• Essential Question:

– How did England’s changing policy

towards its colonies lead to rising
calls for independence?

• CPUSH Agenda for Unit 2.3:

– The Road to Revolution activity
– Unit 2 Test: Wednesday, Sep. 2
 Path to the American Revolution
Action/Reaction Activity
• From 1763 to 1776, key events occurred
that slowly convinced colonists to sever
ties with Britain & declare independence
• In groups, examine the placards and
complete your charts
• Pay attention to the sequence of events
and cause/effect relationships
 Path to the American Revolution
• Closure Activity:
– From your charts, rank order the top 3
events that contributed the most to the
growing divide between Britain & her
colonies
– What changed the most over this
13-year period (1763-1776)?
– What could the English gov’t have done
to prevent this?
– What could the colonists have done?
• Essential Question:
– How did England’s changing policy
towards its colonies lead to rising
calls for independence?

• CPUSH Agenda for Unit 2.4:

– Clicker Questions
– “The Road to Revolution” notes
– Today’s HW: 4.2
– Unit 2 Test: Friday, August 31
 The Road to
the American
Revolution
 The Road to Revolution (1763-1776)
• The end of the French & Indian War
(1763), marked the start of the road
towards the American Revolution:
–1763: Beginning of parliamentary
sovereignty & Proclamation Line
–1765-67: Stamp & Townshend Acts
–1773-75: Boston Tea Party, Intolerable
Acts, Lexington & Concord
–1776: Declaration of Independence
 The Navigation Acts
Mercantilism meant that
Britain began to control &
regulate colonial trade
In 1660, Britain began
the first of a series of
Navigation Acts designed
to restrict colonial trade
& increase British wealth
The Navigation Acts led
to large amounts of
smuggling
 1764 Sugar Act

The Sugar Act put a tax Hoped to eliminate

on molasses and sugar smuggling. It did not
work.
 The Stamp Act
required colonists to
purchase special
stamps for all paper
goods
 The Stamp Act placed a tax on books, deeds,
newspapers, wedding license, playing cards and dice
The “Sons of Liberty” & “Daughters of Liberty”
were formed to protest British restrictions &
became the leaders of colonial resistance

Mob reaction to the Stamp Act

For the 1 st
time, many
The colonial colonists
boycotts wererefer to fellow
effective &
boycotters
Britain as “patriots”
repealed the Stamp Act
This was a series of “indirect” taxes
on lead, glass, paper, tea, etc.
More Boycotts
Colonists created
committees of
correspondence
to communicate
with each other
 The first person killed was Crispus
Attucks; a son of a slave and a Native
American
Paul Revere’s etching of the Boston Massacre
became an American best-seller
Colonists injured With only 4 dead, this was
British soldiers by hardly a “massacre” but it
throwing snowballs reveals the power of
& oyster shells colonial propaganda
 “Bostonians Paying the Excise Man”
__________________________

Only East India Colonists respond with

Company can sell tea protests, boycotts and the
in the colonies Boston Tea Party
Tarring and feathering of Boston Commissioner
of Customs John Malcolm
Colonists began to cry “No Taxation,
Without Representation”
 Boston Tea Party
On December 16, Led by Samuel Adams
1773, American and the Sons of Liberty.
Patriots dressed as Main purpose was to
Indians threw prevent payment of
almost 18,000 lbs British-imposed tax on
of tea from British tea and protest to Tea
ships into Boston Act.
Harbor.

Consequence was for

Parliament to pass
Intolerable Acts.
 The Intolerable
acts were a
series of Acts
that 1 – Closed
the Boston
Harbor 2- Placed
Boston under
The Intolerable Acts “martial law” 3 –
Quartering Act
were called the Coercive 4 – Placed royal
Acts in Britain governor in
charge of colony
 Quartering Act 1774

Colonists were
forced to house
The Quartering Act and supply the
angered the colonists the British troops in
most Boston
 First
Continental Congress
“We have to
help Boston”

1 – Wrote a
list of
At the First grievances
Continental to send to
Congress, the the King
delegates did 2
things:
2 – Agreed to
meet again in
the future
 Troops were searching for Samuel Adams and John
Hancock. Paul Revere was sent to warn them

British troops march to Called minutemen

Lexington to halt colonial because they could be
minutemen ready at a moment’s
notice
 Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride

“One if by land
and two if by
sea”
Revere sent William Dawes and Samuel Prescott
different directions in case they were captured
 Lexington & Concord
About 700
British Army The first shots were fired just
regulars as the sun was rising at
were Lexington. Militia outnumbered
ordered to and fell back.
capture and
destroy
military
supplies that
were
reportedly
stored by Casualties
the Colonists:50 killed,5 missing,39
Massachuset wounded
ts militia at British: 73 killed, 6 missing, 174
Concord. wounded
 The Second Continental Congress
Met from
May 10, 1775,
to March 1, 1781
Met to discuss what to
do next

1 – Olive Branch Petition

2 – Create Continental Army
3 – Appoint George
Washington Commander
4 – Draft Declaration of
Independence
 The Enlightenment
• Colonists used the ideas of the Enlightenment
to justify their protest
– John Locke wrote that people have natural
rights (life, liberty, & property) & should
oppose tyranny
– Rousseau believed that citizens have a
social contract with their gov’t – Can
replace government if abusing power
– Montesquieu argued that power should not
be in the hands of a king, but separated
among gov’t branches
 Conclusions
• By December 1775, the British and
American colonists were fighting an
“informal revolutionary war”…but:
– Colonial leaders had not yet declared
independence
– In 1776, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
convinced many neutral colonists to
support independence from Britain
– By July 1776, colonists drafted the
Declaration of Independence
 Examining Excerpts from
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
• In teams, read the 6 excerpts
from Common Sense
• Match each quotation in the
chart with its appropriate
interpretation in the slides
that follow
• Write the summarized main
idea in your chart
 Examining Excerpts from the
pamphlet Common Sense:
Match each quotation in the chart
with its appropriate interpretation
in the slides that follow
 1
If Britain is the “mother”
country, then why is she
treating us this way?
Mothers are not supposed
to “eat” their children
 2
America is a continent that is
controlled by a small island…
this is crazy
 3
It is incorrect to say that
America can only be wealthy if
we remain connected to Britain
 4
The only reason Britain
protected the colonies
was to protect herself
 5
The only way to maintain
peace is by achieving
independence from Britain;
We should declare
independence now while
we remain calm
 6
There is nothing to gain from
improving our relationship
with Britain and remaining
her loyal colonists
 Common Sense Answer Key
A. 3—It is incorrect to say that America can only be
wealthy if we remain connected to Britain
B. 4—The only reason Britain protected the colonies
was to protect herself
C. 1—If Britain is the “mother” country, then why is she
treating us this way? Mothers are not supposed to
“eat” their children
D. 6—There is nothing to gain from improving our
relationship with Britain and remaining her loyal
colonists
E. 2—America is a continent that is controlled by a small
island… this is crazy
F. 5—The only way to maintain peace is by achieving
independence from Britain; We should declare
independence now while we remain calm
• Class Discussion:
– Rank order the top 3 events that
contributed the most to the growing divide
between Britain & her colonies
• Should Common Sense be included in this
top 3 ranking? If so, where? If not, why?
– What changed the most over this
13-year period (1763-1776)?
– What could the English gov’t have done to
prevent this?
– What could the colonists have done?
 Town Hall Meeting Class Discussion
• It is June 1776 & you are gathered to decide
“Should the colonies declare independence?”
– Students are divided into 3 groups:
Patriots, Loyalists, “Undecideds”
– Goal: Convince the “Undecideds” to join
your side by presenting reasoned
arguments
 If the colonists declare
independence, how will they
govern themselves?
 If the colonists declare
independence, how will they
ensure that they will remain
united?
 If the colonists declare
independence, who will the
new nation trade with?
 If the colonists declare
independence, what will the
new nation do about taxes?
 Is taxation without
representation fair?
 If the colonists declare
independence, how will the
new nation deal with Indians?
If “liberty” is so important,
what will independence
mean for slaves, women,
and poor people?