UNIT 2 AMERICAN REVOLUTION

American Revolution - Causes

Causes / Explanation
General Causes
  • Issues of Rights
  • Proclamation of 1763
  • Taxes - Sugar Act
/
  • American colonists felt their rights as British subjects were being violated
  • Proclamation prohibited American settlements in the Ohio Valley
  • colonists did not like being taxed by the British Parliament > taxation without representation

Stamp Act
November 1 1765 /
  • it was a direct tax on American colonist by British Parliament
  • the colonists felt they should be taxed only by their government > “taxation without representation”
  • the Sons of Liberty used use violence and intimidation to fight against the Stamp Act
> refer to p.164 Fig 5-6 and p.165 Fig 5-7
  • the colonists sent a petition to King George and the English Parliament that stated only colonial legislature could tax residents of the colonies and taxation without representation violated their civil rights

Townshend Acts
June 1767 /
  • it imposed a tax on goods colonists imported
  • Samuel Adams wrote a letter to oppose taxation without representation and asked colonists to rise up against the British government
  • the merchants in Boston and New York begin to boycott (refuse to buy) British goods and it spreads to other colonies
  • the acts were repealed (eliminated) except for tax on tea

Boston Massacre
March 5 1770 /
  • a merchant and soldier were arguing and some people threw snowballs and rocks at the soldiers
  • one soldier was hit by a club so he fired into the crowd prompting other soldiers to fire
  • five colonists were killed and several injured
  • the captain and six soldiers were arrested and charged with murder
  • two soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter while the captain and the others were found not guilty
  • refer to p.165 Fig 5-8

Tea Act and Boston Tea Party
December 16 1774 /
  • the Tea Act allowed the East India Company to sell tea to the colonies without paying taxes
  • colonists were angry because it gave the East India Tea Company a monopoly on tea in the colonies
  • the colonists restarted the boycott on tea
  • December 16 Adams and fifty men dressed as Mohawks boarded three ships and threw all the tea overboard into the harbor > refer to p. 166 Fig 5-9
  • the people of Boston refused to pay for the tea that was destroyed

Intolerable Acts
June 2 1774
Boston Port Act
Administration of
Justice Act
Massachusetts
Government Act
Quebec Act
Quartering Act
Impartial
Administration Act /
  • to punish the colonist for the Boston Tea Party
  • it closed Boston Harbour until the tea was paid
  • British officials accused of crimes can have their trials held in another colony or Britain
  • all positions in colony’s government now appointed by British; town meetings held only once a year
  • it extended the Canadian borders to cut
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia > refer to p. 168 Fig 5-11
  • soldiers may be housed in unoccupied buildings; the colonists thought it includes private homes
  • British soldiers were free from Massachusetts law
  • the colonist thought the acts violated their natural and constitutional rights; it angered the colonists and helped them bond together

First Continental Congress
Sept 5-Oct 26 1774 /
  • it was a meeting of representatives from the colonies
  • they made a list of basic rights they wanted and list of complaints to send to King George
  • they signed a petition demanding the Intolerable Acts be repealed
  • they agreed to stop trade with Britain until their demands were met
  • they decided to meet again in Philadelphia if the Intolerable Acts were not repealed
  • King George refused their demands