Acts leading to the revolutionary war What was the British Imperial Policy and how did the colonists react to it? Who were the Sons and Daughters of Liberty?

Review of French and Indian War Which countries fought in the war? Why were they fighting? Who won? What happened after they won the war? Who fought on the same side with the British? With the French? The French and Indian War was just the beginning of events and causes that eventually led to the Revolutionary War.

Create A chart We are going to create a chart that will list the major acts/taxes passed by the British government after the French and Indian War. We will include the name of the act, the date it was passed, and a description of what it was, or what it did.

After the War Because Britain won the French and Indian War, it cost them a lot of money and the King (King George III) wanted to find a way to pay off the debt from the war. So, he and the British government (Parliament) decided that they were going to start taxing the American colonies. Colonists were already paying some taxes to the British government, Britain usually taxed goods that the colonists imported, for example, cloth. The tax money was paid directly to the British government. But, these new taxes were even stricter than before.

The sugar act In 1764, Britain created the first new tax called the Sugar Act. This act placed a tax on sugar, molasses, coffee, and cloth that was imported to the colonies. Some colonists got so angry about this new tax that they started smuggling (importing illegally) these items so that they didn’t have to pay the taxes on them!

The Stamp Act In 1765, the government (Parliament) created another tax called the Stamp Act. This act taxed anything printed on paper. For example, legal papers, cards, newspapers, books, etc.

Stamp Act Congress In October of 1765, nine colonies sent representatives to a meeting in New York City called the Stamp Act Congress. This congress decided that only the colonial governments could tax the colonists. After the meeting, many merchants (people who buy and sell goods) in the big port cities like New York and Philadelphia agreed to boycott (refuse to buy, sell, or use goods) the goods coming from Britain. They hoped that boycotting the goods would force the British government to cancel the Stamp Act. It worked! Parliament agreed to repeal (cancel) the Stamp Act in 1766.

Sons of liberty There was also a group of colonists who formed a group and called themselves the Sons of Liberty. One of these men was Samuel Adams. He was an important leader of the Sons of Liberty in Boston. He and the other Sons of Liberty organized protests against the Stamp Act. Sometimes the Sons of Liberty and other groups used violence to resist the Stamp Act. Colonists destroyed the homes of a few British officials and beat up tax collectors.

The quartering act After the British won the French and Indian War they kept soldiers in the Ohio River Valley to protect the land they had won. When Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765, it forced colonists to house (take in) British soldiers into their own homes and offer them food and whatever else they needed. How do you think the colonists felt about this act?

Declaratory act Another act that Parliament passed was called the Declaratory Act. It was passed in 1766 and stated that the British government had the power to pass laws in the colonies and to force the colonists to follow those laws. At this point, many of the colonists were extremely upset by the new taxes being passed by Parliament.

Townshend acts Even though Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, it still needed money. In 1767, it created new taxes. These new taxes were called the Townshend Acts and they put a tax on the tea, glass, lead, paints, and paper that the colonies imported. Colonists were just as angry about the Townshend Acts as they had been about the Stamp Act. In response to the Townshend Acts, colonists held a boycott of the British goods they bought the most. Instead of importing the goods, such as cloth, the colonists decided to make their own.

The coercive acts A series of acts that were created in response to the Boston Tea Party Shut down imports to Massachusetts until money from tea was reimbursed Outlawed political coorespondence Stated that British soldiers were to live among the colonists

Daughters of liberty An organization of women known as the Daughters of Liberty wove their own cloth and used it to make clothes. These women did chores early in the morning, gathered to weave all day, and the returned home to do more chores. Because of their hard work, colonists did not have to buy as much British cloth.

During the boycotts, British merchants lost money. Parliament decided to remove the taxes from glass, lead, paints and paper. The tax on tea remained, though. Parliament wanted to show that it still had the power to tax the colonies.

No taxation without representation! Colonists felt that Britain should not even tax tea unless the colonies had representatives in Parliament. Although most of the taxes had been repealed, anger towards the British government continued to grow. They believed that their local elected representatives, not Parliament, should pass tax laws for the colonies. At this point colonists had representatives in their local governments, but none in Parliament. Throughout the colonies, people started yelling “No taxation without representation!”

Review of lesson On your index card, write down what your reaction and feelings would be if you were one of the colonists being taxed by the British government. Would you join the Sons or Daughters of Liberty? Would you participate in the boycotts? Take about 3-5 minutes to write your response, then we will share.

Summary Why did Britain create the new taxes? How did the colonists react to them? Why was boycotting an effective solution to the problem of taxes? Why were the colonists angry about the new taxes? What was the goal of Samuel Adams and the other Sons of Liberty? Who were the Daughters of Liberty and what did they do? What does “No taxation without representation!” mean?