SSUSH3A & B The Key Events Leading to Revolution

Transcription

1 SSUSH3A & B The Key Events Leading to Revolution

2 French and Indian War This struggle between France and Great Britain was fought between Although it began in North America it eventually spread to Europe. The origins of the conflict can be traced back to events in the Ohio Valley. The French built a chain of forts to protect their Fur Trade from the British and their Iroquois allies.

3 French and Indian War The French won most of the early battles, including the first one at Fort Necessity. In this battle a 21 year old Major from Colonial Virginia named George Washington commanded the loosing British forces. In 1758, the tide of the war changed dramatically when the British destroyed the great French fortress at Louisburg.

4 French and Indian War In 1759, the British captured Quebec, the capital of French Canada, and shortly after that the French surrendered. As a result, the French lost all their colonial possessions on continental North America. All the former French territories east of the Mississippi went to Great Britain. All the former French territories west of the Mississippi went to Spain.

5 The Proclamation of 1763 Prior to the French and Indian war, the French tried to prevent bloodshed by keeping settlers out of Indian hunting lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. After Great Britain took control of the region, King George III forbid colonial settlement in the western lands. This proclamation angered many colonists along the western frontier who wanted to settle these lands.

6 The Sugar Act of 1764 By 1764, the British government was deeply in debt from fighting France, so it was decided that the colonies needed to help pay for their own defense. To raise this money, Parliament made a new law called the Sugar Act. It required payment of a tariff on imported items such as molasses, sugar, wine, and coffee.

7 The Sugar Act of 1764 Tariffs were suppose to be used to regulate trade, not to pay taxes. The tariffs upset the colonists because they were not allowed to have representation in Parliament to speak for their rights. The most outspoken person on the subject was Samuel Adams, who declared that the right of taxation was a power that should only belong to the people or their selected representatives.

8 The Stamp Act and Declaratory Act of 1765 The British government responded to the protests over the Sugar Act by reducing the tax by 2/3 rd, but not before enacting a new law called the Stamp Act. It required the colonists to pay for tax stamps on paper goods such as almanacs, newspapers, and official documents. Once again, taxation had been enacted without colonial representation in Parliament.

9 The Stamp Act and Declaratory Act of 1765 John Adams of Boston called for representatives from each colony to meet and come up with a plan for resisting unfair taxation Nine colonies participated in what has been called the Stamp Act Congress. The Stamp Act was repealed the next year, but not before the King approved a new law called the Declaratory Act. This act declared that the British government had the right to tax the colonies as they saw fit.

10 The Quartering Act of 1765 Even before the Declaratory Act was approved, Parliament had passed the Quartering Act to help the government save money. The act required Colonial towns to provide shelter and supplies for British troops. When the colony of New York resisted paying for the soldier s upkeep, the British shut down their legislature. In response, angry merchants in colonial ports boycotted British goods until the act was changed

11 The Townsend Acts of 1767 The next move by the British was to enact the Townsend Acts, which created created indirect taxes called duties on imported items including tea, glass, lead, paint, and paper. Once again the colonists exerted economic pressure on Britain by boycotting their goods. These activities were mostly successful because by 1770, all the Townsend duties on imported goods had been revoked (except tea).

12 The Boston Massacre of 1770 On March 5, 1770, five colonists died in Boston when British troops fired on an unruly crowd protesting taxation

13 The Boston Tea Party of 1773 By the 1770 s, tea was everyone s favorite non-alcoholic drink. But because it was still being taxed, many merchants smuggled tea into the colonies from Holland. So Britain decided to lure colonists into buying British tea by lowering their prices. On December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams led a group of patriots partially disguised as Mohawks onto British ships and dumped the expensive cargo into Boston harbor.

14 The Intolerable Acts of 1774 The British government immediately passed laws to punish the colony of Massachusetts. As a result. Extra troops were sent to maintain order Boston harbor was closed to trade. The Massachusetts legislature was suspended Immediately, Committees of Correspondence sent off letters recommending ways the colonies could resist the British acts.