1. Causes of the Revolution
U.S. History – 4.1

2. Causes of the Revolution
Comparing Governments
Taxation Without Representation
Impact of the Enlightenment
The Sons of Liberty
The Townshend Acts
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Tea Party
The Intolerable Acts
First Continental Congress
These will be the headings in your notes.

3. Comparing Governments
British Government
Colonial Governments
Some separation of power:
Executive = King
Legislative = Parliament
House of Lords (nobles)
House of Commons (elected)
Limited separation of power:
Executive = Governor (appointed by King)
Legislative = Houses
Upper House (appointed by Governor)
Lower House (elected)

4. Comparing Governments
British Government
Colonial Governments
The “Constitution” was not a written, formal document
collection of laws and traditions
<25% of men could vote
Royal governors have less power
Royal Charters and written Compacts
formal, legal documents
67% of men could vote
Colonial assemblies have more power
withheld salaries from unpopular governors

5. Taxation without Representation
Parliament believed they “virtually represented” colonists
Colonists believed their elected officials were equal to Parliament
**Who should levy taxes in the colonies?**
Parliament did.
The French and Indian War – GB’s national debt DOUBLES
*What was the purpose?
*Who was protected?
*Who “won”?
**Who should bear the most debt?**
Britain paid far more taxes.

6. Taxation without Representation
1764 – The Sugar Act
1765 – The Quartering Act passed by Parliament
1765 – The Stamp Act (PM George Grenville)
levying taxes
British Government
(Parliament)
Colonial Government
(Houses)
no representation

7. Impact of the Enlightenment
Baron de Montesquieu (France) = separation of powers
John Locke (England) = natural rights (life, liberty, property); social contract
Patrick Henry – The Virginia Resolves, May 30th, 1765
**Why Virginia?**
P46 - “The Virginia Company also granted political reforms. In 1619, it allowed the planters to create the House of Burgesses, the first representative body in colonial America. Male landowners over 17 years of age voted for two Burgesses to represent their settlement. The House of Burgesses had the power to make laws and raise taxes. It began a strong tradition of representative government in the English colonies.”

8. Causes of the Revolution
Comparing Governments
Taxation Without Representation
Impact of the Enlightenment
The Sons of Liberty
The Townshend Acts
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Tea Party
The Intolerable Acts
First Continental Congress
These are things you can read about and take notes on yourself…

10. The Sons of Liberty **Why Boston?**
P50 – “Most of the New England colonies were religious dissidents who disagreed with the established church. Known as Puritans, they wanted to purify the Church of England, or Anglican Church, the only official and legal church in that kingdom.”
P51 – “Puritans came from all ranks of English society, including aristocrats. Most belonged to “the middling sort” – a term used to describe small-property holders, farmers, shopkeepers, and skilled artisans. Their modest properties put them economically ahead of much of the English population.”
P51 – “In 1620, the first Puritan emigrants, who were later called Pilgrims, crossed the Atlantic… Before they disembarked, the group of about 100 made an agreement called the Mayflower Compact. The settlers agreed to form a government and obey its laws. This idea of self-government would later become one of the founding principles of the United States.”
P51 – “In Massachusetts, settlers established a republic, where the Puritan men elected their governor, deputy governor, and assembly. This was the most radical government in the colonies because it was the only one that elected its governor.”

11. The Sons of Liberty **Why Boston?**
P73-75 – “In 1689, the colonists learned that James II had been overthrown in England in a coup called The Glorious Revolution... The new monarchs…William and Mary agreed to sign an English Bill of Rights, a document guaranteeing a number of freedoms and restating many of the rights guaranteed in the Magna Carta… News of the English upheaval inspired rebellions among colonists in Massachusetts… In Boston, colonial militia arrested the king’s appointed governor-general, the hated Sir Edmond Andros…
P75 – “The new monarchs merged the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies into a single royal colony, called Massachusetts. The new charter provided a royal governor assisted by an appointed council and an elected assembly. The assembly was permitted to choose council members, subject to the governor’s approval.”
P80 – “New England is an area with cold winters, a short growing season, and a rugged landscape.”
P81 – “…most of the immigrants to seventeenth-century New England were of the middle class and could pay their own way.”

12. The Sons of Liberty **Why Boston?**
P83 – “New England provided a healthier environment. A hilly land with fast-flowing rivers and streams, New England was free of the malaria and dysentery that killed so many colonists elsewhere…could expect to live to about 70 years…enjoyed rapid population growth.”
P83 – “The New England Colonies granted land to men who banded together to establish a town. New England leaders favored compact settlement in towns to support public schools and to sustain a local church. As a result, more adults were literate in New England than in other colonial regions.”
P83 – “While New England had fewer wealthy families than in the other colonial regions, there was a greater degree of economic equality. Most men in New England owned their own farm, shop, or fishing boat.”
P83 – “By the mid-1600s, Massachusetts law required towns to provide schools where students could learn the basics of reading and writing.”