The Stirrings of Rebellion (1775-1783)

Conflict between Great Britain and the American colonies develops over issues of:

1. Taxation2. Representation3. Liberty

Colonies Organize to Resist Britain

The Stamp Act:

1) English Parliament passed tax on printed goods in 1765.

2) First direct tax levied by Parliament directly upon the colonists.

3) Violators of this would be sent to vice-admiralty courts (English courts).

4)Committees of Correspondence a communications network between the colonies to inform each other about threats to their liberties.

British RationaleDoing this to pay for the protection of the colonies.

Money goes to a fund for colonial defense which still only covers about ⅓ of the cost of maintaining the colonial military establishment.

Colonists felt they were being taxed without their consent and and their fundamental rights as English subjects were being abridged.

British argued at the time that the colonies had “virtual representation” in Parliament, that is members of Parliament represented all of the British realm, including the American colonists.

Unintended Consequences of Stamp Act

1) Because the stamp act attacked all colonists equally, it helped unite them in a shared cause.

2) By attacking people who used paper- lawyers, newspaper writers, printers, merchants, etc. the act also attacked the most vocal and prestigious colonists who

would protest the loudest.

Stamp Act ProtestsSamuel Adams and others form the Sons of Liberty to resist the Stamp Act.

Colonial protests prevent any stamps from being sold.

Merchants in New York, Boston and Philadelphia agree to not import any goods manufactured in Britain until the Stamp Act was repealed.

Parliament repeals the Stamp Act in 1766.

Townshend ActsIndirect or external taxes thought to not upset colonists as much (1767).

Levies and duties imposed on imported materials as they came into the colonies from Britain.

Colonists organize boycott of British imported goods.

British seizure of John Hancock’s ship led to riots directed against customs officials.

Parliament repeals most of the Townshend Acts in 1770, except the tax on tea.

British stationed 2000 “redcoats” in Boston.

Tension Mounts in Massachusetts

The Boston Massacre (1770)

Armed clash between colonists and redcoats left Crispus Attucks and 4 other colonists dead.

Sam Adams and other colonial agitators portrayed the incident as an aggressive act against defenseless citizens.

Boston Tea Party• Boston rebels disguised as native

Americans dumped 18,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor in 1773.

• Done to protest the Tea Act which allowed the Dutch East India Company to sell its tea free of the taxes that the colonists had to pay.

King George III appoints General Thomas Gage governor of Massachusetts. Imposes martial law.

In 1774 the committees of correspondence moved to assemble the First Continental Congress. They agreed that if Britain used force against the colonies, the colonies should fight back.

The Intolerable Acts

Minutemen, or civilian soldiers began to stockpile firearms and gunpowder.

Gen. Gage led troops into Lexington and Concord to destroy munitions and capture colonial leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

Paul Revere warned colonists that the “British were coming!”

Minutemen route English forces and force them back to Boston.

Fighting Erupts at Lexington and Concord

Tensions increased throughout the colonies until the Continental Congress declared independence on July 4, 1776.

Ideas Help Start a Revolution

Colonies Hover Between Peace and War

The Second Continental Congress• Colonists debate whether to wage war against England or to seek peace. • Congress agrees to recognize the militiamen around Boston as the

Continental Army and appointed George Washington commander. • Acting like an independent government they also authorized the printing of

money.

Battle of Bunker HillBritish General Thomas Gage

attacked colonial forces outside of Boston in 1775.

British forces suffer 1000 casualties during the deadliest battle of the war.

Colonists still felt loyalty to King George III and sent him the Olive Branch Petition urging him to return to “the former harmony” between Britain and the Colonies.

Common Sense-a 50-page pamphlet where Thomas Paine attacked King George III- arguing that the time had come for the colonists to declare their independence.

Paine argued this would give colonists a chance to create a better society-one free from tyranny with equal social and economic opportunities for all.

The Patriots Declare Independence

Thomas Jefferson authors the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Drew on the concepts of English philosopher John Locke who maintained that people had a natural right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Asserted that governments derive their “just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Declaration declared “all men are created equal.” Did not include women, Native Americans or African Americans.

Originally included language which denounced the slave trade. Jefferson removed this to please the southern colonies of Georgia and South Carolina.

Declaring Independence

Loyalists-many colonists remain loyal to England for various reasons. Some still identify as English, some are afraid of reprisal, others are not informed about the independence movement, and some felt they were better off under the English monarch.

Patriots-drew their followers from people who felt their economic situation would be better without England in charge.

Many remained neutral.

Americans Choose Sides