The American Revolution
At first, England and its American colonies got
along well. Over time, however, things
changed. The colonists became angry over
British controls. This led to revolution and the
forming of a new country.
Mercantilism: This was the economic system in
place during the early days of the colonies. It
made sense, since the colonies were not heavily
populated. Mercantilism is when raw materials
were shipped from the colonies to the mother
country, which shipped back finished goods.
The colonies in America were to ship things
such as fur, lumber, tobacco and cotton to
England. These would then be turned into
finished products in England, then shipped
back to the colonies. The colonists were
supposed to buy only goods made in England
so that English merchants could make money.
In addition, these goods could only be shipped
in ships built in England or the colonies. The
ships also had to be manned by English crews.
Mercantilism worked well until the 1700s.
There were not enough skilled people in the
American colonies to produce many goods.
The colonies also enjoyed a monopoly, or sole
right, on the sale of several major crops. Ships
were protected against pirates by the English
navy.
Once the population increased, the colonists
wanted to make their own manufactured
goods. Also, people in northern colonies were
not able to sell as much to England as people
in the southern colonies did.
The northern colonies needed money to buy
English goods. So, they began smuggling
goods to and from the West Indies.
Although England regulated colonial trade, the
colonists handled local affairs. The local
legislatures generally passed tax laws. Since
colonial officials were paid out of taxes, they
had to do as the colonial legislatures wished.
This gave the local legislatures a LOT of power.
Notes: Background for the American Revolution
• There were not enough skilled people in the
colonies to produce goods.
• The economic system in place was mercantilism, in
which a colony shipped raw materials to the mother
country, which shipped back finished goods.
• As the population increased in the colonies,
colonists wanted to manufacture their own goods.
• England regulated trade, but the local colonial
legislatures were the ones who taxed the colonists.
(73 words)
In the middle of the 1700s, this changed. The
French wanted to keep the British out of
northern and western America. England,
however, had already claimed the area for
itself. This dispute led to the French and
Indian War.
This war left the British government deeply in
debt. It wanted the colonies to pay a large
share of the money owed. After all, the war
had been fought partly to protect the western
frontier. So, the English government moved to
raise money by tightening its control over the
colonies.
In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. It
called for a tax on all newspapers, legal
documents, calendars, and playing cards. This
was the first direct tax Parliament placed on
the colonies.
A direct tax is a tax paid directly to the
government, not included in the price of
goods.
The Stamp Act hurt
merchants, lawyers, and
people in the
newspaper business.
These groups were
among the most able to
lead the colonists in a
fight against British
control. Angry mobs
formed in many cities.
People throughout the
colonies decided to
boycott, or refuse to
buy, British goods.
In October 1765, delegates from 9 of the 13
colonies met in New York to discuss the Stamp
Act. They sent a letter to Parliament. The
letter stated that the colonies had not been
taxed before by anyone except their own
legislatures. It also stated that Parliament had
no right to tax them because they did not
have representatives in Parliament.
In March 1766, Parliament finally voted to
repeal the Stamp Act. At the same time,
however, it passed the Declaratory Act, which
stated that Parliament had the right to make
laws on all matters concerning the colonies.
Notes: The Causes behind the Revolution
• The British fought the French and Indian War on behalf
of the colonists.
• Parliament wanted to tax the colonies to repay the
expenses from the French and Indian War.
• 1765: the Stamp Act was passed. This was the first
direct tax Parliament placed on the colonies.
• Delegates from the colonies were sent to England, and
in 1766 the Stamp Act was repealed.
• Parliament then passed the Declaratory Act, allowing
Parliament to make all laws concerning the colonies.
(87 words)
In 1767, Parliament
passed a series of laws
known as the
Townshend Acts.
These acts placed a
tax on such goods as
paper, paint, glass,
lead, and tea that
were shipped to the
colonies.
Part of the Townshend Act tax money was to
be used to pay colonial officials. This took
away the colonial legislatures’ main source of
power.
In 1768, the British sent soldiers to Boston to
make sure the colonists obeyed the new laws.
The Townshend Acts made the colonists angry.
Soon, there were incidents of violence. One
of the worst of these took place in Boston in
1770. A crowd of colonist began insulting
British soldiers and throwing snow, ice and
stones at them. The soldiers fired into the
crowd. Five people were killed. This incident
came to be called the “Boston Massacre”.
Shortly after the Boston Massacre, the
Townshend Act was repealed, except the tax
on tea. The Boston Massacre itself would
probably have been forgotten had not some
colonists used it to stir up feelings against
British rule.
Notes, continued:
• 1767: Parliament passed the Townshend Acts
(taxes on glass, lead, tea).
• 1770: A group of colonists began insulting
British soldiers, and the soldiers fired into the
crowd. This is known as the Boston Massacre.
• Paul Revere’s engraving of this was widely
circulated, and used as propaganda.
• In response, Parliament repealed the
Townshend Acts, except the tax on tea.
(58 words)
In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act. It
allowed the British East India Company to sell
tea directly to the colonists rather than to
colonial merchants, who took part of the
profits. This hurt the merchants. In
Massachusetts, a group of colonists dressed
as Native Americans boarded a British ship in
Boston Harbor, and dumped the tea into the
water.
This became known
as the Boston tea
party.
To punish the colonist, Parliament, in 1774,
passed the Coercive Acts. These acts closed
Boston harbor and put the government of
Massachusetts under military rule. These acts
also said that British troops in the colonies
should be quartered, or given a place to live in
private homes.
•
•
•
•
Wait a minute! Charles I signed the Petition of
Rights in 1628, in which he agreed to four points:
He would not imprison subjects without due
cause.
He would not levy taxes without Parliament’s
consent.
He would not house soldiers in private homes.
He would not impose martial law in peacetime.
So how come the colonists had to put up with
things that English citizens were protected
from? No wonder the colonists called these
the “Intolerable Acts”!
Notes: continued
• 1773: Parliament passed the Tea Act.
• As a protest, a group of colonists dumped the
tea overboard. This is the Boston Tea Party.
• 1774: To punish the colonists, Parliament
passed the Coercive, or Intolerable Acts.
(37 words)
The Coercive, or Intolerable
Acts, only made the
colonists more determined
than ever to fight for their
liberties. In September
1774, delegates from 12 of
the colonies met in
Philadelphia. They called
themselves the First
Continental Congress. The
Congress called for the
repeal of the Coercive Acts.
Colonial leaders, however,
were divided about what to
do. Some, like George
Washington, hoped to
settle the differences with
England. Others, like
Patrick Henry, wanted the
colonies to become
independent.
Patrick Henry by
George Bagby Matthews
c. 1891.
Before anything was decided, fighting broke out
in Massachusetts between the colonists and
British soldiers. The British set out to destroy a
store of weapons at Concord. On the way there,
they met the colonists at Lexington and fought
the first battle of the American Revolution. This
first battle occurred in 1775.
In May 1775, the Second Continental Congress
met. George Washington was named head of
the colonial army. The colonists then tried
again to settle their differences with Great
Britain. They appealed to King George III, who
refused to listen.
Notes: Causes of the American Revolution
• September 1774: Delegates from 12 of the
colonies met in Philadelphia. (First Continental
Congress.)
• 1775: The Battle of Lexington, the first battle
occurred (start of the American Revolution).
• 1775: The Second Continental Congress met.
George Washington was named the head of
the colonial army.
(54 words)
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress
issued the Declaration of Independence. It was
written mostly by Thomas Jefferson, and it
declared the colonies independent of England.
Signing the Declaration of Independence
John Trumbull, 1819
After hearing the Declaration of Independence read on July 9, the American army destroyed the
statue of King George III at the foot of Broadway on the Bowling Green in New York City.
Pennsylvania militia colonel John Nixon (1733-1808) is portrayed in the first public reading of the
Declaration of Independence on July 6, 1776. This scene was created by William Hamilton after
a drawing by George Noble and appeared in Edward Barnard, History of England (London, 1783).
War between the British and the Americans dragged
on. In 1778, the French, who were old enemies of
England, agreed to help the Americans. In 1781, the
Americans and French forced the British to surrender at
Yorktown, Virginia. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris
ended the war.
Surrender of General
Cornwallis at Yorktown,
October 18, 1781
In 1789 (at long last!) the United States
adopted a constitution that set up a new form
of government. The Constitution set forth
certain principles of government. One of
these is popular sovereignty, or the idea that a
government receives its power from the
people. Another is limited government, or the
idea that a government may use only powers
given to it by the people.
Later, ten amendments, or formal changes,
were added to the Constitution. These are
known as the Bill of Rights, which guarantee
all American citizens such rights as: freedom
of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of
religion, the right to trial by jury, and the
freedom from unreasonable searches and
seizures.
British editorial cartoon from 1799: "What a situation am I in sold by an American &
purchased by France & Spain. Oh, where’s my Pitt."
Notes: The American Revolution
• July 4, 1776: The Second Continental Congress issued
the Declaration of Independence.
• War broke out between Britain and the colonies.
• 1778: France (the country) agreed to help the
Americans.
• 1781: The Americans and the French forced the British
to surrender at Yorktown, Virginia.
• 1783: The Treaty of Paris was signed by the new
United States and Britain.
• 1789: The United States adopted a constitution that
set up a new form of government.
(78 words!)