1. Colonists Speak Out
Chapter 8 Lesson 2
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2. Objectives Identify the laws that caused conflicts in the colonies.
Explain the importance of the Committees of Correspondence.

3. Great Britain needs money
Sugar Act – 1764
Taxed sugar & molasses brought into the colonies from the West Indies
Hurt shipping businesses in New England Colonies

4. THE STAMP ACT 1765 – Stamp Act Tax Taxed paper items in the colonies
Newspapers, legal documents, playing cards
They received a special stamp on them to show that the tax had been paid

5. No Taxation Without Representation
British felt tax was fair
Colonists did not
Colonists said Britain could not tax them without representation in Parliament
No one was in Great Britain speaking on their behalf

6. Mercy Otis Warren Massachusetts writer Disagreed with the new tax
Wrote plays accusing British leaders of being greedy

7. Patrick Henry
Virginia – told members of the House of Burgesses that Parliament did not represent the colonies.
Supporters of Britain yelled “Treason”
Treason – guilty of working against your own government

8. Stamp Act Congress October 1765
Representatives from nine colonies met in N.Y.
Congress – a formal meeting of representatives
They spoke out against the Stamp Act
“No taxation without representation”

9. Boycott Colonists wrote letters to Parliament in anger over Stamp Act
They tried to get it repealed
Many Boycotted – refused to buy – British goods

10. The Sons and Daughters of Liberty
Group of colonists who worked against the Stamp Act
Captured British workers trying to collect the tax.
Dumped tar and feathers on the tax collectors
Chased tax collectors out of town.
The women made their own thread & cloth

11. Victory?
By 1766 – Parliament voted to repeal (take back) the Stamp Act
But, they passed a new act: Declaratory Act
It said Britain had the “full power. . . To make laws. . . [for the] people of America. . .in all cases”
This created worry among colonists

12. Committees of Correspondence
Colonists realized they could work together, but needed better ways to share info.
They formed Committees of Correspondence to spread information more quickly.
They wrote letters to each other informing them of news in their town.

13. Samuel Adams
Organized the 1st Committee of Correspondence in Boston (1764)
Spoke out often of British imperial policies – laws and orders issued by the king and the British Parliament.
N.Y. formed another committee
1773 Virginia formed a committee also
Other colonies encouraged to form committees also

14. The Townshend Acts
1767 – several new laws passed called the Townshend Acts
Taxed imports: glass, tea, paint, paper
Also set up new group of tax collectors
The Stamp Act may have been repealed, but the Townshend Acts showed that Parliament felt they still had the right to make laws in the Colonies

15. Boycotts Again Boycott many British goods
Daughters of Liberty – ask people to not drink British tea
Boston merchants would not import taxed goods
It worked!
1770 – Townshend Acts repealed, except for tax on tea

16. Reinforcement Sent Colonists continued to protest
Parliament sent soldiers to the colonies
By 1770, 9,000 British soldiers in colonies
4,000 were in the city of Boston

17. The Boston Massacre
Colonists made fun of the soldiers bright red uniforms calling them “lobsters” and “redcoats”
Soldiers destroyed colonial property in anger

18. Shots Fired March 5, 1770 – Boston
Angry colonists gathered near some British soldiers
Colonists threw rocks & snowballs
The soldiers opened fire when the crowd came closer
3 colonists were killed on the spot, 2 others died later

19. Crispus Attucks Killed at the Boston Massacre
An African American sailor
He is considered the 1st person killed in the fight for the colonies’ freedom

20. Paul Revere Boston silversmith
Made a picture of the shooting and called it “The Bloody Massacre”
A massacre is the killing of many people who cannot defend themselves

21. Patrick Henry
“I know not what course others may take: but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
March 23, 1775
He was trying to persuade Virginians to prepare for war against Britain

22. THE END