1. Chapter 2: The American Colonies and Their Government
Lesson 3: Disagreements with Great Britain

2. Social and Political Changes in the Colonies
The Great Awakening was a religious movement that swept across the colonies from 1740s to 1760s.
This movement pressed colonists to question traditional religious authority, or the power to make others obey.
The Enlightenment leaders urged people to question accepted political authority
These social and political movements created a strong spirit of liberty, or the quality or state of being free
The colonists believed that they should have the same rights as people in Great Britain and should have a stronger voice in Parliament

3. The French and Indian War
By 1750s British colonists were moving into areas claimed by France
In 1754, French forces joined with local Native American tribes and drove the English from lands west of the Appalachian Mountains
This conflict became known as the French and Indian War
The war ended in 1763 with a British victory
Great Britain claimed lands west of the Appalachian Mountains until the Mississippi River
Wars, however, are very EXPENSIVE, and King George III would soon look to the colonists to pay him back for the protection during the French and Indian War.

4. New Laws and Taxes
The French and Indian War had been long and left Britain deep in debt.
Since it was believed that the colonist caused the war for moving westward into French territory, King George III decided they should pay for it
Proclamation of 1763
King George III issued a proclamation, or an official, formal public announcement
It forbade the colonists from setting in the lands won from France and placed 10,000 British troops in the colonies to keep order
The colonists were enraged and felt that King George III was trying to limit the economic growth of the colonies…
AKA messing with their money!!

5. New Taxes
Sugar Act of 1764: put a 3 cent tax on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine
Stamp Act of 1765: imposed the first direct British tax on the American colonies
It required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used
Examples: ships’ papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, etc.
Colonial leaders called on the colonists to boycott, or to refuse to buy, British goods
claimed that only their elected representative had the right to tax them basing their claim on the English Bill of Rights
organized the Stamp Act Congress in New York City
By 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed, or canceled
The Declaratory Act of 1766: Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, which stated that they had the right to tax the colonies and make decisions for them “in all cases whatsoever.”

6. New Taxes
Townshend Acts of 1767: named for Charles Townshend, British Treasurer
Placed new taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea
Duty: a tax on imported goods
Again the colonists boycotted and protested
In 1770, Parliament repealed all the duties except for a tax on tea
Tea Act of 1773: required Americans colonists to buy only from the British East India Company
December 1773, angry colonist disguised as Native Americans boarded several ships in Boston Harbor and threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor
Become known as the Boston Tea Party

7. Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) of 1774
The Boston Port Act
Closed Boston’s harbor until tea that was used in the Boston Tea Party was fully paid for
The Massachusetts Government Act
Made town meetings illegal except by the written consent of the colony’s British government
The Quartering Act
Required the colonists to provide housing for British soldiers
The Impartial Administration of Justice Act
Allowed trials by British officials from Massachusetts to be help in other colonies or in Great Britain
The Quebec Act
Extended the Canadian border southward to the Ohio River, eliminating the colonies’ claimed to the land

8. Steps Towards Independence
The First Continental Congress
In September 1774, delegates, or representatives, from 12 colonies met in Philadelphia to plan a united response to the Coercive Acts
Wrote a letter to King George III to ask that Britain respect the colonists’ rights as British citizens
Organized a total boycott of British goods and a band on all trade with Britain
King George responded by stating, “The New England governments are in a state of rebellion. Blows must decide whether they are subjects to this country or independent.”

9. Steps Towards Independence
Second Continental Congress
In May 1775, the Congress met for a second time but acted as a governing body
Not everyone wanted to split with Great Britain even through the battles had already began at Lexington and Concord, in Massachusetts
For months the debated, or to discuss or argue, on what to do
Thomas Paine
January 1776, published the pamphlet titled Common Sense
He argued that “common sense” called for the colonists to rebel against the king’s “violent abuse of power.”
More than 500,000 pamphlets were sold and convinced more than half of the Second Continental Congress to favor independence from Great Britain

10. The Declaration of Independence
The Second Continental Congress chose a committee to draft a document to explain to the world why the colonies should be free
Committee members: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman
Selected Thomas Jefferson to write the document who was heavily influenced by John Locke
Jefferson offered proof that the social contract hand been broken between the King and the colonists
The Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence and signed it on July 4th, 1776.