Uniting the
Colonists
Coach Medford
Building History Champions
Objectives
• Describe the causes for the development of
conflict between Britain and the colonies
• Explain the consequences of that conflict and
how it motivated colonial leaders and others
to act
• Draw conclusions about tensions between the
colonists and the British that led up to the
Boston Massacre
Thoughts
• I think the colonists would unite together if
the British ……
• I think the Boston Tea Party was a direct result
of the …..
Questions
• How did the American colonists react to the
Boston Massacre?
• Who was the first colonist killed by the British.
• How did the British government react to the
actions of the colonists?
1768
• Parliament receives word that the colonies are
about to rebel – reject British authority
• British Parliament sends additional troops to
Boston
• Colonists feel this violates their rights and
certain laws have violated their rights
• Redcoats are rude, poor, and compete with
Bostonians for jobs
Boston Massacre
How does
Paul Revere
depict the
events of the
Boston
Massacre?
What events
would lead the
British to fire
into a a crowd
running away?
What else made
Paul Revere
famous?
Violence in the Streets
• March 5, 1770 violence erupts in Boston
• Fight between Bostonians and soldiers
• Colonists throw bottles, snowballs and various
objects at Private White
• Private White request back up
• Colonists begin to taunt more soldiers yelling
fire – church bells ring which represents a fire
in the town, more people take to the streetss
People shout
• “We did not sent for you. We will not have
you here. We’ll get rid of you, we’ll drive you
away!”
• “Come on, you rascals, you bloody backs, you
lobster scoundrels, fire, if you dare.”
• “Are the inhabitants to be knocked down in
the streets? Are they to be murdered?”
How would these comments
make you feel if they were
directed to you?
Boston Massacre
• Eventually the British get nervous and fire
• Five colonists killed
• First killed was Crispus Attacks, a dockworker
who was part African and part Native
American
• Colonists call this encounter the Boston
Massacre
• John Adams defends the British Soldiers in
court
Boston Massacre
Does this engraving
accurately depict the
events that took
place?
This pictures
spreads through the
colonies. Why
would Sam Adams
and Paul Revere
depict the event
this way?
Looking at the
picture as a
colonist; would you
be more or less
likely to take up
arms against
Britain?
Did the picture
work?
Spreading the Word
• Colonial leaders use the killings as
propaganda – information designed to
influence opinion
• Samuel Adams puts up posters describing the
Boston Massacre as a slaughter of innocent
Americans
• Stronger boycott of British goods results
• Parliament repels the TownshendHow
Acts,
except
does the
on tea
artists depict
the Tea Act?
Committee of Correspondence
• 1772 – Samuel Adams revives the Boston
committee of correspondence, a group of
protestors
• Other colonies begin their own committees of
correspondence
• Colonies begin to unite together as protestors
of British measures
Explain how the Boston Massacre affected
the relations between the colonists and
Britain. Use evidence from the notes.
British East India Company
• Vital to British economy
• To help save company, Parliament passes the
Tea Act
• Reduces taxes on tea, but forces colonists to
buy tea from the company
• Colonists do not want to pay taxes or be told
what to do
• Colonists vow to prevent the company from
Boston Harbor – By P. Revere
unloading their ships Rather than parting with freedom.
“We’ll part with our tea” –
Daughters of Liberty
Boston Tea Party
• East India Company continues to send tea to
the colonies
• Colonist in New York and Philadelphia force
the ships to turn around
• 1773 – Governor of Boston orders ships to be
unloaded
• December 16, at midnight, colonists (mostly
the Sons of Liberty) dressed as Native
Americans, throw 342 chest of tea overboard
Results of the Tea Party
• Colonists celebrate this as a victory
• Most colonists do not speak out against the
British, they still see themselves as British
citizens
Explain why you believe that
the colonists still saw
themselves as British. Where
there benefits to being British
citizens? Where there
drawbacks?
Intolerable Acts
• King George realizes Britain is losing control of
the colonies “We must either master them or
totally leave them to themselves.”
• 1774 – Parliament passes the Coercive Acts to
punish the colonists
• One part of the act allowed British troops to
stay in homes of colonists
Massachusetts & the Coercive Acts
•
•
•
•
Bans town meetings in Massachusetts
Closed Boston Harbor
Stopped the shipments of foods and goods
Tried to cut Massachusetts of from the other
colonies
• It backfired and brought the colonies together
• Colonies send food and other goods
• Quebec Act – creates a Canadian government and
gives them land in the Ohio River Valley
How is the Quebec Act a slap in the face of the colonists?
Review Questions
• List the affects of the Coercive Acts on the
Citizens of Boston.
• How did Samuel Adams and Paul Revere use
propaganda to rally colonists after the Boston
Massacre?
• Explain how the British punished the colonists
for the Boston Tea Party.
• Why do you think John Adams defended the
British troops?
Homework
• Create a picture, pamphlet or newspaper
article showing support or reservations of how
the acts affect your life as a colonists