SSUSH3A & B The Key Events Leading to...

SSUSH3A & B

The Key Events Leading to Revolution


French and Indian War

• This struggle between France and Great

Britain was fought between 1754 - 1763 .

• 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.



• 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 .



• In 1759, the British captured Quebec, the

capital of French Canada, and shortly after

that the French surrendered.

All the former French territories

east of the Mississippi went to

Great Britain .

• As a result, the French lost all their colonial

possessions on continental North America.

All the former French territories

west of the Mississippi went to

Spain .


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 .


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.

• It required payment of a

tariff on imported items such

as molasses, sugar, wine, and

coffee.

• To raise this money, Parliament made a new law

called the Sugar Act.


The Sugar Act of 1764

• 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.

• Tariffs were suppose to be used to

regulate trade, not to pay taxes.


The Stamp Act and Declaratory Act of 1765

• Once again, taxation had been enacted

without colonial representation in

Parliament.

• The British government responded to the

protests over the Sugar Act by reducing

the tax by 2/3rd, 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.


The Stamp Act and Declaratory Act of 1765

• Nine colonies participated in what has been

called the Stamp Act Congress.

• This act declared that the British government

had the right to tax the colonies as they saw fit.

• John Adams of Boston called for

representatives from each colony to

meet and come up with a plan for

resisting unfair taxation

• The Stamp Act was repealed the next year,

but not before the King approved a new law

called the Declaratory Act.


The Quartering Act of 1765

• The act required Colonial towns to provide

shelter and supplies for British troops.

• In response, angry merchants in colonial ports

boycotted British goods until the act was changed

• Even before the Declaratory Act was

approved, Parliament had passed the

Quartering Act to help the government

save money.

• When the colony of New York resisted

paying for the soldier’s upkeep, the British

shut down their legislature.


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).


• On March 5, 1770, five colonists died

in Boston when British troops fired on

an unruly crowd protesting taxation

The Boston Massacre of 1770


The Boston Tea Party of 1773

• 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.

• 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.


The Intolerable Acts of 1774

• Immediately, Committees of Correspondence sent off letters

recommending ways the colonies could resist the British acts.

• 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

SSUSH3A & B The Key Events Leading to...

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