The Stirrings of Rebellion
(1775-1783)
Conflict between Great Britain and the American colonies
develops over issues of:
1. Taxation
2. Representation
3. Liberty
Colonies Organize to Resist
Britain
The Stamp Act:
1) English Parliament passed tax on printed goods in 1765.
2) First direct tax levied by Parliament directly upon the
colonists.
3) Violators of this would be sent to vice-admiralty courts
(English courts).
4) Committees of Correspondence a communications
network between the colonies to inform each other
about threats to their liberties.
British Rationale
Doing this to pay for the protection of the colonies.
Money goes to a fund for colonial defense which still only covers about ⅓ of
the cost of maintaining the colonial military establishment.
Colonists felt they were being taxed without their consent and and their
fundamental rights as English subjects were being abridged.
British argued at the time that the colonies had “virtual representation” in
Parliament, that is members of Parliament represented all of the British
realm, including the American colonists.
Unintended Consequences of
Stamp Act
1) Because the stamp act attacked all colonists equally, it
helped unite them in a shared cause.
2) By attacking people who used paper- lawyers,
newspaper writers, printers, merchants, etc. the act also
attacked the most vocal and prestigious colonists who
would protest the loudest.
Stamp Act Protests
Samuel Adams and others form the Sons of Liberty to resist the Stamp Act.
Colonial protests prevent any stamps from being sold.
Merchants in New York, Boston and Philadelphia agree to not import any
goods manufactured in Britain until the Stamp Act was repealed.
Parliament repeals the Stamp Act in 1766.
Townshend Acts
Indirect or external taxes thought to not upset colonists as much (1767).
Levies and duties imposed on imported materials as they came into the
colonies from Britain.
Colonists organize boycott of British imported goods.
British seizure of John Hancock’s ship led to riots directed against customs
officials.
Parliament repeals most of the Townshend Acts in 1770, except the tax on
tea.
Tension Mounts in
Massachusetts
The Boston Massacre (1770)
Armed clash between colonists and redcoats left Crispus Attucks and 4 other
colonists dead.
Sam Adams and other colonial agitators portrayed the incident as an
aggressive act against defenseless citizens.
Boston Tea Party
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Boston rebels disguised as
native Americans dumped
18,000 pounds of tea into Boston
Harbor in 1773.
Done to protest the Tea Act
which allowed the Dutch East
India Company to sell its tea free
of the taxes that the colonists
had to pay.
The Intolerable Acts
King George III appoints General
Thomas Gage governor of
Massachusetts. Imposes martial
law.
In 1774 the committees of
correspondence moved to
assemble the First Continental
Congress. They agreed that if
Britain used force against the
colonies, the colonies should fight
back.
Fighting Erupts at Lexington and
Concord
Minutemen, or civilian soldiers
began to stockpile firearms and
gunpowder.
Gen. Gage led troops into Lexington
and Concord to destroy munitions
and capture colonial leaders John
Hancock and Samuel Adams.
Paul Revere warned colonists that
the “British were coming!”
Minutemen route English forces and
Ideas Help Start a Revolution
Tensions increased throughout the colonies
until the Continental Congress declared
independence on July 4, 1776.
Colonies Hover Between Peace
and War
The Second Continental Congress
Colonists debate whether to wage war against England or to seek peace.
Congress agrees to recognize the militiamen around Boston as the
Continental Army and appointed George Washington commander.
Acting like an independent government they also authorized the printing of
money.
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Battle of Bunker Hill
British General Thomas Gage
attacked colonial forces outside of
Boston in 1775.
British forces suffer 1000 casualties
during the deadliest battle of the
war.
Colonists still felt loyalty to King
George III and sent him the Olive
Branch Petition urging him to
return to “the former harmony”
between Britain and the Colonies.
The Patriots Declare
Independence
Common Sense-a 50-page
pamphlet where Thomas Paine
attacked King George III- arguing
that the time had come for the
colonists to declare their
independence.
Paine argued this would give
colonists a chance to create a
better society-one free from
tyranny with equal social and
economic opportunities for all.
Declaring Independence
Thomas Jefferson authors the
Declaration of Independence in
1776.
Drew on the concepts of English
philosopher John Locke who
maintained that people had a
natural right to “Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness.”
Asserted that governments derive
their “just powers from the consent
of the governed.”
Declaration declared “all men are
created equal.” Did not include
women, Native Americans or
African Americans.
Originally included language which
denounced the slave trade.
Jefferson removed this to please
the southern colonies of Georgia
and South Carolina.
Americans Choose Sides
Loyalists-many colonists remain
loyal to England for various
reasons. Some still identify as
English, some are afraid of
reprisal, others are not informed
about the independence
movement, and some felt they
were better off under the English
monarch.
Patriots-drew their followers from
people who felt their economic
situation would be better without