1. LESSON 1
The Road to Revolution

2. The French Indian War
France, Spain, and Britain in fierce competition for land, trade, and power.
The French, and their Indian allies, and the British clashed in the Ohio River Valley and the war began.
The most conflicting land claims between the French and the British were in the Ohio River Valley.

3. Results of The French Indian War
The British won the war.
Treaty of Paris in 1763 stated that Britain got all the land east of the Mississippi River, along with French Canada and Florida, which significantly increased English possessions in North America.
SC’s economy greatly benefited from the war as the indigo trade expanded.
However, this war was expensive!
It lead to the colonists being taxed directly for the first time.
It also lead to England strictly enforcing mercantilist policies.

4. Salutary Neglect
Before the war, colonists did not object to England’s mercantilist policies because they were not being enforced.
This meant the colonies were not punished for trading with other countries, leading to a growing sense of independence in the colonies
After the war, England needed money!
They began to enforce mercantilist policies, meaning the colonies now only trade with England.
Colonists were now punished for trading with other countries.

5. The Sugar Act
This act was designed to stop illegal trade with France and collect revenues to fund the war effort.
Smugglers were prosecuted in royal courts, which did not use juries.
Colonists were upset as they saw this as a violation of the right to a trial by a jury of one’s peers as promised in the Magna Carta and English common law.

6. The French Indian War Leads to The Cherokee War
Peace lasted for thirty years between the Native Americans and the British colonists.
However, it was broken during the French and Indian War.
Although the Cherokee favored the British, the British failed to protect the Cherokee when the French and their Indian allies attacked.
Thus, the Cherokee War began in SC.

7. Controlling the Colonial Economy
Navigation Acts
Trade only with Britain and other British colonies.
Led to smuggling.
Sugar Act
Tax on sugar, molasses, wine, silk, indigo, and coffee.
Violators sent to Britain for trial before British judge.
Currency Act
Colonists prohibited from printing their own money.
Stamp Act
Tax on all printed materials, like wills, contracts, playing cards, and newspapers.

8. Controlling the Colonies
How did colonists react to the new laws and policies?

9. Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty were groups of men who protested Britain’s new laws.
The two most active groups were in Boston and Charles Town.
Sam Adams led the group in Boston, while Christopher Gadsden led the Charles Town group.
The Sons of Liberty often used methods of intimidation to enforce boycotts.

10. “NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!”
Stamp Act Congress
Representatives from the colonies met in New York City to discuss the Stamp Act.
Letters were mailed to Parliament demanding that Britain repeal the law.
Colonists argued that since they didn’t have representatives in Parliament, Parliament couldn’t make laws the directly affected them.
“NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!”
Britain argued that they had virtual representation, so the colonists decided to boycott British goods.

11. What did Parliament mean when it said the colonies had “virtual representation”? Can the same be said for Americans who are not old enough to vote? Are you virtually represented?

13. Declaratory and Quartering Acts
After repealing the Stamp Act, Parliament passed a law declaring that it could make any laws affecting the colonies that it desired. This would be known as the Declaratory Act.
Britain took complete control over the colonies.
The Quartering Act allowed 10,000 British troops to stay permanently in the colonies.
The colonists were angry about the Quartering Act because it required them to house and feed British troops.
British soldiers did not actually stay in the homes of colonists. Instead, they were housed in uninhabited houses, barns, outhouses, public houses (taverns), and other buildings. Even so, colonists were angry that they had to pay for this.

14. Townshend Acts
Britain imposed new taxes on paper, paint, glass, and tea.
These new laws attempted to take away the power of the purse from colonial assemblies.
Colonists responded with a new round of boycotts.

15. Boston Massacre
Across the colonies, protests were becoming more violent.
On March 5, 1770, a scuffle between colonists in Boston and some British soldiers resulted in the soldiers firing into a crowd of colonists.
Five people were killed. The first being Crispus Attucks, a free black man.
Lord North, the new prime minister, took back all the Townshend Duties except for the tax on tea.

16. Paul Revere’s engraving of the Boston Massacre
Historians identify this as an early example of American propaganda. How so? How could the use of the word “massacre” fit in with the idea that this is propaganda?

17. The Boston Tea Party
Colonists continued to boycott tea because of a duty (tax) imposed by the Townshend Acts.
Parliament passed the Tea Act in an attempt to force colonists to buy tea from the British East India Company.
The law gave the company a monopoly on tea sales and made it cheaper to buy.
This made some colonists upset because it threatened the success of the boycott of tea.
In Boston, a group of colonists dressed up as Native Americans, climbed aboard a ship carrying tea, and dumped all the tea into the harbor. The event became known as the “Boston Tea Party.”

19. The Intolerable Acts
Britain responded to the Boston Tea Party by passing the Intolerable Acts in Massachusetts to punish Boston.
The new laws closed the port in Boston until the tea was paid for.
They suspended the Massachusetts colonial assembly.
They allowed British soldiers to live in private homes.

20. Why do you think the colonists called these new laws the “intolerable”?
These laws were also called the Coercive Acts. Why? What was Parliament trying to coerce from the colonists?

21. The First Continental Congress
In response to events in Boston and out of because colonists were frustrated with laws being passed by the British, colonial leaders, called for a special meeting in Philadelphia.
55 delegates from 12 colonies met for the First Continental Congress. (Only Georgia refused to attend.)
Delegates agreed to continue their resistance to British policies.

22. The First Continental Congress
The Congress issued a Declaration of Rights, which proclaimed loyalty to Britain, but denied Britain’s right to tax the colonies.
Delegates agreed to boycott all trade (imports and exports) with Britain until their demands were met.
Because of South Carolina’s economy, delegates agreed that the colonies could still export rice to Britain.
Before they adjourned, the delegates agreed to meet again in 1775.

23. Why do you think most delegates to the First Continental Congress were not yet ready to discuss independence?

24. The Second Continental Congress
Shortly after the first shots were fired, delegates from all of the colonies again met in Philadelphia.
A peaceful resolution with Britain no longer seemed possible.
The Congress began preparations for war.
A committee began work on the creation of a declaration of independence.

25. The Second Continental Congress
SC sent Thomas Lynch Jr, Thomas Heyward Jr, Edward Rutledge Jr, and Arthur Middleton to sign the Declaration of Independence.
They all represented Lowcountry elite interests.

26. The Declaration of Independence
In the Declaration, the Founding Father’s outlined the reasons why they wanted to separate from England.
The colonists made the case that the King, not Parliament, violated the rights of the colonists.
According to the Declaration, governments are created to protect the rights of the citizens.