1. Causes of the American Revolution

2. 1660: The Navigation Acts British Action: Colonial Response:
Designed to keep trade in England and support mercantilism –
The idea that colonies should provide resources to make the mother country rich.
Colonists could only trade goods with England
All colonial ships must stop in a British harbor before going to another country (taxed)
Colonial Response:
Ignored them (profitable to trade with other countries)
Salutary Neglect- Britain basically ignored the colonies
They had bigger problems

3. The French and Indian War
French Empire collided with British Empire
Also known as 7 Years War
Competing in America over Ohio River Valley

4. Treaty of Paris, 1763 Ended French and Indian War
Britain Claimed all land east of the Mississippi
Proclamation of 1763
Banned all settlement west of Mississippi (to ease tensions with Native Americans)
Americans were outraged and ignored the proclamation

5. Britain’s New Policy for Colonial America
The French and Indian War ENDED Salutary Neglect (the policy where England left the colonies alone)
Britain needed Americans to help pay their debt from the French & Indian War
Started to enforce the Navigation Acts
Passed new taxes

6. New Taxes 1764: The Sugar Act 1765: The Quartering Act British Action:
Increased tax on textiles, wine, coffee, indigo, and sugar
Colonial Response:
Colonial merchants protested
1765: The Quartering Act
British Action:
Colonists were forced to keep troops in their homes
Colonial Response:
Did not want a permanent British military force

7. 22 March, 1765: The Stamp Act British Action:
Taxed all documents, newspapers, and playing cards by forcing colonists to place a special stamp on the items
Direct tax
Colonial Reaction:
Sons of Liberty
Harassed stamp distributors
Boycotted (a collective refusal to use, buy or deal with) English goods
Stamp Act Congress issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances (9 legislatures)

8. Repealed
Colonists won this round…but Britain passed the Declaratory Act, proclaiming British rights over the colonies, on the same day they repealed the Stamp Act.

9. 1767: The Townshend Acts British Action: Colonial Reaction
Put tax on goods such as paper, glass, paint, and tea
Revenue raised would be to pay salaries of British officials in the colonies
Colonial Reaction
Organize new boycott of goods
Protest “No taxation without representation”
Demonstrations and clashes between colonists and soldiers

10. March 3, 1770: The Boston Massacre
5 Americans killed accidently shot and killed while protesting in Boston

11. 10 May, 1773: Tea Act
Parliament repealed Townshend Acts except for the tax on tea
Tea from England was not taxed at all…only American tea was taxed
Was designed to help the East India Tea Company which was struggling economically

12. Dec. 16, 1773: Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty, dressed as Indians, dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act

13. Coercive/Intolerable Acts
Punished Boston for the Tea Party
Closed the port until the tea was paid for
Crippled the city economically
Banned all public meetings
Allowed British officials to search American property without cause

14. 1774: First Continental Congress (9-5 thru 10-26)
Met in Philadelphia
All colonies had representatives except Georgia
Divided on the issue of declaring independence
Sent Declaration of Rights and Grievances to King George III
Defended colonies’ right to run their own affairs
Supported the protests in Massachusetts

15. April 19, 1775
Shot heard round the world fired at the Battle of Lexington
Start of the revolutionary war

16. “Common Sense” Pamphlet issued by Thomas Paine (Jan 10, 1776)
Argued that Independence was the only option that made sense
It was absurd for an island to rule a continent.
America was not a "British nation"; it was composed of influences and peoples from all of Europe.
Even if Britain were the "mother country" of America, that made her actions all the more horrendous, for no mother would harm her children so brutally.
Being a part of Britain would drag America into unnecessary European wars, and keep it from the international commerce at which America excelled.
The distance between the two nations made governing the colonies from England unwieldy. If some wrong were to be petitioned to Parliament, it would take a year before the colonies received a response.
The New World was discovered shortly before the Reformation. The Puritans believed that God wanted to give them a safe haven from the persecution of British rule.
Britain ruled the colonies for its own benefit, and did not consider the best interests of the colonists in governing them.

17. The Second Continental Congress
May 10, 1775 to March 1, 1781
After L&C and Common Sense colonies made the move for independence
NC was first in line
20 May, 1775: Mecklenburg Resolves
Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) first county to declare independence
12 April, 1776: Halifax Resolves
NC became the first state to authorize a colonial declaration of independence
4 July, 1776: Members of the 2nd CC signed the Declaration of Independence
The 2nd CC ran the war effort and drafted a constitution for America (Articles of Confederation)