Igniting the Revolution Taxation, Representation, Rebellion

Key Terms Proclamation of 1763- Forbade colonists to settle west of an imaginary line along the Appalachian Mountains Stamp Act- Placed a tax on all paper documents Petition- A formal written request to someone in authority

Key Terms Repealed- Cancelled Coercive Acts- A series of 4 acts meant to punish the colonies for the Boston Tea Party Boycott- To refuse to buy certain goods or products for a reason

Settlement In The West Colonial populations are growing quickly Colonists are moving west to find land that they can call their own With the French gone, colonists sought to colonize that land west of the Appalachian Mountains Many Native American nations lived there already The British did not treat the Native Americans there as well as the French had

Restrictions On Westward Movement Great Britain decided to try to protect the Native Americans in the West by halting westward expansion The Proclamation of 1763 forbade settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains All settlers already living there had to leave Obviously, this angered many colonists Colonists even had to pay for the additional troops sent to enforce this unpopular proclamation

Taxes After the French and Indian War, England was in significant debt Parliament felt that they had protected the Colonies during the war, so the colonists should help pay the bill Colonists were granted no representation in Parliament, and thus had no say Colonists weren’t opposed to paying their fair share per se, but resented the fact that they had to representation Taxation Without Representation was illegal according to the Magna Carta

Stamps Stamp Act- Taxed legal documents as well as newspapers, almanacs, playing cards and dice All of these items had to be stamped to show that the tax had been paid Some colonists tarred and feathered tax collectors The colonies petitioned the King and were ignored The colonists then turned to boycotting British goods Trade fell by 14% and British merchants complained British workers also upset as demand for goods fell It worked! In 1766 , Parliament repealed the Stamp Act

The Boston Massacre March 5, 1770, colonists gathered at the Boston customs house and shouted insults at the “lobsterbacks” The crowd grew larger and began throwing snowballs and ice at the soldiers A soldier panicked and fired, triggering more to shoot 5 colonists were killed John Adams defended the soldiers in court, the soldiers were essentially let off the hook

Tea In 1773 the British East India Company was failing They persuaded Parliament to let them sell their excess tea to the colonies Parliament agreed This created a monopoly, crushing small American merchants Parliament taxed the importation of the tea East India Company tea was STILL the cheapest Colonists resisted on principal Taxation Without Representation

Party! Three ships carrying tea arrived in Boston Harbor It was time to send a message The Americans made it impossible to unload the tea If it remained onboard for more than 21 days, customs could confiscate it all They would then sell it to the general public The ship captains would then have to pay back the company Including the tax On the 20th Day, the fun began!