1. American Revolution 1763-1783 Coach C
Unit II
American Revolution
Coach C

2. Slideshow Key *IT IS YOUR JOB TO CONNECT THESE FIVE ITEMS
Vocab Term = RED
Important Event = BLUE
Important Location = GREEN
Important Person = ORANGE
Causes, Motivations and “Why’s” = PURPLE
*IT IS YOUR JOB TO CONNECT THESE FIVE ITEMS

3. Pre Unit: Comparing Governments
Great Britain
Colonies
King
Bicameral legislature
Inherited titles + Elected men
Less than ¼ of men qualify to vote
Governor
(appointed by King; paid by colonies)
Bicameral Legislature
Inherited + Elected men
Used Great Britain as gov’t model

4. Build-up to Revolution

5. Build-up Events
Prior to 1776 several events spurred colonial resentment towards the British empire
Taxation without Representation (Sugar, Quartering, Stamp Acts)
Colonial Protests
Boston Massacre
Boston Tea Party
The Intolerable Acts
Townshend Acts

6. Build-Up: French + Indian War Recap
Also called “7 Years War”
Doubled England’s national debt
Seen as unfair by many English citizens as war was fought to protect colonies, resulted in taxes imposed on colonies by Parliament

7. Build-Up: Taxation w/o Representation
Sugar Act 1764-
assigned customs officers/ courts to collect taxes on imported sugar
Quartering Act 1765-
Required colonists to house and supply British troops stationed nearby
Stamp Act 1765-
First direct tax within colonies
Taxed almost all printed materials: Newspapers, books, court documents, etc.

8. Build Up: Colonists Outraged by Taxes
Colonists felt Parliament had no right to tax them while the colonies were un-represented in British gov’t.
Argument puzzled Parliament as all paid taxes, but the right to vote remained very exclusive in Britain

9. Build Up: 3 Types of Protest
Intellectual Protest
Sermons, Pamphlets, Published Articles
Economic Boycotts
Failure to pay taxes or boycott of certain goods
Violent Intimidation
Tarring and feathering, burning down homes and offices

10. Build Up: Enlightenment Ideas Lead to Protest
Enlightenment Thinkers
People have divine Natural Rights
Life, Lib., Land (Happiness)
Government exists for the good of the ppl.
Gov’t exists for good of ppl (Locke)
Ppl have right to protest gov’t
John Locke (England)
Social Contract
Baron de Montesquieu
Patrick Henry
Wrote the “Virginia Resolves” (pg. 101)

11. Build Up: Virginia Resolves
Written by Patrick Henry, 6 point document argued that only colonial assemblies had right to tax colonists.
4 of 6 adopted by Virginia H.O.B.
2 of 6 (including rejecting imperial taxation) were rejected, and seen as “too extreme”
8 other colonies adopted similar resolves

12. Build Up: Sons of Liberty
Group formed to oppose Stamp Act
Formed across colonies but prevalent in Boston led by Samuel Adams
Violently assaulted and burned homes of Stamp tax collectors.
By end of 1765 every stamp collector in colonies had resigned

13. Build Up: Boycott of British Goods
Non-Importation Agreements
In New York in 1765; 9 colonies resolved to boycott importation of British goods, severely hurting British merchants
“Daughters of Liberty” : Women who supported boycott by making “homespun” cloth to replace boycotted British cloth
Resulted in the repeal of Stamp Act in 1766

14. Build Up: Townshend Acts
After repeal of Stamp Act, British gov’t decided to indirectly tax commerce with Townshend Acts
Levied new import tax on everyday items such as: glass, lead, paint, paper tea, etc.
Intended to pay salary of colonial governors and judges (previously paid by colonial legislature)

15. Boston Massacre
Violent protest again erupts in Boston due to passing of Townshend Acts
As a result Crown sends 4,000 troops to occupy Boston, a city of 16,000 people
In March 1770 colonists assaulted British soldiers stationed at Customs House
Red Coats responded by shooting and killing 5 protesters
The incident was branded the “Boston Massacre” by Samuel Adams and his group of Patriots

16. Build Up: Committees of Correspondence
After Boston Massacre Samuel Adams helped form network of local Committees of Correspondence
Committees were formed across the country which helped build colonial unity
Helped coordinate cooperation between protest groups
Eventually led to British repealing majority of Townshend Acts and withdrawal of troops in Boston
*BRITISH DID NOT REPEAL TAX ON TEA, THUS COLONIAL BOYCOTT ON TEA REMAINED IN EFFECT

17. Build Up: Boston Tea Party
Colonial boycott of Tea specifically hurt British East India Trading Co.
To help company British gov’t allowed BEI to sell directly, thus making it cheaper than substitute Dutch tea
To prove the point, on December 16, 1773, Boston patriots snuck aboard B.E.I. ships dressed as Indians and dumped tea into Boston Harbor. Later came to be known as the Boston Tea Party

18. Build Up: The Intolerable Acts
Coercive “Intolerable” Acts
Colonial Response
Passed in retaliation for Boston Tea Party
Closed Boston port to trade until tea and tax was repaid
Increased power of Governor at expense of elected assembly
Enforced Act by placing British warships in Boston
Colonists outraged that Britain would attempt to shut down trade and alter colonial government at will
Sparked Tarring + Feathering of crown supporters
Seen as grave threat to freedom of the colonies

19. Build Up: First Continental Congress
To coordinate response to Intolerable Acts the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in fall of 1774
Only state not to attend was Georgia
Announced renewed boycott of all British imports
Set up local provincial congresses to enforce boycotts (governing bodies independent of Parliament)
Patrick Henry famously says: “Give me liberty, or give me death”

20. Road to Declaring Independence

21. Road to Independence: Provincial Congress
In 1775 following Coercive Acts, England installed Gen. Thomas Gage as Governor of Mass.
Displeased, John Hancock and Samuel Adams convened a Provincial Congress to govern the state without Gage
Here Colonists chose to begin stockpiling arms and forming Militia

22. Road to Independence: Loyalists v. Patriots
Colonists who remained loyal to the Crown (about 1/5 colony pop.)
Saw Patriots as “uncivilized” and “uncoordinated”
Feared war with greatest army on Earth at the time (Britain)
Disliked taxes, but preferred British rule
Sought freedom from Britain’s heavy handed rule
Large part of army made up of Militia
Militia- farmers or tradesmen who were untrained and fought part time

23. Road to Independence: Lexington + Concord I
Redcoat Mission
On April 19, 1775 Gov. Gage sent Redcoats to arrest Hancock and Adams
Secondary mission to seize Patriot arms stockpiled in Concord
Patriots tipped off to approaching Red Coats by Paul Revere and his men
“Redcoats are coming!”

24. Road to Independence: Lexington + Concord II
Redcoats + Loyalist Flee
Lexington + Concord
Around 70 Patriots gather in Lexington to defy Redcoats
While Patriots disband someone fires “Shot heard round the World”
Brief skirmish; 8 Patriots die
Patriots line road to Concord and kill over 200 Redcoats
First “battle” of Revolutionary War
The Patriot resistance shocked British; as result Loyalists and Redcoats retreat to British controlled Boston

25. Road to Independence: Second Continental Congress
Until this Congress only the Massachusetts colony was “at war”
Congress voted to back the war
George Washington granted control of Continental Army
Washington considered French + Indian War hero
Esteemed colonel from most powerful colony: Virginia

26. Road to Independence: Common Sense
In 1776 an English immigrant, Thomas Paine, published a short book titled “Common Sense”
The book resonated with colonists as it expressed what many of them believed in: The desire for an American government separate of British rule
The popular publication emboldened Patriots and gave fight for Independence new life
Suggested that all government officials should be elected (previously 1/3)
Over 150k copies printed (total population of colonies around 2.5MM)
Preached against class structure (meritocracy over monarchy)

27. Road to Independence: Common Sense II

28. Declaration of Independence

29. Declaration of Independence I
After Paine’s “Common Sense”, public opinion favored Independence
On July 2nd 1776 Congress approved America was free
2 days later the Declaration of Independence (drafted by Thomas Jefferson) was approved

30. Declaration of Independence: Arguments and Organization
Preamble
Re-iterates the Tyranny of the King
States the reasons for the writing of the document
Cites unjust uses of power against Colonists
Stated grievances against the crown
Emphasized “Natural Rights”
Refusal of elected officials
All men created equal; unalienable rights
Unlawful quartering
Ideas drawn from Paine, Locke, Montesquieu
Attempted to stop immigration
Unnecessarily brought on violence against colonists

31. Declaration of Independence: Thomas Jefferson

32. Revolutionary War
This was covered in class by group projects, this information can also be found on pages of your text book!

33. The Articles of Confederation

34. The Articles of Confederation
Original constitution for United States
Called for loose confederation of 13 states (weak central gov’t)
Rejected centralized power (more representative gov’t)
13 of 13 must agree to pass laws
Set up gave equal power to small and large states (1 vote each)
No President or Exec branch
Only had Congress to enforce laws

35. Articles of Confederation: Plan for Governing Western Lands
The Northwest Ordinance of presented a plan for governing newly won, western lands; based on Thomas Jefferson’s ideas.

36. Articles of Confederation: Weaknesses
The Articles of Confederation created 13 independent colonies, this model of government was found to have the following weaknesses.
No common currency (can’t fund debts)
Too difficult to amend
Too hard to regulate trade
Uneven representation

37. Articles of Confederation: Shay’s Rebellion
Revolution Vet. Daniel Shay led an uprising of farmers in western Massachusetts that interfered with the state courts in protest of unfair taxes that put farmers in debt.
The responding debt relief programs offered by the state, and others with the same problem caused massive inflation and signaled the need for a stronger Federal Government that could regulate the states in such times

38. The Constitution

39. Constitution: Scrapping the Articles
In 1787: 12 of 13 states (R.I. did not attend) agreed to create a new binding document that would allow congress to regulate trade and levy taxes to fund the government.
Known as Federal Convention

40. Constitution: Virginia v. New Jersey
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Va. largest and most powerful state
Proposed bi-cameral legislature where:
bigger pop.= more delegates
Strong President
7 year term
More closely resembled A.o.C.
Legislature was always equal:
1 vote per person
States would remain separate
Only loose congressional oversight

41. Constitution: 3/5 Compromise
Northern states wished not to count slaves as people.
In doing so Southern states would have had fewer house rep’s
Southern states wanted to count slaves to inflate population numbers.
James Madison disagreed:
“Slavery is the greatest oppression ever exercised by man over man”
The compromise counted slaves as 3/5 of a citizen in a states counted population in H.O.R.