1. Major Causes for Revolution
The French and Indian War
The Sugar Act
The Stamp Act
The Revolution wasn’t an impulsive act that just happened overnight. There are multiple historical events leading up to the fighting of the Revolution. The major causes in chronological order are the French and Indian War, the Sugar Act, and the Stamp Act.

3. A. Rivalry between the French and British
The French and Indian War—1754
A. Rivalry between the French and British
B. Who will control North America?
C. British, colonists, and Native American allies (Iroquois Confederacy) fought French and Native American allies (Algonquin & Huron)
Two European nations, France and Great Britain, were fighting over who got custody and control of North America. The colonists and some Native Americans from the Iroquois Confederacy were allied with the British against the French and other Native Americans from the Algonquin and Huron tribes.

4. D. Great Britain’s national debt nearly doubled during the war
The French and Indian War—1754
D. Great Britain’s national debt nearly doubled during the war
E. British expected Americans to help pay for protection
The war lasted nine years, ending in 1763.
Great Britain hadn’t budgeted for such an expensive war. Great Britain needed money to pay for the war debts, which had nearly doubled. Thus, Great Britain expected the Colonies to help pay for their protection during the French and Indian War. The war lasted for nine years and ended in 1763.

5. The Sugar Act
A. 1st attempt to raise income from the Colonies – to regain lost money from French & Indian War
B. Tax on sugar & molasses not obtained from Britain - in other words, “Buy British!”
C. Smuggling cases tried in Great Britain – attempt to regulate smuggling
Making colonists purchase British-made goods instead of products from the French West Indies was Great Britain’s first plan to regain lost monies. Great Britain passed the Sugar Act, which included a tax on all non-British imports, to strongly encourage colonists to “buy British.” This act was also an attempt to regulate American smuggling. The Act called for a tax of threepence on every gallon of molasses, taxed wine and other goods, and provided for strict enforcement.

6. The Stamp Act—1765
A. Official government stamp required – deeply impacted American lawyers who dealt with legal docs (Sam & John Adams)
B. First internal tax paying for British protection
The colonists hated the Stamp Act. It deeply impacted and infuriated American lawyers who dealt with legal documents. Many of these lawyers, including Sam and John Adams, were vital contributors to the Revolutionary Movement.

7. More Major Causes The Townshend Acts Boston Massacre Boston Tea Party
The Intolerable Acts
Great Britain didn’t stop there. The British continued to pass a series of laws to restrict the colonies and hold them partly responsible, once again, for British protection from possible attacks by the French or native Americans. The Townshend Acts eventually led to the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party, but the Intolerable Acts, as the colonists nicknamed them, prompted the large-scale revolt by outraged colonists against Great Britain’s King George III.

8. The Townshend Acts—1767 Import duties on tea, lead, glass, and paint
Money used to pay royal governors
“No taxation without representation!”
The Townshend Acts, or duties, were the last straw. They were an attempt to get Americans to pay extra taxes on a variety of items most often used in the Colonies, such as tea, red and white lead (paint pigments), glass and paint tints. The money raised by taxation was used to pay royal governors in Great Britain and the colonists had no official representation within the government. “No taxation without representation” became a rallying cry for American revolutionaries.
Townshend

9. Boston Massacre—1770
A. Crowd of colonists threaten British soldiers – snowball fight!
B. British open fire, killing five Americans
-Crispus Attucks
C. Result: Parliament canceled the Townshend duties (except tea tax)
It’s hard to believe, but a snowball fight led to the very first casualties of the War. It took place, in the center of Boston, five years before the first actual battle. Americans were throwing snowballs at British sentries. One British soldier fell on ice, causing his rifle to discharge. This accidental firing led to the historical Boston Massacre in which five colonists were killed. Crispus Attucks was the person of color casualty of the Revolutionary War. Parliament canceled the Townshend duties, all except for the tea tax, shortly after.

10. Boston Tea Party—1773
A. British sold tea even more cheaply than smuggled tea (threatened American trade)
B. Sons of Liberty (colonists) dressed up as Mohawks
C. Colonists boarded tea ships
D. 342 crates of tea were dumped into Boston Harbor
Tea, along with beer, was the favorite drink in the Colonies. When the British undersold smuggled tea, thus threatening American trade, the Sons of Liberty, an organization of colonists ready for revolution against Great Britain’s king, had a “tea party” at Boston Harbor. The group disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, crept onto the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver, and dumped 342 crates of tea into the Boston Harbor water. Mixed reaction met the event, and some colonists, including Ben Franklin, thought the tea should be paid for. Many colonists promised to change their drinking habits to something other than British tea, but that movement was short-lived.

11. Tea Party Diary
“Last Night 3 Cargoes of Bohea Tea were emptied into the sea. This Morning, a Man of War sails. This is the most magnificent Movement of all.”
—John Adams (1773)
This piece from Adams’ diary shows how excited the colonists were to strike out against the British.

12. The Intolerable Acts—1774 A. Closed the Port of Boston
B. Banned American town meetings
C. British officials in trouble sent to Great Britain for trial, meaning that they were rarely prosecuted.
The British had to retaliate to save face. They couldn’t let this act go unpunished. They responded to the Tea Party by toughening their stand against the Colonies, passing a series of “Intolerable Acts,” which restricted the Colonies in numerous ways, including closing the Port of Boston (essential to the colonists for importing and exporting goods), banning colonists from holding town meetings, and having British officials who had committed crimes sent from the colonies to Great Britain for trial, where they were rarely prosecuted.

13. Samuel Adams: organized BTP John Adams: defended the soldiers in BM
1st Continental Congress
56 colonial delegates
Samuel Adams: organized BTP
John Adams: defended the soldiers in BM
Why meet? -
Respond to the crisis in Boston!
Samuel Adams

14. Allow for a Colonial army (militia) 10 resolutions to the king
What the colonists wanted: compromise!
Remove British Acts
Allow for a Colonial army (militia)
10 resolutions to the king
Including the right to “life, liberty, and property.”
***Colonies didn’t mind being ruled by England.

15. Response to 1st CC…
King George III did not agree!
Therefore…
Colonists would continue to boycott British goods!
Colonial militia should be ready to fight.

16. American colonists stockpiled weapons in Concord, MA
“The Shot Heard Round the World”
American colonists stockpiled weapons in Concord, MA
800 British troops marched through Lexington on the way to Concord
“The British are coming!” – Paul Revere, William Dawes, Samuel Prescott
Enough was enough, American colonists stockpiled weapons in Concord, Massachusetts, outside Boston. Then fighting began. The first battles occurred outside Boston, in Lexington and Concord. It is often called “The Shot Heard Around the World” as 13 colonies decided to challenge the mighty British Empire. Paul Revere, one of the Sons of Liberty, warned colonists, “The British are coming!”

18. The Armed Militia A. Known as “Minutemen”
B. 70 Minutemen on the Village Green
C. Known as the Battle of Lexington and Concord
D. Uncertain which side fired first
D. Americans: 50 killed and 45 wounded/missing
E. British: 65 killed and 208 wounded/missing
This was truly a mismatched battle from the start, but the outcome was monumental. Farmers and shopkeepers responded to Paul Revere’s call to arms by being ready to fight at “a minute’s notice,” earning them the nickname “Minutemen.” Seventy Minutemen were waiting for the British soldiers at the Village Green, on April 19, Historians are still uncertain about which side fired the first shot. Approximately 50 American colonists were killed and 45 were wounded or missing; the British, on the other hand, lost approximately 65 soldiers and 208 were wounded or missing. The battle was a humiliating defeat for the British, who had more organized, highly trained militias. However, they didn’t use guerilla warfare as the Minutemen chose to do and thus the British were unprepared for ambushes and easily slaughtered.

19. Lexington and Concord

20. Lexington Diary
“At 10 of the clock last night, the King’s troops marched out from the bottom of the common, crossed over to Phips Farm, marched on ’till they came to Lexington.”
—Timothy Newell (1775)
This is an excerpt from Timothy Newell’s diary. “At 10 of the clock last night, the King’s troops marched out from the bottom of the common, crossed over to Phips Farm, marched on ’till they came to Lexington.” –Timothy Newell (1775)

21. Lexington Famous Quote
“Stand your ground, don’t fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!”
—Captain Parker, colonial militia officer and farmer
Many British soldiers felt bad about shooting their countrymen.