Chapter 2: Road to Independence · CHAPTER 2 • Road to Independence 115 Use the main idea that appears under one of the headings in Section 1 of this chapter as the first sentence

The Old North Bridge,Concord, Massachusetts

1682William Pennplans colony

1775BostonTea Partytakesplace

1781Americans gainindependencewith victory atYorktown

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Philadelphia

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Charles Town

New York

1600 1700 1800

1620MayflowerCompactis signed

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CHAPTER 2 • Road to Independence 113

Founding the American ColoniesGeography shapes the physical, economic, and political

challenges a region faces. Peoples of various cultures andreligions settled the early North American colonies.

Life in Colonial AmericaGeography shapes the physical, economic, and political

challenges a region faces. Although the regions of colonialAmerica differed, an American identity was growing.

Trouble in the ColoniesPolitical ideas and major events shape how people form

governments. British policies came into conflict withAmerican ideas about self-government.

War of IndependencePolitical ideas and major events shape how people form

governments. The United States declared independence in1776, but it took several years of war and turmoil to earnrecognition as a new nation.

View the Chapter 2 video in the Glencoe Video Program.

Chapter Overview Visit ca.hss.glencoe.comfor a preview of Chapter 2.

Cause and Effect Make this foldable to show the causes and effects of the eventsthat led the Americans to declare independence from Great Britain.

Reading and WritingAs you read this chapter,fill in the causes (Britishactions) and effects(Colonial reactions) inthe correct columns ofyour foldable.

Step 1 Foldone sheet ofpaper in halffrom side toside.

Fold the sheetvertically.

Step 3 Open and labelas shown.

Draw linesalong thefold lines.

BritishActions

ColonialReactions

Step 2 Fold again,1 inch from the top.(Tip: The middle knuckleof your index finger isabout 1 inch long.)

http://ca.hss.glencoe.com

The main idea is often the

first sentence in a para-

graph but not always.

Identifying the Main Idea

Main ideas are the most important ideas in a paragraph, section,or chapter. Supporting details are facts or examples that explainthe main idea. Historical details, such as names, dates, andevents, are easier to remember when they are connected to amain idea. Understanding the main idea allows you to grasp thewhole picture or story. Read the excerpt below and notice howthe author explains the main idea.

114

The Spanish, however, did not ignorethe lands north of Mexico and theCaribbean. During the 1600s, they builtsettlements and forts along the northernedge of their American empire. Thesesettlements, such as St. Augustine inFlorida and Santa Fe in New Mexico,were intended to keep other Europeansout of Spanish territory. Spanishmissionary-priests, such as Junípero Serra(hoo • NEE • puh • ROH SEHR • UH) andEusebio Kino (yoo • SEE • bee • oh), alsoheaded north. They set up missions, orreligious communities, to teachChristianity and European ways to theNative Americans. Missions were set upin New Mexico, Texas, California, andother areas of North America.

—from page 117

Main Idea

SupportingDetails


Use the main idea thatappears under one of theheadings in Section 1 ofthis chapter as the firstsentence in a paragraph.As you read, completethe paragraph with sup-porting details.

Read to WriteRead the following paragraph. Draw a graphicorganizer like the one below to show the mainidea and supporting details.

Pick a paragraph from another section of this chapter anddiagram the main idea as you did above.

The Great Awakening is the namefor the powerful religious revival thatswept through the colonies beginningin the 1730s. Christian ministers suchas George Whitefield and JonathanEdwards preached throughout thecolonies, drawing huge crowds. TheGreat Awakening had a lasting effecton the way in which the colonistsviewed themselves, their relationshipswith one another, and their faith.

––from page 128

Main Idea

Massachusetts preacher andphilosopher Jonathan Edwards

Yale University Art Gallery, Bequest of Eugene Phelps Edwards

116 CHAPTER 2 • Road to Independence

Founding theAmerican Colonies

Looking Back, Looking AheadYou learned that Europeans explored andbegan to colonize the Americas in the1400s and 1500s. In North America, earlyEnglish colonies faced hardships, but intime they began to flourish.

Focusing on the • Spain, France, and the Netherlands

founded colonies in North America.(page 117)

• The first permanent English settlementin North America was at Jamestown.(page 119)

• The English established 13 coloniesalong the east coast of North America.(page 120)

Locating PlacesNew England ColoniesMiddle ColoniesSouthern Colonies

Meeting PeopleSamuel de Champlain (sham• PLAYN)Roger WilliamsWilliam Penn

Content Vocabularycharterburgess (BUHR• juhs)Mayflower Compactconstitution (KAHN • stuh•TOO• shuhn)toleration (TAH • luh•RAY• shuhn)dissenter (dih•SEHN• tuhr)persecute (PUHR• sih• KYOOT)diversity (duh•VUHR• suh• TEE)debtor (DEH• tuhr)

Academic Vocabularysurvive (suhr•VYV)grantmilitary (MIH• luh• TEHR •ee)

Reading StrategyClassifying Information Create adiagram like the one below with a rowfor each colony studied in the section. Fillin the names of the colonies and detailson why or how the colony was settled.

1620Pilgrimsland atPlymouth

Plymouth

Jamestown

HistorySocial ScienceStandardsUS8.1 Students under-stand the major eventspreceding the foundingof the nation and relatetheir significance to thedevelopment of Americanconstitutional democracy.

1600 1625 1650

Reasons the colony was settled

Colony

1644Roger Williamsfounds RhodeIsland

1607Jamestowncolonyfounded

Settlements in AmericaSpain, France, and the Netherlands

founded colonies in North America.

Reading Connection How far would you travel tocreate a new home? What would it be like if you didnot know what to expect? How would you plan forit? Read to learn about Europeans who created set-tlements in North America.

In Chapter 1, you learned that Spain andPortugal built colonies in the Americas duringthe 1500s. Beginning in the 1600s, France,England, and other European countries begansetting up their own colonies in the Americas.Most Spanish colonies were in the Caribbean,Mexico, and Central America, and most Frenchand English colonies were in North America.

The Spanish, however, did not ignore thelands north of Mexico and the Caribbean.During the 1600s, they built settlements and fortsalong the northern edge of their Americanempire. These settlements, such as St. Augustinein Florida and Santa Fe in New Mexico, wereintended to keep other Europeans out of Spanishterritory. Spanish missionary-priests, such asJunípero Serra (hoo • NEE • puh • ROH SEHR • UH)and Eusebio Kino (yoo • SEE • bee • oh), alsoheaded north. They set up missions, or religiouscommunities, to teach Christianity andEuropean ways to the Native Americans.Missions were set up in New Mexico, Texas,California, and other areas of North America.

France’s Fur-Trading Empire The Frenchcame to North America to make money fromfur trading. By the 1600s, beaver fur hadbecome popular in Europe. In 1608 the Frenchexplorer Samuel de Champlain (sham • PLAYN)set up a trading post named Quebec (kih • BEHK) in what is now Canada. Quebecbecame the capital of the colony of New France.

From Quebec, French fur trappers, explor-ers, and missionaries moved into other parts ofNorth America. In 1673 the explorers LouisJoliet and Jacques Marquette discovered the

Mississippi River. Then, in 1682, a Frenchexplorer named René-Robert Cavalier, Sieur deLa Salle followed the Mississippi all the way tothe Gulf of Mexico. He named the regionLouisiana in honor of France’s King Louis XIV.The French settlers in southern Louisiana alsobegan bringing in enslaved Africans to growsugarcane, rice, and tobacco.

The Dutch in North America The Dutchalso founded colonies in North America.Although their country, the Netherlands, wassmall, its large fleet of sailing ships sailed allover the world. In 1621 the Dutch set up a trad-ing colony—New Netherland—centered in thearea of the present-day state of New York. NewAmsterdam, the capital, was located on the tipof Manhattan Island where the Hudson Riverenters New York Harbor. Today, it is known asNew York City.

Identify Name severalearly Spanish settlements in North America.

US8.1 Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to the develop-ment of American constitutional democracy.


In the 1600s, French fur traders movedinto parts of North America. In whatareas did the French settle?

Bettmann/CORBIS

118

JUNÍPERO SERRA1713–1784

The Spanish settlers who came to North

America had two aims. They wanted to claim land

and to convert the Native Americans to

Catholicism. To achieve these goals, the Spaniards set

up fortified religious settlements known as missions.

Born in 1713 on an island off the Spanish Coast,

Junípero Serra became a Franciscan priest. Because

he wanted to work as a missionary among Native

Americans, he left Spain in 1749 to travel to Mexico.

At the age of 55, he was sent to take control of

Upper California. He established a mission in San Diego in

1769 and later founded eight other missions. By 1820

there were 21 missions stretching up the California coast

to San Francisco. Taking as his motto “Always to go forward

and never to turn back,” Junípero Serra traveled by foot from

mission to mission. Despite his crippled leg, Father Serra vis-

ited each of his missions regularly.

Father Serra’s missions usually were built a day’s march

from each other. Travelers always had a place to rest after a

long day’s journey. This also made it easier to trade and sell

their food and crafts. The missionaries also built the missions

near the coast so that ships could get fresh supplies before

heading out to sea.

Each mission was unique in a few ways, but they all had the same basic plan: a

large, four-sided building with a central courtyard. The mission was a bustling world

of workshops, storage areas, gardens, and living quarters. Father Serra believed that

the Native Americans should “have their own

lands and crops so that poverty will not make

them [leave the mission].” The location of the

mission was often determined by the availabil-

ity of wood, water, and fields for raising crops

and grazing the livestock that the Spanish

brought to the Americas.

Research the different groups of Native Americanswith whom Father Serra came into contact duringhis explorations and missionary work. Do any ofthese groups still exist today?

“Always . . . go forward and never . . . turn back.”

—Junípero Serra

US8.1 Students understand the majorevents preceding the founding of theAmerican nation and relate their significance to the development of American constitutional democracy.

Robert Holmes/CORBIS

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The Virginia ColonyThe first permanent English settle-

ment in North America was at Jamestown.

Reading Connection Would you be willing to stayin a community with few jobs and where many ofthe residents were starving? Read to find out whathappened to the people of Jamestown and what dis-covery saved the town.

In 1587 a group of English colonistsfinanced by Sir Walter Raleigh sailed for NorthAmerica. There, they founded a colony onRoanoke (RO •uh •nohk) Island off the coast ofpresent-day North Carolina. After six years,however, the colonists disappeared. No oneknows for certain what happened to them. Forthis reason, Roanoke Island became known asthe “Lost Colony.”

Virginia For a time, the failure of the Roanokecolony discouraged further plans for Englishcolonies in North America. However, in 1606the idea emerged again. The Virginia Company,an English joint-stock company, received acharter, or the right to organize a settlement.With the backing of the company, more than100 people braved an Atlantic crossing and setup the first permanent English settlement inNorth America in 1607. The settlers named itJamestown after King James I. Jamestown wasthe first town of a new colony called Virginia.

Life in Virginia was very hard. The colonistshad come hoping to find gold or silver. Instead,they could barely find enough to eat. Many set-tlers died from starvation and the cold winters,and others were killed in clashes with NativeAmericans. The colony survived under the lead-ership of Captain John Smith, a soldier andexplorer. Smith forced the settlers to farm andmanaged to get corn from the Native Americans.

During those first years, the colony made nomoney for the merchants who had invested in it.It might have collapsed had not one of its set-tlers, John Rolfe, discovered that tobacco couldgrow in Virginia’s soil. Tobacco became the first

cash crop of the English colonies. A cash crop isgrown in large quantities to sell for profit.

Self-Government in Virginia To attractmore settlers, the Virginia Company gave thecolonists in Virginia the right to elect burgesses(BUHR • juhs • ehs), or representatives, fromamong the men who owned land. The firstHouse of Burgesses met in 1619. It was pat-terned after the English Parliament and votedon laws for the Virginia Colony. The House ofBurgesses set an example for representativegovernment. It was not long before othercolonies set up their own legislatures as well.

Identify Who was JohnSmith? How did he help the Virginia settlers?


US8.1.4 Describe the nation’s blend of civic republicanism, classical liberal principles, and English parliamentary traditions.

EuropeanSettlements

English

Spanish

French

In 1682 Spain, Great Britain, and Franceclaimed land in North America.1.Location Which nations held territory

in what is now Canada?2.Location Which nation held territory

in what is now Mexico?


The 13 English ColoniesThe English established 13 colonies

along the east coast of North America.

Reading Connection Would you be willing tomove across the ocean to unexplored, possibly dan-gerous territory to gain certain freedoms or perhapsjust to get a new start on life? Read to find out whyEnglish settlers came to North America.

Not all English settlers came to NorthAmerica in search of wealth. Some came to findreligious freedom. In Chapter 1, you learnedthat many Protestants in England were dissat-isfied with the Anglican Church. Some, calledPuritans, wanted to stay in the Church but ridit of Catholic rituals and practices. Others,known as Separatists, wanted to leave theChurch entirely and set up their own local con-gregations. King James I and his son KingCharles I both believed that Puritans andSeparatists were a threat to their authority andpersecuted them.

The Pilgrims Arrive in New EnglandIn 1620 a group of Separatists called Pilgrimsdecided to go to America so they could worshipfreely. They received grants of land from theVirginia Company and sailed for Virginia on theMayflower. Strong winds blew the Mayflower offcourse, causing the Pilgrims to land in NewEngland just north of Cape Cod in present-dayMassachusetts. They went ashore on a cold, bleakday in December at a place called Plymouth.

The Mayflower Compact Plymouth was out-side the territory of the Virginia Company andits laws. To provide order, the Pilgrims signed aformal document called the MayflowerCompact, which set up a civil government. Thesigners also promised to obey the laws passed“for the general good of the colony.” TheMayflower Compact was an important step inthe development of democratic government inAmerica. The people of Plymouth governedthemselves for 70 years with almost no outsidecontrol. Then in 1691, Plymouth became part ofa Puritan colony called Massachusetts.

The MayflowerIn September 1620, 102 passengers set offon the Mayflower on the journey across theAtlantic. The 2,750-mile trip took more thantwo months. In early November, theMayflower reached the shores of America.

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Massachusetts The success of the Pilgrimsencouraged persecuted Puritans to begin leav-ing England for America. In 1629 a group ofPuritans formed a company and received aroyal charter to settle an area north ofPlymouth. Led by John Winthrop, the Puritanslanded in America and founded the colony ofMassachusetts and its capital, Boston. JohnWinthrop made their intentions clear:

“[W]e shall be as a city upon ahill. The eyes of all people are uponus.”

––from “A Model of ChristianCharity”

Others soon followed. By 1643 more than 20,000Puritans had moved to America.

An elected group ran the colony through aGeneral Court owned by the founding com-pany. When the settlers insisted on having alarger role in the government, the company created a colonial legislature. Every adult male who owned property and was a church

member could vote for the governor and forrepresentatives to the General Court.

The Puritans came to America to put theirreligious beliefs into practice. They made theProtestant Congregationalist faith the colony’sofficial religion. However, they barred membersof other faiths from practicing their beliefs.Groups of people who disagreed with the Puritanleaders of Massachusetts were expelled and hadto form new colonies in neighboring areas.

Connecticut and Rhode Island In thecolony of Connecticut, settlers led by ThomasHooker in 1639 adopted a plan of governmentcalled the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.This was the first written constitution (KAHN •stuh • TOO • shuhn), or formal plan of govern-ment, in America. It described the organizationof representative government in detail.

Another colony, Rhode Island, was foundedby the Puritan minister Roger Williams.Williams believed that people should be free tofollow their consciences in religious matters. Inhis view, the church and the governmentshould be completely separate. Williams alsobelieved it was wrong for settlers to take landaway from the Native Americans. These ideascaused Massachusetts leaders to banishWilliams. In 1644 he set up the Rhode Islandcolony east of Connecticut. With its policy ofreligious toleration (TAH • luh • RAY • shuhn), theacceptance of different beliefs, Rhode Islandbecame a safe place for dissenters (dih •SEHN •tuhrz), or people who disagreed with estab-lished views. It was the first place in Americawhere people of all faiths could worship freely.

The Middle Colonies In 1660 England had two clusters of colonies in what is now the United States—New England Colonies such asMassachusetts in the north, and agriculturalcolonies such as Virginia in the south. Betweenthe two groups of English colonies were landsthat the Dutch controlled. During the 1660s, theselands came under English rule and were knownas the Middle Colonies. They included NewYork, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.


KeyMost of the crew slept in the tiny cabins in theforecastle, which also served as the ship’skitchen.

The Mayflower was a supply ship. It was notbuilt to carry passengers. ‘Tween decks arewhere the passengers of the Mayflower sleptand kept their belongings.

The main hold is the main cargo area. It holdsmost of the ship’s stores of food and suppliesand tools.

The helmsman moves a long lever called thewhipstaff that moves the rudder and steers the ship.

The great cabin is the quarters for the com-mander of the ship.

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New York The desire for wealth drew theEnglish to the area that was to become the colonyof New York. Since the 1620s, this area had beenruled by the Dutch as New Netherland. In 1664an English fleet took control of the prized port ofNew Amsterdam, and the Dutch quickly

surrendered. England’s King Charles II thengave New Netherland to his brother, the Duke ofYork, who renamed it New York. The port ofNew Amsterdam, later called New York City,became one of the fastest-growing commercialports in England’s American colonies.

A governor and council appointed by theDuke of York directed New York’s affairs. Thecolonists demanded a representative govern-ment like the governments of the other Englishcolonies. The duke resisted the ideas, but thepeople of New York would not give up.Finally, in 1691 the English governmentallowed New York to elect a legislature.

Pennsylvania The Quakers, a Protestantgroup that had been persecuted (PUHR • sih •KYOOT • ehd), or treated harshly because of their beliefs or differences, in England,founded the colony of Pennsylvania. In 1680William Penn, a wealthy English Quaker,received the land in payment for a debt KingCharles II owed Penn’s father. Pennsylvania, or“Penn’s Woods,” extended inland from theDelaware River and was as large as England.

William Penn saw Pennsylvania as a “holyexperiment,” a chance to put in practice theQuaker ideals of toleration and equality. In1682 he sailed to America to supervise thebuilding of Philadelphia, the “city of brotherlylove.” Penn believed that

“Any government is free to thepeople under it . . . where the lawsrule, and the people are a party tothose laws.”

––from the Frame of Government ofPennsylvania

Penn believed that the land belonged to theNative Americans and that settlers should payfor it. Penn advertised his new colony, and by1683 more than 3,000 English, Welsh, Irish,Dutch, and German settlers had arrived. In 1701in the Charter of Liberties, Penn granted thecolonists the right to elect representatives to thelegislative assembly.


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Thirteen Colonies

By 1732 English settlers had founded 12colonies on the eastern coast of what isnow the United States.1.Region What five colonies made up

the Southern Colonies?2.Analyze What geographic feature

made Philadelphia and New York cen-ters for trade?

New England Colonies

Middle Colonies

Southern Colonies


Virginia and the Southern Colonies Afterearly hardships, Virginia prospered from grow-ing tobacco. Wealthy planters held the best landnear the coast, so new settlers pushed inland.They increasingly began to settle on landbelonging to Native Americans. In 1622 a revoltby a Native American group called thePowhatan Confederation nearly destroyed thecolony. Following this revolt, the VirginiaCompany was accused of mismanaging thecolony and lost its charter. In 1624 Virginiabecame a royal colony, with a governor andcouncil appointed by the king. The House ofBurgesses was retained, but its laws now had toreceive royal approval. In addition, theAnglican Church was made the official religionof the colony.

Maryland While Virginia struggled and grew,other English colonies were founded in thesouth. A Catholic noble, George Calvert, whoheld the title of Lord Baltimore, wanted to setup a safe place for fellow Catholics who facedpersecution in England. His dream came true in

1632 when King Charles I gave him a colonynorth of Virginia. Calvert died before actuallyreceiving the grant. His son Cecilius Calvert,the second Lord Baltimore, took charge of thecolony. It was named Maryland after theEnglish queen, Henrietta Maria.

Conflict, however, soon divided Maryland.Protestants as well as Catholics settled in thecolony. Soon the Protestants outnumbered theCatholics. To protect Catholics from anyattempt to make Maryland a Protestant colony,Lord Baltimore passed a law called the Act ofToleration in 1649. The act granted Protestantsand Catholics the right to worship freely.Although the Act initially failed in its goal, itwas an early step toward the later acceptance ofreligious diversity (duh • VUHR • suh • TEE), orvariety, in the colonies.

The Carolinas In the 1660s, King Charles IIissued charters creating a large colony south ofVirginia called Carolina. The king gave thecolony to a group of eight prominent membersof his court. The Carolina proprietors carvedout large estates for themselves and providedmoney to bring colonists over from England.

Plantation agriculture became animportant part of the economy of theSouthern colonies. Why did Carolinaseparate and become two colonies?

Gibbes Museum of Art/Carolina Art Association

colonial settlements? Visit ca.hss.glencoe.comand click on Study Central.

Study Central Need help understanding

Carolina, however, did not develop accord-ing to plan. By the early 1700s, Carolina’s set-tlers wanted a greater role in the colony’sgovernment. In 1719 the settlers in southernCarolina seized control from its proprietors. In1729 Carolina became two royal colonies—North and South Carolina.

Georgia Georgia, the last of the Englishcolonies in America to be established, wasfounded in 1733. A group led by General JamesOglethorpe received a charter to create a colonywhere English debtors (DEH • tuhrs)—peoplewho are unable to repay their debts—couldmake a fresh start. However, most of Georgia’ssettlers were poor people from the British Islesor religious refugees from Europe’s mainland.

The British government had another reasonfor creating Georgia. This colony could protectthe other British colonies from Spanish attack.

Great Britain and Spain had been at war in theearly 1700s, and new conflicts over territory inNorth America were always breaking out.Located between Spanish Florida and SouthCarolina, Georgia could serve as a military bar-rier against Spain.

Many of the new settlers complained aboutthe limits on the size of landholdings and thelaw banning slave labor. Oglethorpe reluctantlyagreed to lift these bans. Frustrated by thecolonists’ demands and the colony’s slowgrowth, Oglethorpe turned the colony backover to the king in 1751. By that time, Britishsettlers had been in what is now the easternUnited States for almost 150 years. They hadlined the Atlantic coast with colonies.

Explain What wasMaryland’s Act of Toleration, and why was itimportant?


Reading SummaryReview the • A number of European countries,

including England, Spain, France,and the Netherlands, foundedcolonies in North America.

• The English settlers inJamestown, Virginia, set up a representative governmentbased on what they had known in England.

• The New England, Middle, andSouthern Colonies were settledby the English and otherEuropeans for a variety of rea-sons, including religious freedomand financial gain.

1. Why did the French originallycome to North America?

2. What was the House ofBurgesses?

Critical Thinking3. Organizing Information

Draw a table like the onebelow and fill in details aboutthe New England, Middle, andSouthern Colonies.

4. Analyze What was theMayflower Compact and whywas it important?

5. Whatchallenges did early Englishsettlers in North Americaface? Write a short essay that summarizes your conclusions.

6. Expository Writing Write ashort essay describing theimportance of the search forreligious freedom in the set-tling of America. Describe thefounding of specific coloniesin your essay.

7. Identifyingthe Main Idea Using theessay you wrote on theimportance of religious free-dom, summarize the mainidea and supporting pointsfrom your essay. CA 8RC2.4

CA 8WA2.4

CA 8RC2.0

CA HI1.

CA HR3.

What Did You Learn?

New England

Information

Middle Colonies

Southern Colonies

Region



1730sGreat Awakening takes root

1700sThousands ofAfricans arebrought toAmerica

Life in ColonialAmerica

Looking Back, Looking AheadYou read how the 13 English colonieswere founded. Those colonies continuedto grow and develop their own cultureand beliefs about government.

Focusing on the • As the population of the colonies grew,

agriculture and trade increased.(page 126)

• An American culture, influenced byreligion and education, began todevelop. (page 128)

• Although the American coloniesdeveloped some self-government, theBritish still set many laws, especiallythose concerning trade. (page 130)

Locating PlacesNew York CityPhiladelphia

Meeting PeopleBenjamin Franklin

Content Vocabularysubsistence farmingtriangular tradecash cropindentured servant (ihn•DEHN•shuhrd)overseercharter colonyproprietary colony

(pruh• PRY•uh• TERH •ee)royal colony

Academic Vocabularyadaptprinciple (PRIHN• suh•puhl)

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information Use a chartlike the one below to describe thedifferences in the economies of the NewEngland, Middle, and Southern Colonies.

HistorySocial ScienceStandards

US8.1 Students under-stand the major eventspreceding the founding of the nation and relatetheir significance to thedevelopment of Americanconstitutional democracy.

Economic Development

Middle Colonies

Southern Colonies

New England

c. 1760New York City’spopulationreaches 25,000

1700 1750 1800

George WhitefieldAfricandrum

(bl)National Museum of American History/Smithsonian Institution, (br)Bettmann/CORBIS


The Colonies GrowAs the population of the colonies

grew, agriculture and trade increased.

Reading Connection Is your community or regionknown for any special product, either agricultural ormanufactured? Read to find out how the economiesof the New England, Middle, and Southern Coloniesdiffered.

In 1760 Englishman Andrew Burnaby trav-eled throughout the North American colonies,observing American life. He could not imaginethat these colonies would ever join in union forthey were as different from one another as“fire and water,” and each colony was jealousof the other.

Commercial New England AlthoughBurnaby believed that the colonies would neverunite, the colonies continued to grow. Economicsuccess and religious and political freedomsdrew a steady flow of new settlers.

Long winters and thin, rocky soil in NewEngland made large-scale farming difficult.Farmers there practiced subsistence farming,which means that they generally produced justenough to meet the needs of their families, withlittle left over to sell or exchange.

Shipbuilding was an important NewEngland industry. The lumber for buildingships came from the forests of New Englandand was transported down rivers to the ship-yards in coastal towns.

Colonial Trade As the center of the shippingtrade in America, New England linked the dif-ferent English American colonies and linkedAmerica to other parts of the world. Some shipsfollowed routes that came to be called the triangular trade because the routes formed atriangle. On one leg of such a route, shipsbrought sugar and molasses from the WestIndies to the New England Colonies. In New

England, the molasses was made into rum.Next, the rum and other manufactured goodswere shipped to West Africa where they weretraded for enslaved Africans. On the final leg ofthe route, the enslaved Africans were taken tothe West Indies where they were sold toplanters. The profit was used to buy moremolasses—and the process started over.

Growth of the Middle Colonies The MiddleColonies enjoyed fertile soil and a slightlymilder climate than New England’s. Farmers inthis region cultivated larger areas of land andproduced bigger harvests than did NewEnglanders. In New York and Pennsylvania,farmers grew large quantities of wheat andother cash crops—crops that could be sold eas-ily in markets in the colonies and overseas.

Farmers sent cargoes of wheat and livestockto New York City and Philadelphia for ship-ment, and these cities became busy ports. Bythe 1760s, New York, with 25,000 people, andPhiladelphia, with 30,000 people, were thelargest cities in the American colonies.

Like the New England Colonies, the MiddleColonies also had industries. Some were home-based crafts such as carpentry and flour making.Others included larger businesses such as lum-bering, mining, and small-scale manufacturing.

The Middle Colonies attracted manyGerman, Dutch, Swedish, and other non-English settlers. They gave the Middle Coloniesa cultural diversity, or variety, that was notfound in New England. With the diversity cametolerance for religious and cultural differences.

Plantation Life in the South With their richsoil and warm climate, the Southern Colonieswere well suited to the growing of cash crops.These included tobacco, rice, and indigo, a blueflowering plant used to dye textiles. Most cashcrops were grown on large farms called planta-tions. At first planters, or plantation owners, usedindentured servants (ihn•DEHN•shurd) to workin the fields. Indentured servants were laborerswho agreed to work without pay for a certainperiod of time to pay for their passage toAmerica.


When indentured servants became scarceand expensive, Southern farmers used enslavedAfricans instead. Independent small farmersgrew corn and tobacco on small farms. Theyusually worked alone or with their families.Independent small farmers outnumbered thelarge plantation owners. The plantation own-ers, however, had greater wealth and moreinfluence. They controlled the economic andpolitical life of the region.

Slavery in the Southern Colonies The slavetrade and slavery were major parts of colonialeconomies. The inhumane part of the triangulartrade, shipping enslaved Africans to theAmericas, was known as the Middle Passage.Olaudah Equiano, a young African forced onto aship to the Americas, later described the horror ofthe voyage across the Atlantic:

“We were all put under deck. . . .The stench . . . was so intolerablyloathsome, that it was dangerous toremain there for any time. . . . Thecloseness of the place, and the heatof the climate, added to the numberin the ship, which was so crowdedthat each had scarcely room to turnhimself, almost suffocatedus. . . .”

—from The Interesting Narrative ofthe Life of Olaudah Equiano

Most enslaved Africans in the southerncolonies lived on plantations. Some of theAfricans did housework, but most worked inthe fields and often suffered great cruelty. Thelarge plantation owners hired overseers, orbosses, to keep the slaves working hard. All theSouthern Colonies had slave codes, which werestrict rules governing the behavior and punish-ment of enslaved Africans. All white colonistswere encouraged to enforce these laws againstenslaved Africans.

African Traditions Although the enslavedAfricans had strong family ties, their families

were often torn apart. Slaveholders could splitup families by selling a spouse, a parent, or achild to another slaveholder. Slaves whoworked on plantations found a source ofstrength in their African roots. They developeda culture that drew on the languages, customs,and religions of their West African homelands.

Some enslaved Africans learned tradessuch as carpentry, blacksmithing, or weaving.Those lucky enough to be able to buy theirfreedom joined the small population of freeAfrican Americans.

Criticism of Slavery Slavery was one reasonfor the economic success of the SouthernColonies. That success, however, was built onthe idea that one human being could ownanother. Some colonists did not believe in slav-ery. Many Puritans refused to hold enslaved peo-ple. In Pennsylvania, Quakers and Mennonitescondemned slavery. Eventually, the debate overslavery would erupt in a bloody war, pittingNorth against South.

Explain Why were theSouthern Colonies especially well suited for growing cash crops?

Among the early immigrants to America were somewho did not come willingly. Western and CentralAfricans were taken by force from their homes,shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, and sold asslaves in North and South America. What does theterm Middle Passage refer to?

CHAPTER 2 • Road to Independence 127file photo

US8.1 Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to the develop-ment of American constitutional democracy. US8.1.1 Describe the relationship between the moral and political ideas of theGreat Awakening and the development of revolutionary fervor.

An Emerging CultureAn American culture, influenced by

religion and education, began to develop.

Reading Connection What are some things youconsider truly American? Perhaps baseball or a sum-mer picnic with hamburgers and hot dogs? Read tofind out how the colonists began to form a culturethat was different from those European cultures.

Throughout the colonies, people adaptedtheir traditions to the new conditions of life inAmerica. Religion, education, and the arts con-tributed to a new American culture.

The Great Awakening Religion had a stronginfluence in colonial life. In the 1730s and 1740s,a religious revival called the Great Awakeningswept through the colonies. In New England andthe Middle Colonies, ministers called for “a newbirth,” a return to the strong faith of earlier days.

The most important effect of the GreatAwakening was greater religious and politicalfreedom in the colonies. More colonists chosetheir own faith, and the strength of establishedofficial churches declined. As a Baptist preachernoted soon after the Great Awakening, “the com-mon people now claim as good a right to judgeand act in matters of religion as civil rulers or thelearned clergy.”


• Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, andothers preach of the need for a revival of religious belief.

• Awareness of the importance of religion inpeople’s lives grows.

• A religious revivalsweeps throughAmerica in the mid-1700s.

The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening is the namefor the powerful religious revival thatswept over the colonies beginning inthe 1720s. Christian ministers suchas George Whitefield and JonathanEdwards preached throughout thecolonies, drawing huge crowds.The Great Awakening had a lastingeffect on the way in which thecolonists viewed themselves, theirrelationships with one another,and their faith.

Jonathan Edwards

Yale University Art Gallery, Bequest of Eugene Phelps Edwards, (bkgd)Getty


• New religious groups such as the Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterianstake root.

• Emphasis on education grows.

• Belief grows that all people are equalbefore God.

• Makes Americans more willing tochallenge authority prior to theAmerican Revolution.

GeorgeWhitefield

The Great Awakening also for the first timeunited colonists from north to south in a com-mon cause. This paved the way for the rapidspread of political ideas and revolutionary fer-vor during the struggle for independence.

Education in the Colonies Most colonistsvalued education. Children were often taught toread and write at home by their parents, eventhough the daily chores left little time for lessons.In 1647 the Massachusetts Puritans passed apublic education law. Each community had tohave a teacher whose wages would be paidthrough taxes. Although some communities didnot set up schools, most did. In the MiddleColonies, schooling was not as universal as inNew England, but it was widespread. In the

Southern Colonies, formal education was gener-ally limited to children of large landowners andprofessionals such as lawyers and doctors. Evenwhere schools were desired, the widely sepa-rated plantations and farms of the South madethem impractical. Young children were usuallyeducated by their parents or by tutors.

By modern standards, schools in theAmerican colonies were primitive. Schools hadfew books, and instruction was given only twoor three months a year. Only a small percentageof children received education beyond the pri-mary level. Most girls received little formal edu-cation. Despite these shortcomings, few regionsof the world had such a high proportion of peo-ple who could read or write.

Education was closely related to religion.The first colleges—Harvard, William and Mary,and Yale—were established to train ministers.Six colleges were in operation by 1763; all buttwo were founded by religious groups primarilyfor the training of ministers.

By the middle of the 1700s, many educatedcolonists also were influenced by theEnlightenment. This movement, which beganin Europe, spread the idea that knowledge, reason, and science could improve society. The best-known scientist in the colonies wasBenjamin Franklin. Franklin’s greatest servicesto his fellow Americans would come during the1770s when he would help guide the colonies tofreedom.

The Press in America Schools and collegesspread knowledge. So did books, newspapers,and almanacs. Because paper and type wereexpensive, most books came from Britain.Newspapers, printed weekly, were mostly fourpages in length. Almanacs attracted as manyreaders as newspapers. In addition to a calen-dar, dates of holidays, times of sunset and sun-rise, almanacs published advice on farming,poems, news of the year, and practical advice.

Analyze What was theEnlightenment, and what effect did it have in thecolonies?

National Portrait Gallery, London/SuperStock

Colonial GovernmentAlthough the American colonies

developed some self-government, the Britishstill set many laws, especially those concerningtrade.

Reading Connection How would you feel if yourparents or teachers told you that you could onlytrade lunch snacks or baseball cards with certainpeople, even if someone else had a better card ordessert they were willing to trade? Read to find outhow the British attempted to maintain control overcolonial trade.

In Chapter 1, you learned that the Englishcolonists brought with them ideas about gov-ernment that had been developing in Englandfor centuries. At the heart of the English systemwere two principles—limited government andrepresentative government. As the coloniesgrew, they relied more and more on their owngovernments to make local laws.

Self-Government in America The 13 coloniesbegan either as charter or proprietary colonies.Charter colonies, such as Massachusetts, had acharter, or a grant of rights and privileges,granted by the English monarch to stockholders.Proprietary colonies (pruh • PRY • uh • TEHR • ee),such as Pennsylvania, were owned by an individ-ual proprietor or by a small group of proprietors.

Over time, English monarchs began tochange colonies into royal colonies. Suchcolonies were under direct English control. Ineach, Parliament appointed a governor andcouncil, known as the upper house. Thecolonists selected an assembly, the lowerhouse. The governor and council membersusually did what English leaders told them todo. However, this often led to conflicts withthe colonists in the assembly, especially whenofficials tried to enforce tax laws and traderestrictions.

Colonial legislatures gave only some peoplea voice in government. White men who ownedproperty had the right to vote; however,women, indentured servants, landless poor,and African Americans could not vote. In spiteof these limits, a higher proportion of peoplebecame involved in government in the coloniesthan anywhere in the European world. Thisstrong participation gave Americans trainingthat was valuable when the colonies becameindependent.

British Colonial Policies During the early1700s, many changes occurred in England andits overseas colonies. In 1707 England unitedwith Scotland and became the United Kingdom.The term British came to mean both the Englishand the Scots. By 1750 Great Britain had becomethe world’s most powerful trading empire.

US8.1 Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to the develop-ment of American constitutional democracy. US8.1.4 Describe the nation’s blend of civic republicanism, classical liberal prin-ciples, and English parliamentary traditions.


Colonial legislatures gave some Americans avoice in government. What groups were notrepresented?

Colonial legislatures gave some Americans avoice in government. What groups were notrepresented?

Patrick Henry Before the Virginia House of Burgesses (1851) by Peter F. Rothermel. Red Hill, The Patrick Henry National Memorial, Brookneal, VA

American self-government? Visitca.hss.glencoe.com and click on StudyCentral.


For many years, Great Britain had allowedthe American colonies the freedom to run theirlocal affairs. However, the British governmentcontrolled the colonies’ trade according to theideas of mercantilism. The American coloniesproduced raw materials such as tobacco, rice,indigo, wheat, lumber, fur, deerskin leather,fish, and whale products. These were shippedto Great Britain and traded for manufacturedgoods such as clothing, furniture, and goodsfrom Asia, including tea and spices.

To control this trade, Britain passed a seriesof laws called Navigation Acts in the 1650s.Under these laws, the colonists had to sell theirraw materials to Britain even if they could get abetter price elsewhere. Any goods bought bythe colonies from other countries in Europe hadto go to England first and be taxed before theycould be sent to the Americas. The trade laws

also said that all trade goods had to be carriedon ships built in Britain or the colonies and thatthe crews had to be British as well.

Colonial Resistance The colonists at firstaccepted the trade laws because they were guar-anteed a place to sell their raw materials. Later,the colonists came to resent British restrictions.With population in the colonies growing, thecolonists wanted to make their own manufac-tured goods. They also wanted to sell their prod-ucts elsewhere if they could get higher prices.Many colonial merchants began smuggling, orshipping goods in and out of the country with-out paying taxes or getting government permis-sion. Controls on trade would later cause conflictbetween the American colonies and England.

Compare How did chartercolonies and proprietary colonies differ?


Reading SummaryReview the • As the colonies grew, differing

economies developed in theNew England, Middle, andSouthern Colonies.

• In the colonies, family life, edu-cation, and religion were impor-tant in the emerging Americanculture.

• Even with British restrictions,especially on trade, the principleof self-government took astrong hold in the colonies.

1. What was the triangulartrade?

2. What were some cash cropsgrown on southern planta-tions? What crops weregrown on smaller independ-ent farms?

Critical Thinking3. Compare and Contrast

Draw a chart like the onebelow. Fill in details compar-ing farming in the NewEngland and SouthernColonies.

4. Determining Cause andEffect What effects did theGreat Awakening have on theAmerican colonies?

5. How did geography affect theeconomies of the three colonial regions?

6. Descriptive Writing Imagineyou live in New England inthe mid-1700s and are visit-ing cousins on a farm in theCarolinas. Write a letter to afriend at home describingyour visit to the farm.

CA 8WA2.1

CA CS3.

CA HI2.

CA HR3.

What Did You Learn?

New England

Similarities Differences

Southern Colonies


132

Limited Government By the time thefirst colonists reached North America, the ideathat government was not all-powerful hadbecome an accepted part of the English system.The concept first appeared in the Magna Carta, orGreat Charter, that King John was forced to sign in1215. The Magna Carta established the principleof limited government, in which the power of themonarch, or ruler, was limited, not absolute. Thisdocument protected the nobles’ privileges andupheld their authority. It also granted certainrights to all landholders—rights that eventuallycame to apply to all English people.

English Parliamentary TraditionsThe English people had a firm belief inrepresentative government, in which peopleelect delegates to make laws and conductgovernment. The English Parliament was arepresentative assembly with the power to makelaws. It consisted of two houses, the House ofLords and the House of Commons. Americanlegislatures grew from the English practice ofrepresentation.

In the mid-1600s, Parliament and King James IIbegan a struggle for power. In 1688 Parliamentremoved King James II from the throne andcrowned William and Mary to rule.

The Road to RepresentativeGovernment

Why It Matters Many of the rights that American citizens enjoy today can betraced back to the political and legal traditions of England. When English peoplebegan settling here in the 1600s, they brought with them a tradition of limited andrepresentative government.

"Freedom of religion, freedom of the press, trialby jury, habeas corpus, and a representative legislature . . . I consider as the essentials constituting free government, . . . .”

—Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Pierre Samuel Dupont de Nemours, 1815

US8.1.4 Describe the nation’s blend of civic republicanism, classical liberal principles, and Englishparliamentary traditions. US8.2.1 Discuss the significance of the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights,and the Mayflower Compact.

Thomas Jefferson

White House Historical Association

This peaceful transfer of power, known as theGlorious Revolution, changed the idea ofgovernment in England. From that time on, noruler would have more power than thelegislature.

The English Bill of Rights To set clearlimits to what a ruler could and could not do,Parliament drew up the English Bill of Rights in1689. The document stated that the monarch couldnot suspend Parliament’s laws; the monarch alsocould not create special courts, impose taxes, orraise an army without Parliament’s consent. TheBill of Rights also declared that members ofParliament would be freely elected and beguaranteed free speech during meetings, thatevery citizen would have the right to a fair trial byjury in court cases, and that cruel and unusualpunishments would be banned.

The English Heritage in AmericaEnglish settlers in the American coloniesestablished traditions of representative govern-ment that they had learned in England. Theybelieved that the ruler was not above the law.They also expected to have a voice in govern-ment and other basic rights. Many of the earlystate constitutions listed the rights of the citizens.

The Virginia House of BurgessesThe first permanent English settlement in NorthAmerica was Jamestown. At first, the Jamestowncolony was managed by a governor and council

appointed by the Virginia Company, agroup of merchants from London. In1619, however, the colonists chose tworepresentatives from each community tomeet with the governor and his council.These 22 men were called burgesses.They formed the House of Burgesses,which was the first representativeassembly, or legislature, in the Englishcolonies. The House of Burgesses hadlittle power, but it marked the beginningof self-government in colonial America.

The Mayflower Compact In1620, shortly after the House of Burgesses

was formed, a new group of colonists, known asthe Pilgrims, arrived in America. Even beforetheir ship, the Mayflower, reached America, thePilgrims realized they needed rules to governthemselves if they were to survive in a new land.They drew up a written plan for theirgovernment called the Mayflower Compact.

The Mayflower Compact stated that thegovernment would make “just and equal laws . . . for the general good of the colony.” Thecompact set up a direct democracy in which allmen would vote and the majority would rule.(As was common at this time, only adult maleswere permitted to vote.)

The Mayflower Compact established atradition of direct democracy. Throughout thecolonial period—and in parts of New Englandtoday—citizens meet at town meetings todiscuss and vote on important issues.

By signing the Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims establisheda set of rules under which they would govern themselves.

Checking for Understanding

1. What is the system of representativegovernment? Where did this system comefrom?

2. What is important about the Virginia Houseof Burgesses?

Critical Thinking

3. Evaluate The idea of limited government,first established in the Magna Carta, is animportant principle of the U.S. Constitution.Do you believe governments should belimited? Why or why not?

Bet

tman

n/C

OR

BIS


Trouble inthe Colonies

Looking Back, Looking AheadIn the last section, you read about thebeginnings of colonial resistance to Britishcolonial policies. British attempts to taxthe colonists brought the Americans andBritish to conflict.

Focusing on the • Following Britain’s victory in the

French and Indian War, the Britishprohibited colonists from moving westof the Appalachian Mountains andtaxed the colonists to pay for the war.(page 135)

• British actions, including sending moretroops to Boston and passing newtaxes, brought strong responses fromthe colonists. (page 137)

• After colonial leaders met to discusstheir relations with Britain, the firstshots of the American Revolution werefired. (page 139)

Meeting PeopleCrispus AttucksSamuel AdamsJohn AdamsPatrick Henry

George WashingtonKing George IIIPaul Revere

Content Vocabularyimportsmugglingboycottrepeal (rih•PEEL)resolutionmilitia (muh•LIH• shuh)minutemen

Academic Vocabularyconvinceviolate (VY•uh• LAYT)correspond

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information Use a diagramlike the one below to describe how theIntolerable Acts affected Massachusettscolonists.

BostonNew York

Lexington &Concord

HistorySocial ScienceStandardsUS8.1 Students under-stand the major eventspreceding the foundingof the nation and relatetheir significance to thedevelopment of Americanconstitutional democracy.

1760 1770 1780

Intolerable Acts

1763Proclamation of 1763 limitscolonial migration

1770BostonMassacretakes place

1775First battles ofAmerican Revolutionat Lexington andConcord

N

S

EW

300 kilometers0Lambert Equal-Area projection

300 miles0

40°N

30°N

90°W

80°W

70°WOhio R.

Mississip

pi

R.

AtlanticOcean

Gulf of Mexico

APPALA

CHIA

NM

OU

NTA

INS

FLORIDA

LOUISIANATERRITORY

PROVINCEOF

QUEBEC

HUDSON'S BAYCOMPANY

New British PoliciesFollowing Britain’s victory in the

French and Indian War, the British prohibitedcolonists from moving west of the AppalachianMountains and taxed the colonists to pay forthe war.

Reading Connection Have you ever stopped buy-ing a product, perhaps because the manufacturerchanged the product or raised its price? Read to findout how the American colonists protested Britishactions, in part by refusing to buy British products.

During the colonial period, Britain andFrance struggled for control of eastern NorthAmerica. As their settlements moved inland,both nations claimed the vast territory betweenthe Appalachian Mountains and the MississippiRiver. In 1758 writer Nathaniel Ames noted,

“The parts of North Americawhich may be claimed by GreatBritain or France are of as muchworth as either kingdom. Thatfertile country to the west of theAppalachian Mountains [is the]‘Garden of the World’!”

—from the Astronomical Diary and Almanack, 1758

The French and Indian War In 1754British-French rivalry led to the outbreak of theFrench and Indian War. Colonial leaders met inAlbany, New York, to find a way for thecolonies to defend themselves against theFrench. The leaders adopted the Albany Plan ofUnion, calling for “one general government”for 11 of the American colonies. However, theplan was not approved. After Britain won thewar in 1763, the colonies began to act together.Their united action, however, was directedagainst Britain itself. What developmentsbrought about this unusual turn of events?

The Proclamation of 1763 Victory in 1763gained for the British nearly all of France’sNorth American empire. That same year,Britain issued a proclamation that prohibitedcolonists from moving west of the AppalachianMountains. Stopping western settlementallowed British officials to control settler move-ment and avoid a conflict with NativeAmericans. It also prevented colonists frommoving away from the coast—where Britain’simportant markets and investments were. Toprotect their interests, the British planned tokeep 10,000 troops in America.


Proclamation of 1763

The Proclamation of 1763 prohibitedcolonists from settling in the west.1.Place What natural feature marked

the western boundary of British territory?

2.Analyze Who controlled theLouisiana Territory in 1763?

ProclamationLine of 1763

Spanishterritory

Other Britishterritory

ThirteenColonies


The British Tax the Colonies Alarmedcolonists, however, saw the proclamation as alimit on their freedom of movement. They alsofeared that the large number of British troopsmight be used to interfere with their liberties.As a result, feelings of distrust began to growbetween Britain and its American colonies.

Britain faced financial problems. The Frenchand Indian War was very costly and left theBritish government deep in debt. Desperate formoney, the British made plans to tax thecolonies and tighten trade rules.

In 1764 the British Parliament passed theSugar Act, which lowered the tax on molassesthat had been imported, or bought from foreignmarkets, by the colonists. The British govern-ment hoped the lower tax would convince thecolonists to pay the tax instead of smuggling.Smuggling means to trade illegally with othernations. The colonists believed their rights asEnglishmen were being violated. James Otis, ayoung lawyer in Boston, argued that:

“no parts of [England’s colonies]can be taxed without their consent. . . every part has a right to berepresented.”

—from The Rights of the British Colonies

What Was the Stamp Act? In 1765 Parliamentpassed another law in an effort to raise money.This law, known as the Stamp Act, placed a taxon newspapers and other printed material. Allof these items had to bear a stamp showing thatthe tax was paid. The colonists were outraged.In October, delegates from nine colonies met inNew York at the Stamp Act Congress. They senta letter to the British government stating thatthe colonies could not be taxed except by theirown assemblies. Colonists refused to use thestamps. They also boycotted, or refused to buy,British goods.

In February 1766, Parliament gave in to thecolonists’ demands and repealed (rih • PEELD),or cancelled, the Stamp Act. On the same day,however, it passed the Declaratory Act. Thislaw stated that Parliament had the right to taxand make decisions for the British colonies “inall cases.” The colonists might have won onebattle, but the war over making decisions forthe colonies had just begun.

New Taxes In 1767 Parliament passed anotherset of tax laws known as the Townshend Acts.In these acts, the British leaders tried to avoidsome of the problems the Stamp Act caused.They understood that the colonists would nottolerate internal taxes—those levied or paidinside the colonies. As a result, the new taxesapplied only to imported goods, with the taxbeing paid at the port of entry. The taxed goods,however, included basic items—such as glass,tea, paper, and lead—that the colonists had toimport because they did not produce them.

The Colonists React By this time, the colonistswere outraged by any taxes Parliament passed.They believed that only their own representa-tives had the right to levy taxes on them. Thecolonists responded by bringing back the boy-cott that had worked so well against the StampAct. The boycott proved to be even more wide-spread this time.

Explain What was theProclamation of 1763, and why did it angerAmerican colonists?


The Stamp Act requiredcolonists to buy revenuestamps for newspapers,licenses, and documents.

The snake on thebanner symbolizedunited Americanresistance to the British.

(tr)Courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society, (bl)file photo


Tax Protests Lead to RevoltBritish actions, including sending

more troops to Boston and passing new taxes,brought strong responses from the colonists.

Reading Connection How might you protest anew community or school rule that you believedwas unfair? Read to find out how American proteststo British measures became forceful.

Colonial protests like those related to theStamp Act made British colonial officials nerv-ous. Worried customs officers sent word back toBritain that the colonies were close to rebellion.Parliament responded by sending two regi-ments of troops to Boston. As angry Bostoniansjeered, the newly arrived “redcoats” set upcamp right in the center of the city.

The Boston Massacre On March 5, 1770, ten-sions between the redcoats and Bostoniansreached a peak. That day a crowd of colonistsbegan insulting soldiers and throwing stones,

snowballs, oyster shells, and pieces of wood atthe soldiers. “Fire, you bloodybacks, you lob-sters,” the crowd screamed. “You dare not fire.”

After one of the soldiers was knockeddown, the nervous and confused soldiers didfire. Seven shots rang out, killing five colonists.Among the dead was Crispus Attucks, a dock-worker who was part African, part NativeAmerican. The colonists called the tragicencounter the Boston Massacre.

The Boston Massacre led many colonists tocall for stronger boycotts on British goods.Aware of the growing opposition to its policies,Parliament repealed all the Townshend Actstaxes except the one on tea. Many colonistsbelieved they had won another victory. Theystarted to trade with British merchants again.

Some colonial leaders, however, continued tocall for resistance to British rule. In 1772 theMassachusetts radical leader Samuel Adamsrevived the Boston committee of correspondence,an organization used in earlier protests. The com-mittee circulated writings about colonists’ griev-ances against Britain.


The Bloody Massacre (below) is an engravingby Paul Revere. The site of the Boston Massacrein present-day Boston is pictured to the right.How did the colonists react to the news ofthe Boston Massacre?

(bl)Library of Congress, (br)Kevin Fleming/CORBIS

Soon other committees of correspondencesprang up throughout the colonies, bringingtogether protesters opposed to British measures.

Crisis Over Tea By the early 1770s, someAmericans considered British colonial policy a“conspiracy against liberty.” The British gov-ernment’s actions seemed to confirm that view.In 1773 Parliament passed the Tea Act. Itallowed the British East India Company to shiptea to the colonies without paying the taxescolonial tea merchants had to pay. This allowedthe company to sell its tea very cheaply andthreatened to drive the colonial tea merchantsout of business.

In Massachusetts, angry colonists decidedto take action. A group of protestors dressed asNative Americans boarded several Britishships in Boston Harbor and dumped their

cargoes of tea overboard, an event that becameknown as the Boston Tea Party. Word of this actof defiance spread throughout the colonies.Men and women gathered in the streets to celebrate.

To punish the colonists, Parliament in 1774passed the Coercive Acts, which closed downBoston Harbor and put the government ofMassachusetts under military rule. The lawsalso said that British troops should be quar-tered, or given a place to live in colonists’homes. The colonists called these theIntolerable Acts, or laws they could not bear.They maintained that the Coercive Acts violated their rights as English citizens.

Analyze Why wereAmerican colonists especially angry with the Tea Act?

“Fellow countrymen, we cannot afford to give a single inch! If we retreat now, everything we have donebecomes useless!” — Samuel Adams,

December 1773

The Boston Tea PartyThe Boston Tea Party is one of the significant events that

ultimately led to American independence.

By 1770, most of theTownshend Acts have beenrepealed. The tax on tearemains. In November 1773, the

citizens of Boston refuse to allow three British ships to unload 342 chests of tea. On the evening of

December 16, Boston citizens disguised as Native Americans board the ships and empty the tea into Boston Harbor.

King George III and Parliament respond by closing the city port.

(t)DAR Museum on loan from Boston Tea Party Chapter, (tl)The Royal Collection © 2003 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, (bl)Stock Montage,(br)Courtesy American Antiquarian Society


A Call to ArmsAfter colonial leaders met to dis-

cuss their relations with Britain, the first shotsof the American Revolution were fired.

Reading Connection Have you ever served on astudent council or another youth group? If so, didthat group work together for the benefit of allmembers? Read to find out how Americans fromnearly every colony came together to discuss thecolonies’ disagreements with Britain.

Colonial leaders realized the colonies had toact together in their opposition to British poli-cies. In September 1774, fifty-six men arrived inthe city of Philadelphia. Sent as delegates fromall the colonies except Georgia, these men hadcome to establish a political body to representAmerican interests and challenge Britishcontrol. They called the new organization theContinental Congress.

Leaders from all the colonies attended theContinental Congress. Massachusetts sentSamuel Adams and his younger cousin JohnAdams, a successful lawyer. New York sentJohn Jay, another lawyer. From Virginia cameRichard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry, two ofthe most outspoken defenders of colonialrights, as well as George Washington. PatrickHenry summarized the meaning of the gather-ing: “The distinctions between Virginians,Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and NewEnglanders are no more. . . . I am not a Virginian,but an American.”

The delegates were hardly united in theirviews, but they realized they needed to worktogether. First they drafted a statement of griev-ances calling for the repeal of 13 acts ofParliament passed since 1763. They declaredthat these laws violated the colonists’ rights.

The delegates also voted to boycott allBritish goods and trade. No British productscould be brought into or consumed in thecolonies, and no colonial goods could beshipped to Britain. The Continental Congress’smost important resolution, or formal expression

of an opinion, concerned the armed forces. Aftermuch debate the delegates decided to form mili-tias. A militia (muh•LIH•shuh) is a group of citi-zen soldiers. If fighting broke out, the colonieswould be ready with their own armed forces.

The ComingConflict

The American people hoped that theboycott called for by the ContinentalCongress against British goods and tradewould win a quick victory without war.Some members of the ContinentalCongress believed that economic pressurewould force Britain to back down. RichardHenry Lee of Virginia noted that theBritish “army and fleet will be recalled,and Britain will give up her foolish project.”

Other members of the ContinentalCongress doubted that Great Britainwould back down.

In a paper titled “Broken Hints,”Joseph Hawley of Massachusetts wrote:

“We must fight, if we cannot otherwiserid ourselves of British taxation, all rev-enues, or the constitution or form ofgovernment enacted for us by theBritish Parliament. . . .

Fight we must, finally, unless Britainretreats.”

According to Lee, how will Great Britainreact? Do Lee or Hawley believe that war iscertain to come? Explain your reasoning.


Teapot, c.1770

Photograph Courtesy Peabody Essex Museum

Preparing for Battle People in the coloniesand in Britain wondered whether this meantwar. The answer came soon after the Con-tinental Congress adjourned in October.

Colonists expected that if fighting againstthe British broke out, it would begin in NewEngland. Militia companies in Massachusettsheld frequent training sessions, made bullets,and stockpiled rifles and muskets. Some compa-nies, known as minutemen, boasted that theywould be ready to fight on a minute’s notice.

The British also prepared for conflict. KingGeorge III announced to Parliament that theNew England colonies were “in a state of rebel-lion.” By April 1775, British general Sir ThomasGage had 3,000 soldiers under his command inand around Boston. Gage had instructions totake away the weapons of the Massachusettsmilitia and arrest the leaders.

Gage learned that the militia was storingarms and ammunition at Concord, a town

20 miles northwest of Boston. He ordered 700 troops to Concord to seize artillery.

Alerting the Colonists On the night of April 18, 1775, the colonists Paul Revere andWilliam Dawes rode to Lexington, a town eastof Concord, to warn that the British were com-ing. Revere galloped off across the moonlitcountryside, shouting, “The regulars are out!”to the people and houses he passed along theway. When he reached Lexington, he raced totell Sam Adams and John Hancock his news.Adams could barely control his excitement.“What a glorious morning this is!” Adams wasready to fight for American independence.

Fighting at Lexington and Concord Atdawn the redcoats approached Lexington.When they reached the center of the town theydiscovered a group of about 70 minutemen whohad been alerted by Revere and Dawes.

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DAWES

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Charles River

Dorchester

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Revere captured;Dawes turned back.

BostonHarbor

Charlestown

Boston

Cambridge

Menotomy(Arlington)

MedfordLexington

April 19, 1775

ConcordApril 19, 1775

North Bridge

The Battles of Lexington and Concord

Colonial messengers

Colonial troops

British troops

British victory

American victory

The first battles of the American Revolution werefought in April 1775.1.Location In which battle did the Americans win

their first victory over the British?2.Analyze About how many miles did the British

troops march from Lexington to Concord?

“Stand your ground . . . if they meanto have a war, let it begin here!”

—Captain John Parker,Lexington Militia

the road to war? Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com andclick on Study Central.



Led by Captain John Parker, the minutemenhad positioned themselves on the town com-mon with muskets in hand.

A shot was fired, and then both sides letloose with an exchange of bullets. When thefighting was over, eight minutemen lay dead.The first shots had been fired. But who hadfired them? According to one of the minutemenat Lexington, British Major John Pitcairn hadgiven the order to fire. British officers and sol-diers told a different story. They claimed thatthe minutemen had fired first.

The British troops continued their march toConcord. When they arrived there, they discov-ered that most of the militia’s gunpowder hadalready been removed. They destroyed theremaining supplies. At Concord’s NorthBridge, the minutemen were waiting for them.

Messengers on horseback had spread wordof the British movements. All along the roadfrom Concord to Boston, farmers, blacksmiths,saddle makers, and clerks hid behind trees,rocks, and stone fences. As the British marched

down the road, the militia fired. By the time theredcoats reached Boston, more than 200 werewounded and 73 were dead. Making mattersworse for the British, more than 20,000 militia-men now held Boston under siege.

The Coming Revolution After the blood-shed in Massachusettes, colonial leadersappealed for separation from Great Britain.Many colonists were not ready for independ-ence. As you will see, events during the winterof 1775–1776, however, moved the colonistsever closer to the fight for independence.

Looking back, the poet Ralph WaldoEmerson wrote in “The Concord Hymn” thatthe Americans at Lexington and Concord hadfired the “shot heard ‘round the world.” Thebattle for America's independence from GreatBritain had begun.

Identify What is a militia?

Reading SummaryReview the • American colonists protested

restrictive tax laws enacted bythe British to help pay for theFrench and Indian War, such asthe Sugar Act and the Stamp Act.

• Events such as the BostonMassacre and the Boston TeaParty demonstrated the growinglevel of conflict between theBritish and the Americans.

• Fighting broke out betweencolonial militia and Britishtroops at Lexington and Concordin Massachusetts in 1775.

1. Why did the British issue theProclamation of 1763?

2. How did the British punishthe colonists for the BostonTea Party?

Critical Thinking3. Sequencing Re-create the

diagram below. Fill in impor-tant events with their datesbeginning with the BostonMassacre and ending with thefighting at Lexington andConcord.

4. Drawing Conclusions Doyou think the Boston TeaParty was a turning point inthe relationship between theBritish and the colonists?Explain.

5. Whatpolitical ideas led to the for-mation of the ContinentalCongress?

6. Economicsand History How did lawspassed by the BritishParliament after 1763 affectAmerican trade and industry?How did the British intend tohelp their economy throughthese laws? CA HI6.

CA HI2.

CA CS1.

CA CS2.

What Did You Learn?

1) 2) 3)

5) 6) Lexington– Concord

4)


142

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Before You ReadThe Scene: A group of friends is gathered around a fire at the Wayside Inn nearBoston. Each person in turn tells a story in verse.The Characters: The landlord is the first storyteller. The patriot Paul Revere is thetopic of the landlord’s poem.The Plot: Paul Revere is waiting for a signal. It will be one or two lanterns in the bel-fry, or bell tower, of the Old North Church in Boston. When Revere sees the signal, hesets off to warn the Patriots. The British troops are on the way to seize the Patriots’guns and gunpowder.

Vocabulary Previewdread: fear because of evil that is aboutto occurgilded: covered with a thin layer of goldimpetuous: acting suddenly withoutthought

somber: shaded as to be dark andgloomystealthy: slow and carefultranquil: calm

Have you ever wondered what actuallyhappened during an important historicalevent? In this poem, the landlord at theWayside Inn is describing what he thinksPaul Revere’s ride to Lexington andConcord was like.

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Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Joseph W. Revere, William B. Revere, and Edward H.R. Revere

143

Master Page X

As You Read Longfellow vividly describes the places in thepoem—Boston Harbor, the Old North Church,and the towns––that Revere visits on his ride.These descriptions give the poem a specialtone, or feeling. Think about what it might havebeen like to be a Patriot in Massachusetts at thetime of Revere’s ride.What do you think it mayhave been like to make that ride? What kind ofperson could do such a dangerous thing?

1 Middlesex: Massachusetts county 2 muffled: wrapped with something

to dull the sound3 moorings: lines or chains holding a

ship in place4 man-of-war: warship5 spar: strong piece of wood used to

support sails

Listen, my children, and you shall hearOf the midnight ride of Paul Revere,On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;Hardly a man is now aliveWho remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend,“If the British marchBy land or sea from the town to-night,Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry archOf the North Church tower as a signal light,—One, if by land, and two, if by sea;And I on the opposite shore will be,Ready to ride and spread the alarmThrough every Middlesex1 village and farm,For the country folk to be up and to arm.”

Then he said,“Good night!” and with muffled2 oarSilently rowed to the Charlestown shore,Just as the moon rose over the bay,Where swinging wide at her moorings3 layThe Somerset, British man-of-war;4

A phantom ship, with each mast and spar5

Across the moon like a prison bar,And a huge black hulk, that was magnifiedBy its own reflection in the tide.

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Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street,Wanders and watches with eager ears,Till in the silence around him he hearsThe muster6 of men at the barrack7 door,The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,And the measured tread of the grenadiers,8

Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,To the belfry-chamber overhead,And startled the pigeons from their perchOn the sombre rafters, that round him madeMasses and moving shapes of shade,—By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,To the highest window in the wall,Where he paused to listen and look downA moment on the roofs of the town,And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,In their night-encampment9 on the hill,Wrapped in silence so deep and stillThat he could hear, like a sentinel’s10 tread,The watchful night-wind, as it wentCreeping along from tent to tent,And seeming to whisper,“All is well!”A moment only he feels the spellOf the place and the hour, and the secret dreadOf the lonely belfry and the dead;For suddenly all his thoughts are bentOn a shadowy something far away,Where the river widens to meet the bay,—A line of black that bends and floatsOn the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

144

6 muster: an assembling group (of soldiers) 7 barrack: building in which soldiers live8 grenadiers: soldiers

9 encampment: place where a groupis camped

10 sentinel: guard

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11 girth: strap that goes around the bodyof an animal

12 spectral: ghostly13 steed: horse14 Mystic: river that flows into Boston Harbor15 alders: type of tree

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Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,Booted and spurred, with a heavy strideOn the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.Now he patted his horse’s side,Now gazed at the landscape far and near,Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,And turned and tightened his saddle-girth,11

But mostly he watched with eager searchThe belfry-tower of the Old North Church,As it rose above the graves on the hill,Lonely and spectral12 and sombre and still.And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s heightA glimmer, and then a gleam of light!He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,But lingers and gazes, till full on his sightA second lamp in the belfry burns!

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a sparkStruck out by a steed13 flying fearless and fleet;That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,The fate of a nation was riding that night;And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,Kindled the land into flame with its heat.

He has left the village and mounted the steep,And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,Is the Mystic,14 meeting the ocean tides;And under the alders15 that skirt its edge,Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

146

It was twelve by the village clock,When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.He heard the crowing of the cock,And the barking of the farmer’s dog,And felt the damp of the river fog,That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,When he galloped into Lexington.He saw the gilded weathercock16

Swim in the moonlight as he passed,And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,Gaze at him with a spectral glare,As if they already stood aghast17

At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,When he came to the bridge in Concord town.He heard the bleating of the flock,And the twitter of birds among the trees,And felt the breath of the morning breezeBlowing over the meadows brown.And one was safe and asleep in his bedWho at the bridge would be first to fall,Who that day would be lying dead,Pierced by a British musket-ball.18

16 weathercock: a movable device in the shape of a rooster that shows the direction of the wind

17 aghast: shocked

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18 musket-ball: bullet from a gun

1. According to the speaker in the first stanza, did Revere’s ride happen recentlyor a long time ago? What shows when it took place?

2. What did it mean if Revere saw one lantern in the belfry? What did it mean ifhe saw two?

3. Analyze How did Longfellow use repetition in the poem? Why did he use it?

4. Explain What is the meaning of the following lines?

That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread,The watchful night-wind, as it wentCreeping along from tent to tent,And seeming to whisper, “All is well!”

5. Read to Write What kind of person do you think Paul Revere was? Whatactions in the poem show these characteristics? CA 8WA2.2.d

CA 8RL3.6

CA 8RL3.6

Responding to the Literature

You know the rest. In the books you have read,How the British Regulars fired and fled,—How the farmers gave them ball for ball,From behind each fence and farm-yard wall,Chasing the red-coats down the lane,Then crossing the fields to emerge againUnder the trees at the turn of the road,And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;And so through the night went his cry of alarmTo every Middlesex village and farm,—A cry of defiance and not of fear,A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,And a word that shall echo forevermore!For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,Through all our history, to the last,In the hour of darkness and peril and need,The people will waken and listen to hearThe hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

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148

NonfictionFrom Coronado to Escalante: The Explorers of the SpanishSouthwest by John M. Morris describes two kinds of searches. Coronado’s isfor gold and Escalante’s is for converts to Catholicism. As readers follow thesemen, they see the land and Native Americans as the Spanish saw them. Thecontent of this book is related to History–Social Science Standard US7.11.

Historical FictionI, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Barton de Treviño tells the tale of the Africanslave Juan and his famous master, the Spanish painter Velasquez. This storydescribes how Juan becomes an accomplished artist in spite of the laws against slaves learning how to paint. The content of this book is related toHistory–Social Science Standard US7.11.

Historical FictionMaggie’s Choice by Norma Jean Lutz takes place during the GreatAwakening. When a slave girl dies, Maggie must choose between her conscience,which is supported by the teachings of Jonathan Edwards, and her wealthyfriends’ way of life. The content of this book is related to History–Social ScienceStandard US8.1.

BiographyJohn Peter Zenger by Karen T. Westermann describes Zenger and whathappened as the result of his dangerous decision to criticize the colonialgovernment in his newspaper. Zenger’s trial was one of the reasons freedom ofthe press was included in the Bill of Rights. The content of this book is relatedto History–Social Science Standard US8.3.

Do you want to learn more about the Age of Exploration and life in theAmerican colonies? You might be interested in the following books.

I, JUAN DE PAREJA

War ofIndependence

Looking Back, Looking AheadYou learned that American colonists andBritish troops fired the first shots of theRevolutionary War at Lexington andConcord. It took many battles, foughtthroughout the colonies, and manycasualties before the Americans wontheir independence.

Focusing on the • As colonial forces and British troops

continued to fight, colonial leaders metagain to plan their resistance toBritain. (page 150)

• The Declaration of Independence usedtraditional English political rights tocall for independence for the colonies.(page 152)

• America’s victory and independenceled to revolutions in other parts of theworld. (page 153)

Meeting PeopleThomas PaineBernardo de GálvezMarquis de Lafayette (LAH • fee• EHT)John Paul Jones

Content Vocabularypetition (puh•TIH• shuhn)preamble (PREE• AM •buhl)Patriotsneutral (NOO• truhl)Loyalistsguerrilla warfare (guh•RIH• luh)

Academic Vocabularychallengesecure (sih•KYUR)technique (tehk•NEEK)occupy (AH•kyuh• PY)

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information Draw a diagramlike the one below. Use it to list thereasons why the Americans were able todefeat the British in the Revolutionary War.

Reasons for theBritish defeat

HistorySocial ScienceStandards

US8.1 Students under-stand the major eventspreceding the founding ofthe nation and relatetheir significance to thedevelopment of Americanconstitutional democracy.


1777American armiesvictorious atSaratoga

1781Britishsurrender atYorktown

Philadelphia

Yorktown

Saratoga 1776Americancoloniesdeclareindependence

1776 1779 1782

US8.1 Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to thedevelopment of American constitutional democracy.

Moving Toward IndependenceAs colonial forces and British troops

continued to fight, colonial leaders met againto plan their resistance to Britain.

Reading Connection Have you ever read a bookthat was so well written and so powerful that itchanged your mind about a subject? Read to find outabout a pamphlet that changed many Americans’minds about remaining united with Britain.

On June 16, 1775, about 1,200 militiamenunder Colonel William Prescott set up fortifica-tions at Bunker Hill and nearby Breed’s Hill,across the harbor from Boston. The next day, theBritish redcoats crossed the harbor and chargedup Breed’s Hill. With his forces low on ammu-nition, Colonel Prescott reportedly shouted theorder:

“Don’t fire until you see thewhites of their eyes.”

The Americans opened fire, forcing the Britishto retreat. The redcoats charged two moretimes, receiving furious fire. In the end theAmericans ran out of gunpowder and had towithdraw.

The British won the Battle of Bunker Hillbut suffered heavy losses. As one British officerwrote in his diary, “A dear bought victory,another such would have ruined us.” TheBritish learned that defeating the Americans onthe battlefield would not be easy.

The Second Continental Congress Asfighting raged in the Boston area, the SecondContinental Congress met in Philadelphia.Among its delegates were distinguished colo-nial leaders such as John and Samuel Adams,Patrick Henry, George Washington, BenjaminFranklin, and Thomas Jefferson.

The Second Continental Congress began togovern the colonies. It immediately created theContinental Army to fight against Britain in a

more organized way than the colonial militiascould. The Congress unanimously choseGeorge Washington to be the army’s commander.

Congress Petitions King George AfterWashington left to take charge of the colonialforces in Boston, the delegates offered Britain achance to avoid war. In July, the ContinentalCongress sent a petition (puh • TIH • shuhn), or formal request, to King George III. Called theOlive Branch Petition, it assured the king of thecolonists’ desire for peace. It asked the king toprotect the colonists’ rights, which Parliamentseemed determined to destroy. George IIIrefused. Instead he prepared for war, hiring morethan 30,000 German troops to send to America tofight beside British troops.

Who Was Thomas Paine? By late 1775 andearly 1776, more and more Americans began tothink that independence was the only answer.In January 1776, a writer named Thomas Paineconvinced many when he published a pam-phlet called Common Sense. Paine used stronglanguage to condemn the king and called forcomplete separation from Britain. He told thecolonists that their cause was not just a squab-ble over taxes but a struggle for freedom:

“The cause of America is in agreat measure the cause of allmankind.”

—Common Sense

Common Sense circulated widely and helpedconvince thousands of American colonists thatit was “time to part.” At the Second ContinentalCongress in Philadelphia, delegates appointeda committee to draft a declaration of indepen-dence. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia wrote thehistoric document. After making some changes,the Congress approved the Declaration ofIndependence on July 4, 1776.

Explain How did the Battleof Bunker Hill change British expectations aboutthe war?


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN1706–1790

Benjamin Franklin, born in Boston in 1706, was the

15th of 17 children in the Franklin family. Although

Franklin loved learning, he left school at the age of 10

to help his father in the candle-making profession.

Unsatisfied with this life, Franklin began learning the

printer’s trade two years later. By the time he was 23,

he owned his own newspaper in Philadelphia. Soon

afterward, he began publishing Poor Richard’s Almanack,

a calendar filled with advice, philosophy, and wise say-

ings, such as “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man

healthy, wealthy, and wise.” With sales in the thousands

every year, it became, next to the Bible, the most widely

read publication in the colonies.

Franklin was also deeply interested in science. In 1748

he sold his printing business so that he would have time to work on his inventions. He

invented the lightning rod, bifocal eyeglasses, and the Franklin stove for heating. Energetic

and open-minded, Franklin served in the Pennsylvania Assembly for many years. He

founded a hospital, a fire department, America’s first lending library, and an academy of

higher learning that later became the University of Pennsylvania.

Franklin’s greatest services to his fellow Americans came during the 1770s. As a

statesman and patriot, Franklin helped guide the colonies toward independence. In 1775,

Franklin became a member of the Second Continental Congress and helped draft the

Declaration of Independence. In 1776 he traveled to France, seeking the country’s sup-

port in the fight for independence. Franklin remained an asset to the United States up

until his death. After the American Revolution, he served in the Constitutional Convention

and later headed an abolition society.

Name a person living today who resemblesFranklin in either scientific, political, or socialendeavors.

US8.1 Students understand the majorevents preceding the founding of the nationand relate their significance to the develop-ment of American constitutional democracy.

“Be civil to all; sociable tomany; familiar with few;friend to one; enemy to none.”

—Benjamin Franklin,Poor Richard’s Almanack

151

Poor Richard’sAlmanack

(tr)National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resources, NY, (bl)Yale University Art Gallery

Student Web Activity Visit ca.hss.glencoe.comand click on Chapter 2—Student Web Activities foran activity on the Declaration of Independence.

The Colonies DeclareIndependence

The Declaration of Independenceused traditional English political rights to callfor independence for the colonies.

Reading Connection Why do you think govern-ments are formed? How does the government helpyou, and what could you do if the governmentstopped helping you? Read to find out how thewriter of the Declaration of Independenceaddressed these questions.

In the Declaration of Independence,Jefferson explained why the colonies werefounding a new nation. To do this, he drewfrom earlier English documents, such as theMagna Carta and the English Bill of Rights.Both documents established the idea that gov-ernments are not all powerful and that rulershad to obey the laws and treat citizens fairly.

Above all, Jefferson drew on the ideas ofthinkers such as English philosopher JohnLocke to set out the colonies’ reasons for proclaiming their freedom. Locke wrote thatpeople were born with certain natural rights tolife, liberty, and property; that people formedgovernments to protect these rights; and that agovernment that interferes with these rightsmight rightfully be overthrown.

The Declaration has four major sections.The preamble (PREE • AM •buhl), or introduction,states that people who wish to form a newcountry should explain their reasons for doingso. The next two sections list the rights thecolonists believed they should have and theircomplaints against Britain. The final sectionproclaims the existence of the new nation.

The Declaration of Independence states whatJefferson and many Americans thought wereuniversal principles. It begins with a descriptionof traditional English political rights.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men arecreated equal, that they areendowed by their Creator withcertain unalienable Rights, thatamong these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The Declaration ends by announcingAmerica’s new status. Now pledging “to eachother our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacredHonor,” the Americans declared themselves anew nation. The struggle for American independence—the American Revolution—hadbegun.

Identify What does the pre-amble to the Declaration of Independence state?

US8.1.2 Analyze the philosophy of government expressed in the Declaration of Independence, with an emphasis on govern-ment as a means of securing individual rights (e.g., key phrases such as “all men are created equal, that they are endowed bytheir Creator with certain unalienable rights”).


Thomas Jefferson prepared the draft ofthe Declaration, and Benjamin Franklinand John Adams made suggestions. Whyis July 4, 1776, a historic day?

Copyright 1996, Virginia Historical Society, Lora Robins Collection of Virginia Art



US8.1.2 Analyze the philosophy of government expressed in the Declaration of Independence, with an emphasis ongovernment as a means of securing individual rights (e.g., key phrases such as “all men are created equal, that they are endowedby their Creator with certain unalienable rights”). US8.1.3 Analyze how the American Revolution affected other nations,especially France.

The American RevolutionAmerica’s victory and indepen-

dence led to revolutions in other parts of theworld.

Reading Connection Has someone else’s successever encouraged you to work harder toward a goal?Read to find out how the American victory over theBritish led to political revolutions in other colonies.

After the colonial leaders declared inde-pendence in July 1776, the war for freedom wasunavoidable. The British planned to crush therebellion by force. Most of the Patriots—Americans who supported independence—believed the British would give up after losingone or two major battles.

Not all Americans, however, supported thestruggle for independence. Some people wereneutral (NOO • truhl), taking neither side in theconflict. Still other Americans—known asLoyalists—remained loyal to Great Britain. Atleast one American in five was a Loyalist—per-haps as many as one in three.

Early Campaigns During the summer of1776, Britain sent 32,000 troops across theAtlantic to New York. The British hoped the sheer size of their army would convince thePatriots to give up. In late August, Britisharmies defeated George Washington’s forces onNew York’s Long Island. By late November, thePatriots had retreated across New Jersey intoPennsylvania. Meanwhile, the British army set-tled in New York for the winter of 1776, leavingsome troops in New Jersey at Trenton andPrinceton.

Stationed across the Delaware River fromthe British camp in New Jersey, Washingtonsaw a chance to catch the British off guard. OnChristmas night 1776, Washington took 2,400troops across the icy river and surprised theenemy at Trenton the next day. The British sentreinforcements, but Washington led his troopsaway from these soldiers. Washington thenmarched the army to Princeton, where theydrove away the British. One discouragedBritish soldier wrote in his diary that theAmerican victory made the Americans “all lib-erty mad again.”

Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze GeorgeWashington led his troops across the Delaware River on Christmas night ina surprise attack on British troops at Trenton. What effect did the victoryat Trenton have on the American cause?

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The Battle of Saratoga In 1777 the Britishdecided to split New England from the MiddleColonies by taking control of New York’sHudson River valley. The plan called for threeBritish forces to meet at Albany, New York, anddestroy the Patriot troops.

A British force under General JohnBurgoyne advanced southward from Canada.When Burgoyne reached the town of Saratogain New York, the other two British forces hadnot arrived. Soon, Burgoyne’s forces foundthemselves surrounded by a larger Ameri-can army under General Horatio Gates. After a desperate attack, the British realized they were trapped, and Burgoyne surrendered onOctober 17, 1777. The Battle of Saratoga was thefirst major American victory in the war.

Winter at Valley Forge As the winter of 1777approached, other British forces settled in com-fort in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, GeorgeWashington set up camp at Valley Forge, 20 miles to the west of the British.

Washington and his troops endured a win-ter of terrible suffering and difficult conditions,lacking decent food, clothing, and shelter.Washington’s greatest challenge at Valley Forgewas keeping the Continental Army together. Yetwith strong determination, the ContinentalArmy survived the winter, and conditionsgradually improved.

Gaining Allies The victory at Saratogaboosted American spirits. Even more, Saratogamarked a turning point.


Molly Pitcher and DeborahSampson were two of the few women whoactually fought in the Revolution. Othercolonial women, along with their families,followed the armies to cook and clean fortheir husbands.

PPast

Many women serve in the military today

Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouthby Dennis Malone Carter

Women in War

Today women make upabout 15 percent of the armed forces inthe United States. Women soldiers servedin Panama in 1989, the Persian Gulf Warof 1991, and the Iraqi conflict that beganin 2003. Thousands more have served inpeacekeeping missions in Somalia, Bosnia,and Haiti.

Present

(tr)Bill Gentile/CORBIS, (bl)Fraunces Tavern Museum, New York City

The European nations, especially France,realized that the United States might actuallywin its war against Britain. In 1778 the Frenchdeclared war on Britain and provided aid to theAmericans.

Other European nations also helped thePatriots. Spain declared war on Britain in 1779,and the Spanish governor of Louisiana,Bernardo de Gálvez, raised an army. Gálvez’sarmy forced British troops from towns and fortsalong the Gulf of Mexico. His efforts securedthe southern frontiers of the United States.

Individual foreigners also helped theAmericans. One of the hardy soldiers at ValleyForge was a French nobleman, the Marquis deLafayette (LAH • fee •EHT). Dedicated to the ideasof the Declaration of Independence, Lafayettewas a trusted aide to Washington. Two Poles—Thaddeus Kosciusko (kawsh • CHUSH • koh), anengineer, and Casimir Pulaski, a cavalry offi-cer—also helped the Americans. Friedrich vonSteuben (STOO • buhn), a former army officerfrom Germany, turned the ragged ContinentalArmy into a more effective fighting force.

Life on the Home Front The war changedthe lives of all Americans, even those whostayed at home. With thousands of men away inmilitary service, women took over the dutiesthat had once been the responsibility of theirhusbands or fathers. Other women ran theirhusband’s or their own businesses.

The ideals of liberty and freedom thatinspired the American Revolution caused somewomen to question their place in society.Abigail Adams was a dedicated champion ofwomen’s interests. She wrote to her husband,John Adams, who was a member of the SecondContinental Congress:

“I can not say that I think you verygenerous to the ladies, for whilst youare proclaiming peace and good willto men, emancipating all nations,you insist upon retaining an absolutepower over wives.”

—Letter, May 7, 1776

The Revolutionary War ideals of freedomand liberty inspired some white Americans toquestion slavery. From the beginning of thewar, African American soldiers fought for theAmerican cause. To some who were fightingfor freedom, both African American andwhite, the Revolution seemed to bring nearerthe day when slavery would be abolished.Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts,and Pennsylvania attempted to end slavery intheir states. The issue of slavery would remainunsettled for many years, however.

War in the West and on Sea Along thenorthwestern frontier, the British and theirNative American allies were raiding Americansettlements. During 1778 and 1779, GeorgeRogers Clark, an officer in the Virginia militia,seized British posts in present-day Illinois andIndiana. Clark’s victories strengthened theAmerican position in the West.

Other battles raged at sea. A daringAmerican naval officer, John Paul Jones, raidedBritish ports. In September 1779, Jones’s shipBonhomme Richard fought the British warshipSerapis. At one point, Jones’s ship was so badlydamaged that the British captain asked whetherJones wished to surrender. Jones is said to haveanswered, “I have not yet begun to fight.” In theend the Serapis surrendered, making John PaulJones a naval hero to the American Patriots.

Many soldiers from other countries and about 5,000 African

American soldiers fought for American independence.

CHAPTER 2 • Road to Independence 155William T. Ranney, MARION CROSSING THE PEDEE, 1850, o/c, 1983.126; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

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N.Y.

CONN.

MASS.

Savannah

Charles Town

Camden

Cowpens Wilmington

New York City

Kings Mt.

Yorktown

ValleyForge

West Point

The Revolutionary War in the South, 1778–1781

American and allied forces

British forces

American victory

British victory

Fort

22

11 British capture Savannah, 1778

British capture Charles Town andCamden, but are defeated at KingsMountain in October 1780 and atCowpens in January 1781

Washington and Rochambeau rushtoward Virginia, August 1781

French Admiral De Grasse keepsBritish ships away

Cornwallis trapped; the Britishsurrender at Yorktown, 1781

33

44

55

Struggles in the South By 1778 the Britishhoped to use sea power and Loyalist support towin victories in the South. By 1780, Britishforces had seized Savannah and Charles Town.The British, however, could not control theirconquered areas. This was due to a new kind ofwarfare carried out by the Patriots.

As British troops moved through the coun-tryside, small forces of Patriots attacked them.Bands of soldiers suddenly struck and then dis-appeared. This hit-and-run technique ofguerrilla warfare (guh • RIH • luh) caught theBritish off guard.

The War Is Won In 1780 the war was at a crit-ical point. Both armies needed a victory to win.This finally came in 1781 at the Battle ofYorktown on the coast of Virginia. The Frenchnavy blocked the British from escaping by sea,while American and French forces surrounded

and trapped the British inside Yorktown.Realizing they could not win, the British laiddown their weapons.

The Treaty of Paris Britain’s defeat atYorktown did not end the Revolutionary War.The fighting dragged on in some areas for twomore years. Peace negotiations, however, beganin Paris. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, andJohn Jay represented the United States. Thefinal settlement, known as the Treaty of Paris,was signed on September 3, 1783.

The Treaty of Paris was a triumph for theAmericans. Great Britain recognized the UnitedStates as an independent nation. The territoryclaimed by the new nation extended from theAtlantic Ocean west to the Mississippi Riverand from Canada in the north to Spanish Floridain the south. The Revolutionary War was over.The creation of a new nation was about to begin.

Most of the fighting took place in theSouth during the latter years of theRevolutionary War.1.Location Which British general was

trapped at Yorktown, Virginia?2.Drawing Conclusions How did

the French navy help the Americanswin the war?

the American Revolution? Visitca.hss.glencoe.com and click on Study Central.


Why the Americans Won How were thePatriots able to win the Revolutionary War? TheAmericans had several advantages. They foughton their own land, while the British had to bringtroops and supplies from far away. The Britishsucceeded in occupying cities but had difficultycontrolling the countryside. Help from othernations also contributed to the American victory.

Perhaps most important, the AmericanRevolution was a people’s movement. Its out-come depended not on any one battle or eventbut on the determination and spirit of all thePatriots.

A Model for Others In 1776 the Americancolonists began a revolution, making clear theprinciples of freedom and rights outlined in theDeclaration of Independence. These ideasbounded back across the Atlantic to influence

the French Revolution. French rebels in 1789fought in defense of “Liberty, Equality, andFraternity.” French revolutionaries repeated theprinciples of the American Declaration ofIndependence: “Men are born and remain freeand equal in rights.”

In 1791 the ideals of the American andFrench revolutions traveled across theCaribbean and the Atlantic to the French-heldisland colony of Saint Domingue. Inspired bytalk of freedom, enslaved Africans took uparms. Led by Toussaint-Louverture, theyrejected French rule. In 1804 Saint Domingue—part of present-day Haiti—became the secondnation in the Americas to achieve independencefrom colonial rule.

Summarize Why was theBattle of Saratoga a turning point in the war?

Reading SummaryReview the • The Second Continental

Congress met to discuss govern-ing the colonies and to form theContinental Army to fight theBritish.

• The Declaration of Independence,written by Thomas Jefferson,declared the American coloniesto be a new, independent nation.

• The American victory inspiredother peoples to seek indepen-dence and rebel against theirgovernments.

1. For what did Thomas Paineargue in Common Sense?

2. What was guerrilla warfare,and why was it effective?

Critical Thinking3. Organizing Information

Draw a chart like the onebelow. Fill in the names anddates of major RevolutionaryWar battles and providedetails about each battle.

4. Predict What might havehappened if the French hadnot allied with the colonistsduring the RevolutionaryWar?

5. On whatlaws and political ideas didJefferson draw when writingthe Declaration ofIndependence?

6. Math Connection Examinethe list of representatives tothe Second ContinentalCongress on page 167 whosigned the Declaration ofIndependence. Draw a bargraph depicting the numberof men representing eachstate. Use the X-axis for thestates and the Y-axis for num-bers of men.

CA HI3.

CA CS1.

CA CS2.CA CS1.

What Did You Learn?


Battle What Occurred


Independence:Yes or No?Many American colonists joined the movement for independence. Still, many Americansdid not want to break away from Great Britain.

For IndependenceMany colonists in the summer of 1775 were not prepared to break away

from Great Britain. The colonists resented British taxes. Because they had no

representation in Parliament, as people in Great Britain did, the colonists

believed that Parliament had no right to tax them. They summarized their

feelings with the slogan “No taxation without representation.” Most mem-

bers of the Second Continental Congress wanted the right to govern them-

selves, but they did not want to break with the British Empire.

By 1776, however, opinion had changed. Frustrated by Britain’s refusal

to compromise, many Patriot leaders began to call for independence.

Influential in swaying the colonists toward the idea of separating from

Great Britain was Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense, which first

appeared in January 1776. Paine made an impassioned

appeal:“I have heard it asserted by some, that as America hath

flourished under her former connexion with Great Britain,

the same connexion is necessary towards her future happi-

ness. . . . I answer roundly, that America would have flour-

ished as much, and probably much more, had no European

power [taken notice of her]. . . . Everything that is right or

natural pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the

weeping voice of nature cries, ‘TIS TIME TO PART.’”

The Patriots believed that fighting for liberty set

an example for others to follow. Ben Franklin

wrote to a friend that “our cause is the cause of

all mankind, and that we are fighting for their

liberty in defending our own.”

US8.1 Students understandthe major events precedingthe founding of the nationand relate their significanceto the development ofAmerican constitutionaldemocracy.

Thomas Paine

158Bettmann/CORBIS

Against Independence The American Revolution was not only a war between the British and

the Americans. It also divided Americans themselves. While American

Patriots fought passionately for independence, other Americans fought

just as fiercely for their British king. Americans who felt a strong sense of

loyalty to the king and believed British law should be upheld came to be

known as Loyalists.

Loyalists came from all parts of American society. Many Loyalists

lived in Georgia, the Carolinas, and New England; the Patriots though

were strong in New England and Virginia. Political differences divided

communities and even split families. Benjamin Franklin’s son, William,

served as Royal Governor of New Jersey. When the Revolution began,

William remained loyal to Britain and quarreled bitterly with his father.

Loyalists answered Paine’s Common Sense with pamphlets of their own.

One who did was Charles Inglis, a minister from New York. He wrote: “By

a connection with Great Britain, our trade would still have the protection of

the greatest naval power in the world.”

Inglis also said that if the American

colonies did not give up their fight for

independence, Britain would exert its

great power and the result would be:

“Ruthless war, with all its aggravated

horrors, will ravage our once happy

land—our seacoasts and ports will be

ruined, and our ships taken. Torrents of

blood will be spilt, and thousands reduced

to beggary and wretchedness.”

159

Document-Based Questions

1. What economic argument doesPaine use to support separationfrom Great Britain?

2. What does Inglis believe willresult from war with Britain?

3. Were the reasons for or againstAmerican independence convinc-ing? Write a short letter to Inglisin which you support the Patriotor Loyalist position. Use facts tosupport your position. CA 8WS1.0

CA HR5.

Some Americans usedforce against Loyalists.

Bettmann/CORBIS

Penn’s ColonyWilliam Penn wrote of the newPennsylvania colony with pride.

We have laid out a town a mile wideand two miles deep, with 150 very tolera-ble houses. . . . [It is] the largest townsouth of New York and already the envyof its neighbors.

The air is serene as in Languedoc, amost fragrant smell of cedar, pine andsassafras. . . . In short, I am fully satisfiedwith the country, . . . I must, without van-ity, confess that I have led the greatestcolony in America. . . .

—Letters to John Aubrey and Lord Halifax, 1683

The Germantown Protest One of the earliest protests in North Americaagainst the enslavement of Africans was thisstatement written in 1688 by a religious groupknown as the Mennonites.

Now, though, they are black, we cannotconceive there is more liberty to havethem slaves, . . . [than] to have other whiteones. There is a saying, that we should doto all men like as we will be done our-selves; making no difference of what generation, descent, or color they are. . . .

Pray, what thing in the world can bedone worse towards us, than if men shouldrob or steal us away, and sell us for slavesto strange countries; separating husbandsfrom their wives and children. . . .

—Germantown Protest

Life in the American Colonies Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, more and more English people settled in the 13 colonies along

the Atlantic coast of North America. How did these settlers adapt to their new homes? What was theireveryday life like? You can get a glimpse of life in colonial America by analyzing letters and publishedwritings from this era.

Read the passages on pages 160 and 161, and answerthe questions that follow.

tolerable (TAH • luh • ruh • buhl):satisfactory

Languedoc (lahng • DAWK): region insouthern France

generation (JEH • nuh • RAY • shuhn):age group

descent (dih • SEHNT): line of ances-tors; birth

poultry (POHL • tree): chickens

Reader’s Dictionary

William Penn inspecting deeds during survey expedition of Philadelphia


US.8.1 Students understand the majorevents preceding the founding of thenation and relate their significance to thedevelopment of American constitutionaldemocracy.

Bettmann/CORBIS


Poor Richard’s AlmanackBen Franklin published Poor Richard’sAlmanack every year from 1733 to 1758. Thealmanack included weather forecasts, statistics,and other useful or interesting information.Franklin also included proverbs, or short wittysayings, like those that follow. See if you recognizeany of them.

a. Early to bed and early to rise,makes a man healthy wealthyand wise.

b. Little strokes, fell great oaks.

c. Glass, china, and reputation,are easily crack’d, and neverwell mended.

d. An open foe may prove acurse; but a pretended friendis worse.

e. One today is worth twotomorrows.

f. Haste makes waste.

g. Beware of little expenses, asmall leak will sink a greatship.

h. The sleeping fox catches no poultry.

i. A Slip of the Foot you may soon recover: But a Slip of the Tongue you may neverget over.

—Poor Richard’s Almanack

Penn’s Colony1. How does Penn describe the houses in the

colony?2. Is Penn proud of the colony? How can you

tell?

The Germantown Protest 3. What arguments do the writers use as evi-

dence that slavery is evil?4. What familiar saying is used to make the

writers’ point about slavery? Why is thissaying used?

Poor Richard’s Almanack5. Which of the proverbs have you heard or

read? Why do you think Franklin’s proverbsare still popular today?

6. Write the meaning of three of the proverbsin your own words.

Read to Write7. Write a proverb about something that

is part of your everyday life. Compare your proverb about life today with one ofFranklin’s proverbs. What is the same andwhat is different about the two proverbs?

CA 8WA2.1

Stapleton Collection/CORBIS

Lambert Equal-Area projection250 kilometers0

250 miles0

N

S

EW

70°W80°W

APPAL

ACH

IAN

MO

UN

TAIN

S

Ohio

R. AtlanticOcean

MASS.(District of Maine)

N.H.

MASS.

R.I.CONN.

N.Y.

N.J.PENN.

DEL.MD.

VA.

N.C.

S.C.

GA.

Review Content VocabularyMatch the definitions in the second column tothe terms in the first column.

1. burgess2. militia3. smuggling4. boycott5. tolerance

Review the Section 1 • Founding the American Colonies

6. Why did the Virginia Company create theHouse of Burgesses?

7. Describe the role of religious freedom inthe founding of two of the colonies.

Section 2 • Life in Colonial America

8. What was the Great Awakening, and howdid it represent the unique American cul-ture that was developing?

9. What was England’s reason for theNavigation Acts?

Section 3 • Trouble in the Colonies

10. How did the British government use thecolonies to raise revenue?

11. What incident caused the BritishParliament to pass the Coercive Acts?

Section 4 • War of Independence

12. According to the Declaration ofIndependence, if a government does notprotect the basic rights of the people itgoverns, what is the right of the people?

13. What fighting method did the Americansuse to keep the British from controlling theSouthern Colonies?

Critical Thinking14. Predict What might have happened if

Britain had allowed the American colonistsmore control in creating regulations deal-ing with colonial trade?

15. Analyze What did Patrick Henry meanwhen he said, “I am not a Virginian, but anAmerican”?

16. Conclude Why do you think the Britishfound it easier to capture American citiesthan to take over the American countryside?

Geography SkillsStudy the map below and answer the follow-ing questions. CA CS3.

CA HR3.

CA HR4.

CA HI2.


Standard US8.1

a. trading illegally withanother country

b. representativec. group of citizen soldiersd. acceptance of different

beliefse. refuse to buy

National Originof Colonists, 1760

African

Dutch

English

German

Scotch-Irish

Scottish

17. Human-Environment Interaction Whatgeographical feature served as a boundaryto westward settlement in 1760?

18. Location Which colony had the largestarea of Scottish settlement?

19. Human-Environment InteractionDescribe the location of the colonies’African population. Why was that popula-tion found in those colonies?

Read to Write20. Evaluate Write a short

essay describing why the Americancolonists had strong views about self-government.

21. Using Your Draw a graphicorganizer that describes the events that ledthe Americans to declare independence fromGreat Britain. As you discuss the causes andeffects, imagine other possible outcomes tothe same situations. Could war have beenavoided through diplomacy? Write an essaythat summarizes your conclusions.

Using Academic Vocabulary Choose an academic vocabulary word to com-plete each sentence. You may need to changethe form of the word to provide the best answer.

grant adaptsecure violate

22. The Continental Army had to __________its battle tactics to defeat the highly organ-ized British forces.

23. Colonial leaders believed that British taxa-tion policies __________ their naturalrights to representative government.

Building Citizenship24. Researching America’s heritage of reli-

gious diversity and toleration began in thecolonial period. Use the Internet and othersources to research modern laws that aremeant to promote religious freedom andtoleration. Prepare a report to share withthe class.

Reviewing Skills

25. Identifying the Main IdeaRead the “List of Grievances” in theDeclaration of Independence. List the mainidea and supporting points outlined in thatsection. Rewrite the grievances in yourown words, using the main and support-ing points you identified.

26. Infer Why do you thinkThomas Jefferson relied so heavily on ear-lier British documents and on the thoughtsof British philosophers as he wrote theDeclaration of Independence? Write a shortessay explaining your conclusions. CA HI3.

CA 8RC2.0

CA 8WS1.4

CA 8WS1.1

CA 8WS1.1


Read the passage below and answerthe following questions.

Locke’s ideas, as stated in theparagraph above, contributedto the

A Proclamation of 1763.

B Intolerable Acts.

C Declaration of Independence.

D Articles of Confederation.

27

An English philosopher named JohnLocke wrote about his belief thatpeople had natural rights. Theseincluded the right to life, liberty,and property. In Two Treatises ofGovernment, Locke wrote that peoplecreated government to protect natu-ral rights. If a government failed in itsbasic duty of protecting naturalrights, people had the right to over-throw the government.

Self-Check Quiz Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com

to prepare for the Chapter 2 test.


164 The Declaration of Independence

In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declarationof the thirteen united States of America,

[Preamble]When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one

people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them withanother, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate andequal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitlethem, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that theyshould declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

[Declaration of Natural Rights]We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of theseends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institutenew Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizingits powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect theirSafety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governmentslong established should not be changed for light and transient causes; andaccordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed tosuffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing theforms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses andusurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design toreduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, tothrow off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their futuresecurity.

[List of Grievances]Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now

the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Gov-ernment. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history ofrepeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establish-ment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts besubmitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessaryfor the public good.

impel force

endowed provided

despotism unlimited power

usurpations unjust uses of power

What It MeansThe Preamble The Declarationof Independence has four parts.The Preamble explains why theContinental Congress drew upthe Declaration.

What It MeansNatural Rights The second part,the Declaration of Natural Rights,lists the rights of the citizens. It goes on to explain that, in arepublic, people form a govern-ment to protect their rights.

What It MeansList of Grievances The thirdpart of the Declaration lists thecolonists’ complaints against theBritish government. Notice thatKing George III is singled out forblame.

The Declaration of Independence 165

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and press-ing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent shouldbe obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large dis-tricts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Repre-sentation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfort-able, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the solepurpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing withmanly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause othersto be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation,have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remainingin the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, andconvulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for thatpurpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing topass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditionsof new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assentto Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of theiroffices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms ofOfficers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

relinquish give upinestimable priceless

annihilation destruction

convulsions violent disturbances

Naturalization of Foreignersprocess by which foreign-born personsbecome citizens

tenure term

Francis G. Mayer/CORBIS

166 The Declaration of Independence

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without theConsent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior tothe Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign toour constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent totheir acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of troops among us:For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders

which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring

Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging itsBoundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument forintroducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, andaltering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves investedwith Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protec-tion and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, anddestroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries tocompleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun withcircumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most bar-barous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seasto bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of theirfriends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeav-oured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Sav-ages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction ofall ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress inthe most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered onlyby repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every actwhich may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We havewarned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend anunwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir-cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed totheir native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by theties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, wouldinevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too havebeen deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore,acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them,as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

quartering lodging

render make

abdicated given up

perfidy violation of trust

insurrections rebellions

petitioned for redress askedformally for a correction of

wrongs

unwarrantable jurisdictionunjustified authority

consanguinity originating fromthe same ancestor

167

[Resolution of Independence by the United States]

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, inGeneral Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of theworld for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Author-ity of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare,That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Inde-pendent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the BritishCrown, and that all political connection between them and the State ofGreat Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free andIndependent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts andThings which Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Pro-tection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives,our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

John HancockPresident from Massachusetts

GeorgiaButton GwinnettLyman HallGeorge Walton

North CarolinaWilliam HooperJoseph Hewes John Penn

South CarolinaEdward RutledgeThomas Heyward, Jr.Thomas Lynch, Jr.Arthur Middleton

MarylandSamuel ChaseWilliam PacaThomas StoneCharles Carroll

of Carrollton

VirginiaGeorge WytheRichard Henry LeeThomas JeffersonBenjamin HarrisonThomas Nelson, Jr.Francis Lightfoot LeeCarter Braxton

PennsylvaniaRobert MorrisBenjamin RushBenjamin FranklinJohn MortonGeorge ClymerJames SmithGeorge TaylorJames WilsonGeorge Ross

DelawareCaesar RodneyGeorge ReadThomas McKean

New YorkWilliam FloydPhilip LivingstonFrancis LewisLewis Morris

New JerseyRichard StocktonJohn WitherspoonFrancis HopkinsonJohn HartAbraham Clark

New HampshireJosiah BartlettWilliam WhippleMatthew Thornton

MassachusettsSamuel AdamsJohn AdamsRobert Treat PaineElbridge Gerry

Rhode IslandStephen HopkinsWilliam Ellery

ConnecticutSamuel HuntingtonWilliam WilliamsOliver WolcottRoger Sherman

rectitude rightness

What It MeansSigners of the Declaration Thesigners, as representatives of theAmerican people, declared thecolonies independent from GreatBritain. Most members signedthe document on August 2, 1776.

What It MeansResolution of IndependenceThe Final section declares thatthe colonies are “Free andIndependent States” with thefull power to make war, to formalliances, and to trade withother countries.

Bettmann/CORBIS

When • 1200s–1700s • 1600s–1700s

Native Americans were the firstpeople to live in the Americas.Europeans and enslaved Africansarrived next. In England new ideasabout government evolved. Englishcolonists used those ideas to formthe United States of America.

• Europe• Asia• Africa• Central America• South America • North America

• New England• West Africa• West Indies• Southern Colonies• Middle Colonies• Great Britain

Where

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

ExpandingHorizons

Road toIndependence

Early compass First Thanksgiving byJennie Browscomb, 1914

168(t)Fraunces Tavern Museum, New York City, (bl)Photograph Courtesy Peabody Essex Museum, (br)Courtesy Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, MA

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

ExpandingHorizons

Road toIndependence

SomeImportantPeople

• Christopher Columbus• Queen Elizabeth I• John Locke• Isaac Newton

Major Events

• American Patriotssupported rights(free speech,religion, press)that we enjoy today.

What washappening inCalifornia atthis time?

• 1533 Spanish expedition reachesBaja California peninsula

• 1542 Juan Cabrillo reaches SanDiego Bay

• 1579 Francis Drake encountersCoast Miwok people

• 1769 Father Junípero Serra sets up first mission at San Diego

• 1776 Juan Bautista de Anza discovers trail from Sonora to San Francisco area

• 1215 King John signs Magna Carta• c. 1400s Technological advances lead

to Age of Exploration and growth oftrade

• 1492 Columbus reaches the Americas• 1517 Martin Luther’s calls for change

begin the Reformation• 1521, 1532 Conquistadors conquer

Aztec and Inca empires• 1588 English defeat Spanish Armada• c. 1600s Governments begin to

charter banks• c. 1600s Mercantilism becomes basis

for national policies• 1689 Bill of Rights guarantees all

English people basic rights• 1690 John Locke states that people

have rights based on natural law

• 1607 Jamestown is first permanentEnglish colony

• 1619 Representatives to House ofBurgesses meet

• 1620 Pilgrims sign MayflowerCompact

• 1730s–1740s Great Awakeningsweeps through English colonies

• 1763 Proclamation of 1763 forbidssettlement west of Appalachians

• 1770 Boston Massacre leads tomore boycotts of British goods

• 1773 Boston Tea Party protests taxon tea

• 1775 First battles of Revolution arefought at Lexington and Concord

• 1776 Declaration of Independenceis signed

• 1781 British surrender at Yorktown

How do theseevents andideas affectour livestoday?

• School subjects are rooted inRenaissance learning.

• Spanish heritage is an importantpart of North American culture.

• Roger Williams• Jonathan Edwards• Benjamin Franklin• George Washington

RevolutionaryWar drum and fife

Juan Bautista de Anza

ChristopherColumbus

(c)Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS, (cl)Lexington Historical Society, Lexington, MA, (cr)Fort Ticonderoga Museum, (br)Bettmann/CORBIS

Documents

Chapter 2: Road to Independence · CHAPTER 2 • Road to Independence 115 Use the main idea that appears under one of the headings in Section 1 of this chapter as the first sentence