OPENING ASSIGNMENT 8/6/2014
In your Opening Assignment Section of your
Portfolio begin a new page with the date, copy
and answer the question and complete the task.
1. What event(s) do you think started the
American Revolution?
2. Write your answer on your paper then
compare with at least two people sitting near
you.
3. Add those peoples’ answers to your paper.
ESSENTIAL LEARNING GOAL: THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION WAS A CONFLICT OVER WHO WOULD
GOVERN THE THIRTEEN BRITISH COLONIES IN
NORTH AMERICA.
Learning Targets:
• I can explain the reasons for new taxes upon the
colonies and the reaction to those taxes by the colonials.
• I can explain the Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party.
• I can identify the Boston Massacre, the Intolerable Acts,
the First Continental Congress, and the Battles of
Lexington and Concord.
• I can expound the awesomeness of John Green and
Crash Course US History.
THE SUGAR ACT, THE CURRENCY
ACT, THE QUARTERING ACT, AND
THE STAMP ACT
• Britain passes these Acts, to collect
taxes, and protect commerce in the
British Colonies.
• Colonists harass stamp distributors,
boycott British goods, and prepare a
Declaration of Rights and Grievances.
WHY ALL THESE NEW TAXES?
• The answer to this question is simple, the British had spent a
large amount of money securing North America as their colonial
possession. They battled the French and certain Native
American tribes in the appropriately named French and Indian
War.
• To recoup the money spent on the war the British government
decided to levy new taxes on the American Colonies.
• Many of the unpopular taxes, specifically the Sugar and Stamp
Acts, were repealed because of the boycott of goods and vocal
opposition by colonial leaders.
• This period brought into question who would govern the British
Colonies and what political rights would those colonists have.
1767 THE
TOWNSHEND ACTS
• Britain taxes certain colonial imports and
stations troops at major ports to protect
customs officers.
• Colonists protest “no taxation without
representation” and organize a new
boycott of imported goods.
1770 THE BOSTON
MASSACRE
• Taunted by an angry mob, British troops
fire into the crowd, killing five colonists.
• Colonial agitators label the conflict a
massacre and publish a dramatic
engraving depicting the violence.
1773 THE TEA ACT
• Britain gives the East India Company
special concessions in the colonial tea
business and shuts out colonial tea
merchants.
• Colonists in Boston rebel, dumping
18,000 pounds of East India Company tea
into Boston Harbor.
1774 THE
INTOLERABLE ACTS
• King George III tightens control over
Massachusetts by closing Boston Harbor
and quartering troops in peoples’ homes.
• Colonial leaders form the first
Continental Congress and draw up a
declaration of colonial rights.
1775 THE BATTLES OF
LEXINGTON AND CONCORD
• General Gage orders troops to march to
Concord, Massachusetts, and seize
colonial weapons.
• Minutemen intercept the British and
engage in battle- first at Lexington and
then at Concord.
VIDEO CLIP
• Watch the following video without taking any
notes, simply watch and listen.
• On a piece of paper or half sheet of paper, which
you will turn in at the end of class, write a
summary of the topic from today.
• This paper will serve as your ticket out the door.