George Grenville – Prime Minister – colonists should help pay debt created from French and Indian War. Later on became member of Parliament

Sugar Act of 1764 put a tax on molasses which was a valuable item in the triangular trade.

Replaced a previous tax that had led to colonial traders bribing tax officials to look the other way. Law made it easier to put smugglers on trial

Placed new duties on legal documents; taxes newspapers, almanacs, playing cards, and dice.

 Colonists protested angrily.  Colonists coined the slogan “No Taxation Without Representation.”  Colonists united. Delegates met in a Stamp Act Congress in NYC.

The Congress drew up a petition, a formal written request to someone in authority, signed by a group of people. Colonists boycotted, or refused to buy, British goods.

Parliament repealed, or cancelled, the Stamp Act in 1766.

Taxed goods such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea. Named after British Treasury official Charles Townshend

 Set up new ways to collect taxes, including writs of assistance, legal documents that allowed officers to inspect another person’s property without giving a reason.

Custom officials sent to colonies stop smuggling. Writs of Assistance violated rights as British citizens property could not be searched without a good reason if person suspected of committing a crime.

Colonial merchants (North) and planters (South) signed agreement to stop importing taxed goods. Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty, mock hangings, petitions, boycotts, threats.

Formed by angry colonists to protest British policies They staged mocked hangings of cloth or straw effigies dressed as British officials (tax collectors) What would you think if you were a British official?

Women paraded, signed petitions, and organized a boycott of British cloth, they made their own cloth They went further organizing boycotts and threatening people who did not boycott.

He arranged protests and stirred public support. A talented organizer from Massachusetts.

Massachusetts lawyer who had a knowledge of British law that earned him respect. Sam’s Cousin

She wrote plays that made fun of British officials. Also from Mass. Using her pen, she also called for greater rights for women

Abigail Adams wrote to spur colonists to action. Friends with Mercy Otis Warren Wanted greater rights for women

Member of Virginia House of Burgesses. Protested the Townshend Acts.

Also from Virginia He gave speeches that stirred others to action.

“Treason… If this be treason, make the most of it”

Also from Virginia was a 22 year old rising law student.

Britain sent soldiers to Boston to protect customs officials. Bostonians saw the British as bullies and insulted or even assaulted the British soldiers.

On March 5, 1770, Bostonians gathered outside the Boston customs house, shouting insults and throwing things at the British guards.

Suddenly, panicked soldiers fired into the crowd, killing some colonists. Colonists protested the incident, calling it the Boston Massacre.

The soldiers were tried, but John Adams defended them and was able to win light sentences for them.

Samuel Adams formed a committee of correspondence, a group that regularly wrote letters and pamphlets reporting to other colonies on events in Massachusetts.

By coincidence, on day of Boston Massacre…Townshend acts repealed. Most taxes were repealed with the exception of…………

By 1770, at least one million Americans brewed tea twice a day. People “would rather go without their dinners than without a dish of tea.” according to a visitor to the colonies

The British East India Company sold tea to colonial tea merchants. The tea merchants sold the tea to the colonists for a higher price.

When the British East India Company had money troubles, Parliament passed the Tea Act. The act said British East India Company could sell directly to colonists.

American merchants protested being cut out of the tea trade. Other colonists said it was a trick to force colonists to pay the tax on tea. Colonists boycotted tea.

The Boston Sons of Liberty showed their displeasure by staging the Boston Tea Party. Disguised as Indians, they raided three ships and dumped their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor.

passed to punish Massachusetts The port of Boston was closed.

Massachusetts colonists could not hold town meetings more than once a year without the governor’s permission. In other words, they limited Massachusetts assembly.

Customs officers and other officials could be tried in Britain or Canada instead of in Massachusetts so Customs officials to be tried elsewhere. A new Quartering Act said colonists must house British soldiers in their homes.

Quebec Act-Sets Up Government for Canada Gives religious freedom to French Catholics Extended the borders to include land between the Ohio and Missouri Rivers into territory that some of the Colonists claimed

Delegates from 12 colonies gathered in Philadelphia. All Colonies represented except Georgia

Agreed to boycott all British goods and to stop exporting goods to Britain.

Urged each colony to set up a militia, which is an army of citizens who serve as soldiers in an emergency. Agreed to meet again the next year.