Road to Revolution

Resistance Felt British did not care about their needs Britain in financial crisis Tighten laws against smuggling Writs of assistance --- search warrant Searching business --- homes

Mercantilism Justified control over the colonies Benefit mother country Currency problems Royal Veto Favorable Balance of Trade Export more than Import Navigation Laws = 1650 Transported only on British ships Salutary Neglect

Sugar Act 1764 Increased the duty on foreign made molasses West Indies Taxed imports = not been taxed before Those accused of smuggling would be tried in vice-admiralty court Had little impact on colonists

Quartering Act 1765 Provide food and shelter for redcoats Use Stamp Act to pay for new military force

Stamp Act 1765 Tax on documents and printed items Wills, Newspapers, Playing cards Stamp = prove that tax had been paid Boycott British goods until Stamp Act was repealed March 1766 --- Parliament repealed law

Resistance Stamp Act Congress – 1765 Sons of Liberty 27 delegates / 9 states Intercolonial unity Nonimportation Agreements Protests Sons of Liberty Daughters of Liberty Sam Adams Committees of Correspondence Spread resistance

Declaratory Act 1766 Passed the same day the Stamp Act was repealed “Bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever”

Townshend Acts 1767 Taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain Lead, glass, paint, and paper Tax on tea Pay salaries = Governors/Judges Boycotted British goods Sam Adams

Boston Massacre March 5, 1770 Taunted British soldiers Shot accidentally fired 11 killed / wounded Townsend Act costing more to enforce Repealed Act Kept tax on tea

Tea Act 1773 British East India Company Going bankrupt Allowed to sell tea to the colonies free of taxes Cut colonial merchants out of tea trade Colonists did not want to buy cheaper tea

Boston Tea Party December 16, 1773 Boston rebels board British ships Dressed as Native Americans Dumped 18,000 pounds of tea into Boston harbor

Intolerable Acts 1774 Shut down Boston Harbor Quartering Act Boston Port Act Quartering Act House soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings Thomas Gage Appointed the new Governor of Massachusetts Placed Boston under martial law --- military force

Quebec Act French guaranteed their Catholic Religion Retain old customs Boundaries extended southward to Ohio River

First Continental Congress September 1774 55 Delegates – Philadelphia 12 / 13 Colonies represented 7 weeks Drew up Declaration of Colonial Rights Right to run own affairs If British used force colonist would fight back Established militia Stockpiled firearms - gunpowder

Cont. Association Complete boycott of British goods Nonimportation Nonexportation Nonconsumption

Lexington and Concord April 18 1775 Paul Revere Sent warning out 700 British troops = Redcoats Headed to Concord 70 minutemen - Lexington 8 minutemen killed --- 10 wounded 1 British soldier injured First Battle of the Revolutionary War

Concord Redcoats marched on to Concord Arsenal was empty Headed back 3,000 – 4,000 minutemen assemble now Fired on the troops as they marched home

Imperial Strength/Weakness Strengths 7.5 million Brits to 2.5 colonists Naval power Professional army v. militia Hessians Loyalists / Native Americans Weaknesses Sympathy Distance Geography

American Strength/Weakness Weaknesses Disorganized Jealousy / States /Sectional Continental / Inflation / Currency Deserters Supplies Strengths Leadership European officers Fighting Defensively Self sustaining Moral Cause