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Revolutionary Fervor 1) Prior to the French and Indian War the British Empire maintained a fairly distant relationship with its American colonies. The.

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Presentation on theme: "Revolutionary Fervor 1) Prior to the French and Indian War the British Empire maintained a fairly distant relationship with its American colonies. The."— Presentation transcript:

1 Revolutionary Fervor 1) Prior to the French and Indian War the British Empire maintained a fairly distant relationship with its American colonies. The colonial economy became much more self-sufficient and a relative degree of independence and self-government developed in America while the British were pre-occupied expanding their world empire.

2 Revolutionary Fervor 4) However, victory in the French and Indian War for the British was quite costly and the massive expansion of their North American empire didn’t ease their economic dilemma. The British now had to deal with Indian uprisings like Pontiac’s Rebellion and were eventually forced to station over 10,000 troops along the western frontier of the American colonies.

3 Revolutionary Fervor 5) British Parliament felt that the American colonists should help shoulder the new costs of empire and issued various colonial taxes like the Sugar and Stamp Acts. American colonists were accustomed to paying taxes that were issued by their colonial governments, but they had never paid a tax that was designed to raise revenue for the British crown in London.

4 Revolutionary Fervor 6) Colonial protests to taxation only solidified the growing sense of inter-colonial unity and cooperation that had developed during the French and Indian war. The growing number of challenges to British authority generated a sense of “American” identity in the colonies.

5 Revolutionary Fervor 8) What began as objections to unjustified taxation later evolved into a revolution for political independence. In 1775 & 76 the thirteen colonies united against the world’s most powerful empire in order to establish an American republic that protected individual liberty.

6 Revolutionary Fervor 9) Future President Teddy Roosevelt would later remark that revolution broke out because “Britain failed to recognize an emerging nation when it saw one.”

7 Colonial Divisions 1) The American Revolutionary War amounted to a civil war that divided the colonial population. One-third of the colonial population of 2.5 million considered themselves to be loyal subjects of King George III. They accepted British taxes and recognized the power of Parliament over the colonies. King George III

8 Colonial Divisions 2) The Loyalists (also known as “Tories”) were usually wealthy individuals that identified themselves (and their titles) with aristocratic British culture. They had little concern for individual liberty, egalitarianism (equality), and republican government.

9 Colonial Divisions 3) The Patriots arose from the various groups that fought for a degree of self-government in the face of British oppressions following the French and Indian War. The Patriots would eventually support the call for Revolution and would rise to fight the British for their independence. Unlike other revolutions, many of the earliest Patriots were economic leaders and members of the colonial legislatures.

10 Colonial Divisions 4) However, like the Loyalists, the Patriots only represented 1/3 of the colonial population. At the outbreak of rebellion, 1/3 of the population considered themselves to be neutral and didn’t support either side. As the war spread, so did the Patriot cause and most of the neutrals eventually supported the Revolution.

11 Colonial Divisions 5) Revolutionary ideals and the principles that supported rebellion came from the patriotic statesmen that served the colonial legislatures. (Ex. – George Washington (VA), Thomas Jefferson (VA), Patrick Henry (VA), Ben Franklin (PA), and John Adams (MA). However, much of the revolutionary fervor among the masses was inspired by the merchants and businessmen that organized various acts of protest.

12 The Committees of Correspondence
1) Samuel Adams of Massachusetts was one of the most vociferous leaders behind the early Patriot cause. Adams was the principle leader behind the sometimes violent group known as the “Sons of Liberty.” Adams was a master propagandist that printed and distributed hundreds of pamphlets that encouraged various forms of protest to British authority.

13 The Committees of Correspondence
2) Adams helped to greatly expand the Patriots’ cause by establishing secretive Committees of Correspondence. These committees used an organized exchange of letters to keep the Revolutionary spirit alive through coordinated opposition to British authority.

14 The Committees of Correspondence
Carpenters’ Hall 3) Virginia set the stage for inter-colonial committees of correspondence by creating one within the House of Burgesses in Eventually, every colonial government had a committee of correspondence to communicate through. This inter-colonial unity soon evolved into the first American Congress.

15 The Townshend Acts (1767) 1) Following the 1766 repeal of the Stamp Act, the British felt the need to reassert their authority in the American colonies and passed a series of new taxes that were known as the “Townshend Acts.”

16 The Townshend Acts (1767) 2) The new laws taxed glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea. However, these duties were indirect taxes that were collected at American ports and customs offices.

17 The Townshend Acts (1767) 5) The tax on tea was particularly offensive because more than half of the colonial population consumed it on a daily basis. However, many merchants like John Hancock were able to smuggle cheaper tea in order to circumvent the new law.

18 The Townshend Acts (1767) 6) Organized protest to the new law wasn’t as widespread as the response to the Stamp Act because the taxes were light and indirect. However, many feisty Bostonians still refused to pay the new taxes and British customs officials were continuously harassed at the ports.

19 The Townshend Acts (1767) 7) In response to the situation in Boston, the British sent two regiments of troops in 1768 to restore law and order. However, the military presence in Boston only made problems worse when undisciplined and profane soldiers harassed the independent-minded Bostonians.

20 The Townshend Acts (1767) 8) The Townshend duties were eventually repealed in the face of colonial opposition. However, a small three pence tax remained on tea in order to uphold Parliament’s right to tax.

21 The Boston Massacre (1770) 1) The British military presence in Boston only increased tensions and several scuffles erupted between rowdy civilians and the arrogant soldiers.

22 The Boston Massacre (1770) 2) On March 5th, 1770 a young barber’s apprentice named Edward Garrick insulted British officer, Captain John Goldfinger when he publicly accused him of not paying his barbers bill. Goldfinger ignored the boy, but a British soldier named Hugh White stopped Garrick and clubbed him in the face with the butt of his musket.

23 The Boston Massacre (1770) 3) Garrick’s friends gathered around White and began shouting insults at him until they were chased off by a British Sergeant. The young boys returned with a larger group of locals that started throwing snowballs, ice, and litter at the British soldiers.

24 The Boston Massacre (1770) 4) Hugh White sent a messenger for reinforcements in order to disperse the growing mob. The mob had grown considerably by the time Captain Thomas Preston arrived with four other soldiers. A threatening group of sailors and dockworkers wielding clubs, sticks, and knives had moved to the front of the mob.

25 The Boston Massacre (1770) 5) At the head of the Boston mob was Crispus Attucks, a massive runaway slave of Indian and African heritage. Members of the mob had swelled in size and some began to throw things at the soldiers. Private Hugh Montgomery was stuck down by a piece of ice and he fired his musket, sparking a sporadic volley of fire into the crowd.

26 The Boston Massacre (1770) 6) All evidence suggests that there was never an order to fire, but all of the soldiers fired their weapons except one. 7) Attucks was shot twice in the chest and died almost immediately. Four others were killed and six were seriously wounded. The British soldiers were swiftly arrested and were tried for murder.

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28 The Boston Massacre (1770) 8) Most colonial leaders discouraged acts of mob violence, however, this event caused such widespread outrage in Boston that many Revolutionary leaders sought to capitalize on this opportunity to unite the colonists against the British.

29 The Boston Massacre (1770) Ex. –Samuel Adams is credited for naming the event the “Boston Massacre” in various pamphlets that were published following the incident.

30 The Boston Massacre (1770) Ex. –Paul Revere used a drawing of the incident (by Henry Pelham) to create a multicolor engraving titled “The Bloody Massacre.” Hundreds of prints of Revere’s engraving were sold in colonies in order to spread news of the event.

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35 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 1) Despite the American boycotts that forced the British to repeal taxes like the Sugar, Stamp, and Townshend Acts, the British still maintained their right to tax the colonists.

36 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 2) In 1773, the British East India Company was on the verge of bankruptcy and was sitting on a large surplus of tea that it would be unable to sell exclusively in England.

37 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 3) In an effort to save the company, Parliament passed the Tea Act of 1773, giving the company the right to export its tea directly to the colonies without paying any of the regular taxes.

38 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 4) This gave the company a virtual monopoly because it was able to sell their tea much cheaper than any of the colonial merchants. Despite the reduction in prices, a slight three-pence tax remained on the tea.

39 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 5) Most colonists and merchants were outraged at the East India company’s monopoly over tea and many believed that the cut in prices was merely a ploy by Parliament to trick the colonists into accepting the principle of British taxation.

40 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 6) The colonists responded by boycotting tea and other British goods. Mass demonstrations in New York and Philadelphia forced the ships to return to England without unloading a single chest of the East India tea. In Annapolis, Maryland the ships and cargoes were burned in the harbor. In Charleston, South Carolina, the tea was confiscated by the state and warehoused.

41 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 7) However, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson insisted on enforcing the laws of Parliament and made sure that the trade ships could dock despite the fierce opposition from the citizens of Boston. Opposition to Hutchinson grew more violent when one of his private letters was published, revealing a statement that an “abridgement of English liberties” was necessary to restore law and order in the colonies.

42 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 8) On the evening of December 16th, 1773, a protest meeting in Boston’s Old South Meeting House attracted an enormous crowd of over 8,000 Massachusetts citizens.

43 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 9) That same night a rowdy group of one hundred and fifty men awkwardly disguised as Mohawk Indians were led by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere on board the three British ships carrying the East India tea. For the next few hours the men broke open the chests and heaved over 90,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor.

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45 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 10) Governor Hutchinson was so frustrated with colonial resistance that he left for England and never returned to the colonies. Sam Adams and Paul Revere saw this as a great success for the Sons of Liberty and the Patriot cause.

46 The Boston Tea Party (1773) 11) However, some colonial leaders like John Adams and Ben Franklin criticized the act because it represented the criminal destruction of private property. Franklin argued that the tea must be repaid, even offering to repay the debt with his own money.

47 First Continental Congress (1774)
King George III 1) The British Parliament was outraged by the Boston Tea Party and responded with a series of oppressive laws that became known as the “Intolerable Acts” (also known as the “Coercive Acts”).

48 First Continental Congress (1774)
A) The Boston Port Act = this called for a significant British military force to close the port of Boston until the ruined tea was repaid and British ships were allowed to dock.

49 First Continental Congress (1774)
B) The Massachusetts Government Act = this radically changed the government of Massachusetts and made almost all positions appointed by the King or the Royal Governor. The act also put severe limitations on local town meetings in order disrupt the organization of colonial protests.

50 First Continental Congress (1774)
C) The Administration of Government Act = this allowed the Royal Governor to move trials of accused royal officials to another colony or even to Great Britain.

51 First Continental Congress (1774)
D) The Quartering Act = Colonial legislatures had proven to be uncooperative in providing quarters for British troops. This gave Royal Governors the power to arrange for the housing of British troops in the colonies. (Soldiers were rarely ever housed in private homes)

52 First Continental Congress (1774)
2) Parliament hoped that the severe nature of the Intolerable Acts would isolate the radicals in Massachusetts and would intimidate the other colonies away from their rebellious positions. 3) However, the plan backfired and the unjustified use of British force only brought the colonies closer together. The colonists responded to the Intolerable Acts by forming the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. This was the first elected Congress that represented all of the colonies. (all colonies except Georgia sent delegates)

53 First Continental Congress (1774)
Ex. – Flags were flow at half-mast throughout the colonies on the day the Boston Port Act went into effect. Ex. – Support from other colonies poured into Boston, shipments of rice were even received from distant South Carolina.

54 First Continental Congress (1774)
4) The colonies revived the boycott of British goods and non-importation agreements spread throughout the colonies. Sympathy for Massachusetts also prompted the delegates from the other colonies to pledge military support to Massachusetts if they were attacked.

55 First Continental Congress (1774)
6) Many colonial leaders realized that their disputes with the British were irreconcilable and that a military confrontation was inevitable. Following his service on the First Continental Congress, Patrick Henry returned to his seat in the Virginia House of Burgesses in late 1774.

56 First Continental Congress (1774)
7) As tensions grew in occupied Boston, Patrick Henry gave the most stirring speech of his career on March 23rd, 1775, demanding that the colonies prepare themselves for a clash of arms. He declared, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

57 Lexington and Concord (1775)
1) Thomas Gage, the British commander in Boston, was secretly ordered to enforce British law and to suppress open rebellion in Boston by using “all necessary force.”

58 Lexington and Concord (1775)
2) A doctor named Joseph Warren was one of the leading members of the Patriot movement in Boston. He was a leader in the Sons of Liberty, the Chairman of the Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence, and was also the Grandmaster of the very secretive Freemasons in Boston. (of which many founding fathers and later Presidents were members)

59 Lexington and Concord (1775)
3) On the night of April 18th he received intelligence of British troop movements from Boston. Dr. Warren then sent William Dawes, Paul Revere, and Dr. Samuel Prescott on their famous midnight rides to spread the alarm throughout the surrounding areas.

60 Lexington and Concord (1775)
4) Over 700 British soldiers left Boston in the middle of the night in order to march to Concord, Massachusetts to destroy a hidden arsenal of colonial weapons. The British also intended to capture John Hancock and Sam Adams who were rumored to be hiding out there.

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62 Lexington and Concord (1775)
5) Revere, Dawes, and Prescott had to elude the British patrols throughout the countryside and had to secretively pass information to colonial leaders that were sympathetic to their cause. Their alerts prompted others like Israel Bissell to mount their own horses in order to spread the word. Bissell actually rode over 300 miles to the colonial capital in Philadelphia.

63 Lexington and Concord (1775)
6) Fearing capture before he reached Boston, Revere had arranged to leave signals in the steeple of the Old North Church outside of Boston. One lantern would signify that the British were coming by land by marching across the neck of Boston, two lanterns meant that they were crossing the harbor to march directly on Lexington from north of the city.

64 Lexington and Concord (1775)
7) Revere was actually captured at Lexington by British patrols. However, he escaped when his captors ran to join the British force from Boston that had exchanged fire with 70 Massachusetts Minutemen (state militia). The uneven skirmish resulted in the death of eight Americans. Revere was free to witness the first shots of the Revolutionary War.

65 Lexington and Concord (1775)
Concord’s Old North Bridge 8) The British continued their march toward Concord as the sun was rising across the plains of Massachusetts. However, by the time they arrived they faced a force of over 500 Minutemen and were forced to retreat back to Boston.

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67 Lexington and Concord (1775)
9) Minutemen and angry farmers descended upon the British at every corner of their retreat to Boston. The British suffered close to 300 casualties with over 70 dead before they reached reinforcements just outside of Boston Harbor.

68 Lexington and Concord (1775)
10) Ralph Waldo Emerson would later write in the poem Concord Hymn: By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world.


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