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Causes of the American Revolution
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End of the French and Indian War
At the end of the French and Indian War, French lost all of their land in North America. The Colonists settle in the Ohio River Valley where they have conflicts with the Native Americans living there. Britain now has a war debt, so they tax the colonies on everyday items. -
The Proclamation of 1763
This Act banned all colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. The colonists thought they could settle where they pleased. They thought they could settle there because they just fought a long and tough war to gain all that land and they couldn't even settle there. The Act was ignored because it was impossible for the British to enforce. -
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Sugar Act
The Sugar Act puts a tax on sugar, molasses and other things. The phrase " Taxation without Representation is tyranny " by James Otis is followed by this act. The colonists were furious, so they sent a petition to England. They also boycotted British goods, to make England get no money. -
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Stamp Act
The next act the Stamp Act, made colonists have to purchase an additional stamp for documents. These documents included wills, contracts, newspapers, playing cards and more. The colonists demanded the tax to be repealed because it was unfair. In New York City they held the Stamp Act Congress. Many colonists burned stamped paper. -
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Quartering Act
The next act was the Quartering Act. Since British soldiers were always on the move, they didn't have time to go back to England to sleep at night. This act required colonist's to house and feed British soldiers, when they came knocking on their door. Some of the colonist's treated the soldiers decently, but most colonist's didn't let the soldiers stay. The colonists right as English citizens has been violated.
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Townshend Act Continued
The colonist's smuggled more goods into the colonies. The colonist's also reduced the imports that were going into the colonies, so they didn't have to pay this tax. Link -
Townshend Act
The next act puts a tax on lead, tea, glass and more. Since Britain won't put a tax in the colonies, they are putting a tax on imports that go into the colonies. The Writs of Assistance, a legal document let British customs officials to search the colonist's ships. The officials made sure that there were no smuggled goods going into the colonies. The colonist's continued to be mad because it was still a tax. The colonist's rights are violated again. -
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Boston Massacre
There are many different stories of what happened on the night of March 5th, 1770 on King Street Boston Massachusetts. A British Captain named Thomas Preston has a side of the story and this is his. There was a big mob on King Street; Thomas Preston was in the middle of the mob and soldiers. The mob started throwing snowballs, rocks and clubs at the soldiers. While he was talking to a colonist the soldiers started to fire their guns. Crispus Attucks died instantly. Later four other men died. -
Boston Massacre Continued
Thomas asked why the soldiers fired and they said because they heard him say "fire". Thomas Preston blamed the colonist's because they were shouting "fire, fire". On the other side of the story is Paul Revere. He painted a painting that showed a totally different story. In the painting it is light outside. Also, there are no snowballs, clubs or rocks. He makes the painting show that the British are bad and are to blame for. No one knows the real story. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act said that all tea must be directly imported from British East India co. King George thought they would enjoy this tax because it made tea cheaper, King George was still getting money and the British East India co. was getting business. The colonist's did not see it this way however because it was still a tax and they had no say in it. This act put most colonial tea merchants out of business. This gives British a tea monopoly. -
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Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was held on December 16, 1773 approxitmately 7-10 PM. After the Tea Act the colonist's got very angry with all these taxes. The Sons of Liberty had a plan to dump all the crates of tea into the Boston Harbor, to show how angry they were at England. All in total they dumped 90,000 pounds of tea worth about 1 million dollars today. 116 colonist's dressed up as Mohawk Indians participated and 5,000 people watched. -
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Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were passed as Britain's response to the Boston Tea Party. Britain passed this Acts to show the colonist's how to behave. They closed the port of Boston until all the tea that was dumped overboard was paid for. Also, all the trials moved to England. They banned town meetings, but the colonist's still had meetings, just more secretly. They also strengthened the Quartering Act. -
First Continental Congress Continued
They started to organize boycotts. They agreed to meet each other in May 1775, but later they found out that the war would start earlier than planned. -Videos -
First Continental Congress
People from all colonies were there except for Georgia. John Adams, Sam Adams (MA), George Washington (VA) and Patrick Henry were some famous Americans that attended this event. The First Continental Congress met to discuss what should be done about the Intolerable Acts because they were unfair. The colonist's demanded repeal on the Intolerable Acts, when they didn't get that they started to train militias and gather munitions. -
Paul Revere's Ride
After the Intolerable Acts the colonist's started to gather weapons and munitions. On the night of April 18, 1775 Paul Revere, William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott all rode on horseback to warn the colonist's that the British soldiers were coming. The soldiers were coming because they heard that the colonist's were gathering weapons, so they came to collect them. -
Paul Revere's Ride Continued
The North Church was going to show one light if the soldiers were coming by land and two lights if they were coming by sea. All around people awoke by the shouts of "The Regulars are coming!" This was the start to the Revolutionary War.
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Lexington and Concord
The minutemen got the message and when they were all ready there were 77 in all. They were waiting for the British soldiers. Shots were fired when the soldiers arrived. No one knows who fired first. The war had begun in just a single shot. The colonist's considered this event as " the shot heard 'round the world". They called it this because this event was going to have a huge impact on the world. 8 farmers were found dead. For the first time it was soldiers vs. soldiers. -
