The Road To Revolution

British Action Proclamation of 1763created a boundary line along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains after the Seven Years War

Rationale -Britain wanted to deter white farmers from moving west, which would spark conflicts with the local Indians. This would mean that they would have to keep fewer soldiers in the colonies and spend less money on their defense.

Colonial Reaction Resentment and failure to comply

Sugar Act- a duty of 3 pence per gallon on French molasses, allowing British molasses to compete with French molasses without destroying the colonies’ export and distilling industries

-Grenville wanted a replacement for the Molasses Act -It was a means of repaying the debt incurred by the British during the Seven Years War

Boston experimented with boycotts. Some refused to accept the act by smuggling.

Currency Act- banned the use of paper money throughout the colonies. Americans would have to pay their debts with British currency, foreign coins, or bills of exchange

-It would protect the financial interests of British merchants in America -The colonies had been overprinting their money and forcing people to accept it at its face value -Offset the cost of keeping British troops in America

Smoldering resentment. The southern colonies needed the most cash. United the north and south against Britain

Stamp Act- required stamps on printed material (letters, legal documents, newspapers, cards)

Repeal of the Stamp Act and passage of the Declaratory Act- stated that Parliament had the right to tax the colonies

Townshend Duties- imposed duties on paper, paints, glass, and tea. Part of the money would be used to defray military expenses but the majority would go towards the salaries of governors, judges, and imperial officials Tea Act- provided the company with a government loan and eliminated customs duties on their tea, enabling them to sell it at a lower price and giving them a monopoly of the American tea market Quartering Act of 1774required the colony to build barracks or accommodate

-British merchants favored its repeal because the colonial boycotts of British goods had caused a drastic decrease in their sales. -Rockingham repealed it to assist British merchants and modify colonial opinion with respect to taxation -Intended to provide royal officials with a guaranteed income, freeing their salaries from the controls of the colonial assemblies and enabling them to enforce Parliament’s laws and royal directives. -provide financial relief for the British East India Company, which was deeply in debt because of mismanagement and military expeditions -Thought it would pave the way for other levies Forcing MA into submission

Rationale -the colonists felt the Britain was imposing on their rights to own land -They felt that their growing population required more land -economic opportunity for lower classes -Many American soldiers had died in defense of that land -They feared a rise in the price of molasses. -Thought that it would wipe out their trade with the French sugar islands -they thought that it contradicted the constitution -first time the colonists acted in unison -Parliament had seized control of the colonial monetary system from American colonies

Petitions, boycotts, violence. Vandalism, death threats against tax collectors. The acts angered the middle class. They had the worst impact in the NE colonies, which were full of lawyers whose job was now taxed Rejoicing over the repeal; ignoring Declaratory Act

-They felt that they were not adequately represented in Parliament -It was an internal tax, meaning that the colonists were being taxed on their own goods. This made it feel more invasive. They felt like they had won

Boycotts, petitions, newspaper attacks

-posed a threat to American autonomy. -revived the colonial debate about taxation -the measures were not designed to regulate trade but to bring revenue to the imperial government -Patriots accused the ministry of using low prices to bribe Americans to give up their opposition to Parliamentary taxation -prevented the East India Company from landing new shipments Americans resented the idea of standing armies

Protest, Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, boycott. The Americans had a natural distaste for standing armies, and many tea merchants resented the new monopoly and being out of a job Protest in assemblies

soldiers in their homes Coercive or Intolerable Acts 1) Port Bill closed Boston Harbor until the East India Company was paid back for its tea 2) Government Act annulled the MA charter and prohibited town meetings 3) Justice Act allowed the transfer of trials for capital crimes to other colonies or Britain Lexington and ConcordFighting that broke out between the British army and colonists

-wished to force MA into submission

Boycott, convening First Continental Congress. All colonies were affected by the closing of Boston Harbor

-New England was defying British authority by holding assemblies and storing weapons

Paine’s Common Sense

-The acts increased their sense of danger -wanted to seek political compromise with the British ministry -wanted a new imperial system -they wanted to defend their rights, but felt that Parliament could not represent them sufficiently because it was too far away The Americans were frustrated and now wanted to create and control their own assemblies

Vocab: Internal vs. external tax: a tax imposed on the goods made in a state vs. a tax on imported goods Court power vs. country power: supported the king vs. supported non-royals and non-nobles Generation X: generation of men in their 20s who came of age during the Revolutionary period Virtual representation vs. real representation: one person can represent anyone no matter where they are from vs. a governor of an area must come from that area to understand the local issues