The Road to Revolution
1750-1776
Intro to Chapter 2
Though the Boston Massacre (1770) was the first blood drawn, it
was one event among a string of events which led to the break
between American Colonies and Britain.
The seeds of this conflict were due to the Seven Years' Warotherwise known as the French and Indian War in America.
Main goal of this war was to defeat France and seize her
American held territory (area around Great Lakes and Canada)
At first, the French and Indian allies, (Shawnees, Delawares and
Mingos and the Iroquois) captured numerous British Forts and
threatened New York and New England itself!
2 developments turned the tide in favor of the British
1: France's former Native pals decided to ditch them, tired of
being treated poorly by them-this withdrawal allowed the Brits to
take French forts.
2: William Pitt took control of the British military, sent tons of
troops to America and also rallied colonies to join in and sent
men, promising them that they would not bear the $$$ cost of the
war (they will) 40,000 colonial troops enlisted.
Fort Necessity otherwise
known as Fort Idiocy!
Eventually, Brits took Quebec and Montreal, ending French
influence in North America with the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
Terms of Treaty:
1: France gave up all land except New Orleans
2: Brits gave Cuba back to Spain in exchange for Florida.
3: Louisiana was given to Spain
4: France kept Newfoundland
5: French subjects in Nova Scotia (Acadians) were forced into
exile in Louisiana where their descendants became known as
Cajuns.
Anglo-American friction against Brits after French Indian War:
1: British officers treated colonial troops like lowlives
2: British troops demanded food and lodging from colonial
families
3: Colonies benefited from war while Brits went broke
4: King George III came to power determined to have strong
influence over colonies-NOT appreciated by colonists!
New tensions arose between Native Americans and Anglos.
With the French gone, Natives couldn't play one off of the other
and feared Brits would now treat them as mere subjects and not
allies. (which they did)
White squatters were moving westward onto Natives land.
King George issued the Proclamation of 1763 which said all
movement westward would be organized by him-George also
passed out smallpox infected blankets at this peace treaty to kill
natives.
Revolution Era Newscasts with Political Cartoons
With your group members, form a news cast crew and report on
the following events as you would see done on a tv news cast.
You must also draw one cartoon from the viewpoint of the
colonists.
#1 Writs of Assistance 1760-1761
#2 The Sugar Act 1764
#3 The Stamp Act Crisis 1765-1766
#4 Opposing the Quartering Act 1766-1767
#5-Rioting and activities of Sons of Liberty
#6-Activities and members of the Radical Whigs
#7 Crisis over the Townshend Duties
#8-Boston Massacre
#9-The Tea Act and Boston Tea Party
#10- Coercive Act and First Continental Congress