THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Define Revolution

An overthrow or replacement of an established government by the people being governed.

I. Causes of the Revolution

A. French and Indian War (Seven Years War)

1. France, Spain, Indians VS England – England wins

2. Both Britons and Colonists, fought, died, and paid for the war.

B. Treaty of Paris (1763)

1. The British gained control over the area west of the 13 British Colonies to the Mississippi River.

2. The French agreed to no longer support any colonies in North America

So we all lived happily ever after … RIGHT?

3. Colonists are proud to be British subjects and thought they would be able to expand to the west without opposition

C. Proclamation of 1763

1. The proclamation, in effect, closed off the frontier to colonial expansion

2. Colonists could not settle west of the Appalachian mountains3.The King presented the proclamation as a measure to calm the fears of the Indians, who felt that the colonists would drive them from their lands as they expanded westward4. Colonists felt that the object was to pen them in along the Atlantic seaboard where they would be easier to regulate

Their Prize had been taken from them … SO what would you do??

Colonial Response to the British actions

Stamp Act (1765): a British tax on most printed material- was the first direct tax on the colonies.

Sons of Liberty(1765) organized protest meetings and intimidated tax collectors -led to the formation of the Stamp Act Congress which sent a petition to King George

Townshend Acts (1767): tax on certain imported goods (indirect tax)

The Daughters of Liberty and the Sons

of Liberty both organize effective boycotts of British goods

The British repeal the Stamp Act in 1766

2. The Boston Tea Party (1773)a. The Sons of Liberty – a group in Boston trying to stir people to action against Britain – they often used violence and intimidation to accomplish their goal.b. Sons of Liberty dress up like Indians and throw 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor

WRITING ASSINGMENT:You are a member of the Sons of Liberty and you have just participated in the Boston Tea Party or the Boston Massacre. Write a letter to a friend in Georgia telling them about what happened and why it happened and England’s reaction. Include specific details about the event – be creative, make it fun to read. AT LEAST ONE PAGE!

D. Actions of the Colonists

1. The Boston Massacre

a. Frightened British soldiers fired into a crowd of angry Boston citizens – 5 dead, 6 wounded.

England’s reaction – The Intolerable Acts

1. Boston Port Act

a. England closed the Boston port until the Tea was paid for

2. Massachusetts Government Act

a. Massachusetts cannot elect officials or hold meetings without approval of Royal Governor

3. The Quartering Act (1774)

a. All colonists are required to house and feed British soldiers

Arguments against British laws

1. Consent of the governed a. Governments can rule only as long as citizens agree to be ruled.

2. Representative government a. People have a right to elect people to represent them and make decisions that effect their lives.

3. Limited government a. People have natural rights government can’t take away

b. Such as life, liberty and property

Declaration of Independence• The document’s ideas

can be traced to several philosophies:

John Locke: -believed people were born with

certain natural rights (life, liberty and property)

-that the people and the government have a “contract”

-people had the right to overthrow a government if it did not uphold its end of the contract

Declaration of Independence• Montesquieu

-French philosopher

-Wrote of three types of political power (executive, legislative, and judicial)

-Separation of power and checks and balances

Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, & John AdamsWhy didn’t the declaration say anything about slavery?

Declaration of Independence• The signing of the Declaration of

Independence signaled the beginning of the American Revolutionary War

C. More on the declaration of independence

1. The declaration included the following ideas:

a. All men are created equal

b. Everyone is born with certain right, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

c. Government gets its power from the people

d. The people can get rid of a government they no longer approve of.

D. Where did these ideas come from?

Look back in your notes, match these ideas from the Declaration of Independence with the arguments against British rule as well as specific people and their beliefs.

II. Revolution – time for action.

B. Second Continental Congress (May 1775)

1. Delegates from all colonies meet to decide what to doa. Would it be war or peace?

A. Battle of Lexington and Concord

1. British troops try to destroy patriot military supplies.2. Colonial messengers alert minutemen who go to Concord to fight the British Redcoats

3. First battle of War for Independence

a. Colonial victory

2. July 4, 1776 – Declaration of Independence

Signing of the Declaration of Independence

III. Georgia in the Revolution

A. Whigs (patriots) vs. Tories (loyalists)

1. Most Whigs lived in the backcountry and had been in Georgia longer

2. Most Tories lived on the coast and relied on England for trade.

B. Savannah held by British troops for most of the war.

1. Whigs controlled Georgia from 1776 - 1778

2. British troops took Georgia in 1778 and held it until the end of the war (1783)

3. Siege of Savannah

a. In 1779 a group of patriots and French soldiers tried to retake Savannah

b. The siege failed after 3 weeks – British troops lost 150 men, Americans and French lost 1,000- Count Casmir Pulaski was killed in a cavalry charge.

IV. End of War

A. Treaty of Paris 1783

1. British General Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown

NOW … the newly freed STATES had to deal with a whole new set of problems …

B. Taxation Without Representation

1. The Sugar Act (1764)

a. England began enforcing a tax on molasses (used to make rum)b. Smugglers go to trial in England’s courts

2. Stamp Act (1765)

a. Tax on all printed material

3. Townsend Act (1767)

a. Tax on imported goods like coffee, tea, wine, glass, and paint.

4. Tea Act (1773) – the last straw

a. Told colonists they could only buy tea from the East India Tea Company – a British companyb. Colonists did not like being told where they could buy tea, even though it made their tea cheaper.

WRITING ASSINGMENT – PUT IT RIGHT IN YOUR NOTES:Imagine you are a colonist in the 1773, you are

suddenly confronted with a lot of extra rules and taxes. Create a magazine ad that expresses how you feel about England and their new rules. In your ad you will need to tell your fellow colonists about these new laws, how they effect their lives, and what they can do about it. Make them JUMP out a people, this is an ad.