UNITING FOR INDEPENDENCEChapter 2 Section 2

The Colonies on Their Own

Colonists owed allegiance to the monarch and British government

Colonies served as a source of raw materials

Colonist became accustomed to governing themselves

Colonists remained loyal in return for self-rule and protection from the French

Britain Tightens Control

French and Indian War (1754-1763) Tightened Britain’s hold on the continent Started as land struggle between France

and Britain Great Britain won the war

Causes of Independence Movement

The British were left with a large war debt – expected the colonies to help repay

George III had different ideas about how the colonies should be governed

Taxing the Colonies

To help pay for the war, taxes were levied on tea, sugar, glass, paper, other products

Stamp Act of 1765 First direct tax Tax on legal documents, pamphlets,

newspapers, playing cards, etc.—things printed on paper had to show a “stamp” indicating a tax had been paid.

Stamp Act

Britain’s revenue increased

Colonial resentment grew Protests

Refusal to buy British goods (boycott) Boston Tea Party – British tea dumped

into Boston Harbor

British response to Colonial protests

Intolerable Acts (1774)(Referred to as the Coercive Acts in Great Britain)

Closed the Boston Harbor Withdrew the right of MA to govern itself

Colonial Unity

Albany Plan of Union (1754)

Benjamin Franklin Plan for uniting the colonies Colonies rejected it

Gave too much power to an assembly made up of representatives from all 13 colonies

British policies spurred an American sense of community

Colonist began to think of themselves as Americans

Taking Action

Stamp Act Congress (1765) New York Delegates sent First meeting to protest King

George’s Action Petition sent to king

Committees of Correspondence

Colonial committees urging resistance to the British and keeping in touch with one another as events unfolded

Samuel Adams established first committee in Boston (1773)

The First Continental Congress Delegates from all the colonies

except Georgia met in Philadelphia in 1774

Key Leaders Patrick Henry Samuel Adams Richard Henry Lee George Washington

Embargo – an agreement prohibiting grade, on Britain, and agreed not to use British goods

April 19, 1775 British arrive – Lexington and

Concord

“Shot heard ‘round the world”

The Second Continental Congress

Assumed the powers of a central government

President – John Hancock Voted to organize an army and navy

and to issue money

George Washington – commander of the Continental Army

Served as the acting government of the colonies throughout the war

Purchased supplies, negotiated treaties, rallied support for the colonists’ cause

Independence

Common Sense Thomas Paine Argued that monarchy was a corrupt

form of government; George III was an enemy to liberty

Samuel Adams declared that America was already independent

The Declaration of Independence Committee

John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman

Prepare a written declaration of independence. Jefferson was author.

June 28, 1776 – edited draft to Congress

July 4, 1776 – Congress approves final draft

John Hancock first to sign 56 delegate signatures

“The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America”

Key Parts of the Declaration Ideas from thinkers such as Locke

and Rousseau

Set out the colonists reasons for proclaiming their freedom

Justify the revolution and to put for the founding principles of the new nation

Three Parts of Dec. of Ind.No government at that time had been

founded on the principles of human liberty and consent of the governed.

1) Begins with a statement of purpose and basic human rights.

2) The middle section lists specific complaints against George III

3) The conclusion states the colonists’ determination to separate from Great Britain

The First State Constitutions

Transformation of the colonies into states subject to no higher authority

By the end of 1776, 10 states had adopted written constitution

Most contained a Bill of Rights

All recognized the people as the sole source of authority in a limited government with only those powers given by the people