Early British Actions in the Colonies

Early British Actions in the Colonies

Multiple Choice

How long did the French and Indian War last?

• 5 years

• 7 years

• 10 years

Multiple Choice

How did the British feel about Colonist being soldiers ?

• They thought they. made good soldiers

• They thought they made bad soldiers

Multiple Choice

Who was on the Frenchs side ?

• Indians

• The British

• The Colonist

Multiple Choice

Who was on the Britishs side ?

• Indians

• The French

• The Colonist

Multiple Choice

How many Bullets did Washington have in his coat?

• 3

• 4

• 7

Multiple Choice

What is the problem with the British's uniform?

• it is too bright

• its too warm

• They dont have a uniform

Changes that were taking place in Great Britain soon clouded the colonists' bright future.   In 1760, a new king named George III had begun his reign toward the end of the French and Indian War.  George was a successful British ruler during his 59-year reign, resisting the Revolutionary and Napoleonic France.  However, George needed help managing his more distant foreign affairs in North America.  The advisors George appointed to help him knew very little about the conditions in North America and were soon taking actions that enraged the colonists.

The Proclamation of 1763

 The British government faced a number of problems after the French and Indian War. One was how to keep colonists and American Indians from killing each other as settlers pushed westward. In his Proclamation of 1763, George said to simply draw a line down the crest of the Appalachian Mountains and tell settlers to stay east of that line and Indians to stay west of it.

To Americans, the king's order suggested tyranny, or the unjust use of government power. They argued that the lands east of the Appalachians were already mostly settled and that the only place that farmers could find available land was west of the mountains. Besides, the proclamation was too late. Settlers were already crossing the mountains.

The British government ignored these arguments. To keep peace on the frontier, it decided to expand the British army in America to 7,500 men.

Multiple Choice

__________ or the unjust use of government power.

• King

• tyranny

• President

• The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited settlers from moving west of the Appalachians. King George III hoped this would prevent conflict between colonists and American Indians.

Multiple Choice

The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited settlers from moving west of the ________

• River

• Appalachians

The Stamp Act 

The British government had other problems besides keeping colonists and American Indians from fighting each other. One dilemma was how to pay off the large debt from the French and Indian War.

The solution seemed obvious to Prime Minister George Grenville, the leader of the British government. People in Great Britain were already paying taxes on everything from windows to salt. In contrast, Americans were probably the most lightly taxed people in the British Empire. It was time, said Grenville, for the colonists to pay their fair share of the cost of protecting them from Indians.

In 1765, Grenville proposed a new act, or law, called the Stamp Act, which required colonists to buy a stamp for every piece of paper they used. Newspapers, wills, licenses, and even playing cards had to be printed on stamped paper.

Once again, the colonists sensed tyranny. One newspaper, The Pennsylvania Journal, said that as soon as “this shocking Act was known, it filled all British America from one End to the other, with Astonishment and Grief.”

It wasn't just the idea of higher taxes that upset the colonists. They were willing to pay taxes passed by their own assemblies, where their representatives could vote on them. Because the colonists had no representatives in Parliament, they saw the Stamp Act as a violation of their rights as British subjects. For this reason, they argued, Parliament had no right to tax them. “No taxation without representation!” they declared.

Loyalists simply refused to buy stamps, while other colonists protested the Stamp Act by sending messages to Parliament. Patriots, took more violent action. Mobs calling themselves Sons of Liberty attacked tax collectors' homes. Protesters in Connecticut even started to bury one tax collector alive. Only when he heard dirt being shoveled onto his coffin did the terrified tax collector agree to resign from his post.

After months of protest, Parliament repealed, or canceled, the Stamp Act. Americans greeted the news with great celebration. Church bells rang, bands played, and everyone hoped the troubles with Great Britain were over.

The Quartering Act 

As anger over the Stamp Act began to fade, Americans noticed another law passed by Parliament in 1765. Called the Quartering Act, this law ordered colonial assemblies to provide British troops with quarters, or housing. The colonists were also told to furnish the soldiers with “candles, firing, bedding, cooking utensils, salt, vinegar, and . . . beer or cider.”

Of course, providing for the soldiers cost money. New Jersey protested that the new law was “as much an Act for laying taxes” on the colonists as the Stamp Act. New Yorkers asked why they should pay to keep troops in their colony. After all, they said, the soldiers just took up space and did nothing.

In 1767, the New York assembly decided not to approve any funds for “salt, vinegar and liquor” for the troops. In retaliation, the British government refused to let the assembly meet until it agreed to obey the Quartering Act. Once again, tempers began to rise on both sides of the Atlantic.

Multiple Choice

Proclamation of 1763

• Was an attempt to keep colonist and American Indians from killing each other

• First tax on the American colonist from Parliament

• Forced colonist to provide British soldiers with housing

Multiple Choice

Quartering act

• Was an attempt to keep colonist and American Indians from killing each other

• First tax on the American colonist from Parliament

• Forced colonist to provide British soldiers with housing

Multiple Choice

stamp act

• Was an attempt to keep colonist and American Indians from killing each other

• First tax on the American colonist from Parliament

• Forced colonist to provide British soldiers with housing