1. Lesson 8: Creating a Time Line to Show Cause and Effect
Unit 5: Road to the Revolution

2. I can create a timeline of significant events leading to the American Revolution.
Social Studies: Unit 5, Road to Revolution, Lesson 8

3. Lots of old, dead white people…
History is made up of people, events, and ideas.
Lots of old, dead white people…

4. Big Ideas of Lesson 8
All events have causes and consequences. Historians try to understand the past by considering the causes and consequences of people’s actions or events.
The struggle for independence included many important events that were linked together through causes and consequences or effects.
For example, one of the causes of the French and Indian War was that some colonists were moving west in the desire for more land. This caused conflicts with both Native Americans and the French. Some of the consequences of the French and Indian War were that the British won the war and obtained lands west to the Mississippi River, and the British Parliament issued a declaration telling colonists they could not move west past the Appalachian Mountains.
Another example of cause and effect, involves the chain of events leading to the Revolutionary War. For example, when the British passed the Tea Act, colonists reacted by throwing tea into Boston Harbor. The British reacted to this action by colonists by passing the Intolerable Acts. These acts closed Boston Harbor.
The American Revolution officially began with the Battles at Lexington and Concord.

5. Divide up cards into two groups: British Actions and Colonists Actions
Divide up cards into two groups: British Actions and Colonists Actions. If any don’t fit, set the card aside.

6. Timeline Cards
British Actions: Proclamation of 1763, Sugar Act, Quartering Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Boston Massacre, Tea Act, Intolerable Acts.
Colonial Reactions: Committees of Correspondence, Boston Tea Party, First Continental Congress.
British and Colonial: Battles of Lexington and Concord

7. Questions to discuss with neighbors…
What are some colonial actions/reactions that are not shown on the cards?
the Stamp Act Congress, circular letters, boycotts, protests, etc.
What are some British actions/reactions that are not on the cards?

8. Timeline Cards: Chronological Order
Determining the first event and the last event and then sequencing the rest.
Looking for cards that have a cause and effect relationship, for example the Boston Tea Party and the Intolerable Acts.
Placing six or eight events in order that you are fairly sure of and then trying to “fit in” the other events.

9. Chronological Events Road to the Revolution
Proclamation of 1763
Sugar Act (April 5, 1764)
Stamp Act (1765)
Quartering Act (1765)
Townshend Acts (June 29, 1767)
Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770)
Committees of Correspondence (1772)
Tea Act (May 10, 1773)
Boston Tea Party (Dec. 16, 1773)
Intolerable Acts (1774)
First Continental Congress (Sept. 6, 1774)
Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775)

10. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Proclamation of 1763
Year: 1763
What Happened: Result of French and Indian War. The British government set a western boundary for the colonies.
Reaction: Colonists were angry they had been told they could not expand to the west.Colonists felt it infringed on their rights. Some believed the King did not have authority.

11. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Sugar Act
Year: 1764
What Happened: Placed a tax on sugar and other things not from Britain. A way for Britain to control colonial trade. British sent tax collectors to the colonies from Britain.
Reaction: Colonists said it was an unfair tax. Colonists protested. Some colonists attacked tax collectors. Colonists smuggled some goods like sugar.

12. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Stamp Act
Year: 1765
What Happened: A tax was placed on many items such as printed paper goods made in the colonies. A stamp was placed on the item when a tax paid.
Reaction: Colonists said it was an unfair tax. Colonial rallying cry, “No taxation without representation” which reflected the idea of government by consent. Colonists boycotted British goods and engaged in some violence.

13. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Quartering Act
Year: 1765
What Happened: Colonists had to give supplies and shelter to British soldiers.
Reaction: Colonists felt they should not have to pay for British soldiers and protested the Act.

14. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Townshend Acts
Year: 1767
What Happened: British placed a tax on things like glass and paint. Writs of Assistance were issued that allowed the British to search for smuggling without evidence.
Reaction: Colonists were very angry. Circular letter- Massachusetts. Boycott and more violence.

15. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Boston Massacre
Year: 1770
What Happened: Britain sent more troops. British fire on colonists and five colonists are killed. Crispus Attucks, former enslaved African, was first killed.
Reaction: Talk of war begins.

16. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Committees of Correspondence
Year: 1772
What Happened: Samuel Adams called for a Boston town meeting to create a committee of correspondence to communicate Boston’s position on issues to the other colonies.
Reaction: Similar committees were soon created throughout the colonies.

17. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Tea Act
Year: 1773
What Happened: Allowed one company to sell tea at a lower price. Hurt colonial merchants.
Reaction: Colonists called it interference.

18. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Boston Tea Party
Year: 1773
What Happened: Colonists tossed tea into Boston Harbor as a protest of the Tea Act.
Reaction: British were angry and demanded payment for the tea. British passed new laws. British blockaded Boston Harbor.

19. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Intolerable Acts
Year: 1774
What Happened: The British passed four new laws as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. The British closed Boston Harbor until colonists paid for the money lost when the tea was dumped in the harbor. New Quartering Act.
Reaction: Colonists decided to meet to protest: First Continental Congress. Some colonists got weapons.

20. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: First Continental Congress
Year: 1774
What Happened: Representatives from all colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia. They wrote Declaration of Rights. They planned a boycott of British goods.
Reaction: Britain sent more soldiers to the colonies. Britain decided to arrest some colonial leaders.

21. Events Leading to the American Revolution
Event: Battles of Lexington and Concord
Year: 1775
What Happened: The colonists stored gunpowder at Concord, Massachusetts and the British decided to get it. British and colonial soldiers met at Lexington for a battle. Another battle occurred at Concord.
Reaction: The Revolutionary War officially began.

23. How would history be different if there had been a “break in the chain”?
If Parliament had allowed the colonies to have representatives in Parliament right after the Sugar Act was passed, would there still have been an American Revolution?
If the colonies had paid for the tea that was dumped in the harbor, would there still have been an American Revolution?
At what point do you think the American Revolution became inevitable?

26. Would the American Revolution have happened if the colonies had not experienced self-government early in their history?

27. I can create a timeline of significant events leading to the American Revolution.
Social Studies: Unit 5, Road to Revolution, Lesson 8