THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION
& THE SONS OF LIBERTY
THE HIGH COST OF VICTORY
SUGAR ACT (1764)
 The Sugar Act was an early British attempt
to raise money from the colonies. The act:
 Actually CUT taxes on imports of sugar and
molasses
 BUT, it gave the British expanded power to
combat smuggling (illegal trade that evaded taxes)
 Smugglers would now be tried in Vice-Admiralty
courts (a judge appoint by Britain and located in
Nova Scotia), not by local juries
THE STAMP ACT (1765)
RESPONSE TO THE STAMP ACT
THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS
COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE
 Networks created in opposition
to early acts designed to share
information across the colonies
 Now helped to coordinate the
boycott efforts
 Organized public protests
 Informed people of their liberties
as Englishmen
COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE
 Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson led the first
committees
 Women also participated, including Mercy Otis Warren
 These committees involved people who would become political leaders
in the Revolution and the new government after the war.
SAMUEL ADAMS
THE SONS OF LIBERTY
 Early protest were led by colonial leaders like
Samuel Adams
 Workers, shopkeepers, average people joined
protests against the Stamp Act
 This collection of men
was called the “Sons of
Liberty”
 The group helped lead colonial protest to Stamp Act
and other taxation, and eventually, rebellion
REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT
THE TOWNSHEND ACTS OF 1767
 In 1767, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which created
external duties (taxes on imports into the colonies):
 Placed taxes on imports of lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea
 Started new ways of collecting taxes to force the colonists to pay
 Created new Board of Customs and to punishments for smugglers and
others who avoided paying taxes.
RESPONSE TO THE TOWNSHEND ACTS
 Colonists immediately began boycotts and protests in response to the
Townshend Acts
 British send troops to maintain order amidst protests
 Boycotts caused British merchants to lose money, and they in turn pressured
Parliament
 Parliament repealed most of the Townshend Acts on March 5, 1770.
 Lifted the Quartering Act (which had required colonists to house and supply British soldiers)
 Removed British troops from Boston
 HOWEVER, kept a tax on tea
THE BOSTON MASSACRE
THE TEA ACT
BOSTON TEA PARTY
THE INTOLERABLE ACTS OF 1774
 Called the Coercive Acts by the British, designed to punish
Massachusetts and regain control of Boston, which the British saw as the
hotbed of radicalism in the colonies.
 Boston Port Bill – closed the port of Boston until the lost tea had been paid for
 Admistration of Justice Act – took away trial by juryof peers
 Massachusetts Government Act – disbanded the colonial assembly and outlawed
town-hall meetings, put a military government in place in Mass.
 Quartering Act – forced Bostonians to house British troops in their homes
 Quebec Act – extended the southern boundary of Quebec (Catholics!)
FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
 The First Continental Congress resulted in:
 A declaration of rights, including the rights to life,
liberty, property, assembly, and trial by jury
 A protest of taxation without representation
 A protest of the British army in the colonies
during peacetime without the colonies’ consent
TIMELINE
RISING TENSIONS
PAUL REVERE’S RIDE
“SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD”
 April 19, 1775 – minutemen met the
British on Lexington Green
 A shot was fired from an unknown source
 After a brief skirmish, resistance fades
 British advance on Concord
THE BATTLES OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD