SOCIAL STUDIES UNIT 5 LESSON 1

Causes of the Revolution

Let’s Start With a Video

Too Late to Apologize a Declaration

Lesson 1

Big Question: What events led to the American Revolution?

Main Ideas: Winning the French and Indian War created new

problems for Britain. Britain taxed the colonies on many items like sugar,

printed materials, and tea. Britain’s actions escalated colonial resistance. Clashes in Boston led to the Battles of Lexington and

Concord.

Key Terms & People

Parliament: Great Britain’s lawmaking assembly.

Tariff: a tax on imported goods.Protest: to speak out against something.Petition: a document that people sign that

formally asks leaders to do or change something.

Repeal: to do away with.Boycott: an organized refusal to buy goods or

services.

Pontiac

Ottawa leader who fought British expansion in North America. Led a rebellion in 1763 known as Pontiac’s War. Fought to protect American Indian lands, showing the

British the high cost of protecting western settlers.

King George III

King of Great Britain during the American Revolution. Issued the Proclamation of 1763. Supported all efforts to tax the American colonies and

encouraged actions to discipline colonists.

Crispus Attucks

Patriot of African ancestry who was killed in the Boston Massacre. His death was seen as a sacrifice for American

independence.

Paul Revere

Patriot who made a dramatic horseback ride to warn colonists. Rode out from Boston on the night of April 18, 1775 to

warn colonists that the British were coming. Considered one of colonial America’s greatest

silversmiths.

Textbook Answers

1. The British had borrowed and spent a lot of money on soldiers and supplies.

2. Every kind of printed material, including newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards.

3. The Sons of Liberty burned stamps and threatened stamp agents.

4. During the boycott, women formed groups such as the Daughters of Liberty, which wove cloth and made other goods to replace imported British goods.

5. A crowed gathered during an argument, the crowd shouted insults, the colonists began throwing things, the British fired, Crispus Attucks was killed.

Textbook Answers

6. The Tea Act, as it tried to get colonists to buy tea from only one British company.7. They became more united. Colonies sent help to Boston, stopped trade with Britain, and created volunteer armies.8. The colonists fought well and forced the British back to Boston.Summary: The Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Coercive Acts.

Timeline in Lesson

1764: Britain passes the Sugar Act.1767: Britain passes the Townshend Acts.1774: Britain passes the Coercive Acts.

Newspaper Article

Primary Sources: things written/made at or about the time of an event. Ex: newspaper articles

Secondary Sources: things written/made after an event has happened Ex: encyclopedia articles, textbooks, research papers

Answer: The newspaper writer seems to blame the soldiers. The encyclopedia seems to blame the colonists.

Worksheet

Causes Effects

The British had large debts after the French and Indian War.

The British taxed the colonists to help pay for the debts from the war.

The Stamp Act was passed. Colonists took action as an organized political group.

British troops were sent to Lexington and Concord to destroy weapons the colonists had stored there.

Paul Revere and William Dawes spread a warning to colonists.

Worksheet

How did the colonists protest the actions of the British? Colonists protested by sending petitions to Parliament and

boycotting British goods.Which British actions were unpopular with

colonists? Why did the colonists resist these actions? The Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts were

unpopular with colonists. They resisted because these laws were passed without their consent.

Which event do you think was the most important cause of the American Revolution? Why? Possible answer: Battles of Lexington and Concord because

they changed the conflict from protests and debates to war.

Reasons for Events

Religious Political Economic

The First Great Awakening

Stamp Act Congress (1765)

The Proclamation of 1763

Boston Massacre (1770)

Sugar Act (1764)

Boston Tea Party (1773)

Stamp Act (1765)

Intolerable Acts/Coercive Acts (1774)

Townshend Acts (1767)

Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775)

Tea Act (1773)