British soldiers charged the air
of Boston with hostility.
I. Tensions Mount
H. The Boston Massacre
1. Colonists and soldiers were forced to
compete for jobs in the shipyards of Boston.
2. On the afternoon of March 5, 1770 a
fistfight broke out over jobs between colonists
and British soldiers.
3. That evening a mob gathered in front of the
Customs House and taunted the guards.
I. Tensions Mount
4. Crispus Attucks and several dockhands
appeared and an armed fight broke out.
a. At the end, Attucks and four others
were dead in the snow.
5. Samuel Adams and others labeled the
fight the Boston Massacre.
Why?
I. Tensions Mount
I. Rhode Island
1. The next two years were fairly
peaceable in the colonies.
2. In 1772, a British customs schooner,
patrolling the coast of Rhode Island
looking for smugglers, ran aground.
a. Colonists boarded the vessel and
burned it to the waterline.
King
George III
I. Tensions Mount
3. King George responded by making a special
commission to find suspects and bring them
to England for trial.
a. This scared colonists.
i. Committees of correspondence were set
up by Massachusetts and Virginia to talk with
other colonies about the threats to American
liberties.
I. Tensions Mount
J. The Boston Tea Party
1. The British East India Company had held a
monopoly on tea imports.
a. The boycott of tea by the colonists left
the business with 17 million pounds of tea and
facing bankruptcy.
I. Tensions Mount
J. The Boston Tea Party
b. Lord North in 1773 came up with the Tea
Act.
i. It allowed the East India Company the
right to sell tea without taxes directly to
colonists.
ii. This way colonial merchants would be
cut out of the tea trade.
I. Tensions Mount
J. The Boston Tea Party
c. Instead of buying cheaper tea, the colonists
protested.
I. Tensions Mount
2. On the evening of December 16, 1773 a large
group of Boston rebels, including the Sons of
Liberty, disguised themselves as Native
Americans and took action.
a. The men went to the Boston harbor and
boarded three ships full of tea.
i. the chests of tea were heaved overboard.
I. Tensions Mount
3. This became known as the Boston Tea Party.
a. 18,000 pounds of The East India Company’s
tea were dumped into the harbor that night.
I. Tensions Mount
K. The Intolerable Acts
1. King George and Parliament were outraged.
In 1774 they responded by passing laws the
colonists called the Intolerable Acts.
I. Tensions Mount
2. The Acts did the following:
a. Shut down Boston Harbor
i. Until the colonists paid for the damaged tea
b. Passed the Quartering Act
i. This allowed British commanders to house
soldiers in vacant private homes and other
buildings
I. Tensions Mount
2. The Acts did the following:
c. General Thomas Gage was appointed
the new governor of Massachusetts
i. He placed Boston under martial law
I. Tensions Mount
L. First Continental Congress
1. The Committees of correspondence quickly
took action.
2. In September 1774, 56 delegates from the
colonies met in Philadelphia and drew up a
declaration of colonial rights.
First Continental Congress
I. Tensions Mount
L. First Continental Congress
a. Defended the colonies’ rights to run their own
affairs
b. Supported the Massachusetts protests
c. Stated that if the British used force against the
colonists, the colonies would fight back.
d. Agreed to meet again in May 1775 if necessary.
I. Tensions Mount
M. Lexington and Concord
1. After the Continental Congress many New
England towns prepared militarily.
a. Minutemen stockpiled firearms and
gunpowder
2. General Gage learned about this and
prepared to take action.
I. Tensions Mount
M. Lexington and Concord
3. In March 1775, Gage checked out rumors that
there was a stockpile of arms and munitions in
Concord.
a. His agents came back with detailed maps
of the locations of the stockpiled weapons.
4. Gage also learned that John Hancock and
Samuel Adams were in Lexington, only 5 miles
east of Concord.
I. Tensions Mount
M. Lexington and Concord
5. Minute men and the resistance knew the
British would strike soon.
6. Doctor Joseph Warren was in charge of most
of the resistance in Boston.
a. On April 18, Warren learned the British
would march on Concord by way of Lexington.
i. The British would capture Adams and
Hancock and destroy the munitions.
I. Tensions Mount
M. Lexington and Concord
7. Paul Revere was sent for to warn that 700
British regulars were headed to Concord.
a. On the night of April 18, Paul Revere, William
Dawes, and Samuel Prescott rode out to spread
the word. As they rode, Revere shouted, “The
Regulars are coming!!”
One If by Land, Two if By Sea
Paul Revere had prearranged signals for his
upcoming ride to warn the surrounding
countryside of the British.
From the tower of Old North Church in Boston,
one lantern would be shown if the British
were coming by land, Two lanterns if by sea.
Old North
Church
Two Lanterns
• Two lanterns had been hung briefly in the belltower of Christ Church in Boston, indicating
that troops would row "by sea" across the
Charles River to Cambridge, rather than
marching "by land" out Boston Neck.
• b. Revere burst into the
house with Adams and
Hancock, saving them.
• Revere's Ride
The Regulars are Coming!!
M. Lexington and Concord
8. Revere and Dawes were captured and then
released.
9. On the morning of April 19, 1775 British
troops reached Lexington.
a. 70 minutemen awaited them on the
village green.
The Shot Heard Round the World
M. Lexington and Concord
b. The British ordered the minutemen to
leave.
c. The colonists began to move out with their
rifles.
d. Someone fired a shot and the British sent a
volley of shots into the departing militia.
This is called the Shot Heard
Round the World
I. Tensions Mount
M. Lexington and Concord
e. The Battle of Lexington lasted only 15
minutes.
i. 8 minutemen were killed, 10 were
wounded
ii. One British soldier was injured
I. Tensions Mount
M. Lexington and Concord
f. The British marched on to Concord
i. The arsenal was empty
ii. There was a short clash with minutemen
I. Tensions Mount
M. Lexington and Concord
g. The British began their march back to
Boston.
i. 3,000- 4,000 minutemen had assembled and
fired at the British troops from behind stone walls
and trees.
ii. The British fell by the dozens
iii. When the British reached Boston they were
humiliated and bloodied.
shot
Growing
Conflicts
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
A. Second Continental Congress
1. In May 1775 a second Continental
Congress met in Philadelphia to debate
their next move.
1. The colonies were divided both in their
loyalties and in their plan of action.
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
A. Second Continental Congress
a) John Adams of Massachusetts wanted a
radical plan
i. For each colony to set up their own
government and be independent
ii. The militiamen surrounding Boston
should belong to the Continental
Army and a general should be named
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
A. Second Continental Congress
3. In June the Congress agreed to:
a. Make a Continental Army with George
Washington at its head.
b. Authorized the printing of paper money
to pay troops
c. Organized a committee to deal with
foreign nations
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
B. Battle of Bunker Hill
1. General Gage decided to attack militiamen
camped on Breed’s Hill near Bunker Hill
outside of Boston.
2. The British attacked on June 17, 1775.
3. The colonists waited until the last minute
then fired.
a. It took the British 3 attempts to defeat
the colonists.
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
B. Battle of Bunker Hill
4. This would be the bloodiest battle of the
war.
a. 450 colonists died and over 1000 British
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
C. The Olive Branch Petition
1. The delegates of the Continental Congress,
like most colonists, felt loyalty to King George III.
a. They sent the Olive Branch Petition to the
king asking for a return to the former harmony.
b. King George refused then said that
colonies were in rebellion and asked Parliament
for a naval blockade of the coast and hired
Hessians.
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
D. Common Sense
a. Thomas Paine wrote an anonymous 50 page
pamphlet attacking King George III.
b. He declared the time had come for the
colonies to become an independent republic
c. He claimed it was “America’s destiny” to
become independent- a republic
d. It sold 120,000 copies
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
D. John Locke
Not!
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
E. John Locke was an English philosopher.
1. He wrote about the powers of government and
the rights of people.
He said that, “the power to govern was obtained
from the permission of the people.
He thought that the purpose of government was to
protect the natural rights of its citizens. He said that
natural rights were life, liberty and property, and
that all people automatically earned these simply by
being born. When a government did not protect
those rights, the citizen had the right and maybe
even the obligation of overthrowing the
government. “
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
F. The Declaration of Independence
1. Congress was ready to declare the colonies
independence by the summer of 1776.
a. North Carolina declared itself
independent along with most Virginians.
b. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia
said that, “ these United Colonies are, and of a
right ought to be, free and independent States.”
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
2. Thomas Jefferson was asked to prepare a
formal declaration as to the reasons for the
colonies actions.
a. He wrote the Declaration of Independence
b. It used John Locke’s ideas throughout
ii. Natural rights of people
iii. Consent of the governed
iv. The right of the people to alter
or abolish and unjust government
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
3. On July 2, 1776 the delegates voted
unanimously for the colonies to be
independent.
4. The Declaration of Independence was
adopted on July 4, 1776.
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
5. The Declaration was read aloud to a crowd
outside of the Philadelphia State House, now
called Independence Hall
II. Ideas Start a Revolution
However now the tough part would begin.
Which side would each person take?
Loyalist?
Patriot?
III. The War for Independence
A. Valley Forge
1. Served as the winter camp for the Continental
Army
a. Problems faced by Patriots
i. Makeshift huts
ii. Underfed
iii. Freezing
iv. Lack of supplies including clothes
B. War in the Middle States
1. Britain decides to stage war in New York City
and left Boston in 1776
a. General Howe and Admiral Howe join forces
on Staten Island
b. British employ Hessians
War in the Middle States
2. Washington is vastly outnumbered and his
troops are untrained
a. By late fall Washington is pushed across
the Delaware into Pennsylvania
b. Most of his men had deserted or been
killed or captured
i. Only 8,000 men left
c. Terms of enlistment are due on Dec. 31st
3. Battle of Trenton
a. Washington risked everything on one bold
move
i. On Christmas night 1776 he led 2,400
men across the Delaware in a storm
ii. They marched all night in the snow until
the reached Trenton
iii. Patriots defeat Hessians kill 30 and
capture 918
iv. 8 days later they win another battle in
Princeton
4. Fight for Philadelphia
a. Spring of 1777 General Howe decided to try
and capture the American capital in
Philadelphia
b. Continental Congress fled
c. Washington unable to keep out the redcoats
d. Howe settled in and enjoyed Philadelphia
5. Saratoga
a. “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne had a plan to
isolate New England
i. He was to meet with Howe
ii. He left from Canada to go to Albany New York
iii. He met with swamps, underbrush, and
gullies
5. Saratoga
b. General Horatio Gates(patriot) gathered
militiamen and soldiers
i. He clashed with Burgoyne
ii. Howe was occupied in Pennsylvania
iii. Burgoyne surrendered in Saratoga to
General Gates on Oct. 17, 1777
• Changed British war strategy
–They kept to the coast
6. Turning Point
The Continental Congress sent Benjamin
Franklin to Paris to negotiate a Treaty.
6. Turning Point
b. French sent weapons to Patriots
c. Saratoga made French support Americans by
recognizing them as independent
i. French and Americans signed an alliance
d. Washington and his troops spent another
miserable winter in Valley Forge
7. Civilians
a. Congress ran out of gold and silver so it
printed more and more paper money called
Continentals
i. This caused inflation- rising prices
ii. Everything had to be smuggled in
iii. Robert Morris was appointed as superintendent
of finance
i.
They raised money to pay troops’ salary
Civilians
b. Women took over farms and businesses
i. Made ammunition from household silver
ii. Some followed the men
iii. Some went into combat
• Margaret Corbin- replaced a gunner
• Mary McCauly – took husband’s place at cannon,
she also took water to troops and became known
as “Molly Pitcher”
–Washington made her a noncommissioned
officer
IV. The Road to Wining
The Road to Winning
A. Training
1. Marquis de Lafayette- French
Aristocrat (20)
2. Friedrich von Steuben- Prussian
captain and drillmaster
a) Taught army members drills and
techniques
The Road to Winning
B. After Saratoga the British move south
1. Took Savannah Georgia
2. Cornwallis took Charles Town, South
Carolina 1780
a. African Americans joined the British
who promised freedom
The Road to Winning
C. 1781 Nathaniel Greene marched south and
harasses Cornwallis as he retreated
1. He divided his troops into 2 forces
2. Cornwallis moved to Virginia where he met
up against von Steuben and Lafayette
a. He moved to Yorktown when he failed
D. Yorktown
1. Lafayette suggested that the American and
French forces meet and attack at Yorktown
a. French defeat British naval forces and block
Chesapeake Bay- closing of rescue by sea
b. Meanwhile French and American troops
surround the British and bombard them day
and night
i. Siege lasted a month
2. On October 17, 1781 Cornwallis surrendered
E. Peace
1. Peace talks began in Paris in 1782
2. Representatives from United States, Great Britain, France,
and Spain
3. Treaty of Paris 1783
a. Confirmed US independence
b. Set the boundaries of US
i. Atlantic to the Mississippi and Canada to Florida
border
ii. Did not say when British would leave their forts
iii. Americans agreed to pay British debts
F. Egalitarianism
1. Belief in equality of all people
– Ability, effort, and virtue defined one’s worth