1. Unit 1: The Causes of the American Revolution
Essential Question:
What were the causes of the American Revolution?

2. Before 1763 -Colonists were allowed self-rule by England
-Assemblies had the power to create laws and to tax

3. Expansion Brings Trouble
Colonists started moving over the Appalachian Mtns.
France and England go to war in 1754 over the land in what is now the Ohio River Valley.
This war was called the French and Indian or Seven Years War.

4. Effects of the French and Indian War
Colonies are safe from the French but not the Native Americans in the Ohio Valley
Increased British military presence in N.A.
Britain is broke-so they tax the heck out of the colonists
Britain’s empire in N.A. becomes huge.

5. A New Ruler in England Brings More Trouble
King George III crowned in 1760
Historians have characterized him as not a bright man, but a “take-charge” ruler. Not a good combination.

6. Dumb moves by King George III
Proclamation of 1763
The Sugar Act
The Stamp Act
The Quartering Act
The Townshend Acts
Sending troops to Boston to “keep order”
The Tea Act
Closing the Port of Boston

9. King George’s Dumb Moves #1
Proclamation of 1763
No one can settle west of the Appalachians
colonists saw this as tyrannical-or unjust use of power

11. King George’s Dumb Moves #2
Sugar Act
In 1764 Parliament passed the Sugar Act, which set duties on molasses and sugar imported by colonists. This was the first act passed specifically to raise money in the colonies.

12. The Response: “No Taxation without Representation”
Parliament’s actions upset many colonists who had grown used to being independent. Merchants thought the taxes were unfair and hurt business.
Many believed that Great Britain had no right to tax the colonies at all without their consent.
No one in Britain had asked the colonists if they wanted to be taxed!. In addition, the colonists had no direct representatives in Parliament.
Local leader Samuel Adams believed that Parliament could not tax the colonists without their permission. The ideas Adams were summed up in the slogan “No Taxation without Representation,” which spread throughout the colonies.

13. Dumb Move #3 The Stamp Act of 1765
But the British government continued to look for ways to tax.
The Stamp Act required American Colonists to pay a tax on paper items.
Months of protests = Parliament repealed the Act

14. Dumb Move #4 The Quartering Act
1765-King George ordered colonial assemblies to house British soldiers
provide “candles, bedding, cooking utensils, salt, vinegar and...beer or cider”
colonists saw this as an abuse of power!

15. Dumb Move #5 The Townshend Acts -1767
Charles Townshend-Head of Parliament
taxed glass, paint, paper and tea imported from England
Samuel Adams led a boycott of the goods taxed by England
Lord North convinced Parliament to repeal all but the tax on tea

16. Dumb Move #6 Boston Massacre -1770
A riot between the colonists and the British soldiers
Patriot’s used the event to whip up more anti-British feelings

17. King George’s Dumb Move #7 The Tea Act - 1773
Lord North lowered the price of tea to a level that was less than the Dutch were selling-even with the tax
HOWEVER, He required colonists to only buy from the British East India Company

18. Boston Tea Party -1773 Angry protesters kept tea from being unloaded
Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians, boarded the ships and threw the tea overboard

19. King George’s Dumb move #8 Intolerable Acts - 1774
To gain control King George:
closed the port of Boston
revoked their charter and regain political and judicial control
More troops were sent to Boston

20. A New Way of Thinking…. Common Sense
A 47-page book called Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, changed the colonists’ minds
It urged separation from England
It claimed that citizens, not kings, should make laws
It argued against tyranny (the abuse of government power)
**It convinced many of the colonists to support independence

21. And It All Blows Up!
British General Gage marches his men to Concord to seize a stash of stockpiled weapons
Captain Parker of the militia meet them at the village of Lexington
Although no one knows who started the conflict, Americans proved they were willing to die for the cause.

22. To Review: Causes of the American Revolution
French and Indian War
Proclamation of 1763
Sugar Act
Stamp Act
Quartering Act
Townshend Acts
Boston Massacre
Tea Act
Boston Tea Party
Intolerable Acts
Common Sense