The American Revolution

Albany Plan of Union (1754)

1660: The Navigation Acts

• Rules: Colonies must trade with Britain and Britain alone!

• Colonists ignored the acts and Britain did nothing.

• Salutary neglect=

Britain bad parent

Mercantilism=

SELL MORE THAN YOU BUY!!!

SELL > BUY

French and Indian War

• French and Indians vs. Britian

• Fighting over land between 1754-1763

• Nicknamed the 7 Years War

• Britain won but faced enormous war debt.

• Who should help pay? Britain says the colonists.

• This is the unofficial start of the American Revolution!

North America in 1754

Proclamation Line of 1763

• Britain had land east

of the Mississippi River• The Line: Banned all

settlement west of the

Appalachian Mtns (to

ease tensions with the

Native Americans.

The Tax Party Begins…

• 1764: Sugar Act

• 1765: Stamp Act (resulted in boycotts and the Stamp Act Congress)

• Declaratory Act: Parliament makes your laws now

• 1767: Townshend Acts (glass, paint, tea)

Writs of Assistance

• To combat smugglers, British officials used these writs (search warrants) to search any place and take any items at any time.

The Boston Massacre• March 1770: What happened?

Committees of Correspondence

• Started by Sam Adams

• Used to pass information between the colonies

1773: Tea Act

• Parliament repealed (took away) the Townshend Acts except for the tea tax

• Allowed the East India Tea Company to sell tea without the tax

• Led to the December 1773 Boston Tea Party

Spring 1774: The Intolerable Acts

• Designed to punish colonists!

• 3 major parts: Closed Boston Harbor, Boston under British martial law, Quartering Act (soldiers can stay in your homes)

• Also called the Coercive Acts

1774: First Continental Congress

• Met in Philly

• Sent King George III a “Declaration of Rights and Grievances”

• Told George we would continue to boycott until the Intolerable Acts were repealed.

• How did the king respond?

Lexington and Concord

• April 19, 1775

• “Shot Heard Round the World”

May 1775: 2nd Continental Congress

• Sent King George III the Olive Branch Petition (wants to make up)

• Eventually adopted 2 pieces of paper: the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.

Common Sense

• Published by Thomas Paine in Jan. 1776

• We need to use our brains and get away from Britain

• Best selling pamphlet of that year!

July 4, 1776

• Declaration of Independence Adopted

Articles of Confederation

• The first constitution OF Amercia

• Written in 1777, Adopted in 1781

Battle of Yorktown

• Final battle of the American Revolution

• How did the U.S. win?

a. Guerilla warfare

b. British in unfamiliar territory

c. British supplies took too long to arrive

d. Heart

Treaty of Paris, 1783

• Officially ended the American Revolution. It acknowledged American independence and granted the new nation land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.