2. What led
to the writing of the
Declaration Of
Independence
and the
Revolutionary
War?

3. Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1696 restricted American trade in the following ways;
Only British ships could transport imported and exported goods from the colonies.
The only people who were allowed to trade with the colonies had to be British citizens.
Commodities such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton wool which were produced in the colonies could be exported only to British ports.

4. French and Indian War
Britain helped colonists to defeat the French in war
Britain needed money to pay for war expenses
Taxed colonists, restricted settlements and limited self-govt.

5. Writs of Assistance
Legal documents allowing British officers to search for smuggled goods without warning
Established in 1764
Devised to monitor colonial trading to prevent evasion of the Navigation Acts
Colonists become outraged!!!

6. $$$$$ Revenue Source of incoming money
England saw the colonies as a source of incoming money
$$$$$

7. Sugar Act and Stamp Act
British taxed colonists on many of the goods coming into the colonies from other places
British imposed taxes upon all paper products and stamped the item once the tax had been payed.

8. Sugar Act of 1764
Stop molasses smuggling between colonies and the French West Indies
Lowered taxes on imported molasses
Set-up courts where accused smugglers were tried by a British judge and NOT a jury

9. Stamp Act 1765
Placed a tax on almost all printed materials – newspapers, pamphlets, wills, playing cards
Taxed colonists directly
Passed by Parliament without colonial vote or consent
Rally Cry: “No taxation without Representation”

10. Without Representation!”
“No Taxation
Without Representation!”
Colonists react… Phrase coined by James Otis – believed that if you tax the colonists, they should be allowed to vote for members of Parliament

11. Various protests: Patrick Henry’s speech Sons and Daughters of Liberty
Boston Massacre
Benjamin Franklin’s visit to Parliament
Patrick Henry’s speech
Sons and Daughters of Liberty

12. Patrick Henry Vocal patriot advocating colonial rights
Believed only the colonists had the right to tax the colonists

13. Sons of Liberty Organized in Boston by Samuel Adams
Protested by burning effigies
Raided and destroyed homes of British officials
Spread propaganda
Organized boycotts

14. Protests Effigies - rag dolls representing unpopular tax collectors
Boycotts – refusal to buy goods

15. Repeal The Funeral of the Stamp Act
To get rid of
British merchants rallied for the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766
Americans successfully Boycotted British goods

16. Declaratory Act Replaced the repealed Stamp Act
Allowed parliament the right to tax and to make decisions “in all cases whatsoever.”

17. Townshend Acts Created in 1767
Taxed imported goods at the port of entry: glass, paper, tea, lead and other basic goods

18. Daughters of Liberty
Colonial women organized groups to support the boycott of British goods
Urged Americans to wear homemade clothing and to produce their own goods

19. Boston Massacre

20. Boston Massacre Facts
King George III Sent 700 troops to Boston on October 1, 1768 – set up camp on town green
Harassed colonists and interfered with their daily lives
March 5, 1770, colonists antagonized soldiers by throwing rocks and ice
Soldiers fired 7 shots into the crowed – 5 colonists died
Depicted by Paul Revere as a massacre
Effective Propaganda

21. Committee of Correspondence
Revived by Samuel Adams in 1772
Used to circulate colonist’s grievances against the Britain

22. Tea Act of 1773
Passed by Parliament to keep the British East India Tea Company in business
Allowed the tea company to ship its surplus tea to the colonies without paying taxes
Colonists boycotted the tea

24. Boston Tea Party Lower price on British tea Colonists still pay taxes
Boycotted British tea
Sons of Liberty dressed in disguise and dumped British tea overboard

25. Boston Tea Party Facts December 16, 1773
British governor in Boston ordered the tea from the ships to be unloaded
Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded the ships at midnight
Threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor

26. King George III passes the “Intolerable Acts”
Official name – Coercive Acts
Created to punish Massachusetts
Closed the Boston Harbor until colonists paid for damaged tea
Prohibited town meetings
Forced colonists to quarter the British soldiers.
The King assigned British General Gage to be Massachusetts governor.

27. Intolerable Acts Purpose: Punish colonists for Tea Party
Result: Helped to unify colonists

28. First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia

29. First Continental Congress
Group of prominent colonial leaders
Met September 1774
Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Jay, George Washington, Patrick Henry & more
Drafted a statement of grievances
Called for the repeal of the 13 Acts of Parliament
Voted to boycott all British goods and trade
Passed a resolution to form a militia

30. First Continental Congress

31. Conflict at Lexington and Concord
British General Gage learns of hidden weapons in Concord
Paul Revere and William Dawes make midnight ride to warn Minutemen of approaching British soldiers
Two lanterns hung in church tower to warn the British coming by “sea” (Charles River)

32. Battles of Lexington and Concord
First military engagements of the Revolution
April 19, 1775
Known as the “shot heard ‘round the world”

33. Second Continental Congress
Representatives brought money to help establish…
the Continental Army
(i.e. pay soldiers, buy guns, bullets, food, and uniforms

34. Second Continental Congress
May 10, 1775
Also present: Ben Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson
Congress began to govern the colonies
Authorized the printing of money
Set up Post Office with Franklin in charge
Created committees to communicate with Native Americans
Created the Continental Army with Washington in charge
Sent the Olive Branch Petition

35. Second Continental Congress

36. Olive Branch Petition
One last chance to avoid war by protecting the colonists’ rights
King refused to read it
Sent 30,000 paid Hessian soldiers instead

37. Common Sense Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine
Using plain language, it urged for complete independence from Great Britain

38. Common Sense

39. the freedom to govern on one’s own.
declaration : (n)
an official statement
independence : (n)
the freedom to govern on one’s own.

40. Who was involved? Benjamin Franklin John Adams Robert R. Livingston
Roger Sherman
Thomas Jefferson

41. Where did it all take place?
This is a replica of the Graff house where Jefferson wrote the majority of the 1st draft of the Declaration of Independence. The original building (at this location) was destroyed in 1888.

42. Who wrote the first draft?
What did it look like?
Who wrote the first draft?

43. Who signed it first?

44. The Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776
Written by Thomas Jefferson
Signed 1st by John Hancock
Contains 4 major sections
Preamble or introduction
Listed rights colonists should have
Listed grievances against the British
Proclaims the existence of a new country

45. What happened after it was signed and where is it now?

46. What happened to the 56 signers?
Have you ever wondered what happened to the fifty six men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well death would be the cost if captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

47. Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

48. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.
Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education.

49. They had security, but they valued liberty more
They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!