EARLY BRITISH ACTION(5.3)

Changes were taking place in Britain

New King crowned- King George III

Stubborn, proud and determined to “Take Charge” of the colonies

No clue about conditions in the Colonies

Problems the King faced:

#1. How to keep the Colonists and Native Americans from killing each other over land expansion

Proclamation of 1763

Drew an imaginary line down the Appalachian Mts.

Settlers stay to the east

Native Americans stay to the west

Simple solution, right!?

Proc. not good because…

1. Lands east of the Mississippi River were already mostly settled

Only place left for farmers to go was west of Mts.

Proc. Was too late- people were already moving west!

Problems King faced, con’t.

#2. How to pay off debt from

war

Pg 67

“The solution seemed obvious to Prime Minister George Grenville, the leader of the British government. People in Britain were already paying taxes on everything from windows to salt. In contrast, Americans were probably the most lightly taxed people in the British Empire. It was time…for the colonists to pay their fair share of the cost of protecting them.”

The Stamp Act

Required colonists to buy a stamp for every piece

of paper they used.

~Wills, licenses, playing cards, newspapers, etc.

Reaction:

Sent messages to Parliament Loyalists refused to buy stamps Patriots formed “Sons of Liberty”-

attacked tax collectors’ homes Some in CT started to bury a tax collector

alive

After months of protest- Stamp Act was repealed!

Quartering Act

Ordered colonial assemblies to provide British troops with housing

Were to provide them with candles, firing, bedding, cooking utensils, salt, vinegar and beer or cider

Reaction:

Protests to Parliament

Refusal to obey

Townshend Acts

Placed a tax on certain goods the colonies imported from Britain

Glass, paint, paper and tea

Reaction:

Patriot Samuel Adams led the opposition

Wrote to all colonies asking they boycott British goods

Role of Women:

Women had big role-did most of the shopping

“Do more good of her country than five hundred noisy sons of liberty, with all their mobs and riots” ~Virginia Gazette

All Townshend taxes were lifted- except one!