for Mrs. Stephens’ 4th grade Class The Revolutionary War By Miss Lily for Mrs. Stephens’ 4th grade Class

Analyze the Photograph...

Before the U.S.A. King George of Britain had 13 colonies in North America. People had come to live in them so they could have some freedom and to start a new life. The people who had decided to live in the colonies were the rebellious type- people who wouldn’t let anyone boss them around!

French and Indian War In 1754, Great Britain and France broke out in war over control of North America. (It’s called the French and Indian war because the French and Native Americans were on the same side- allies.) Great Britain won the war, but it had cost them huge amounts of money. King George decided to get Great Britain out of debt by making the colonists pay outrageous taxes…uh oh!

The $tamp Act The Stamp Act put a tax on all legal documents-this included newspapers and playing cards. The colonists responded by saying “No taxation without representation.” This meant that they would not pay taxes without having someone to represent them in the government. However, the people in parliament would not have supported their views.

The colonists’ interests were protected in their own colonial assemblies. Colonists’ protested by boycotting British goods, which led to the reversal of the Stamp Act.

Later… The colonists had been protesting a tax on tea, and were not purchasing it, so parliament created a Tea Act.

TEA ACT Later Parliament created a Tea Act. The Tea Act was an act by parliament trying to persuade the colonists to purchase tea. Colonists would only be able to purchase tea from a specific company allowed by Parliament. This teas was cheap. In both Boston, Massachusetts and in Charleston, South Carolina there were “tea parties.” In Boston, colonists boarded English ships and threw the tea overboard. This is an example of a Tea Party. In Charleston, the tea was stored in a warehouse and not allowed to be sold. England was angry and passed laws to punish Boston [Coercive Acts].

The Boston Tea Party Once, the colonists got so angry that a group of them dressed up as Indians, snuck on a ship, and dumped all the tea on the ship into the Boston Harbor. It was their way of rebelling against the taxes and all the other demands of King George. Needless to say, this “Tea Party” made him pretty angry and he put even more restrictions on the colonists.

Coercive Acts = Intolerable Acts The colonists called these the Intolerable acts because they would not tolerate these laws. The effects of the laws: Boston port closed-no goods could be shipped The colonists government, the colonial assembly, was abolished. the colonists met together in a congress [the First Continental Congress] The colonists sent a letter to the King of England pledging their loyalty and opposing British actions. South Carolinians sent the Bostonians rice and money to help them survive the closing of their port.

Not Only Were There Taxes, The Proclamation of 1763 made all the land west of the Appalachians off limits to the colonists. This might not have been so bad if a lot of the colonists weren’t already there! The Quartering Act forced the colonists to let soldiers LIVE with them. Many colonists wondered why King George wouldn’t pay for the soldiers’ houses with all their tax money!

Trying to Keep the Peace The colonists put together a group of leaders called the First Continental Congress. They asked King George to take back some of his rules and give the colonists their freedom back. He refused. Bad move, George.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! The colonists had already been assembling an army of about 5,000 men. Thy boycotted trade with England. George Washington was named commander –in-chief. With liberty and freedom from King George and his ways as the goal, the Revolutionary War began! The colonies fought for control of the colonies.

Declaration of Independence At the Second Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence was written in July 1776. It was written by Thomas Jefferson. Stated the reasons why the colonies should be free and independent states. It said “all men are created equal” and have theright to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It listed all of the reasons that the colonies had the right to declare their independence. Men from South Carolina signed the Declaration of Independence. Schoolhouse Rock