1. Road to the Revolutionary War: Acts and Taxes
Ms. Koleczek/Mrs. Anderson
Team Charger

2. Words to Know!
Writ of assistance-legal document that enabled officers to search homes and warehouses for goods that might be smuggled (search warrant)
Internal tax- (inside)taxes paid inside the colonies
External tax- taxes paid when goods entered the colonies (imported goods)
Act- a legal document stating the ideas of a committee (In our case, taxes)
Coercive- to force someone to do something they do not want to do using intimidation (In our case, taxes)

3. Why Create the Acts? Britain was in great debt after the French and
Indian War
William Pitt (Secretary of
State of Britain) used any
measure possible to
secure victory
Created a giant amount
of debt for the country

4. Why Create the Acts?
Britain prohibited Colonists from moving west of the Appalachians to secure a constant trade source
To enforce this policy, the King placed 10,000 troops at the border
How will the King pay his soldiers? Tax the Colonists!
Proclamation of 1763!! The King promised Pontiac that the colonists would not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains.

5. Navigation Acts Originally created in 1651
Strictly enforced in 1760 by writs of assistance
Why? Starting to gain debt from the French and Indian War!
External tax
Purpose
Anything imported or exported from the Colonies had to be shipped on British ships
75% of crew had to be British
ONLY ALLOWED COLONIES TO TRADE WITH BRITAIN!

6. The Sugar Act Created in 1764 External tax Purpose
Lowered the tax on imported molasses
Hoped this would encourage Colonists to pay the tax and not smuggle cheaper sugar in from other countries
Allowed officers to seize (or take without permission) goods from smugglers without going to court
Also taxed: wine, whale fins, silk

7. The Currency Act Created in 1764 Got rid of Colonists’ form of money
What did the Colonists have to use now? British pound
The pound was based on gold, but there were not gold mines in the Colonies-Where did the colonies get the pounds? Britain shipped them over.
Why would this upset the Colonists?
They now had to depend on Britain for one more thing: their money source. They lost some independence!

8. The Stamp Act Created in 1765 First internal tax! Purpose
Taxed most printed products: newspapers, wills, land deeds, legal documents and playing cards
All printed material received a stamp after tax was paid
Why did this upset the Colonists?
Taxed without consent
Britain interfered with colonial affairs
Boycotted (refused to buy) British and European goods
Repealed (canceled) because the merchants were losing business!

9. The Quartering Act Created in 1765 Purpose
Forced Colonists to provide housing and food to the troops
Why would this upset the Colonists?
Invasion of privacy
Financial burden on the Colonists

10. The Declaratory Act Created in 1766 Purpose
Effective the day the Stamp Act was repealed
Purpose
British government could create laws WHENEVER and HOWEVER they wanted
Parliament had the right to tax and make decisions for Colonies “in all cases what so ever.”

11. The Townshend Acts Created in 1767 External tax Purpose
Tax only imported goods like paint/oil, glass, tea, lead and paper at port of entry (where ever the goods entered the colonies)
Any British tax angered Colonists
Boycotted British goods
Daughters of Liberty made goods that were boycotted rather than buy the British goods, coffee and herbal teas were made, calico, homespun cloth was spun by the women.

12. The Boston Massacre The Boston Massacre March 5, 1770
Colonists were frustrated with the taxes and formed a mob outside the tax collectors’ customhouse, which was protected by British soldiers
Sticks, stones, & snowballs were thrown, which frightened the tax collector
A soldier was knocked down, which caused other soldiers to fire
Five Colonists were killed, including Crispus Attucks, a runaway slave who gave his life for the cause of American Independence!
Townshend Acts repealed, except for the tax on tea
John Adams, believing everyone deserved a fair trial, defended the British soldiers in court.

14. The Tea Act Created in 1773 Purpose
To save the British East India Company
Allowed BEIC total trade control over tea trade in America
Actually lowered cost of tea
BEIC was able to sell directly to shopkeepers
Eliminated the merchants who normally distributed tea
Why would this upset the Colonists?

15. The Tea Act The Boston Tea Party December 16, 1773
A group of male Colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians threw 342 chests of tea overboard= $1.7 million dollars in today’s money. Why?????
Colonists were boycotting and forcing ships to turn back
One ship did not, and the governor ordered it to be unloaded, which upset the Colonists
Organized and lead by Samuel Adams, who was a member to the Sons of Liberty.

16. The Intolerable/Coercive Acts
Created in 1774 once King George III heard news of the Boston Tea Party
“We must master them or totally leave them alone”
Called Intolerable by Colonies
Purpose
Punish and isolate the people of Massachusetts for resistance
Other colonies supported Boston by sending them supplies
Closed Boston Harbor until Colonists paid for ruined tea
Took away rights
Banned town meetings in New England except for one a year
Forced to shelter troops

17. The Quebec Act Created in 1774 Purpose Set up a government in Quebec
Gave Ohio River Valley to Quebec, which ignored the Colonists’ claims to the area
Gave preference to the Roman Catholic faith

18. People to Know!
James Otis~Patriot who proclaimed, “There should be NO taxation without representation”! What was Otis saying?
Patrick Henry~Patriot who said, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
Paul Revere~A member of the Sons of Liberty, black-
smith and artist who created the engraving of the Boston Massacre. He also was one of the town criers, saying, “The British are coming!”

19. The Circular Letter
Samuel Adams created the Circular Letter as well as the Committees of Correspondance.
Purpose: To get the colonists to secretly communicate with each other and share the news of each colony with the others.
When the British discovered the Circular Letter, they demanded that it be stopped!
Both Sam Adams and John Hancock were sought after by the British for treason. What is treason?
A betrayal of one’s country!

20. The Continental Congress
In September, 1774, 55 delegates from all the colonies, except Georgia, arrived in Philadelphia.
The purpose of the Continental Congress was to represent American interests and challenge British control.
Political lenders from across the colonies attended the congress.
The delegates drafted a statement of grievances calling for the repeal of the 13 acts of Parliament.

21. Battle of Lexington (Draw a soldier or a musket)
April 18, 1775 in Lexington, Massachusetts
70 minutemen had been alerted by Paul Revere and William Dawes that the British were heading through that direction.
At dawn, when the colonists were facing the great British army, a fire was shot. Still to this day, no one knows if the shot was fired by a nervous minuteman or a British soldier!
8 minutemen died on the village green that morning
This shot is known as the ‘Shot Heard ‘Round the World’. Why?

22. The Battle of Concord (Draw a bridge-label it North Bridge)
April 18, 1775-The British left Lexington to march to Concord, MA to seize the colonial arsenal (a collection shed of ammunition)
The North Bridge at Concord was the site of the first American victory in the Revolutionary War.
When the British arrived, they found that most of the militia’s gunpowder had already been removed and they destroyed the remaining supplies.
At North Bridge, minutemen turned back the British!

23. This is the end of your “Road to Revolution” booklets!
Make sure you have all of your pages filled in!
Did you color enhance key words, dates, people’s names?
Do you have a symbol drawn for each act/tax?
Is your booklet easy to read?
Did you do your personal best on the booklet?
IF YOU ARE MISSING PAGES, YOU CAN PULL UP THE POWER POINT FROM MY QUIA PAGE TO FINISH!