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Causes of the American Revolution
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End of the French and Indian War
The end of the French and Indian War was the first major event in the Road to Revolution. Britain won the war and gained a lot of land, but war is expensive and Britain desperatly needed money. So they taxed the colonies. That's why they put them there, right? To pay for there debt.The Road to Revolution is like a bomb fuse, and this is Britain lighting the fuse.
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Proclamation of 1763
After Britain's victory in the French and Indian War, the Proclamation of 1763 was written. The proclamation banned all colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. The colonists believed they could live where ever they chose, and didn't pay much attention to the new law. Was the the King of England going to come to the colonies just to tell them where they can and can't live? -
Sugar Act
With the French and Indian War over, Britain had tons of war debt. So, parliament decided to tax the colonies. The colonies were put there to make England wealthy and pay for their debt. The first tax passed taxed sugar and molasses. This lead James Otis to create the famous phrase "Taxation without representation is tyranny". Colonists then boycotted sugar and molasses. -
Stamp Act
In 1765 Britain still had war debt so they decided to put another tax on goods. This time colonists had to purchase an additional stamp for certain papers such as wills, contracts, newpapers, even playing cards. The act was known as the Stamp Act. The colonists found that the tax was unfair and demanded for it to be repealed. The colonists burned stampted paper and held the Stamp Act Concress in New York City. -
Quartering Act
Shortly after the Stamp Act was passed the Quartering Act was passed. The Quartering Act required colonists to house and feed British soldiers. They felt as though their rights as English citizens were violated. Some people even refused to let the soldiers stay in their homes. -
The Townshend Act
In July of 1767 the Townshend Act was passed. Parliament decided to do what the colonist wanted and not tax thing in the the colonies just imports coming into the colonies. The colonist view of the act was that it was still a tax. Colonist began to smuggle goods and reduced the number of imports. -
Boston Massacre
At about 9 o'clock on March 5, 1770 something happened that would change the road to revolution forever. The Boston Massacre. Captain Thomas Preston and some British soldiers were standing on King Street when a mob of angry colonists started to taunt the British soldiers. Soon the British soldiers got upset and started to fight back. The soldiers started fighting and the colonist threw ice balls and snow balls. Five men died. -
Tea Act
After the Boston Massacre, Parliament decided to pass yet another tax. This tax not only put an extra 3 pence per pound on tea, it also made it so tea had to be imported from the British East India Company. Could you imagine having all these rules just to be able to drink tea? This made the colonist extremely upset and led to one of the most memorable events in history. -
The Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773 the Boston Tea Party took place. This event would go on to be on of the most memorable events in American history. That night 116 men snuck onto a British tea ship dressed as Indians. The group was led by Sam Adams and that night, 90,000 lbs of tea were tossed into the Boston Harbor. That is about $1,000,0000 in today's money. The British then closed the Boston Harbor until the tea was paid for. -
Coercive/Intolerable Acts
In the spring of 1774 parliament passed a new act, The British called them the Coercive Acts, but the colonists thought they were so horrible they called them the Intolerable Acts. The act said that all trials of colonists would be moved to England so that they would always be found guilty. It also banned town meetings and strenghtened the Quartering Act, it even colosed the Boston Harbor until the tea dumped in the Boston Harbor at the Boston Tea Party was paid for. -
The First Continnental Congress
After the Intolerable Acts had been passed, the Commitees of Correspondence had a meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia called the Continental Congress. They were there to discuss the large problems they were having with the British. They discussed the Intolerable Acts, the statement of rights, if they should renew the boycott, if they wanted to prepare for war, and if they should meet again in May of 1775. -
Paul Revere's Ride
On April 18, 1775 two lanterns hung in the bell tower of Boston's Old North Church. These two lanterns signalled that the British were coming by sea. this started Paul Revere's famous midnight ride. he rode from Boston to Lexington, warning the people about the coming British soldiers. William Dawes also rode and Dr. Samuel Presscott rode to Concord to warn people about the British Soldiers. -
Lexington and Concord
After the midnight ride of Paul Revere, British troops had the first ever battle with Colonist troops. At Concord the first shot in the American Revolution was fired.This battle left 8 farmers dead; 9 colonists wounded, and war had begun. The thirteen colonies would never be the same after the shot heard 'round the world.
