Causes of the American Revolution

How did the 1763 Treaty of Paris - which ended the French and Indian (Seven Year’s) War – help start the American Revolution? 

• Since the treaty reduced the French threat, the British wanted to reduce their military presence, but still get the colonies to pay for the war.
• The treaty led to an increase in British military presence in the colonies, including having colonists quarter soldiers in peace time.
• Once the treaty was signed, the colonies had more in common with France than with Great Britain.
• The treaty gave Great Britain access to more land and they began to completely ignore the original colonies.

The picture above was published in an American newspaper shortly after the Stamp Act was passed in Britain.  How does this help explain colonial response to the Stamp Act? 

• The use of the skull and crossbones indicates that Americans were opposed to the Stamp Act.
• It was obviously welcomed since American newspapers were reporting about it.
• The colonies were using the skull and crossbones as their primary symbol and they welcomed it.
• The Stamp Act was barely even noticed and this picture indicates the Act was dying.

What was the significance of the pamphlet Common Sense? 

• It presented a convincing case for independence, using plain language.
• It counteracted the Great Awakening by arguing against religion.
• It clearly described how increased trade could benefit the colonies.
• It considered early arguments against using slave labor in America.

Who wrote a pamphlet called Common Sense, arguing that the time had come for American independence? 

• Thomas Jefferson
• Benjamin Franklin
• Thomas Paine
• John Locke

What did the Townshend Acts bring about? 

• direct taxes on legal documents
• indirect taxes on imported goods such as lead, paint, and glass, etc.
• relief from taxes on tea
• the closing of Boston Harbor

How did colonists react to the Proclamation of 1763? 

• They resisted the British regulation of colonial agriculture.
• They supported the right to manufacture goods within the colonies.
• They opposed the ban on colonial expansion into western lands.
• They accepted the presence of more British troops to protect the colonies.

“The only representatives of the people of these colonies are persons chosen therein by themselves; and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them but by their respective legislatures.”  
-Statement by the Stamp Act Congress, 1765  
Identify the main idea of the quotation above: 

• The colonial legislatures should be appointed by the English King with the consent of Parliament.
• Only the colonists’ elected representatives should have the power to levy taxes.
• The English King should have the right to tax the colonies.
• The colonists should oppose all taxation.

All of the following were purposes of the Sons of Liberty EXCEPT 

• to organize colonial resistance
• to show growing dislike of British rule
• to protest the Stamp Act
• to support the efforts of Loyalists to maintain British control over the colonies

“. . . I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation, to show, a single advantage that this continent can reap, by being connected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge, not a single advantage is derived. Our corn will fetch its price in any market in Europe, and our imported goods must be paid for, buy them where we will. . . .” — Thomas Paine, 1776  

In this statement, Thomas Paine suggested that the American colonies should

• negotiate an end to the conflict with England
• form an alliance with England
• declare independence from England
• boycott goods from England

The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited colonial settlement west of a border that ran roughly along the 

• Great Lakes
• Atlantic Ocean
• St. Lawrence River
• Appalachian Mountains