The American Revolution
Bell work
•
•
•
•
What causes people to rebel?
Give an example of when you have rebelled and why?
What actions justify overthrowing or changing a government?
What, if any, changes do you believe the current government
of the U.S should make? Explain your answer.
Background information
• Mercantilism: Economic theory: all wealth is limited, one
nation’s gain is another’s loss, goal is more exports less
imports, encourage European powers to develop colonies
Colonies exist to make the ‘parent’ country wealthy
• Navigation Act: series of laws passed by the British Parliament
1651-1670’s, required all colonial imports and exports to be
on British or American ships and may only sail to British or
American ports
• Salutary Neglect: lack of strict enforcement of the law by
British and colonial authorities over trade, practiced until 1763
• Example: American colonist routinely smuggle cheaper French
molasses for the production of rum.
The French and Indian War
Map
Outcome
• England gains control
of most of North
America
• England’s debt
increase
• Tax colonists to pay
for the war
The Albany Plan of Union and
a famous cartoon..
• Benjamin Franklin
proposed the first
plan to unite the
colonies
• Attempted for
defense and to win
the Iroquois Nation
support
Pontiac’s Rebellion and The
Proclamation of 1763
• Pontiac was Ottawa chief who led
a movement to drive colonist east of
the Appalachian mountains.
• Proclamation of 1763:
• Upsets the colonies!
• Resistance: Slowly continue to move
West
Colonial Taxes 1763-1775
• Main Idea: Colonist’s feel they are being treated unfairly, they
have no actual representation in Parliament.
• Writs of Assistance 1763- British begin enforcing general
search warrants to search any colonial ship, warehouse, or
home
• Sugar and Molasses Act-1764-1. tax on all foreign sugar,
molasses, indigo, coffee, wine, 2. established vice-admiralty
courts to enforce British laws and carry out search warrants
• Currency Act-1764- bans all colonial paper money, must use
gold or silver coins(shortage in the colonies)
• Quartering Act-1765-Colonist must pay for housing and
feeding British troops in the colonies (over 10,000 redcoats)
The Stamp Act(1765)
Video questions:
Why was the Stamp Act
created?
What did the Stamp Act tax?
Why was this a big deal?
Colonial Protest and The
Stamp Act Congress(1765)
• Slogan: “No Taxation without Representation”
• 3 Ways of Resistance:
• Nonimportation Agreement or Boycott of British goods(Daughters
of Liberty)
• Mob action/violence(Loyal Nine, Sons of Liberty)
• Stamp Act Congress
Result: Repeal of the Stamp Act
British Response: Declaratory Act: Parliament has the right to make
any laws necessary in regard to the American colonies!
More Taxes: Townshend Act
• 1767: Tax all imports to the colonies from Great Britain such as
steel, iron, tea, glass, paper.
• Colonist’s Reaction: Continue boycotting British goods, harass
British tax collectors, Sons and Daughters of Liberty
• Result: British repeal all of the taxes except the one on tea.
Primary Source Reading
Assignments
• 1. Unity or Division
• 1-6 on the back
• 2. Changing the Hearts and Minds
• 1 and 2 on the top
• 1-3 on the bottom
• 3. The Colonist React to the Stamp Act
• 1-3 on the bottom
The Boston Massacre:Two
Sides To Every Story
• Paul Revere (1770)
The Boston Massacre: Two
Sides to Every Story
• Alonzo Chappel (1868)
The Boston Massacre: Two
Sides to Every Story
In a small group, analyze all the information and answer the
following:
Video/Pictures/ Reading Questions
1. What is the message of each of the photos of the Boston
Massacre?
2. After viewing all the information, list the inaccuracies of both
photos. Which is the most accurate?
3. Who was Crispus Attucks?
4. Was this really a “massacre”?
5. Summarize each side’s story of the event.
The Tea Act and The Boston
Tea Party
• 1773-Tea Act: Implements a monopoly by the British East India
Company over tea in America
• Company carry tea in their own ships, use own merchants
• Colonists refuse to let the tea to enter, protest/attack tax
collectors
• December 16, 1773
• The Sons of Liberty, organized by Samuel Adams and John
Hancock, board ships in Boston harbor and destroy thousands
of pounds of tea
Intolerable Acts -1774
• British response to Tea Party
• 1.Closes the Boston port
• 2.Increases power of the royal governors
• 3. Justice Act-British officials accused of crimes can be tried
in England
• 4.Expanded the Quartering Act( soldiers can occupy private
homes)
First Continental Congress
• Philadelphia in September 1774, delegates from all the
colonies except Georgia
• 1.Petition King and Parliament
over their grievances
(deprived of life, liberty and
Property)
2.Ban importation of
all British goods (The Association)
3. Create colonial militias
(minutemen)
Agree to meet in May 1775 if situation continues
Lexington and Concord: The
Shot Heard Around the World
• British declare Massachusetts in a state of rebellion
• British General Thomas Gage is sent in disarm the Americans
at Concord and arrest colonial leaders(Samuel Adam/John
Hancock)
•
•
•
•
April 19, 1775 Lexington and Concord video: The Story of US
1. List 3 facts about the colonial militias.
2. Who warns the militias of the British soldiers?
3. List 5 facts about the Battle of Lexington and Battle of
Concord.
Breed’s and Bunker Hill
• May 1775 outside of Boston
• British land with more troops over the
winter
• German mercenaries “Hessians”
• British General Thomas Gage attempts
to over run fortified American
positions
• British use frontal assault to
demonstrate strength
• Plan back fires over a 1,000 British are
killed or wounded before the
Americans run out of ammunition
Second Continental Congress
• May 1775, Philadelphia, PA
• Divided over next step(New England
favors independence, Middle
Colonies hesitant)
• Olive Branch Petition-Plea to King
George III to intercede
• Called on colonial militias to take up
arms(declare war)
• Create the Continental Army
• Appoints George Washington as
commander of the military
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
• Published in January of 1776, this document laid out a clear
and simple “common sense” argument for complete
independence from Great Britain
• Widely circulated, 120,000 copies in the first three months!
• Influences the decision for Independence
• Reading Assignment
• (10 points)
Review: Causes of the Revolution 1763-1776
Event
Pontiac’s
Rebellion
Sugar /
Currency Act/
Writs of
Assistance
Stamp Act
Townshend
Act
Quartering
Act
Parliament aids
British East
India
Company
Effect
Proclamation
of 1763
British begin
to tax goods
and tighten
the laws in
the colonies
Taxed many
articles and
papers, first
direct tax
Taxed
imported
tea, paper,
glass, wine,
paint, steel,
iron
Large
number of
British
troops
who need
to be
housed
and fed by
the
colonists
Tea monopoly in
the colonies
Reaction
or
Result
Colonists
angry,
continue to
move west of
the
Appalachians
Smuggling,
protest letters
to Prime
Minister
Grenville
“no taxation
without
representation”
Boycotts,
protests, Sons
and Daughters
of Liberty,
Stamp Act
Congress
Protests and
boycotts
Boston
Massacre
Boston Tea Party
Review: Causes of the
Revolution 1763-1776
Event
Intolerable Acts
Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill
Effect
First Continental Congress
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
Reaction/
Result
Creation of colonial militias,
bans trade with England
Declaration of Independence
Advantages and Disadvantages: U.S. vs. Great
Britain
U.S.
Great Britain
Advantages
Disadvantages
Advantages
Disadvantages
Washington’s
Leadership
Volunteer army
untrained
Large, well trained
army
War is unpopular
at home
Spy system
Lack of supplies
and funds
Supplies and
Funds
Far from home
American’s
believed in the
cause
Outnumbered
Mercenaries
Lack of support
from soldiers
Defending their
home and land
Large navy
Cautious Generals
Hit and Run Tactics
Native American
allies
Alliance with
France
Spy system
Bell work
• Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
• What are 2 key ideas from the document?
Declaring Independence……
June 1776 a committee of 5 is
assigned by Congress to draft a
formal declaration of
independence.
Thomas Jefferson drafts the
document
July 4, 1776 approved the
document
The Document
• Four main parts
• 1. Preamble: explains why the document was created
• 2. Declaration of Natural Rights: Most important and
influential
• All men are created equal
• All people possess certain basic right(life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness
• Governments are created to secure these right and receive
their power from the people
• People have the right and duty to alter or abolish
governments
• 3. List of Grievances: complaints against the King and
Parliament
• 4. Resolution of Independence: Declares the colonies as “free
and independent states”
Assignment
• In a group of 2 or 3, re-write the Declaration of Natural Rights
section of the document.
• Add or remove anything
Due Tomorrow-Tuesday September 24
Revolutionary War Project
• Task: Alone or in a group of no more than 3, create a scrapbook, power
point or video on the American Revolution.
• Requirements: choose the number of topics you are doing based on the
grade you want. All information should be in your own words and each
topic should include a picture.
• Project will be 50 points and due next Tuesday, Oct. 1.
• Items to include:
• 1. Cover page: Your names, a picture
• 2. Timeline of events-1763 to 1783(minimum of ten events of timeline)
• 3. Key Events (pre-war): French and Indian war, Proclamation of 1763,
Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Tea Act, Intolerable Acts, Quartering Act, Boston Tea
Party, Boston Massacre, Common Sense, Committee of Correspondence,
Sons of Liberty, etc
• For each event focus on the who, what, where, when, why and importance for the
summary of each event. Each one should include a picture
• 3-C, 4-B, 5-A
Revolutionary War Project
• 4. Key Battles (war events): Lexington/Concord, Trenton, Valley Forge, Saratoga,
Yorktown, Etc
For each battle focus on the who, what, where, when, why and importance for the
summary of each event. Each one should include a picture.
3-C, 4-B, 5-A
5. Key People- Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Benedict Arnold, Thomas
Paine, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, King George III, Lord
Cornwallis, etc)
4-C, 5-B, 6-A
Explain who they are, what they do and why it is important, include a picture of
each.
6. European Involvement- France, Spain. Include what they do and how it helps the
Americans ( 1 is all that is required)
7. Role of Women, Native Americans, African-Americans
Include what role each group plays in the war and summarize the significance of
their contributions to the war.
1-C, 2-B, 3-A
8. Vocabulary/ Maps/ Flags
Include one map of battles, one flag with a summary of the meaning, define the
following terms: Loyalists, mercenaries, Tories, Patriots, Minutemen, Guerilla
Warfare, Boycott, Traitor