Early American Colonists

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Early American Colonists
Americas first group of civil disobedients.
By Tracy Hamner History packet for sudent use.
Click Mouse to begin.
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Elements in PresentationThese are the different
aspects discussed in this Powerpoint project.
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The Early American Colonists were the first
people in our countrys history to practice civil
disobdedience.
-The Colonists had to protest the various acts
and bans set forth by Britain. -They were
protesting against Britains hold over the New
World. -The various acts of civil disobedience
had a huge impact on the American
Revolution. -The American Revolution, itself, is
probably one of the biggest acts of civil
disobedience throughout history. -The colonists
acts as well the war were successful in gaining
freedom for the new colonists from the British.
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PONTIAC'S REBELLION
-In 1763, the British fur traders had moved into
land that was supposed to be occupied by the
Indians. -The British had moved the French off
of the land and the Indians were not receiving
anymore gifts from the French. -This upset
various Indian tribes and they wanted to fix the
problem.
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PONTIAC'S REBELLION
-In order to combat the British, the Indians
prepared a rebellion. -Various indian tribes
banded together and raided and burned British
forts. -The rebeelion worked when King George
III issued the Proclamation of 1762 that gave all
of the land back to the Indians.
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The Stamp Act
- After the French and Indian War, the British
had a war debt of close to 140 million pounds. -
In 1764, the British government passed the Sugar
Act that placed a tax on all sugar materials, as
well as the Stamp Act which required a stamp be
placed on all printed materials. -In order to
protest these taxes, the colonists called town
meetings and planeed boycotts. The colonists
refused to buy and use any materials that came
from Britain until the tax was removed.
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The Stamp Act
- In 1765, generals in the British army requested
that the colonists be forced into complying with
the laws that had been written. - In order to
protest, the colonists prepared their arguments
and chose Benjamin Franklin to represent them in
the British Court. Franklin presented the
colonists plan to the British government. -In
1766, the British prime minister signed a bill to
repeal the Stamp Act. The work of the protesters
had worked.
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The Townshend Act
-In 1767, the English parliament decided to cut
the British land tax and this left a huge whole
in the budget. -To make up for the loss of
income, the government passed the Townshend Acts
which created a tax on goods the colonists
imported, such as paper, red and white lead,
glass, paints, and tea shipped from
England. -The money that was taken from this tax
went directly to the salary of British officials
and this angered the colonists.
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The Townshend Act
- The Colonists were very upset with this new tax
and reconvened the town meetings and set up their
protests. -In February 1768, Samuel Adams of
Massachusetts wrote a letter to oppose the
taxation without representation. This letter
became known as the "circular" letter. He asked
the colonists to rise up against the British
government. - Once again, the colonists began
to boycott the British goods and imports. -In
March of 1770, because of the increased protest,
the Townshen Acts were repealed.
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The Boston Massacre
- On March 5, 1770, a group of British troops got
into an argument with a few Colonists. When the
colonists three rock and snowballs at the
soldiers, they began to fire back at the people.
5 colonists died from the shootings. - The
incident enraged the New World and protests wer
rampid throughout the country. People sat in
front of courthouses in protest of the terrible
act. -Then, the British government punished the
troops very easily. The soldiers served no
sentence, only receiving a brandish on their
thumb. -This punishment sent the people into an
uproar and caused more protests and increased the
hatred between the two groups.
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The Boston Tea Party
- In 1773, the British government passed the Tea
Act to help save a British company. -This act led
to the the biggest act of civil disobedience in
our countrys history. -The colonists first tried
to boycott the company and try to persuade the
head officials in the companys to resign. -On
December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams led three groups
of fifty men dressed like Mohawk Indians and
walked through Boston. -These men walked onto a
British Tea ship and threw loads of tea into the
Boston Harbor. -Ths act caused a wave of
patriotism around th country and people became
confident of their ability for freedom.
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The Intolerable Acts
-In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British
government passed a series of laws to make the
colonists pay for their supposed mistakes. -The
first act closed the Boston harbor which hurt the
economy drastically. -The second act said that no
British soldier could be tried for any crime.
This gave the troops free reign to do whatever
they wanted to do. -The third act only allowed
the people to have one town meeting a year.
-There were also the acts that gave some of
Massachusetts to the Canadiens and one that
forced colonists to house British troops. -
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The Intolerable Acts
-These acts were a turning point for the
Colonists. It was a time that bonded them
together. -Seeing the harshness and cruelty of
the British made all of the colonists realize
that they needed to fight for their freedom.
-To fight these acts, they once again organized
and planned boycottts. -This was big time in
American history because it prepared them for war
and allowed them to declare their independence.
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The American Revolution
-All of the protests and boycotts against the
British finally culminated in the biggest protest
of them all The American Revolution. -The
early colonists bonded together, prepared the
army, and fought for their freedom. -When the
British prime minister refused to repeal the
Intolerable Acts, the colonists decided to take
action. It was the last straw. -They fought the
Revolution and won their freedom in the most
historic piece of civil disoberdience in history.
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Summary
-Acts of civil disobedience were very common and
needed during Colonial America. -The British
government passed various bills and taxes aimed
at bettering themselves while hurting the
colonists. -In order to combat these acts,
colonists bonded together and boycotted or
protested. -Their acts of protest worked in
almost all cases. -The American Revolution is the
biggest example of the colonists civil
disobedience. -They wanted their freedom,
demanded it, and then fought for it. -Early
colonial Americans were the first participants in
civil disobedience on the new world.
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A Timeline of the Revolution
This is a great site to visit if you want to see
a timeline for the Revolution. http//www.pbs.org
/ktca/liberty/chronicle/timeline.html
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The End!!!!!