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What began the revolution?

• King George III (from England) thought it was


time to tighten his control on the colonies for
several reasons:
• The Indians were still enemies of England and
the British settlements.
• The French and Indian War had cost a lot of
money. King George wanted the colonists to
pay for the war through higher taxes.
Proclamation
• When: 1763
• Who: King George III to the
colonies
• What: Stated that the
colonists could not move
westward over
the Appalachian
Mountains.
• Why: ?
• Would these laws upset
you?
The Sugar Act

• When: 1764
• What: The Sugar Act
• Who: The English Parliament
• Why:
• To offset the war debt brought on by the French and Indian War
• To help pay for the expenses of running the colonies and newly
acquired territories.
• This act increases the duties on imported sugar and other items
such as textiles, coffee, wines and indigo (dye). It doubles the
duties on foreign goods reshipped from England to the colonies
and also forbids the import of foreign rum and French wines.
The Currency Act
• 1764
• King George III to the colonies
• The Currency Act
• Prohibited the colonists from issuing any legal
tender paper money. This act threatened to
destabilize the entire colonial economy of both
the industrial North and agricultural South,
thus uniting the colonists against it.
No Taxation without Representation!
• October, 1765
• Nine colonies sent people to a meeting in New York City to talk about
the Stamp Act.
• The decision was made that the Parliament could not tax the American
colonies since they had no representation in Parliament.
• The phrase stated by James Otis, a Boston lawyer,  "No taxation
without representation" was heard throughout the colonies.
• The men at this meeting sent a letter asking Britain to repeal the Stamp
Act.
• The British would not listen. Instead they placed new taxes on the
colonies.In 1767 the British passed the Townsend Act. This act placed
taxes on tea, glass, paper, and paint. Many colonists refused to pay the
taxes or to buy any goods made in England.
Quartering Act

• March, 1765
• Quartering Act
• Required colonists to house
British troops and supply
them with food.
The Stamp Act
• March, 1765
• English Parliament to the colonies
• The Stamp Act
• This act taxed all printed materials and was the first direct
tax on the American colonies.
• English Parliament made this act to offset the high costs of
the British military organization in America.
• Thus for the first time in the 150 year old history of the
British colonies in America, the Americans will pay tax not to
their own local legislatures in America, but directly to
England.
The Townsend Act

• 1767
• The Townsend Act-
– This act placed taxes on tea, glass, paper, and
paint. Many colonists refused to pay the taxes or
to buy any goods made in England.
The Tea Act

• May 10, 1773


• The Tea Act
• British Parliament to the colonies
• Maintained a three penny per pound import tax on
tea that arrived in the colonies.
• It also gave the near bankrupt British East India
Company a virtual tea monopoly by allowing it to
sell directly to colonial agents, bypassing any
middlemen, thus underselling American merchants.
• October 1773 Britain sends three ships full of tea to the
colonies at Boston Harbor.
• November 29/30,1773
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Colonists met to decide what to do about the tea aboard the
three ships docked in Boston harbor.
• Colonists decided to send the tea on the ship, Dartmouth,
back to England without paying any import duties.
• The Royal Governor of Massachusetts, opposed and ordered
harbor officials not to let the ship sail out of the harbor
unless the tea taxes had been paid.
The Boston Tea Party
• December 16, 1773
• Boston, Massachusetts
• About 8000 Bostonians gathered
to hear Sam Adams announce that
Royal Governor Hutchinson had
repeated his command not to
allow the ships out of the harbor
until the tea taxes were paid.
• That night, the Boston Tea Party
occurred, colonial activists
disguised themselves as Indian,
boarded the ships and dumped all
342 containers of tea into the
harbor.
• March, 1774
• English Parliament passed the first of a series of
Coercive Acts (called Intolerable Acts by Americans)
in response to the rebellion in Massachusetts.
• The Boston Port Bill shut down all commercial
shipping in Boston harbor until Massachusetts paid
the taxes owed on the tea dumped in the harbor
and also reimburse the East India Company for the
loss of the tea.
Battle of Bunker Hill
• Boston, Massachusetts
• June 17, 1775
• The first major fight between British and American troops.
• American troops are dug in along the high ground of Breed's Hill (the actual
location) and are attacked by a frontal assault of over 2000 British soldiers who
storm up the hill.
• The Americans were ordered not to fire until they can see "the whites of their eyes."
• As the British get within 15 paces, the Americans let loose a deadly volley of musket
fire and halt the British advance.
• The British then regroup and attack 30 minutes later with the same result
• A third attack, however, succeeds as the Americans run out of ammunition and are
left only with bayonets and stones to defend themselves.
• The British succeed in taking the hill, but at a loss of half their force, over a thousand
casualties, with the Americans losing about 400, including important colonial leader,
General Joseph Warren.
The Continental Congress

• July 5, 1775
• The Continental Congress
• Adopted the Olive Branch Petition
• Expressed hope for a reconciliation with Britain,
appealed directly to the King for help in achieving
this.
• On August 23, 1775, King George III refused to even
to look at the petition and instead issued a
proclamation declaring that Americans were in a
state of rebellion.
Common Sense
Common Sense
by T. Paine
• January of 1776
• Thomas Paine
• Published a small book called Common Sense.
• This book was very critical of British governement and
King George in particular.
• Paine stated that America needed to be independent of
Britain.
• This book became a best-seller. It made Americans
believe that America should be a free and independent
nation.
Declaring Independence
• June 11, 1776
• Congress selected a committee of five men to draft a
proclamation to the world that the colonies were
independent from England.
• John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of
Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R.
Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.
The committee assigned Jefferson the task of writing the
original document. After minor alterations were
subsequently made by Franklin and Adams, the document
was submitted to Congress.
Signing of The Declaration
• Though drafted a month earlier, The
Declaration of Independence was signed in
Phillidelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776.

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