The Road to Revolution
Please pick up Focus 9 (Part I), the class notes chart, the
Exhibit Guide, and the rubric from the table. Remember to sit
with your new team.
If you have Focus 7 maps completed, please turn them in to the
in box (maps only with your name on them)
Begin working on Focus 9 on your own.
You have 12 minutes.
We will:
*introduce the quarter exhibit
*investigate events that contributed to rising
tensions between American colonists and
the British empire from 1763 to 1775
James Otis Attacks the Writs of Assistance
British Motives and Policy:
*British sought to crack down on colonial smuggling
*Represented the end of salutary neglect
*Writs of assistance allowed the British crown to search
any ship or building suspected of being
associated with smuggling
*often allowed search of private homes
“A man’s house is his
castle; and whilst he is
quiet, he is as well
guarded as a prince in
his castle. This writ, if it
should be declared
legal, would totally
annihilate this
privilege.”
Colonial Response and Results:
*James Otis, Jr. (Boston lawyer) challenged the writs in
court, calling them “unconstitutional” and a
violation of English civil liberties
*Otis lost the case but writs were rarely issued
afterwards
*writs angered New England merchants and encouraged
more smuggling
The Proclamation of 1763
British Motives and Policy:
*Pontiac’s Rebellion of 1763 raised concerns that English
settlement west of the Appalachian Range would
spark further conflict with Native Americans
*British government banned all English settlement west of
the line in order to keep peace and maintain the fur
trade
Colonial Response and Results:
*angered colonists who sought more land for farming
and real estate speculation
(example: George Washington)
*colonists continued to move west in violation of the
ban
The Road to Revolution (Part II)
• Now that we’ve established some of the early reasons for
rising tensions between the British government and the
colonists, each table team will be asked to investigate a
significant event that contributed to the start of the American
Revolution by 1775
• Each team will receive a folder with sources and Focus 9,
Part II – use the sources and your textbook to help answer
the questions and prepare a poster (like the one you’ve seen
for the Proclamation of 1763) to present in our next class
• Complete the focus questions and the poster by the end of
class today – split up the work amongst your team members
Before you leave…
• Remember to turn in Focus 7 (regional maps) if you
have them done
• Complete Homework 4 for the start of our next class
• Be prepared to have two of your team members
present on your topic in our next class – leave posters
on the back table
• Leave sources in the folder but take your individual
Focus 9 sheets with you – you’ll turn those in at the
end of our next class
The Road to Revolution
Please take out Focus 9 and your class notes on the Road
to Revolution.
If you have Homework 4 completed, please turn it in to
the box.
Take 10 minutes with your team to finish up your poster
and prepare for your presentation – the Sugar Act will
go first.
We will:
*present and discuss events that contributed to
rising tensions between American colonists
and the British empire from 1763 to 1775
The Sugar Act of 1764
British Motives and Policy:
*aimed at raising revenue to pay for Britain’s war debt
*external, indirect tax charged at port of entry
*lowered tax on foreign molasses to discourage smuggling
*placed duties on certain imports
*gave authority to vice-admiralty courts to try smugglers
Colonial Response and Results:
*angered New England merchants, who saw it
as a way to raise revenue for the
British government at their expense
*encouraged more smuggling
*did not effectively raise much revenue
“Now can there be any
liberty where property is
taken away without
consent?”
--James Otis in “The
Rights of the British
Colonies” (1764)
The Stamp Act of 1765
British Motives and Policy:
*Parliament sought to raise revenue with an
internal, direct tax on all documents
and paper products (e.g., newspapers,
deeds, licenses, etc.)
*violators were to be tried in the vice-admiralty
courts, not in colonial courts
Colonial Response and Results:
*Sam Adams organized the Sons of Liberty to protest
*campaign of harassment against stamp agents
*colonial legislatures resolved that there would be “no
taxation without representation”
*Stamp Act Congress issued Declaration of Rights and
Grievances (organized colonial resistance)
*repealed by parliament in the Declaratory Act of 1766
The Townshend Acts of 1767
British Motives and Policy:
*British government returned to external,
indirect taxes on imports to raise
revenue to pay off debt (included
taxes on tea, glass, lead, paint, etc.)
Colonial Response and Results:
*Samuel Adams wrote his “circular letter”
in protest
*colonial leaders organized a boycott of
British imports
*colonial women protested by making their
own clothing in “spinning bees”
(homespun clothing)
*seizure of John Hancock’s ship Liberty
resulted in riots by Boston residents
in 1768 British sent 2,000 troops
*repealed all of the duties, except the one on
tea in 1770
“Those who are taxed
without their consent … are
slaves. We are therefore –
SLAVES.”
-- John Dickinson, “Letters
from a Pennsylvania Farmer”
(1767)
The Boston Massacre
British Motives and Policy:
*British troops occupied Boston to keep the peace
after the 1768 riot
*dockworkers confronted British soldiers over
jobs in Boston
*Crispus Attucks and four other colonists were
killed when gunfire broke out
*John Adams defended two British soldiers accused
of murder and they were acquitted
Colonial Response and Results:
*Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty used the
incident to highlight British tyranny
*tensions relaxed for two years until colonists in
Rhode Island attacked a British vessel that
had run aground
*committees of correspondence arose in the colonies
to coordinate efforts to resist unfair trials
The Tea Act of 1773
“Parliament an act has made that will
distress and ruin trade. To raise a tax
as we are told that will enslave both
young and old. Look our poor Boston,
make a stand, don’t suffer any Tea to
land; for if it once gets footing here,
then farewell Liberty most dear.”
British Motives and Policy:
*Lord North (British PM) designed the Act to
give the British East India Company a
monopoly on the tea trade
*actually lowered the price of tea for colonists
-- “A Zealous Daughter of Liberty”
Colonial Response and Results:
*Sons of Liberty organized the
Boston Tea Party and dumped
18,000 pounds of British East
India Company tea into Boston
Harbor
*sparked a boycott of tea
throughout the colonies
The Intolerable Acts of 1774
British Motives and Policy:
*King George III and parliament sought to punish
the Massachusetts colony for the Tea Party
*Coercive Acts:
1. shut down Boston harbor to trade
2. authorized British troops to house in private
homes and other private property (Quartering Act)
3. placed Massachusetts under martial law
4. revoked the Massachusetts charter
*Quebec Act limited westward settlement
Colonial Response and Results:
*First Continental Congress met in Sept. 1774 to
devise a coordinated response – sent grievances to
King George III and pledged to reconvene in May
1775 if demands were not adequately addressed
*Massachusetts Patriots formed their own
government (led by Sam Adams and John Hancock)
and stockpiled arms in the countryside
The Revolution Begins:
Lexington & Concord
• British General Gage, military commander of Boston,
sent 700 British troops into the Massachusetts
countryside in April 1775 to seize militia weapons and
capture the leaders of the Massachusetts colonial
government – Samuel Adams and John Hancock
• The British were met by colonial Minutemen who
resisted the British advance at Lexington and Concord,
firing the first shots of the Revolutionary War
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiIFRCk1hxY
What happens now?
As war broke out in spring 1775, colonial leaders
now faced a choice:
1. to remain within the Empire and try to
negotiate a settlement
OR
2. declare independence from Britain
What are the major arguments for both choices?
Before you leave…
• Remember to turn in Homework 4
• Be prepared for our first Primary Source
Investigation in our next class – it’s worth a
quiz grade
• It’s a good idea to start reading on your exhibit
topic prior to our first library visit next week