8-2.2: Summarize the response of South Carolina to events leading to the American Revolution, including the Stamp Act, the Tea Acts, and the Sons of Liberty. Daily History Copy this on page 48 & draw a picture

Page 49: War Debt

Following the British victory in the F & I War a series of problems arose that eventually led to the American Revolution. The biggest issue was the large war debt & who was responsible for paying it.

Following the British victory in the F & I War a series of problems arose that eventually led to the American Revolution. The biggest issue was the large war debt & who was responsible for paying it.

People in England believed the colonist should be paying & the colonist believed England should pay. Proclamation Act of 1763 made the colonist angry. They felt winning the war gave them the right to expand & live where ever they wanted.

Sugar Act Tax on sugar & molasses. This was the first of a series of taxes placed on the colonies to help repay the debt. Sugar Act forced colonist to buy sugar & molasses only from British West Indies. Colonist rebelled by trading illegally with others; however, overall SC did not strongly object the tax.

Stamp Act Tax on all paper items such as newspapers, playing cards, books, deeds, marriage licenses, wills & any legal document. This followed the success of the sugar act but was incredibly unpopular & many colonist began boycotting (to abstain/refrain from buying or using)

Page 50: Sons of Liberty

Sons of Liberty Was a group of patriots that band together to protest the Stamp Act (& other taxes) Founded by Sam Adams. The leader of the Sons of Liberty in Charles Town was Christopher Gadsden. They believed Great Britain did not have the right to tax them b/c the colonies didn't have representation in parliament.

"No taxation without representation" Sons of Liberty played a significant role in enforcing the boycotts through persuasion & intimidation. Daughters of Liberty engaged in spinning bees & refused to buy British products, finding substitutes instead.

The explosive protests caused parliament to hastily repeal the Stamp Act in The Declaration Act of 1766 passed the same day. The British gov didn't want this to make them seem weak. This act said parliament represented ALL English citizens & had the power to make any law they wanted. This was viewed as a challenge by some colonist.

Daily History Which president had two species of fish and one land animal named for him?

Page 51: More $ More Problems

Parliament, desperate for revenue ($) tried again in 1767 to tax colonist. Townshend Act 1767 placed an import tax on tea, paint, lead & glass. This was an indirect tax on imports. Taxes would be collected from shippers & paid by consumers in the form of higher prices.

Sons of Liberty & others organized boycotts of British products. They enforced the boycott by persuasion & intimidation. Boycotts proved to be effective. In 1770, parliament repealed all the taxes wit hthe exception of a tax on tea.

The Boston Massacre 1770 Following repeated boycotts & protests by the Sons of Liberty British soldiers were sent to Boston to preserve order. The night of the massacre an angry crowd began throwing snowballs & rocks at a group of soldiers. This quickly escalated to violence when a protester reached for a British officers musket.

The musket went off prompting the other soldier to fire. 5 men were killed & 6 were wounded. The Sons of Liberty widely publicized the incident using propaganda (ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated & that are spread in order to help or harm a cause) to draw support for independence.

Page 52: The Tea Act

The Tea Act 1773 was passed for 2 main reasons: 1: To help the struggling British East India Tea Company 2: To convince the colonist to pay the tax on tea created by the Townshend Act. The British Tea Company was on the edge of bankruptcy. This act gave the company a monopoly (control by one company) so they could sell their large surplus of tea in the colonies.

The colonist saw 2 problems with this: 1: It was unfair to cut out all the competing shippers of tea. 2: There was still a tax on tea In Charles Town the governor (William Bull) had the East India Company ships unloaded & the tea stored in the basement of the Exchange Building.

In Boston, citizens (mostly members of the Sons of Liberty) disguised as Indians boarded the ships & dumped the tea into the harbor. This became known as the Boston Tea Party 1773, perhaps the most famous symbol of American defiance of Britain.

This made King George & Parliament furious. They passed several acts to punish the colonist. These acts closed the Boston Harbor until the 'lost' tea was paid for and all Massachusetts officials would be appointed by a Royal Governor. These officials would be responsible only to the king, not the elected state assembly. Acts that were meant to punish the colonist were called Intolerable Acts 1774.

Closed Boston Harbor Tea Act was not repealed Caused similar rebellions in other places Colonist were angry about taxes Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Tea Act, Declaration Act Intolerable Acts Debt from F & I War Daily History

Page 53 First Continental Congress

Colonist sent delegates to the First Continental Congress in September of 1774 (formal meeting in Philadelphia) in order to address the problems with the Intolerable Acts & the troubles with Massachusetts. Colonist in SC meet in Charles Town to elect representatives to attend the 1st Continental Congress.

The Continental Congress established a non-importation & non-exportation agreement. SC delegates successfully argued that rice was essential to the survival of their colony, so rice trade was allowed. The C.C. also urged local communities to set up committees to enforce the shutdown of trade.

SC sent 5 men: Thomas Lynch, Christopher Gadsden, Edward Rutledge, John Rutledge & Henry Middleton. Other distinguished men included John Adams, George Washington, Samuel Adams, & Patrick Henry. Henry Middleton was elected president of the Continental Congress.