The Road to Revolution: (1770-1776) Credit: Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greenley HS Chappaqua, NY

Was the American Revolution Inevitable??

Remember Mercantilism?... A country’s economic wealth could be measured by the amount of gold and silver in it’s treasury, therefore it needed to export more than it imported Colonies – supplied raw materials, provided market for exports, tenants

Menace of Mercantilism Limited economic freedom – colonies could not trade or ship for best profits Southern colonies favored over Northern – grew non-English products Colonies felt “used” – never allowed to come of age

Remember the French and Indian war? England in larger debt due to fighting Seven Years War (French & Indian War in the America’s) Caused England to begin increased taxation on colonists to help pay debt

Acts on the Road to Revolution Sugar Act (1764) – placed taxes on foreign sugar, attempt to stop smuggling Stamp Act (1765) – tax on printed paper (newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, deeds, wills, etc.) Quartering Act (1765) – provided food and shelter to British soldiers Townshend Acts (1767) – indirect taxes on tea, glass, and paper (attempt to raise taxes without the colonists consent or knowledge!) Tea Act (1773) – symbol of right to tax and hoped to help British East India Co. Intolerable Acts (1774) – punished colonists of Boston after dumping tea in harbor

The Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770)

Boston Massacre Violent incident between British soldiers and American colonists British soldiers opened fire on a crowd of unarmed American colonists Led to the death of five colonists Who was truly to blame? Many believe the soldiers just shot at unarmed civilians Others believe that the colonists were throwing snowballs filled with ice at the soldiers to provoke them into fighting

Committees of Correspondence Purpose  work together to warn neighboring colonies about incidents occurring in New England with the British  broaden the resistance movement throughout the colonies.

Tea Act (1773) British East India Company: Held a monopoly on British tea imports. Many members of Parliament held shares in the company. Permitted to sell tea directly to colonists without colonial middlemen Cheaper tea but was taxed, again. Colonists very upset! Lord North expected the colonists to eagerly choose the cheaper tea

Boston Tea Party December (1773)

Boston Tea Party “No taxation without representation!” Colonists were upset about the decisions that the British government was making on their behalf. A group of colonists, dressed as Native Americans, dumped three shiploads of tea into the harbor. Colonists felt that they should not have to pay any type of tax without a voice in Parliament. “No taxation without representation!”

The Coercive or Intolerable Acts (1774) Response to rebellious events in Boston 1.Closed the port of Boston 2.Gov’t Act –decreased power of Mass. legislature 3.New Quartering Act 4.Administration of Justice Act – accused royal officials were to be tried in a court in England Lord North

First Continental Congress (1774) 55 delegates from 12 colonies met in Philadelphia Agenda  How to respond to the Intolerable Acts Major Decisions made: - Colonists should make military preparations for defense against British troops (minutemen) - called for union of colonies within empire and rearrangement of relations with the British (attempt to stop all trade)

The Shot Heard ’Round the World! Lexington & Concord – April 18,1775

General Thomas Gage given orders from England to arrest rebel leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock (thought to be in Lexington 18 miles from Boston) Sent 1,000 British soldiers on the road to retrieve the two men Patriots (colonists) had been watching the British very closely

The British Are Coming . . . Paul Revere & William Dawes make their midnight ride to warn the Minutemen of approaching British soldiers.

Lexington & Concord Continued British troops later arrived in Lexington only to meet several dozen minutemen, ready to fight! British troops advanced on to Concord At the end, the British had lost more men than the colonists (now known as PATRIOTS!) Patriots- colonists who supported independence from the British Loyalists- colonists who supported the British during the Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War! What now? American Revolutionary War!