STANDARD(S):
11.1 Students analyze the significant events in
the founding of the nation.
LESSON OBJECTIVES/ GOALS/ SWBAT
1.Summarize colonial resistance to British taxation.
2.Trace the mounting tension in Massachusetts.
3.Examine efforts made to avoid war between the
colonies and the British.
4.Summarize the historical background of the
Declaration of Independence.
Section 1
Colonial Resistance
and Rebellion
Conflicts between Great Britain and the American
colonies escalate, until the colonists finally declare
their independence.
NEXT
SECTION
1
Colonial Resistance and Rebellion
The Colonies Organize to Resist Britain
The Sugar Act
• King George III—British king during the American
Revolution
• Writs of assistance allow searches for smuggled
goods, even in homes
• Prime Minister Grenville passes Sugar Act to end
colonial smuggling
• Sugar Act—taxes on imports changed
• Violators tried by vice-admiralty court, not colonial
court
• Merchants and traders fear reduced profits
Continued . . .
NEXT
• The Sugar Act
• King George III—British king during the
American Revolution
• Writs of assistance allow searches for smuggled
goods, even in homes
• Prime Minister Grenville passes Sugar Act to end
colonial smuggling
• Sugar Act—taxes on imports changed
• Violators tried by vice-admiralty court, not
colonial court
• Merchants and traders fear reduced profits
Sugar Act

• How did the Sugar Act cause tension between
the colonist and Britain?
– The colonist believed that the Sugar Act would reduce
their profits and that these taxes violated their rights
because they were not represented in parliament.
– More importantly, it meant colonists accused of
violating the Act were tried in Vice-Admiral Courts
rather than Colonial Courts
– However the Act actually reduced the tax on
molasses.
1a. The British
b. Colonists
Parliament
responded to the
passed the
act by . . .
Stamp Act (1765)
in order to . . .
The British
Parliament passed
the act to finance
debts.
c. Britain
responded to
the
colonists by . .
Colonists
Parliament
responded to the
responded to the
act by organizing colonists by
the Sons of Liberty; repealing the
demonstrating and Stamp Act.
protesting and
boycotting British
goods.
1765 Stamp Act
British Action
Parliament passed the
Stamp Act to cover the cost
of keeping troops in the
colonies & to cover cost
of French & Indian War.
Colonists had to buy
special stamps to prove
that they paid a tax on
printed things like wills,
newspapers, playing
cards.
(Result: Parliament
repealed the law.)
Colonial Reaction
Some colonists unite to
form the Sons of Liberty,
a secret resistance group.
They harass stamp
distributors, boycott
British goods, and
prepare a Declaration of
Rights and Grievances.
2-1B
• How did the colonist respond to the Stamp Act
and Townsend Act?
– Colonial Protest increased, adopting resolutions
denouncing the Stamp Act and boycotted British
goods.

1767 Townshend Acts
British Action
Taxed goods that were
imported into the colony
from Britain, like lead,
glass, paint, paper. Also
tax tea and popular drinks
in the colonies. Stations
troops at major colonial
ports to protect customs
officers.

Colonial Reaction
Samuel Adams leads
colonists in boycott of
British goods, protesting
“taxation without
representation.”
(Founders of the Sons of
Liberty)
(Result: tension, bloody
clashes, Parliament
repealed the law)
2a. The British
b. Colonists
Parliament
responded to the
passed the
act by . .
Townshend Act
(1767) in order to
...
c. Britain
responded to
the
colonists by . . .
Parliament passed the Colonists responded to
act to increase revenues the act by
from the colonies.
demonstrating and
protesting; boycotting
British goods.
Parliament responded
to the colonists by
enforcing the act;
stationing troops in
Boston; then
repealing the act.
2-1
1773 Tea Act
British Action
Granted the British East
India Company the right
to sell tea to the colonies
free of taxes that colonial
tea sellers had to pay
Result: Parliament did NOT repeal
the law Passed Intolerable Acts
Colonial Reaction
Boston Tea Party Colonists in Boston
rebel, dress like Indians
& dump 18,000 pounds
of East India Company
tea into Boston harbor
3a. The British
Parliament
passed the Tea
Act (1773)
in order to . . .
b. Colonists
c. Britain
responded to the responded to
act by . . .
the colonists by .
..
Parliament passed
the act in order to
save the East India
Company from
bankruptcy.
Colonists responded
to the act by
dumping 15,000
pounds of the East
India Company's tea
into the waters of
Boston harbor,
holding the Boston
Tea Party.
Parliament
responded to the
colonists by
passing the
Intolerable Acts.
2-1
1774 Intolerable Acts
British Action
King George III passed a
series of laws, such as
closing Boston Harbor
and the Quartering Act,
which allowed British
troops to be housed in
colonists’ homes; put
General Gage in charge,
who imposes martial
law
Results:
more
British
Troops

Colonial Reaction
Led to the creation of the
1st Continental Congress
and writes a declaration
of colonial rights; said
that if Britain used force,
colonists would fight back
2-1
British Action
Taunted by
an angry
mob, British
troops fire
into the
crowd, killing
5 colonists
1770 Boston
Massacre Colonial

Reaction
Colonial
agitators label
the conflict a
massacre and
publish a
dramatic
engraving
depicting the
violence
Crispus Attucks: was an American slave, merchant seaman
and dockworker and African descent. 5 people massacre
4a. The British
Parliament
passed the
Intolerable
Acts (1774) in
order to . . .
Parliament passed
the acts to punish
the Colonists for the
Boston Tea Party; to
tighten control over
Massachusetts.
b. Colonists
c. Britain
responded to the act responded to the
by . . .
colonists by . . .
Colonists responded to
the acts by holding the
First Continental
Congress; pulling
together to support the
protests in
Massachusetts;
stepping up military
preparations.
Parliament
responded to the
colonists by
marching troops
to Concord to
seize illegal
weapons and by
engaging the
colonists in battle.
2-1C
King George
• What do you think King George set out to
achieve when disciplining Massachusetts?
– King George wanted to isolate and punish
Massachusetts in hope that it would become more
obedient and in order to keep the conflict from
spreading.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZMmP
WTwTHc
•
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAZ8QJ
gFHOg
2-1 1775 Lexington & Concord
British Action
General Gage
orders troops to
march to
Concord,
Massachusetts
to seize colonial
weapons
Colonial Reaction
For the first time
Minutemen intercept the
British and engage in
battle
–Lexington (1st battle of
Rev. War!!!)
…. then at Concord,
where minutemen
formed and attacked
British soldiers on their
retreat killing hundreds
The Battle of Bunker Hill
••
2,400 British
battle militia on
Breed’s Hill, suffer
1,000 casualties
••
King George
III rejects
Continental
Congress’s Olive
Branch Petition

2-1D
Underestimating the Colonies
• Do you think the British underestimated the
colonist in 1770-1775?
• Yes
– They failed to notice how angry and unified the colonist
were.
• No
– The British believed that taxing the colonies was
justified, because the colonies existed to benefit the
British Empire, and they expected loyalty from the
colonist.
2-1E
• Do you think the Olive
Branch Petition was too
little to late?
– Yes, because King
George had only
responded to the colonist
with punishment and by
sending troops.
– No, because a war would
be costly both financially
and in terms of fatalities.
Olive Branch
2-1F
• Why might the ideas of
the Enlightenment
appeal to the colonists?
– Americans found support
in the views of John
Locke’s assertion that
people had inalienable
rights and that a social
contract existed with
every govt. and people
had a right to overthrow
any unfair govt.

Enlightenment
Natural Rights and Common Sense
• John Locke –social
contract: declared
that life, liberty,
and property are
natural rights that
cannot be taken
away

Natural Rights and Common Sense
• Thomas Paine wrote a
pamphlet called
Common Sense which
argued that the
colonies needed to
declare independence,
patriots supported the
arguments
– 500,000 copies were
printed and this had
a MAJOR influence!

2-1G
• What reasons did
Jefferson give to
justify revolt by the
colonies?
– When a govt fails to
protect its people’s
inalienable rights,
these people have a
right to rebel and
form a govt that will
protect their rights.
Jefferson
Foreign Support
• France began to
support the American
Colonies to get back
at Great Britain.
– Remember that France
lost the Indian-French
War to Britain.
– The Colonies sent
Benjamin Franklin to
deal gain more support
from the French.
