Causes of the American Revolution

Introduction… Hi! I’m Miss Holly. Welcome to Level 5 Social Studies! Today you will learn about: causes that led to the American Revolution: Pontiac's Rebellion, Proclamation of 1763, Townshend Acts, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and Intolerable Acts.

Pontiac's Rebellion

In the aftermath of the French and Indian War, the English raised the price of goods sold to the Native Americans.

They also stopped paying rent on their western forts.

In response, Ottawa war chief, Pontiac, rallied a group of tribes in the Ohio Valley.

They attacked colonial outposts.

In response, the British Government issued the Proclamation of 1763.

Proclamation of 1763

On October 7, 1763, the king of England, made an announcement that caused a furor, or great disturbance, amongst the colonists.

This Proclamation of 1763 closed lands north and west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlement.

However, many colonists had purchased land or had been given land grants in that area in exchange for their military service during the war.

This event was just the beginning of rising tensions between Great Britain and the colonies.

Townshend Acts

A series of 1767 laws were named for Charles Townshend, British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasurer).

These laws placed new taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea.

Colonial reaction to these taxes was the same as to the Sugar Act and Stamp Act. Britain eventually repealed all the taxes except the one on tea.

In response to the sometimes violent protests by the American colonists, Great Britain sent more troops to the colonies.

Boston Massacre

British troops shot five American colonists on March 5, 1770.

One person, an African-American man named Crispus Attacks, was killed.

Nearly every part of the story is disputed by both sides.

It is unsure if the colonists had weapons.

The British said rocks and other such weapons were hurled, or thrown at them.

But the British had guns, and they did open fire.

The Boston Massacre deepened American distrust of the British military presence in the colonies.

Boston Tea Party

American colonists were angry and frustrated at a new tax on tea.

Colonists calling themselves the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Mohawk Native Americans.

They boarded three British ships (the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver) and dumped 342 whole crates of British tea into the Boston harbor on December 16, 1773.

Similar incidents occurred in Maryland, New York, and New Jersey in the next few months.

Tea was eventually boycotted, or not allowed, throughout the colonies.

Intolerable Acts

The Intolerable Acts were a series of laws sponsored by British Prime Minister and enacted in 1774.

They were in response to the Boston Tea Party.

Impartial Administration of Justice Act, which allowed the royal governor of a colony to move trials to other colonies or even to England if he feared that juries in those colonies wouldn't judge a case fairly. The laws were these:

Massachusetts Bay Regulating Act made all law officers subject to appointment by the royal governor and banned all town meetings that didn't have approval of the royal governor.

Boston Port Act, which closed the port of Boston until the price of the dumped tea was recovered, moved the capital of Massachusetts to Salem, and made Marblehead the official port of entry for the Massachusetts Colony.

Quartering Act, which allowed royal troops to stay in houses or empty buildings if barracks were not available.

Quebec Act, which granted civil government and religious freedom to Catholics living in Quebec.

These Acts were the harshest so far of all the Acts passed by Parliament.

The closing of Boston's port alone would cost the colony (and the American colonies as a whole) a ton of money.

The Regulating Act was aimed at curtailing, or stopping, revolutionary activities.

The Quartering Act angered colonists who didn't want soldiers (especially Redcoats) in their houses.

And the Quebec Act was a direct insult to Americans, who had been denied the same sorts of rights that the Quebec residents now got.

Rather than keep the colonists down, the Intolerable Acts stirred the revolutionary spirit to a fever pitch!

Causes of the American Revolution: gwnCU gwnCU Let’s watch a short Youtube video about the causes of the American Revolution. Listen closely for what acts, or laws, England imposed against the colonists that pushed them to rebel.

In conclusion… Today we have learned about the causes that led to the American Revolution: Pontiac's Rebellion, the Proclamation of 1763, Townshend Acts, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and the Intolerable Acts.

Extension activities.. First, write down two to three facts that you learned from listening to the presentation. Write as much as you can. Second, complete the Crispus Attucks worksheet.

See you next time! Good bye.

References Importance of the Proclamation of 1776, (2012). Retrieved from proclamation-of-1763.htm Social studies for kids. (2012). Retrieved from What is the significance of Pontiac’s rebellion? (2012). Retrieved from s_rebellion