Causes of the Revolutionary War

French and Indian War

The British defeat the French and their Native American allies. During the war, the British sent soldiers to America to defend the 13 colonies. They spent a lot of money on weapons, ammunition, and other supplies. When the war ended, the British government was deep in debt. The British government decided that an army would have to be kept in America to protect the colonists against further trouble. The British thought the colonies should help pay the expenses.

French and Indian War► British debt► Colonies should help pay

Proclamation of 1763– No colonists could settle in the Ohio region. Prime Minister Grenville of Great Britain thought this would ease tensions between the pioneers and Indians.

Navigation Acts – Strictly enforce to end smuggling and raise profits for English traders and manufacturers. More taxes would be collected.

Sugar Act – Placed taxes on sugar and molasses being imported by colonial merchants from the West Indies. Passed by Parliament to raise tax monies for the military defense of the colonies.

Stamp Act – Parliament also passed this act which required the colonists to buy stamps from the British government and place them on such articles as business and legal papers, licenses, newspapers, etc..

The colonists were not happy about all of these programs. They felt only the colonists’ elected representatives should have the power to levy taxes. They cried out “no taxation without representation.”

The colonists protested in New York, Boston, and other cities. They were upset with Colonial British mercantile policies. Boycotts were organize, they staged the Boston Tea party, they set up committees of correspondence, and the First Continental Congresswhereby the colonists refused to buy British goods.

Townshend Acts of 1767 – The British still felt they needed to raise money to govern and protect the 13 colonies. The Townshend Acts were passed to provide money to pay the salaries of royal officials – governors, judges…The Acts placed duties on lead, paint, glass, paper, and tea.

Once again, the colonists began to protest.

The Boston Massacre – The British (redcoats) opened fire on the crowd, killing five and wounding others.

The Townshend Acts were soon repealed because the colonial boycotts were so effective.

Tea Act – British East India Company could sell tea in the colonies at very low prices. The colonists did not like this. It interfered with the smugglers’ business, and the tea still had a tax that the colonists had to pay.

Tea Act► Boston Tea Party ►Chests of tea thrown overboard

  • In response to this, King George III and Parliament decided to punish the colonists and passed the Intolerable Acts:
  • Boston Harbor was closed (Boston had to pay destroyed tea).
  • Self-government nearly eliminated in Massachusetts
  • Colonists have to house British soldiers in private homes.

First Continental Congress (1774)

  • 56 delegates from the colonies gather in Philadelphia
  • First step on the road to American democracy
  • Delegates include Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Adams.
  • They adopted a number of measures: renewed boycotts; colonists should arm themselves and form militias.
  • A British attach should be regarded as an attack on all of them.
  • Solidarity – Brought the colonists together
  • The Congress was to reconvene in the spring if the crisis was not resolved.

Fighting at Lexington and Concord (April 1775)

  • The colonists followed the advice given at the First Continental Congress and formed militias.
  • Colonists stockpiled weapons in Concord, MA.
  • 700 British troops left Boston and marched toward Concord to seize the supplies.
  • Boston Patriots, including Paul Revere, warned the local militias that "The British are coming!"
  • The British reach Lexington on the morning of April 19 and are met by 70 armed militia (minutemen).
  • A shot rings out – more shots are fired. Eight patriots are dead and 10 wounded.
  • The British arrive in Concord only to find out that the Patriots had removed their stockpile. As the British troops move on to Boston, they are met by the Patriots, and more fighting ensues. There are British casualties.
  • THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR HAD BEGUN.

Ideas Behind the Revolution

Common Sense

  • 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine (1776). Paine discussed the Revolution.
  • It convinced many readers to support independence andend their political relationship with Great Britain.
  • He also explained that Great Britain was too distant for Great Britain to govern effectively.

The Declaration of Independence

  • The Second Continental Congress met. Most of the delegates from the First Continental Congress returned for the meeting. New faces included Benjamin Franklin (PA), John Hancock (MA), and Thomas Jefferson (VA).
  • November 1775 – George III had refused the Olive Branch Petition. The document had expressed loyalty to the king and the desire for peace. The colonists begged the king to halt the fighting until a solution could be found.
  • June 1776 – Congress appointed a committee to prepare a statement of the reasons for the separation – a Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to draft the statement. Jefferson's political ideas were influenced by the Enlightenment(18th cent. Movement that emphasized science and reason as key to improving society). He drew ideas from political thinker, John Locke—Life Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness—People have natural rights as human beings.
  • People had the right to revolt against unjust governments.

Parts of the Declaration

Preamble – Introduction in which Jefferson explained the purpose of the declaration—to justify the actions of people seeking to overthrow British colonial rule.

Section II (Citizens have the right to self-government) – Jefferson explained the political ideas on which the document was based. He drew on the social contract theory of government developed by John Locke. People had natural rights – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. People formed governments to protect their natural rights and to show that in a democracypeople are the source of power.If these natural rights are violated, people have the right to abolish or overthrow that government.

Section III (Complaints against the King) – Laid out a long list of wrongs the colonists believed had been committed by the British king.

Section IV (The King and Parliament have refused to change their policies) – The colonists' repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.

Section V (The colonists declare their independence) – Colonies have the right to be free and independent states; no further allegiance to the British crown; political connection to Britain to be dissolved; full power to levy war etc…

July 4 1776 – Declaration of Independence is approved.

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