CH. 5 & 6-The American Revolution

CH. 5 & 6-

The American Revolution​

Essential Questions: Why did the colonists decide to break away from Britain? What factors helped America win the Revolutionary War?

​Limits on Freedom

• 1763-British won the French & Indian War

• after the war, British gov't enacted laws that restricted some of the colonies' freedoms

• King George (pictured) believed the role of the colonies was to support the mother country

• he wanted to maintain control of the colonies

• Proclamation of 1763: required colonists to stay east of a line drawn on a map along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains

• colonists objected to the proclamation

• Quartering Act: required colonists to provide housing & supplies for British soldiers

• presence of soldiers provoked tension & hostility

Multiple Choice

______ is unjust rule by an absolute ruler.

• duty

• grievance

• tyranny

• democracy

Taxation Without Representation

• British gov't needed revenue (income), to pay off its debts & expenses from the French & Indian War

• colonies should have to pay for the war debt

• they benefited the most from the war

• Sugar Act (1764): placed a tax on sugar, molasses, & other goods shipped to the colonies

• Currency Act (1764): only British currency could be used in the colonies

• Stamp Act (1765): required all documents to carry an official stamp showing a tax had been paid (diplomas, contracts, wills, newspapers, playing cards)

• had to pay in silver coins, which were rare

• was repealed (canceled) in 1766

Multiple Choice

The Sons of ______ was a secret group that was formed to oppose British policies.

• Freedom

• Liberty

• Boycotts

• America

​Colonial Resistance Grows

• Townshend Acts: 1-suspended New York's assembly until New Yorkers agreed to provide housing for troops

  2-placed import taxes on various goods brought into colonies, such as glass, paper, paint, paper, and tea

• Samuel Adams (pictured): leader of the Sons of Liberty

• urged colonists to continue to resist British controls

• pressured shopkeepers not to sell imported goods

• Daughters of Liberty: boycotted imported tea & clothing; wove their own fabric from American yarn/wool called "homespun"

Multiple Choice

The Townshend Acts required colonial courts to provide ________, or search warrants, to enter homes or businesses to search for smuggled goods.

• committees of correspondence

• writs of assistance

• boycotts

• revenue

TENSIONS RISE

​In response to growing protests and increasing unrest among colonists, British authorities brought additional troops to Boston. Some of the soldiers camped out on Boston Common, an open area that was intended for all Bostonians to use. This arrangement made for a tense situation. Frequent fights broke out between soldiers and civilians. To annoy the British soldiers, children followed them in the streets, taunting them and calling them names such as “redcoats” and “lobsterbacks” because of the bright red uniforms they wore. In addition, the British soldiers were poorly paid. To make extra money, they took jobs as workers during their off-duty hours. This took jobs away from some Bostonians, who were angry at losing work to soldiers they already despised.

​The Boston Massacre

• Fall of 1768, 1,000 British soldiers arrived in Boston

• British called the colonists "Yankees"

• group of youths/dockworkers started trading insults with British soldiers in front of the Customs House

• fight broke out, a soldier was hit with a club, knocking his gun out of his hands

• soldiers began firing

• five townspeople were killed, six injured

• Crispus Attucks: African-American sailor &

  rope maker was the first to die for American independence

​The Boston Massacre #2

• the killings would come to symbolize all that the colonists hated about British rule

• soldiers were arrested and put on trial

• represented by John Adams, cousin of Sam Adams

• claimed soldiers fired in self-defense

• Captain Preston & all but two of the soldiers were found not guilty

• Paul Revere, silversmith & engraver, made engraving of the incident (pictured); The Bloody Massacre in King Street

• it spread all over the colonies; people were angry

Multiple Choice

Who represented the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre?

• Samuel Adams

• John Adams

• Thomas Jefferson

• William Dawes

Multiple Choice

Who was the first person said to have died in the quest for American independence?

• Sam Adams

• Crispus Attucks

• John Adams

• John Dickinson

​The Boston Tea Party

• 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act

• gave the British East India Company control over the American tea trade

• would have to pay a tax on this regulated tea

• enraged colonial shippers and merchants

• December 16, 1773, groups of men disguised as Native Americans, boarded three tea ships docked in Boston Harbor

• dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor

• 90,000 lbs. of tea destroyed

• worth about $1,000,000 today

Multiple Choice

In response to the Boston Tea Party, parliament passed the _____ Acts, which became known as the Intolerable Acts.

• Coercive

• Parliamentary

• Tea

• Townshend

Who Organized the Boston Tea Party?

​Though led by Samuel Adams and his Sons of Liberty and organized by John Hancock, the names of many of those involved in the Boston Tea Party remain unknown. Thanks to their Native American costumes, only one of the tea party culprits, Francis Akeley, was arrested and imprisoned. Even after American independence, participants refused to reveal their identities, fearing they could still face civil and criminal charges as well as condemnation from elites for the destruction of private property. Most participants in the Boston Tea Party were under the age of 40 and 16 of them were teenagers.

​

​First Continental Congress Meets

• September 5, 1774

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• every colony except Georgia sent delegates

• 56 representatives included Patrick Henry, John & Samuel Adams, & George Washington

• voted to ban all trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed

• called on each colony to begin training troops

• planted the seeds of a future independent government

• agreed to meet in 7 months if necessary

• by that time, fighting with Britain had begun

Multiple Choice

Who is famous for saying "Give me liberty, or give me death"?

• Patrick Henry

• Benjamin Franklin

• John Hancock

• Sam Adams

Multiple Choice

The ______ Act stated that Parliament had supreme authority to govern the colonies.

• Parliamentary

• Supreme

• Quartering

• Declaratory

​The Midnight Ride

• General Thomas Gage, British governor of Massachusetts, ordered to take supplies in Concord & arrest Samuel Adams & John Hancock

• plan was leaked, & Paul Revere formed a plan to warn the Massachusetts militia

• militia: groups of local men who organized to protect their town or colony (not paid soldiers)

• "One if by land, two if by sea."

• night of April 18, 1775

• joined by William Dawes & Dr. Samuel Prescott

• Revere & Dawes were stopped, but Prescott completed the ride & warned the militia in Concord

Multiple Choice

Who was involved in the "Midnight Ride"?

• Paul Revere

• Dr. Samuel Prescott

• William Dawes

• all answer choices are correct

Multiple Choice

About 1/3 of the Lexington militia were _____, trained to "act at a minute's warning."

• mercernaries

• rebels

• minutemen

• loyalists

​Lexington & Concord

• April 19, 700 British troops reached Lexington, Massachusetts

• 70 militiamen were waiting

• Americans were ordered to drop their muskets

• they refused, shots were fired, 8 militia dead

• no one knows who fired first

• British then marched to Concord, MA where they destroyed military supplies

• 4,000 "Minutemen" & militiamen arrived

• British troops retreated to Boston

• Ralph Waldo Emerson: colonial troops had fired the "shot heard 'round the world."

Multiple Choice

Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the Revolutionary War.

• true

• false

​Second Continental Congress

• began meeting on May 10, 1775 in Philadelphia, PA

• John & Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, & Patrick Henry

• agreed to form the Continental Army

• George Washington (pictured) chose as commanding general

• Congress authorized the printing of paper money to pay the troops

• many still opposed to declaring independence

Multiple Choice

Those who supported the British were called Loyalists, and those who sided with the rebels were called ______.

• extremists

• duties

• delegates

• patriots

​Battle of Bunker Hill

• militiamen seized Bunker Hill (MA)

• British decided to attack

• General William Howe had an army of 2,200 British soldiers

• Colonel William Prescott: "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes."

• British fell back, but charged again, forcing forcing the militia off the hill

• British won, but 1,000 casualties

• 400 militia casualties

• militia had held its own against the world's strongest army

Multiple Choice

Most of the Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place on Breed's Hill.

• true

• false

​Common Sense is Published

• published in January 1776 by Thomas Paine

• Paine was a recent immigrant from England

• said a complete break was England was necessary

• pamphlet made a strong case for independence

• read aloud in meeting rooms and inns

• Paine called King George III a "Royal Brute"

• stated that all monarchies are corrupt

• claimed that France and Spain would only aid the colonies if they broke with Britain

• American should follow its own destiny

Multiple Choice

Who wrote "Common Sense"?

• George Washington

• Benjamin Franklin

• Thomas Paine

• Thomas Jefferson

A Voice From the Past

​Everything that is right or natural pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, “’Tis time to part.” Even the distance at which the Almighty has placed England and America is a strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other was never the design of heaven.

​

-Thomas Paine, Common Sense

​An American Traitor

​Benedict Arnold was an early hero in the American Revolution who went on to become one of the most infamous traitors in American history. After helping capture Fort Ticonderoga in 1775, Arnold continued his support of the American war efforts but felt his work went unrecognized. In 1779, he secretly negotiated with the British to turn over an American post in exchange for a commanding position in the British army and a cash reward. Arnold’s plot was discovered by the Americans, but he escaped to British territory.

Multiple Choice

German soldiers hired by the British to fight during the American Revolution.

• Patriots

• Hessians

• Loyalists

• Redcoats

​The Declaration of Independence

• Spring of 1777, Congress encouraged the colonies to establish their own governments

• Richard Lee of Virginia: "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."

• Congress appointed a committee to draft an official statement to declare independence

• included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, & Thomas Jefferson

• July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to approve independence from Britain

• July 4, 1776 Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence

Multiple Choice

Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?

• Benjamin Franklin

• John Adams

• John Hancock

• Thomas Jefferson

A Voice From the Past

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

​

-Thomas Jefferson,

The Declaration of Independence

​The Liberty Bell

​The Liberty Bell was rung to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.

Multiple Choice

Who was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence?

• John Hancock

• Thomas Jefferson

• George Washington

• Benjamin Franklin

THOMAS JEFFERSON

Jefferson was just 33 when chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. He was already a brilliant thinker and writer and a highly respected political leader. Jefferson came from a wealthy Virginia family. As a child, he was interested in everything, and he became an inventor, scientist, and architect, among other things. In 1769, he began his political career in the House of Burgesses. Jefferson felt that writing the Declaration was a major achievement of his life. He had that fact carved on his tombstone.

Multiple Choice

The second part of the Declaration of Independence listed the offenses of the king against the colonies which included—

• refusing to approve laws passed by the colonial assemblies

• placing a standing army in the colonies

• imposing taxes without colonial consent

• all answer choices are correct

​Declaration of Independence, John Trumbull, 1817