Chapter 2 Lesson 3 From the 1740s to 1760s there was a religious movement called the Great Awakening The Great Awakening caused colonists to question traditional religious authority The Enlightened thinkers caused colonists to question Britain’s political authority

The Great Awakening and Enlightenment influence on Colonists Strengthened the colonists belief thy should have the same rights as the British people Colonists believed parliament should protect the rights of British people Created a strong sense of liberty

What led to the growing resentment against British rule? Colonists believed parliament should protect he rights of the British people But the king and Parliament made laws for the colonists America was far away and had little voice in what happened in England and they had little say in their leaders in the colonies Policies favored British interests over colonists needs

The French and Indian War What caused the French and Indian War? When colonies expanded westward they began moving onto land claimed by France The tensions led to war What happened after the war? The British army won the war in 1763 Britain took control of all French lands along the Mississippi River Colonists wanted to move onto the land Colonists didn’t want British troops around since the the French were gone

New Laws and Taxes The French and Indian War was long and cost a lot of money causing Great Britain to go into debt The colonist caused the war by moving west so King George decided they should pay for it

King George wanted to end fighting in North America Led to The king issuing a proclamation that forbade the colonists from settling in the lands won from France. He placed over 10,000 British troops in the colonies to keep order

These actions angered the colonists Why? They wanted to own the new land They felt the king was punishing them Through he was limiting economic growth

King George asks Parliament to tax the colonist..why? The money would pay off Great Britain’s war debt What act did Parliament pass in 1765? The Stamp Act Describe the Stamp Act: Was the first direct British tax on the American colonists. Required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used (legal documents, license, newspaper) Colonists reaction: They protested the act Colonial leaders called for a boycott of British goods Claimed only their representatives could tax them based on the English Bill of Rights Organized the Stamp Act Congress to protest

Colonial Dissatisfaction Grows A year after repealing the Stamp Act, Parliament levied a new set of taxes

Townshend Acts Placed duties on the goods colonies imported from overseas In 1770 (after colonists boycotted British goods) they took away all duties except for the tax on tea British officials used warrants to combat smuggling They made it lawful for officers to enter homes and look for goods that were imported but no duty was paid

Tea Act Parliament passed this act in 1773 REQUIRED AMERICAN COLONISTS TO BUY TEA ONLY FROM THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY TAXES ON SOME GOOD HAD BEEN LIFTED BUT TAX ON TEA WAS STILL IN PLACE

In December of 1773, angry colonists boarded several ships in Boston Harbor. The group of protesters dumped 342 chests of the British company’s tea into the harbor This became known as the Boston Tea Party How did Parliament respond to the Boston Tea Party? Coercive Act

The Coercive Acts They were laws that were meant to punish Massachusetts for resisting Great Britain’s rule Colonists called them the Intolerable Act Some of the laws violated the English Bill of Rights Boston Port Act: closed Boston harbor

Massachusetts Government Act: made meeting in town illegal except by written consent by British government Quartering Act: required the colonists to provide housing for British soldiers Impartial Administration of Justice Act: allowed trials of British officials from MA to beheld in other places The Quebec Act: extended Canadian border eliminating the colonies claim to the land

Chapter 2 Continued Steps Towards Independence Parliament thought the coercive Acts would frighten the colonist, however it made the colonies band together to challenge British Authority

The First Continental Congress Delegates met in 1774 to plan a united response to the Coercive Acts They met in Philadelphia They decided to send a letter to the king asking Britain to respect the colonists’ rights as British citizens- they would meet again in the spring if the problems were not fixed King George responded by saying New England was in a state of rebellion and a fight would decide if they were citizens of Britain or independent

The Second Continental Congress In April 1775 British troops and colonial militiamen fought at Lexington and Concord MA Congress had to decide if they wanted to make peace or declare independence from Great Britain Congress acted as a governing body for the colonies For months Congress debates what to do Support for independence grew in the colonies

Common Sense Written in 1776 by Thomas Paine Paine argued that common sense called for the colonists to rebel against the king’s violent abuse of power More than 500,000 copies of Common Sense were sold 1776 By spring more than half the delegates of the Second Continental Congress favored independence

Declaration of Independence Congress chose a committee to draft a document explaining to the world why the colonies should be free The committee consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman It was a revolutionary document because no other nation’s government was based on the principles of government by consent of the govern It was the colonies stating they were becoming independent from Great Britain

What influenced Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the Declaration of Independence? Wrote on Locke’s view about social contract-when a government becomes destructive it should end and people should be able to create a new government Took ideas about democracy form ancient Greeks Rousseau wrote if government did not protect its people it should not exist-Jefferson saw the government as not working so they needed a new one Voltaires idea that people had a right to liberty (liberty-the state of being free) John Locke’s ideas about natural rights that cannot be violated