Events Leading to the American Revolution

First, let’s take a look at what the colonies were like in the mid-1700’s and discuss how each of these could have an effect on a war with Britain: *The population was about 2.5 million. *While there were a few roads, the ones available were narrow, rough, and difficult to travel on. *There was mail service, but it was slow and not widely available. Mail went between New York and Pennsylvania by stagecoach three times a week and twice a week between Boston and Philadelphia in the spring and summer. In the fall and winter, mail service was less often. *Each colony was interested in its local issues only and usually the colonies did not work together.

*All 13 colonies were under British rule. *Great Britain was by far the most powerful nation in the world. *British military troops had been trained while the colonies did not have an established military at all. *Most colonists had no direct connection with Great Britain any longer. The days of the Separatists, Puritans, and others who came to the colonies (but still had family members and other ties to England) were just a distant memory. Most colonists saw themselves as Americans, not British even though they were ruled by the king. *Colonists had no vote in British Parliament and no control in making laws.

The French and Indian War After the war, England was in great war debt, and Parliament decided the colonists should help pay for this debt; after all, the war had been fought on American land, so the colonists should have to help repay the debt!

The Proclamation of 1763 After the French and Indian War, England gained a lot of new territory, including all the land from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River. All the land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi was considered “the west.”

Colonial Reaction Many settlers wanted to move west after the war, but the Proclamation of 1763 stated no colonists could move west because England had promised several Native American tribes that they could keep their land and that no colonists would move onto Native American lands. (The last thing England wanted was another war, so they did not want to anger the Native Americans) This made many colonists VERY angry and was one of the first issues that made colonists start to question British rule.

Further Frustration To help pay for its war debt, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765 which required that all legal documents (wills and deeds) in addition to glass, paint, paper, and playing cards had to have a special stamp put on them that proved that a tax had been paid on these items.

…and then there was the Quartering Act After the French and Indian War, British soldiers remained in the colonies in order to maintain order in the colonies. Parliament passed this act which stated that the colonists had to quarter, or house, the British soldiers. They had to provide a bed and food to the soldiers. This made many of the colonists very angry !

Colonial Reactions Almost immediately the colonists began to protest the Stamp Act as an act of unfair taxation. Newspapers began run stories that demanded the repeal of the Stamp Act. Even though the Stamp Act added only a few pennies (a small amount even in those days) to the price of the goods it taxed, many colonists were mostly angry about Parliament passing new taxes on the colonists. From this grew the famous phrase….

Taxation Without Representation Because the colonists had NO vote in British Parliament and no control in making laws (which were made by Parliament), many were quite angry. Several colonists felt that they should have representatives from the colonies in Parliament in order to speak about the needs, wants, and feelings of the colonial residents. The feeling was that the colonies should NOT be taxed as long as there were no colonial representatives in Parliament.

Before answering the following questions, remember: Patriots were a group of colonists that decided that it was time to break away from British rule. Many felt that it was time to have their own government and to make their own rules and they were willing to make sacrifices to do so. Loyalists were colonists that were loyal to Britain and did not want to break away from British rule. They were loyal to the king and his rules.

Patriot or Loyalist After reading each statement, decide if it could have been said by a Patriot (a person who was in favor of separating from British rule) or a Loyalist (a colonist who chose to stay loyal to the British rule). Be ready to evidence from the text to support your answer.

Patriot or Loyalist? “God meant man to obey. He meant students to obey their fathers, he meant men to obey their kings…Do you really think you know better than the King and those learned (educated) men in Parliament?” (from the novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier)

Patriot or Loyalist? “Let us strive to be understanding of those who have different thoughts from ours for we share a common speech and do worship the same all-merciful God.” ( From the novel Sarah Bishop, by Scott O’Dell).

Patriot or Loyalist? “ Papa says the English will make us slaves, just as we were in Germany. This is our land now. We have our own government, our own churches, our own schools. If we want to keep them, we have to fight for them.” (From the novel An Enemy Among Them by Deborah H. DeFord and Harry S. Stout)

Patriot or Loyalist? “There’s three thousand miles between us and England…It makes governing difficult. We can’t expect all the privileges of the parent state…We have to sacrifice. For the present, even our charter itself, if necessary. And whatever it means, acknowledge Parliament freely as our master.” (From the novel Early Thunder, by Jean Fritz)

Patriot or Loyalist? “I’ve come around to putting freedom before the empire…We have to have meetings. We have to have a say in how our lives are run. We have to talk as long as talking’s possible. And if that doesn’t work…if they start to fight, we’ll have to fight.” (From the novel Early Thunder, by Jean Fritz)

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