Conflict in the Colonies
The Road to Revolution
“As the British colonies grew and became
more prosperous, the colonists got used to
running their own lives. Britain began to
seem very far away. At the same time,
officials in Britain still expected the colonies
to obey them and to earn money for Britain.
Parliament passed new laws and imposed
new taxes. But the colonists found various
ways to challenge them…” (White &
William, p. 98).
Great Britain Raises Taxes
• Britain had won the French and Indian War, but Parliament still had
to pay for it.
• Britain kept a permanent army in the colonies to protect against
Indian attacks.
• Parliament began to tax the colonists to help recoup costs of war
• Sugar Act (1764) - taxed molasses and sugar imported by colonists;
meant to raise money in the colonies
•
British officials tried harder to arrest smugglers
•
Individuals treated as guilty until proven innocent
Taxation without Representation
•
Colonists outraged
•
Many believed Britain had no right to tax the colonies
without popular consent.
•
Colonies had no representation in Parliament
•
Subjects of the crown instead of citizens of England
•
Samuel Adams & James Otis - believed Parliament
could not tax colonists without their permission
•
•
“No taxation without representation” spread throughout
colonies
•
Helped found Committees of Correspondence - groups
created to help towns and colonies share information
about resisting British law
Boycotting began - refusal to buy British goods
•
Colonists hoped Parliament would end new taxes
Stamp Act
•
1765 - required colonists to pay for an official
stamp, or seal, when they bought paper items
•
Applied to legal documents, licenses,
newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards
•
Refusal to buy stamps could result in fine or
jail
•
Parliament’s first attempt to tax colonists
directly
•
Colonists formed Sons of Liberty - a secret
society that sometimes used violence to
frighten the tax collectors; also organized by
Samuel Adams
Repealing the Stamp Act
• Boston - members of MA legislature called for a Stamp Act
Congress
• October 1765 - delegates from 9 colonies met in NY
• Declared Stamp Act was a violation of their rights and liberties
• Pressure grew quickly leading Parliament to repeal, or do away
with, Stamp Act in 1766
• Parliament upset that colonists challenged their authority → passed
Declaratory Act - stated Parliament had power to make laws for
colonies “in all cases whatsoever”
Townshend Acts
•
June 1767 - Parliament passed Townshend Acts
placing duties on glass, lead, paints, paper, and
tea
•
To enforce, British officials used writs of
assistance allowing tax collectors to search for
smuggled goods
•
Colonists hated these laws because they took
power away from colonial governments.
•
Again, colonists boycotted many British goods.
Boston Massacre
•
Bostonians saw presence of British troops as a threat & both
sides resented one another - name calling, arguments, &
fights common
•
March 5 , 1770 - British soldier hit a colonist during an
argument
•
Crowd gathered throwing snowballs and shouting insults
•
Soldiers fired into crowd instantly killing 3 people, 2 died
later
•
Crispus Attucks - sailor, best remembered casualty
•
Samuel Adams and others quickly spread story of shootings
o
•
Propaganda - a story giving only one side in an argument
Soldiers charged with murder but found not guilty - acted in
self-defense
The Boston Tea Party
•
Parliament repealed all but tea tax to help
ease tension in colonies
•
Tea Act 1773 - allowed British East India
Company to sell tea directly to the colonists
with hopes to stop some of the smuggling and raise tax money collected
•
Many merchants and smugglers feared they would be put out of business.
•
Three ships loaded with tea arrived in Boston Harbor in 1773.
•
Members of Sons of Liberty demanded the ships leave, but the governor refused without
first paying the duty (tax).
•
December 16, 1773 - colonists disguised as Indians snuck onto 3 tea-filled ships and
dumped tea into the harbor
•
Later became known as an act of “civil disobedience”
The Intolerable Acts
•
Parliament decided to punish the
colonists in response to the Boston Tea
Party.
•
Spring 1774 - Coercive Acts passed
(colonists called them Intolerable Acts)
resulting in:
•
Boston Harbor closed until Boston paid for ruined tea
•
Massachusetts charter canceled - governor would decide when
legislature could meet
•
Royal officials accused of crime sent to Britain for trial
•
Quartering Act - required colonists to house British soldiers
•
Quebec Act - gave large amount of land to colony of Quebec
(Canada)
•
New governor - General Thomas Gage
References
Boston Massacre. Image. Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jun. 2016. http://media1.school.eb.com/ebmedia/16/151716-050-C9374F71.jpg. Accessed 21 Sep. 2016.
Boston Tea Party. Image. Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jun. 2016. http://media1.school.eb.com/ebmedia/73/67373-050-43AE0B29.jpg. Accessed 21 Sep. 2016.
History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Photograph. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.
Otis, James. Image. Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jun. 2016. http://media1.school.eb.com/eb-media/75/3275050-D2D5E84B.jpg. Accessed 21 Sep. 2016.
Revolution, American. Image. Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jun. 2016.http://media1.school.eb.com/ebmedia/73/163173-050-E00D6CF1.jpg. Accessed 21 Sep. 2016.
Stamp Act: “An Emblem of the Effects of the STAMP”. Image. Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jun.
2016.http://media1.school.eb.com/eb-media/26/26126-004-85F10D45.jpg. Accessed 21 Sep. 2016.
Townshend Acts. Image. Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jun. 2016.http://media1.school.eb.com/ebmedia/22/130922-050-BD1506FD.jpg. Accessed 21 Sep. 2016.
White, Deborah G., and William Deverell. United States History: Early Colonial Period through Reconstruction. N.p.: Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt, 2016. Print.