Causes of The RevolutionAN EMERGING AMERICAN IDENTITY

Starter – September 15th

How did the French and Indian War lead to the American Revolution? - give two examples).

Change and Crisis

Forming A New Identity Mid-1770s Population over 2.1 million

Colonies had been established nearly 150 years

Allowed large measure of independence, though still British subjects

Each had own government, made own laws

Began to identify less with Britain

British colonies had expanded rapidly along east coast since early 1600s

Offered opportunities not available in Great Britain

Land plentiful, cheap

Class system absent

Good chance for advancement through intelligence, hard work

By the mid-1700s dramatic new Enlightenment ideas had spread to North America, inspiring the British colonists to forge a new nation.

The Road To Revolution

Salutary Neglect Even though the British believed

in mercantilism, Prime Minister Robert Walpole espoused a view of "salutary neglect."

This was a system whereby the actual enforcement of external trade relations was lax. He believed this enhanced freedom would stimulate commerce.

The Enlightenment From the writings of Thomas

Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the Baron de Montesquieu, the founding fathers gleaned the concepts of the social contract, limited government, the consent of the governed, and separation of powers.

The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening did away with the notion that people couldn't pray directly to God or that predestination existed, and espoused much more democratic concepts.

Ministers could no longer control the direction of religious life.

It had been democratized and made accessible by people.

People were put in charge of their own fate.

Opposing British Policies

Britain began to assert its right to impose laws on colonies

Britain defeated France in French and Indian War, 1763

France had to give up its North American colonies

Britain decided to make colonies pay part of war costs in taxes

New Laws and Taxes

1764 - Sugar Act: This act raised revenue by increasing duties on sugar imported from the West Indies.

1765 - Quartering Act: Britain ordered that colonists were to house and feed British soldiers if necessary.

1765 - Stamp Act: This required tax stamps on many items and documents including playing cards, newspapers, and marriage licenses.

1767 - Townshend Acts: These taxes were imposed to help make the colonial officials independent of the colonists and included duties on glass, paper, and tea. Smugglers increased their activities to avoid the tax leading to more troops in Boston.

1773 – Tea Act: To assist the failing British East India Company, the Company was given a monopoly to trade tea in America.

The Boston Massacre

1170 - Tensions were high due to the presence of British troops in Boston.

The Boston Massacre started out as a street fight between “patriots” throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks at a British squad.

It ended with gunshots and the death of colonists.

This event was used as an example of British cruelty despite questions about how it actually occurred.

The Boston Tea Party

1773 - The Boston Tea Party was when colonists snuck onto English ships and dumped the tea into the water in protest of the tea tax.

Parliament was swift in retaliation. The Intolerable Acts in March of

1774. One of the many things included in

the Intolerable Acts was the closing of the Boston Port.

The First Continental Congress

Called in Philadelphia, 1774 Colonists listed grievances against

British Plan to reconcile differences with

British presented Plan voted down

The Revolution Begins

Shot Heard ‘Round The World Sons of Liberty expected war, hid

weapons in countryside and towns west of Boston

April 1775, British troops marched out of Boston to find weapons

British troops confronted colonial militiamen in Lexington

Shots rang out; the American Revolution began

Common Sense Not all colonists wanted independence

from Britain

Thomas Paine argued in 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense, that colonies no longer needed British rule

Said colonies deserved independence

Paine’s pamphlet helped gain popular support for cause