The American RevolutionToday we will be able to answer the following questions…

What caused the American Revolution?

Who were the main “players” in the Revolution?

What were the consequences of the Revolution?

Review Questions

•What are the main ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers?

•How do they challenge the powers of Absolute Monarchs?  

John Locke Thomas Hobbes

Voltaire

Causes of the Revolution•British neglect allowed a large degree of

autonomy and self-government in the colonies

•1760’s ▫Britain began to attempt to recover lost assets

and funds by increasing taxes in the colonies

•Boston Massacre & The Sons of Liberty, Boston Tea Party

• Intolerable Acts

Great Britain’s New Laws

▫Imposed on colonists to help pay for the war debts caused from the French and Indian War/Seven Years War (ended 1763)

Stamp Act- (1765) •Required colonists to pay a

tax for an official stamp on all newspapers, legal documents, and other public papers

•Taxation without Representation

•Reply: boycott English goods

•Parliament repeals the Stamp Act in 1766.

Townshend Acts- (1767) •New series of taxes on glass, paper, paints, and

tea•Boston merchants were furious

▫call for another boycott!•British send over troops to keep order in the city,

most of which are harassed by the colonists leads to Boston Massacre (1770)

The Conflict Heats up…•Sons of Liberty- (1773) groups of organized

Patriots (shopkeepers, artisans, etc.)▫Boston: group led by Samuel Adams and Paul

Revere, carry out the Boston Tea Party

•British response: Intolerable Acts/Coercive Acts (1774)▫British close the port of Boston ▫Massachusetts charter was revoked – crown

colony▫Protection of British officials – removed from

colonies for a trial▫House British troops

The War Begins•April 19, 1775 (official 1st battles)•Sons of Liberty had hidden weapons in the

countryside▫British soldiers found out and started

searching for them. •Lexington, Massachusetts: First battle of

American Revolution “The Shot Heard Round the World”

•Declaration of Independence written July 4th 1776 severing all ties with Great Britain

Leaders •Thomas Paine

▫English-American▫wrote pamphlet Common

Sense, which argued that the colonist should be free

▫Helped sway public opinion in favor of removing British rule

▫Secretary of Committee of Foreign Affairs

▫Ardently supported French Revolution Thomas Paine

• Second Continental Congress▫ Committee formed to write a

document declaring the colonies’ independence from Great Britain

• John Adams- well-educated man who believed in the enlightenment ideas

• Thomas Jefferson- wrote the Declaration incorporating ideas the Enlightenment

• George Washington- commanding general of the army

• Benjamin Franklin- was in Paris, France at the time asking for help in the war

Colonist Win!•Pivotal assistance from France•British surrendered to General

Washington on October 19, 1781. •Treaty of Paris (September 1783)-

British government formally recognized the independence of the United States

Consequences

• The colonist form a new government▫ Articles of

Confederation (1781)▫ Constitution (1787)

• French Revolution (1787-1799)

• Haitian Revolution (1791-1803)

• First test of Enlightenment ideals towards government

New government

• Constitution-based• Separation of powers• Checks and balances• Guarantee of

individual liberties (sort-of)

• Popular sovereignty• Federalist system –

power divided between nation & states

• Was it that radical?▫Didn’t touch slavery▫Voting rights

established by state but usually only property-owning, free males could vote

•What caused the American Revolution?

•Who were the main “players” in the Revolution?

•What were the consequences of the Revolution?