The American Revolution

Northwest Territory

 Proclamation of restricting colonists from moving westward into and settling the Northwest Territory.  Pass a series of tax laws and have the colonists help pay back the debt.  Station British troops in North America to stop Indian attacks and protect the Colonies.  Stop the smuggling by enforcing the Navigation Acts. England’s Solutions

 “Taxation without representation”  British tax collectors were tarred and feathered  Protests led by the Sons of Liberty The Hated Stamp Act  Tax on over 50 items  A direct tax which went to the British government  Paid for war debt and British troops in the colonies

British restrictive policies  Townshend Acts, 1767 – Another series of revenue measures which taxed items imported into the colonies, including paper, lead, tea, and paint  Met with colonial outrage and boycotts  Tea Act – Gave the East India Company a monopoly on the trade in tea

MMarch 1770 – the British shed colonial blood for the first time UUsed as propaganda to convince people to support the colonial cause TThe Intolerable Acts closed the port of Boston and placed Massachusetts under martial law The Boston Massacre

First Continental Congress  Colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia to form a Congress in response to the Intolerable Acts in 1774  Main goal was to try and negotiate with King George and Parliament  Sent “Declaration of Rights and Grievances” to King George and Parliament

Battles of Lexington & concord “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”  British searching for stolen weapons– “search and seizure”  Stopped at Lexington and encountered 56 Minutemen, who stood up for what they believed was their land

Second Continental Congress  Organized first American army called the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as Commanding General

Continental Army  Made up of volunteers, militias, and Minutemen  Lacked money and resources

Common Sense  50-page pamphlet to convince many Americans that King George was a tyrant and declaring independence from Great Britain was our only choice  Paine not only called for independence, but for a new kind of political society: a democratic republic

Declaration of Independence  Explained to the world why separation from England was necessary (27 grievances)  New theory of government (democracy)  Declared war

Why the Colonists Won  British controlled the cities, but not the countryside  British generals made key mistakes  U.S. morale and will to fight  Battle of Saratoga led to a colonial alliance with France

Treaty of Paris  The Patriot victory at Yorktown, however, convinced the British that the war was too costly  Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay represented the United States in the peace talks in Paris  The American Congress ratified a preliminary treaty in April 1783