Issues in United States History & Government Weekly Theme: Colonial America + Causes of American Revolution Plan for the Theme No. 1 Day 1: Colonial America and Causes of the American Revolution Notes and Essential Questions Day 2: Current Event that Relates to Weekly Theme Day 3: Application of Curriculum Day 4: Regents Examples on Weekly Theme Day 5: Assessment (Multiple Choice+Essay)

Colonial Economy Mercantile System Countries create colonies so they have a source of raw materials and a place to sell finished goods You grow the ingredients for a cake but have no oven I bake the cake and sell it to you for more money

Furniture, Clothing, Tea, Cigarettes, Candy, and other finished goods Great Britain American Colonies Lumber, Fur, Tabaco, Cotton, Rice, Naval supplies, etc…

Salutary Neglect England followed a policy of ignoring the colonies, letting them rule themselves. England followed this policy up until the French and Indian war. This allowed the American Colonists to gain a sense of INDEPENDENCE

Why did people come to the colonies? Religious Reasons- to escape persecution and find religious freedom -Pennsylvania and Maryland were found with the idea that people should have religious freedom Economic reasons- to find a better life than in Europe Political Reasons- to escape persecution for their political beliefs

House of Burgesses 1619: Virginia colonists created a Representative government. Colonists choose people to represent them and make decisions.

Mayflower Compact Agreement signed at Plymouth Rock whereby the Pilgrims consented to be ruled by government they created This represents a step towards the idea of self-government

Causes of the Revolutionary War

Death and Taxes After the French and Indian War (Seven Years War) the British had war debts To pay for war debts the British began to tax the colonists OH NO YOU DIDN’T!!!!

Opposition to taxes The colonists first complained about taxes Gradually they became more angry and refused to pay taxes They organized boycotts

Townsend Act 1767 tax on imports of glass, paint, paper, and tea New York Legislature was suspended until it agreed to quarter British soldiers Boycotted British goods causing the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party

Boston Massacre The Boston Massacre was the killing of five men by British soldiers on March 5, 1770.

Boston Tea Party December 16, 1774 In protest of the tea act 50 individuals dressed as Indians boarded three vessels docked in the harbor and threw 90,000 pounds of tea into the water

Coercive Acts closing of the port of Boston until the East India Tea Company received payment for the tea dumped into the harbor. The Royal Governor took control over the Massachusetts government and would appoint all officials. British took the right to quarter soldiers anywhere in the Colonies.

Common Sense Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet which blamed the King for the problems not the colonists

Drafting the declaration of Independence by JLG Ferris

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE PURPOSE- justify independence from England IDEAS- 1- all people have natural rights 2- governments get power from the consent of governed 3- when government doesn’t do its job people have the right to alter or abolish it “NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!”

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION Went into effect in 1781 Did not want to replace king with another strong central government Each state gave little power to central government, keeping most of the power themselves NO MORE KING!!!

Achievements of Confederation 1. Won American Revolution 2. Negotiated Treaty of Paris 3. Passed Land Ordinance of 1785 -Northwest Ordinance 1787 a- establish how new states join union b- prohibited slavery in Northwest

WEAKNESS OF ARTICLES Central government was WEAK. Government couldn’t deal with economic problems new nation faced. For example: Each state would have its own currency (Money)!!!