1. Background Causes of the
American Revolution
Level 1

2. Vocabulary
Mercantilism: uses a favorable balance of trade between the mother country and the colony
Favorable Balance of Trade: revenue of exports is more than imports
Triangular Trade: trade route between Europe, Africa and the America’s
Middle Passage: the route on the triangle trade from Africa to the America’s that included slaves
Manufacturing: creating goods with machines
French and Indian War: part of Europe’s 7 Years War between England and France that was fought in North America in which England won
Albany Plan of Union: an idea for representative government in the colonies that was rejected but influenced the US Constitution
Salutary Neglect: non-enforcement of the laws from Parliament onto the colonies to help them flourish
Enlightenment: cultural movement by intellectuals in Europe and North America to use reason, challenge traditions of faith and promote the use of the scientific method

3. Essential Questions:
What are the political, economic, and social causes of the American Revolution?
How did public opinion evolve in regard to the movement for Independence?

4. Economic Factors Mercantilism: Favorable Balance of Trade:
European countries made colonies so that they would have a favorable balance of trade with them and make money.
Favorable Balance of Trade:
When one country benefits more from trade with another country.

5. Economic Factors
Triangular Trade: A trade between the America’s, Europe and Africa combining European capital (in the first leg) with African labor (in the second) and British-colony resources (in the third):
From Europe - manufactured goods: copper, textiles, silks imported from Asia, glassware, ammunition, guns, knives and other finished products.
In Africa, sailors unloaded European goods and filled the ships with indigo and slaves.
The "middle passage" brought the slaves to the Americas or to Caribbean islands.
At least 10% of the slaves died during the trip because of bad conditions.
From the America’s: raw materials, returned to Europe. Sugar, coffee, tobacco and - especially - cotton were processed in British factories.

6. Economic Factors
Rise of an influential business community in the colonies
More manufacturing happened in the colonies because the British didn’t enforce their mercantile policies.

7. Economic Factors Cost of colonial wars against the French
Britain began to tax the colonies to help pay for the French and Indian War and protect the land that was won by fighting it.

8. Political Factors The role of the British Civil War
King James II was overthrown and parliament became more powerful than the King.

9. Political Factors Periods of political freedom in the colonies
75% of adult white males in the colonies could vote.
Middle class men were elected to the colonial legislatures.
Salutary Neglect by England allowed the colonies to govern themselves.

10. Political Factors Impact of the French and Indian War:
England ended their “salutary neglect” in order to keep power over the colonies and make them profitable.

11. Benjamin Franklin’s cartoon urging the colonies to unite and fight as one against the French and the Indians to gain control of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains.

12. Political Factors: Albany Plan of Union: Purpose:
get the cooperation of the colonies decrease the French influence in North America
keep the Iroquois loyal to the British
Proposed: a unity for defense with a:
governing body with a president-general, appointed and paid by the crown
grand council elected by the colonial assembly
Result of Proposal:
Accepted by the Albany Congress
turned down by the colonies for not giving enough independence
turned down by England for giving too much colonial independence
Importance of the Albany Plan of Union:
introduced representative government with a leader; this was a model for the US Constitution.

13. Political Factors
Political thought of the Enlightenment influenced colonial leaders:
Colonists read the writings of John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu.

14. Political Factors
John Locke’s ideas included that people had natural rights and also had a right to a government that represented them. These ideas were used in the Declaration of Independence.

15. Political Factors
Montesquieu gave the idea of separation of powers within a government by dividing it into an executive, a legislative and a judicial branch. This idea was used when writing the US Constitution and is how the US federal government is set up.

16. Social Factors
New social relationships between European powers and the American colonies:
development of a new colonial identity of independence and possible unity

17. Review Questions:
To the European countries, what was the purpose of the colonies?
Draw a triangle and label the continent and products that are part of each side.
What was the middle passage?
What was the impact of the French and Indian War on the colonies?
What was the importance of the Albany plan of Union?
What political idea did these men provide the colonist? Baron de Montesquieu and John Locke.