Notes
Slide Show
Outline
1
The Road to Revolution
2
The Stamp Act
  • What:
    • First direct tax on colonists. Taxed any paper products.
  • When:
    •  March 1765
  • Why:
    • Britain wanted the colonists to help pay for the cost of military defense.
  • Reaction:
    • Colonists were very angry and defiant.
3
Sons of Liberty
  • Samuel Adams
  • What:
    • Group of men led by Sam Adams.  They used intimidation and violence to protest.
  • When:
    • July 1765
  • Why:
    • Opposed to the Stamp Act.
  • Reaction:
    • Stamp agents fearful and resign.  Some American merchants stop ordering British goods.
4
Townshend Acts
  • What:
    • Taxes on any goods imported from Britain.
  • When:
    •  June 1767
  • Why:
    • Officially to offset the costs of administering and protecting the colonies.  Unofficially, imposed by Townshend to prove that he could do it.
  • Reaction:
    • Boycott of British goods, colonists made their own stuff.
5
Boston Massacre
  • What:
    • Fight between British soldiers and Boston citizens.
  • When
    • March 1770
  • Why:
    • Soldiers being bothered by people so shot back.
  • Reaction:
    • Troops withdrawn, Bostonians very angry.
6
Committees of Correspondence
  • What:
    • Groups formed throughout colonies that wrote to each other.
  • When:
    • 1772
  • Why:
    • To keep other towns and colonies informed.
  • Reaction:
    • More colonists supportive after learning about events.
7
Boston Tea Party
  • What:
    • Colonists dress up as Indians and dump all the tea from British ships in the Boston harbor.
  • When:
    • March 1774
  • Why:
    • To protest the tea tax.
  • Reaction:
    • Britain passes more laws, colonists becoming united.
8
"What"
  • What:
    •  Speech by Patrick Henry.
  • When:
    •  March 1775
  • Why:
    • Announces that he believes life in America is not worth living if they cannot be free from Britain’s rule.
  • Reaction:
    • Colonists move closer to declaring independence.
9
‘Shot Heard Around the World’
  • What:
    • First shots fired between the British and the colonists at Lexington.
  • When:
    • April 19, 1775
  • Why:
    • British trying to destroy colonists’ weapons, colonists defend themselves.
  • Result:
    • The Revolutionary War has begun.
10
Second Continental Congress
  • What:
    • Second group of colonists that get together to discuss problems with the British.
  • When:
    • May 1775 - 1776
  • Why:
    • To make decisions about how to handle the break from Britain.
  • Results:
    • George Washington becomes General of the Army, Declaration of Independence written.
11
“Common Sense”
  • What:
    • A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine.
  • When:
    • January 1776
  • Why:
    • To criticize the King and argue for independence.
  • Result:
    • More colonists convinced to break away from Great Britain.
12
Declaration of Independence
  • What:
    •   Document signed by colonial leaders.
  • When:
    •   July 4, 1776
  • Why:
    • To announce to the world that the colonists have decided that they can no longer live under the rule of Britain, America is  going to be a free and independent nation.
  • Result:
    • Ultimately a new nation.  The war eventually ends and the Declaration is used many times by other groups of people as a foundation for fights for freedom.
13
 
14
The End
(and the beginning of a new nation)





  • By Jennifer Shuler
  • Greyhound Intermediate
  • Eaton Rapids