Do-Now: Why are relationships between teenagers and parents often difficult?

3 minutes

CHAPTER 4: ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

How did the colonies end up writing a Declaration of Independence?

Cause & Effect toward Independence

1. The French and Indian War (1754-1763)

2. Britain wins the war, breaks the bank

3. Sugar, Quartering, Stamp & Townshend Acts (1764-1767)

4. Boston Massacre (1770)

5. Boston Tea Party (1773)

6. The Intolerable Acts (1774)

7. First Continental Congress (1774)

8. Battle of Lexington and Concord (1775)

French and Indian War

British Empire ca. 1763

The 13 Colonies are one of many British interests

1.-2. French & Indian War (1754-1763)

• British vs. French & Indian• George Washington’s first military service (and failure)

• Treaty of Paris (1763)• British (and colonists) win F&I War• Britain also ends Seven Years’ War in Europe

•Wars leave Britain in debt & looking for $$$$$$$$ in the colonies

3. Lots of ‘Acts’ (1764-1767)

• Sugar, Quartering, Stamp & Townshend Acts• To pay debts Britain started new taxes & enforced old ones• Some taxes targeted the wealthy and educated

• Colonial reactions:• Partially because of Salutary Neglect the colonists fought the taxes• Protests – refusing to pay and public protest• Declarations against Acts• Sons of Liberty organized boycotts

Act is another word for Law

4. Boston Massacre• Townshend Acts = Colonists protest

• British sent troops to stop protests and avoid a possible Rebellion

• 1770 Colonists threatened British troops• British troops fired/ 5 colonists killed, (including one

African American)• British troops found guilty & British withdrew

Townshend Act• Colonists (Samuel Adams) coordinated resistance

5. Boston Tea Party

• 1773 British passed the Tea Act

• Colonists protested by dumping British Tea cargo into the harbor

• British responded with the so called ‘Intolerable Acts’

6. Intolerable Acts1774

• Intolerable Acts = British response to Boston Tea Party• Closed Boston harbor• British appointed a new governor of MA• Quartering• Stopped colonies expansion plans

Why all the Whining about Acts/Taxes?

• Taxation without representation• Generations of independence & authority

7. 1774, First Continental Congress

• A united Colonial response to the Intolerable Acts• Renewed boycott of British goods• Arm & form militias

• Direct appeal to

King George III

voicing complaints

8. 1775, Battle of Lexington & Concord

• British ordered to seize weapon supplies in Concord

• Paul Revere’s famous ride, warned the ‘Patriots’• At Lexington an accidental shot was fired• At Concord the British burned supplies• British ambushed on return to Boston

• Revolutionary War had begun 1775 - 1783