American History
Unit 4:
Road to Revolution, 1748-1776 (Part 02)
The Debt
I. Friction between England and her North American colonies begin.
A. England and the colonies began to argue about government policies.
1. The French and Indian War left the British people with a huge debt
and heavy taxes that needed to be paid in order to finance the war.
2. Many Englishmen resented the idea of repaying the Colonists or defending
themselves during the French and Indian hostilities.
Pontiac’s War
I. Chief Pontiac
A. War chief of the Ottawa
1. Attempted to unite several tribes in campaign to stem the tide of English
immigration into the Ohio Valley.
B. Claimed settlers violated Indian hunting grounds.
Chief Pontiac: Led a rebellion against
the encroaching settlers into the Ohio
Valley in 1763.
Proclamation of 1763
I. British enacted the Proclamation of 1763.
A. The law forbade all colonists from settling beyond the Appalachian Mts.
1. A temporary ban to appease the Indians.
2. The colonists didn't see it that way and protested.
The Colonists protested the British ban to
settle beyond the Appalachian Mts.
King George III
I. Imperial Reorganization
A. King George III became the new King of England.
1. Governed the colonies as a strict tyrant.
B. King George III’s stubborn attitude started friction between England and the
colonies.
HISTORY FUN FACT:
The movie 'The Madness of King George' was originally
released in England under the title of 'The Madness of King
George III'. The 'III' was dropped for its American release
because it was believed that the American moviegoer would
believe it to be a sequel, and not see it because they had never
seen The Madness of King George I and II yet.
Navigation Act
I. Navigation Act.
A. Law stated that the colonies could only trade with England.
B. Smugglers
1. Bought, sold, and traded without paying taxes.
C. What happened to smugglers before 1763?
1. Not much, everybody did it.
2. Trial by jury consisted of average citizens.
a. Smugglers were usually found innocent.
D. What happened to smugglers after 1763?
1. Tried by an admiralty court.
2. Usually convicted.
3. The smuggler's ships were taken away and
sold at auctions.
4. Money from sale was divided between the
officials.
a. 1/3 to judge, 1/3 to custom official, and
1/3 to England.
Writs of Assistance and the Sugar Act
I. Writs of Assistance.
A. Search warrants that permitted officials to enter any ship or building to
search for smuggled goods and seize them.
1. The Americans protest.
a. Violated their guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure.
II. Sugar Act (1764)
1. Law imposed import duties (taxes) on sugar and wine.
a. These were mostly French imported products.
No Taxation Without Representation:
Members of the Sons of Liberty would
tar and feather tax collectors for the
British authorities.
The Stamp Act
I. Stamp Act (1765)
A. Parliament adopted the Stamp Act in 1765.
1. Required colonists to purchase from government revenue agents special
stamped paper for periodicals (magazines), customs documents, licenses,
diplomas, property deeds, and other legal forms.
B. Americans decided to Boycott all English goods imported.
C. British revoked the Stamp Act.
1. Replaced it with the Declaratory Act.
2.The British restated their right to tax and legislate for the colonies "in all cases
whatsoever."
Townsend duties (Revenue Act of 1767.)
I. Townsend duties (Revenue Act of 1767.)
A. Adopted by Parliament in 1767.
B. Taxes were imposed on glass, paint, lead, paper, and tea.
C. The Townsend duties were repealed in 1770.
1. Except on tea.
FUN FACTS ABOUT BEN FRANKLIN:
Ben Franklin wanted the turkey, not the eagle, to be the U.S.
national symbol. He considered the eagle a "bird of bad
moral character" because it lives "by sharpening and
robbing."
Benjamin Franklin invented the rocking chair.
Benjamin Franklin enjoyed sitting around his home every
morning in the nude while he read the daily newspaper.
Ben Franklin and the Sons
of Liberty kept things
stirred up.
Benjamin Franklin slept in four beds every night. He had a
theory that a warm bed sapped a man’s vitality. So when one
bed became too warm, Ben jumped into another.
Benjamin Franklin was the proud owner of the very first
bathtub in the colonies.
The Boston Massacre
I. Boston Massacre.
A. The British stationed more troops in Boston because of civil unrest.
1. March 5, 1770, British soldiers fired into a crowd of unruly protesters
and killed five colonists.
b. The British sent soldiers responsible back to England for trial.
1b. Soldiers found not guilty and acquitted by English courts.
2b. Colonists upset and protested. (Kept protest spirit alive.)
The Boston Massacre:
Started when angry colonists began
throwing snowballs at British soldiers
on guard duty. The British soldiers
fired into the crowd in self-defense.
Among those killed was a former slave
named Crispus Attucks.
Boston Massacre: Diagram
The Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party
I. Tea Act (1773)
A. Lowered tea prices to get colonists to buy more English tea.
1. The colonists were tricked. The tea was cheaper, but the taxes were high.
2. Taxes made English tea more expensive than the French tea.
II. Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773)
A. Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty dressed up as Indians and boarded the
East Indian Company's vessel and dumped its tea into Boston Harbor.
B. King George III got upset and vowed to punish the colonists.
Boston Tea Party:
Members of the Sons of Liberty dressed up
as Mohawk Indians and dumped the cargo
of tea into Boston Harbor. King George III
closed the harbor until the colonists paid for
the tea.
Intolerable Acts and the First Continental Congress
I. Intolerable Acts.
A. The King closed Boston Harbor until tea was paid for. (Never paid for.)
B. Revoked the colony's charter.
C. Banned all town meetings except for once a year.
D. Forced colonists to house and feed all British troops in Boston
II. First Continental Congress
A. All colonies convene except for Georgia.
B. Met in Philadelphia in Sept. 1774.
C. Wrote to King George and asked him to dismiss the Intolerable Acts.
1. King George III did nothing.
Road to War Review
Terms to Know
French and Indian War
George Washington
Ft. Necessity
Ohio Valley
General Edward Braddock
Ft. Duquesne
William Pitt
Quebec
General Wolfe
General Montcalm
Plains of Abraham
Treaty of Paris 1763
Chief Pontiac
Proclamation of 1763
King George III
Navigation Act
Smugglers
Writs of Assistance
Sugar Act
Stamp Act
Boycott
Declaratory Act
Townsend duties
Boston Massacre
Crispus Attucks
Tea Act
Boston Tea Party
Sons of Liberty
Intolerable Acts
First Continental Congress
Concepts to Know:
1. Describe the leadership of King George III.
2. What were the Navigation Acts? What happened to smugglers before and after 1763?
3. What were the Writs of Assistance?
4. Explain the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townsend Duties, and Tea Act.
5. Describe the Boston Massacre.
6. What was the Boston Tea Party.
7. What were the Intolerable Acts and why were they enacted?
8. What was the Second Continental Congress and what was its purpose?