Prelude to Revolution

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Prelude to Revolution

• 1763- 1776

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Pontiacs Rebellion (1763)
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BACKLASH!
British ? Proclamation Line of
1763.
Colonials ? Paxton Boys (PA)
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Rethinking Their Empire
Br. Gvt. measures to prevent smuggling

• 1761 ? writs of assistance

• James Otis case
• Protection of a citizens private property must
  be held in higher regard than a parliamentary
  statute.

• He lost ? parliamentary law and custom had
  equalweight.

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George Grenvilles Program, 1763-1765
1. Sugar Act - 1764
2. Currency Act - 1764
3. Quartering Act - 1765
4. Stamp Act - 1765
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Theories of Representation
Real Whigs
Q-gt What was the extent of Parliaments
authority over the colonies??
OR Limited?
Absolute?
Q-gt How could the colonies give or
withhold consent for parliamentary
legislation when they did not have
representation in that body??
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Stamp Act Crisis
Loyal Nine - 1765
Sons of Liberty began in NYCSamuel

Adams
Stamp Act Congress 1765 Stamp Act
Resolves
Declaratory Act 1766
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Costs of Colonial Resistance
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Townshend Duties Crisis 1767-1770
1767 ? William Pitt, P. M. Charles
Townshend, Secretary of the
Exchequer.

• Shift from paying taxes for Br. war debts
  quartering of troops ? paying col. govt.
  salaries.

• He diverted revenue collection from internal
  to external trade.

• Tax these imports ? paper, paint, lead, glass,
  tea.

• Increase custom officials at American ports
  ? established a Board of Customs in
  Boston.

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Colonial Response to the Townshend Duties
1. John Dickinson ? 1768 Letters from
a Farmer in Pennsylvania.
2. 1768 ? 2nd non-importation
movement Daughters of Liberty
spinning bees
3. Riots against customs agents John
Hancocks ship, the Liberty.
4000 British troops sent to Boston.
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For the first time, many colonists began calling
people who joined the non-importation movement,
"patriots!"
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Basic Causes of the American Revolution

• Economic Causes- colonists resented British
  mercantilist laws. The colonists were trying to
  free themselves from these restrictions and from
  their exploitation of the mother country.

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Causes

• Political Causes- Colonists argued they are
  entitled to self-government. They felt their own
  government should tax them and not have taxation
  without representation.
• Colonists were angry over the writs of assistance
  and trial by jury rights that Englishmen have

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Causes

• Misunderstandings- separated by 3000 miles, the
  American colonies did not understand each other.
  Although most of the colonists were of English
  origin, they were changed by the American
  environment.
• King George felt the colonists were ungrateful
  and disloyal. Felt they were to be put in line
  by Force.

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Reasons for the Declaration of Independence

• British hiring the Hessians after the Battle of
  Bunker Hill
• Thomas Paines pamphlet, Common Sense
• Confidence in American Fighting techniques
• Felt the Declaration would help us secure foreign
  assistance especially from France