Mr. Clifford US 1

 Stamp Act required colonists to purchase special stamped paper for: legal documents, license, newspaper, pamphlets, almanac, dice, playing cards  Every colonists, rich & poor, was affected by tax  Colonists lost respect for British office holders in colonies

 All colonies were against Stamp Act  The Sons of Liberty, organized & founded by Samuel Adams.  members demonstrated & protested throughout colonies, harassed tax collectors  Declaration of Rights & Grievances was created by representatives from 9 colonies.  Parliament could not tax colonists because they were not represented in Parliament.  Colonists boycotted British goods and Britain repealed Stamp Act.  Britain passed: Declaratory Act asserting Parliament’s right to create/impose laws on colonies

 indirect tax levied on imports- glass, lead, paint, paper, & tea  colonists were enraged  Sons of Liberty imposed boycotts of all imported British goods  Britain stationed 4,000 troops in Boston: this show of force led the colonists one step closer to revolution

 the presence of British troops in Boston led to bloody clashes with colonists. This pushed the colonists and Britain closer to war

 March 5, 1770: mob of colonists gathered outside the Custom Building and began to taunt a British sentry & soldiers  Mob became unruly and British soldiers fired into crows of colonists killing 5.  To ease tensions Parliament repealed Townshend Act  Committee of Correspondence was created to establish communication among the colonies.

 British East India Tea Company held an official monopoly on tea imports to colonies  Tea Act: act was implemented by Parliament so the British East India Tea Company had the right to sell their tea free of taxes. Colonial tea sellers had to pay the tax.  Tea Act : cut out colonial merchants directly out of the tea trade: British tea was now less expensive then colonial tea  Colonists protested violently  December 1773: large group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Mohawks and proceeded to go aboard 3 British ships carrying East India Tea. Colonist destroyed 15,000 lbs of tea.

 King George III, infuriated by the acts of the colonists, has Parliament pass the ‘ Coercive Acts’  -Boston Harbor was shut down until colonist paid for destroyed tea  -British officers could house troops in colonial homes & buildings  -Boston was now under ‘martial law’  the ‘Intolerable Acts’ unified the colonies; the Committee of Correspondence acted and helped establish the First Continental Congress in Sept  56 delegates met in Philadelphia & created the declaration of colonial rights  Would reconvene in May 1775

 after the First Continental Congress, minuteman/colonists stockpiled weapons, powder, ammo.  - Spring 1775: General Gage ordered troops to march to Concord to seize all weapons.  -Paul Revere and others ride through Massachusetts to spread the word that the British were coming.  -British reach Lexington and met 70 minutemen. A shot was fired and both sides began to shoot. Within 15 minutes 8 minutemen killed/9 injured  -British reach Concord but arsenal was empty.  - British troops lined up and marched back to Boston. As they marched 3-4,000 minutemen assembled & surrounded the British  -The Revolution Had Begun