The American Revolution AN ENLIGHTENED LOOK

So… War is Expensive IN 1754, THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR ERUPTED BETWEEN FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN OVER THEIR COLONIES IN THE NEW WORLD. IT LASTED UNTIL 1763. GREAT BRITAIN EXPECTED THE COLONISTS TO HELP PAY FOR WAR COSTS.

Taxes and Rebellion COLONISTS HAD SEVERAL DIFFERENT TAXES IMPOSED ON THEM OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS. THE STAMP ACT: IN 1765, THE COLONISTS HAD TO START PAYING A TAX FOR A GOVERNMENT STAMP ON THINGS LIKE WILLS, DEEDS, NEWSPAPERS & PRINTED MATERIAL. COLONISTS REBELLED AGAINST THESE TAXES OR “ACTS” BY BOYCOTTING ENGLISH GOODS, SMUGGLING, AND HELD PROTESTS LIKE THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.

Colonial Protest BOYCOTTED BRITISH GOODS (REFUSED TO BUY) ATTACKED STAMP AGENTS COLONIES SAID THEY COULD NOT BE TAXED SINCE THEY HAD NO REPRESENTATIVES IN PARLIAMENT (NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION) BOSTON MASSACRE (1770) – FIVE PEOPLE IN A MOB KILLED BY BRITISH SOLDIERS

Colonial Protest ENGLAND REPEALED MOST OF THE TAXES BUT KEPT A TAX ON TEA BOSTON TEA PARTY (1773) – COLONISTS DUMPED BRITISH TEA INTO BOSTON HARBOR INTOLERABLE ACTS (1774) – CLOSED BOSTON HARBOR UNTIL TEA HAD BEEN PAID FOR AND REQUIRED CITIZENS TO HOUSE AND FEED SOLDIERS

On the Eve of War… AT THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, COLONISTS WROTE THEIR GRIEVANCES AND SENT THEM TO THE KING, SEPTEMBER 1774. AFTER THE KING IGNORED THIS, THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS PENNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

What did the Declaration “declare”? THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS BASED ON JOHN LOCKE’S IDEAS OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN. “… ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, THAT AMONG THERE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS”… THIS DOCUMENT STATED THE COLONIES’ INDEPENDENCE FROM THE BRITISH CROWN.

Revolutionary War THE BRITISH WANTED TO MAINTAIN THEIR COLONIES IN THE NEW WORLD. FIGHTING BEGAN IN LEXINGTON & CONCORD IN 1775 AND LASTED UNTIL 1781. - BRITISH COMMANDER LORD CORNWALLIS SURRENDERED HIS ARMY AT YORKTOWN, VA. THE BRITISH CITIZENS WERE TIRED OF PAYING TAXES TO FINANCE A WAR 3,000 MILES AWAY.

New Government: A Republic THE 13 NEW STATES FORMED A GOVERNMENT UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. - WEAK FORM OF GOVERNMENT THAT DID NOT WORK – THERE WAS NO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AND NO WAY TO COLLECT TAXES. PEOPLE FEARED A STRONG LEADER THAT WOULD RESEMBLE A MONARCHY.

A New Constitution CONGRESS APPROVED A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION IN 1787 AND DELEGATES FROM ALL THE STATES CAME TOGETHER. THIS NEW CONSTITUTION USED IDEAS FROM LOCKE, MONTESQUIEU AND ROUSSEAU TO DECIDE WHO SHOULD BE REPRESENTED AND HOW THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE REPRESENTED. EACH BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT HAD A SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES SO THAT NO ONE BRANCH HAD TOO MUCH POWER. IT ALSO CREATED A BILL OF RIGHTS WHICH PROTECTED BASIC RIGHTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH, PRESS, ASSEMBLY AND RELIGION.