Name ______Date ______
CHAPTER 8 The Road to War .
8-1 Trouble Over Taxes
I. Britain Taxes the Colonies
A. King George II of Britain decided to tax the colonies to help pay for defending the colonies.
B. To do this, Parliament, the law-making assembly in Britain, passed the Stamp Actin 1765. Thisact placed a tax on anything printed in the colonies. This tax made the colonists angry.
C. The colonists had not voted for Parliament. Therefore they felt Parliament had no right to tax them. The colonists felt that they should not be taxed by a government that did not give them a voice.
D. A popular protest cry began: “No taxation without representation!”
II. Colonists Protest
A. Patrick Henry was one of the first colonists to speak out against the Stamp Act. He urged others to stand up against the new tax.
B. A meeting called the Stamp Act Congress was held in New York City in October of 1765.
C. Leaders from nine colonies tried to make Parliament repeal, or cancel, the Stamp Act.
III. Sons of Liberty
Samuel Adams formed a group called the Sons of Liberty. They protested against the new tax. The groups burned stamps. They wanted to scare stamp agents. It worked. Stamp agents were afraid to collect taxes.
IV. The Townshend Acts
A. Parliament voted to end the Stamp Act in1766. But Britain still needed money.
B. TheTownshend Actswere passed in 1767. Theselaws placed a tariffon goods such as paper,wool, and tea imported from Britain.
C. Colonists decided to boycottthese goods. They refused to buy British products.
D. Another goal of the Townshend Acts was to show the colonists who was in charge.
V. Women Join the Boycott
A new group called the Daughters of Libertywas started to help with the boycott. This group began weaving cloth thatcould be used instead of wool from Britain. They used herbs and berries to make “liberty tea.”
8-2 The Colonists Rebel
I. The Boston Massacre
A. On March 5, 1770, a group of angry colonists surrounded some British soldiers in Boston. The soldiers were frightened and fired into the crowd. They killed five people.
B. This event is known as the Boston Massacre.
C. Crispus Attucks, a victim of the Boston Massacre, was one of the first people to die for American independence.
II. The Committees of Correspondence
The colonies needed a way to share news so they could work together. Samuel Adams formed the first Committee ofCorrespondencein Boston in 1772.
III. The Boston Tea Party
A. Parliament passed the Tea Actto force the colonists to pay a tax on tea. The act also said that the East India Company was the only company allowed to sell tea to the colonies.
B. Colonists vowed not let British ships unload tea in any colonial ports.
C. On December 16, 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians, went onto three ships filled with tea. They dumped the tea into BostonHarbor.
D. This event is called the Boston Tea Party.
IV. Britain Punishes Boston
A. The British passed laws to punish the people of Boston for the Boston Tea Party. The punishments included:
1. British soldiers returned to Boston. The colonists had to quarter(feed and house) the soldiers.
2. A British general was put in control of Massachusetts.
3. The British closed BostonHarbor until the people paid for the ruined tea.
B. Colonists called these laws the Intolerable Acts.
C. The Intolerable Acts forced colonists to choose sides. Colonists becamePatriots, who were against British rule, or Loyalists, who supported British rule.
V. The Continental Congress
A. TheFirst Continental Congressmet in Philadelphia in September 1774 to discuss how to oppose the Intolerable Acts. Leaders from every colony except Georgia attended.
B. The delegates made three decisions:
1. They decided to stop trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed.
2. They also decided that all colonies should trainmilitias, or volunteer armies. Some militias called themselves minutemen. They could be ready to fight at a minute’s notice.
3. They would meet again in one year.
VI. Liberty or Death
A. Patrick Henry made a famous speech in Richmond, Virginia, in March 1775. He warned militias that there was going to be a war between Britain and the colonies.
B. His famous speech ended with the words “…give me liberty or give me death!”
8-3 The Revolution Begins
I. Paul Revere’s Ride
A. On April 18, 1775, 700 British soldiersbegan marching from Boston to Concord,Massachusetts. They were coming to take anddestroy weapons that Patriots were storing inConcord.
B. The Patriots heard reports that theBritish were also going to arrest the Patriotleaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock who were both in Lexington,Massachusetts.
C. Paul Revere and William Dawes setout to warn the militias in Lexington andConcord. As he rode, Revere shouted a warningto the people. Revere reached Lexington first. He warned Adams and Hancock, who leftbefore the soldiers arrived.
II. The Shot Heard Round the World
A. On April 19, 1775, the Lexington militia prepared for battle. British soldiers marched into Lexington and faced the colonists. A shot was fired. The British won the battle that followed.
B. The British then marched on toConcord. When they reached Concord, theywere outnumbered by the militias already there.
C. These battles marked thebeginning of the American Revolution, thewar Americans fought for independence.
III. The Battle of Bunker Hill
A. On June 16, 1775, Patriot soldiers went toCharlestown to get control of Bunker Hill andBreed’s Hill. They wanted to fire cannons intoBoston from nearby hilltops. This would forcethe British to leave.
B. The Patriots drove the British back two times,but the British took the fort on the third attack.
C. The British won the battle that became knownas the Battle of Bunker Hill. Yet the British
had suffered heavy losses.