Unit 1, Lesson 1, PowerPoint 3
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“No taxation without representation.”
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American colonists were not represented in
Parliament. The taxes imposed on them were
considered unjust and hated by the colonies.
Stamp Act
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Colonists would pay a tax on almost anything
written or printed.
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Virginia Resolves (5 Resolutions adopted by the
House of Burgesses)
Supported the idea that only the people’s elected
representatives could lawfully tax them.
Stamp Act was deemed unconstitutional.
Stamp Act Congress met and approved the
Resolutions.
Two big statements:
That the people of these colonies are not, and from their
local circumstances cannot be, represented in the House
of Commons in Great Britain.
 No taxes should be imposed on them but by their
respective legislatures.
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Merchants in New York ran a complete boycott of
British goods.
There was a continent-wide resistance to local
authority.
“Stampmen” (tax collectors) couldn’t be found.
Nobody wanted the job.
John Adams wrote, the people were:
1.
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3.
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“more attentive to their liberties”
“more inquisitive about them”
“more determined to defend them”
Parliament was forced to repeal the tax.
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The Stamp Act was an internal tax. Internal
taxes are taxes on items produced and sold
within the colonies.
The Townshend Acts of 1767
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Taxes (duties) on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea.
These were things imported by the colonies. The
British argued that this was an external tax. If you
wanted the goods, you had to pay up.
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Quartering Act of 1766
Required colonists to provide redcoats (British
troops) with food, water, and shelter.
 There began to be a great increase in the number of
redcoats.
 Boston had the most.
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Writs of Assistance – search warrants
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Issued by royal authorities.
Custom officials did not have to specify the goods to
be searched for.
Custom officials could break in anywhere…even
private homes.
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Custom officials seized John Hancock for
smuggling Madeira wine and imposed a fine.
A mob chased the officials out of town and
trashed their homes.
Samuel Adams, the leader of “The Son’s of
Liberty,” spread news of the Boston outrages.
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A mob of young men and boys cornered a
group of redcoats in Boston.
The frightened soldiers fired on the mob,
killing five colonists.
Paul Revere’s exaggerated depiction of the
killings was sent throughout the colonies.
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John Adams was given the task of defending
the redcoats who were convicted of murder
and charged with hanging.
He made a name for himself when all but two
were found not guilty.
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Lord North persuaded parliament to repeal all
of the Townshend Acts except the tax on tea.
Between 1771-1773 there was a lessening of
tensions.
Lord North issued a Tea Act that gave the East
India Company a monopoly on tea.
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December 16, 1773 men disguised as Mohawk
Indians climbed aboard three ships and
dumped their cargoes of tea into the harbor.
In today’s terms, the losses to the East India
Company would be valued at $1 million.
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King George III issues the “Intolerable Acts”
Closed the port of Boston
2. Colonists lost the right to elect member s of the
Upper House of their assembly.
3. Quartering Act that allowed royal officials to place
soldiers in colonists’ homes at the colonists’
expense.
4. Soldiers indicted for murder while suppressing
riots should be tried in London.
5. Quebec Act that extended the southern border of
Quebec to the Ohio River (I can take away your
liberties)
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Patriot (whig) – supporter of the American
revolution
Patriot leaders elected delegates to attend the
first Continental Congress in Philadelphia in
1774.
Continental Congress adopted the “Suffolk
Resolves”
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Declared the Intolerable Acts null and void.
Parliament refused to appeal the Acts.
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Patrick Henry gives his famous speech to his
fellow Virginians. He urges Virginia to take up
arms and stand beside Boston.
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“I know not what course others may take, but as for
me, give me liberty or give me death!”
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Boston knew the British response to colonial
defiance was coming.
A signal was set up in Boston. Two lanterns in
the Old North Church warned Paul Revere that
the British regulars were moving out.
He brought the news to Lexington where
Minutemen positioned themselves to stop the
British.
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The Battle of Lexington
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First shot of the Revolutionary War
Rebel soldiers were fired upon by the British.
British fought there way to Concord where they
destroyed militia stores.
On the way back they were under constant attack by
Minutemen.
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Army that pledged its loyalty to Congress, and
not the individual colonies, as was the practice
in the militia.
George Washington was nominated to
command all American forces, with the rank of
general.
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Patriots began to realize that no European state
would support them while they were still
members of the British empire. They had to
split and form their own nation.
Congress named a committee to draft a
declaration of causes for independence.
John Adams nominated Thomas Jefferson to
draft the Declaration of Independence.