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Stamp Act
Prime Minister Granville proposed the Stamp Act of 1765 to raise money to pay back their debts from the French Indian War. Every time the colonists bought paper items, or seals the British government made them tax for all the paper items and seals. Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams was created to protest against this Act. Patrick Henry stated in resolutions to House of Burgesses that the Stamp Act violated right's of colonists:"No taxation without representation" and no jury for the accused. -
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Timeline to War
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Stamp Act Congress
All Colonies except Georgia convened in New York to talk about how the Stamp Act violated their rights and liberties. The colonists drafted a letter to the king asking to repeal the Stamp Act. Meanwhile widespread colonial boycotts took place and eventually British merchants, who were fed up, demanded for the Act to be repealed. Upset that colonialistes challenged Parliament, the Declaratory Act was passed. This Act stated that Parliament could make laws for colonies "in all cases whatsoever". -
Townshend Acts
Townshend Acts placed duties or taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea. Writs of Assistance was used to make sure people followed the Townshend law as well as to prevent smuggling of goods. Colonists despised this Act because power was taken away from the Colonial government. British good were boycotted and the Daughters of Liberty helped with this. Samuel Adams wrote a letter saying that the Townshend Act violated the rights of the colonists. -
Protests and Boycotts
The events that lead to Bosten Massacre was that Bostonians were protesting the Townshend revenue Acts by boycotting English luxury goods. Other goods were boycotted as well. Soon merchants in Philadelphia and other colonies joined the boycott. -
Boston Massacre
This lead to mass tension which amounted to a lone British solider hitting a colonists. The crowd got angry and s solider panicked and shot in to the crowd killing three men. This became known as "shot heard round the world". Paul Revere made a propaganda poster which was meant to convince other colonists that the British were mean and didn't care about rights and liberties of American Colonists. Later in April the Townshend Act were repealed and only inport duty on tea was still in motion. -
Tea Act
The British Government taxed teas of the colonists. Imported tea arriving in the colonies had to be taxed on order to help the British East India company out of debt by allowing them to have a tea monopoly by selling their tea to agents in American colonies. American merchants who were the middlemen in the tea trade. Lost a lot go income. ad the result colonists in Philadelphia and boston forced agents to resign. -
Bosten Tea Party
There were ships carrying ships that was carrying teas, and the colonists wanted to send the ships to England without paying any taxes. The new governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson told the harbor officials to not let any ship sail without paying taxes. Essayists got angry and they disguise as Mohawk Indians and dumped 342 containers of tea in to the harbor. It is believed that the Sons of Liberty organized by Samuel Adams was responsable. -
Intolerable/Coercive Acts
Reacting to the Boston Tea Party, Coercive Acts are: Boston Port Bill (closed commercial shipping in MA untill the taxes were paid and compensation was given to East Indian Company), Quartering Act 2 (New British troops got housing and supplies from colonists), Administration of Justice Act (governor could choose the place of trials), and Massachusetts Bay Regulating Act (Governor chose Elected Assembly, law officers; royal assent needed for town meetings, and juries can not be landholders). -
1st Continental Congress
On September 1774, delegates from 12 colonies gathered in response to the Intolerable Acts in Philadelphia.Georgia was the only one who didn’t send any delegates. A resolution supporting Massachusetts against the Intolerable Acts was passed, where Delegates agreed to boycott all British goods and stop exporting goods to Britain until the act was repealed. They organized a militia just in case Britain didn’t cooperate. Delegates agreed to meet again next May. -
Concord and Lexington
This to part battle started when the British troops or redcoats had to capture John Hancock and Samual Adams in Comcord, but Hancock and Adams were warned earle. On April 18 paul Revere rode form Concrod to Lexington warning the patriots about about the British troops. This prepared Minutmen or Partriots's soldiers ready to fight in a minut, to defend at Lexington. A shot was fired whitch was a signal for the Brits to attect. Many were wounded and killed. Hancock and Adams had escaped safely. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The second battle happended while the British troops were searching for ammunition, but ran into the Minutmen they fought but the British troops were losing. The minutmen tried really hard to defeat the British troops but they managed to retreat. A famous poet named Ralph Waldo Emerson nicknamed the battle in his poem "Shot heard round the world" because this physically triggered the Revolutionary War. -
2nd Continental Congress
At the Second Continental Congress opinions were divided amongst delegates. Some wanted were war while others preferred peace. The Continental army was created at this Congress, which came from Massachusetts militia. They appointed George Washington as the commander in chief of the army. Delegates also signed the Olive Branch Petition in July 17, 1775 asking the king to make peace, but he didn't see the document. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British General Howe captured Boston and the rebells wanted to reclaim Boston. To do so they had to first go to Bunker Hill because it was a great vantage point to watch Boston and the bay. They dug and created forts in one night. It was on a hill and they put cannons in the forts. Howe sent the redcoats across the bay on boats to stop th caonnons. He sent them up the hill but the Americans had a adventage because they were on top of the hill and the British were at the bottom. -
Battle of Bunker Hill (2)
Because the rebels were overwhelmed from the amount of redcoats who were comming by as a big wave, they had to retreat. -
The Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was used to resolve any problems and differences between the Americans and the British. The purpose of the document was to address colonial grievances In order to avoid the Revoluionary War. They sent Richard Penn to England In August 1775 to present the document but the king refused to see Penn or the document. -
Common Sense
"Common Sense", a pamphlet written by Tomas Paine, gave strong arguments in support of American independence. Paine was able to convince colonists who were were newtrilists. He used ideas of freedom from John Locke and critcisms of aristocratic goverment to support his argument for the a revolution. He said that the colocists had a right to rebell againsts viloent and abusive and should eradicate tyranny. -
The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson argued in the Declaration of Independence document, that everyone should have unalienable rights, or rights that cannot be taken away or be denied. Such rights were life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He also argued that King George III had taken away rights of the Colonists by supporting unfair laws and wrongly interfering in colonial governments. -
The Declaration of Independence (2)
The Declaration of Independence reflects the idea of a social contract between the people and the government - the government had to take care of the people and the people should be responsible to help the government. Congress voted in support of the Declaration of Independence and that day was when they were independent from Britain in spirit.
