2. The American Revolution

What did British prime minister George Grenville send the Royal Navy to the colonies for?

Suppress American smuggling and enforce a 
harsher Navigation Act

How did Grenville control both the colonies and Natives and have Americans pay for the maintenance of their station?

He sent 10,000 british regulars (a standing army) to the colonies

Prime minister Grenville passed the 1764 Sugar Act (aka Revenue act) to ______

raise revenue by tax on American imports to pay off war debt

Grenville passed the 1765 Stamp Act to ______

require Americans to purchase revenue stamps on everything 
from newspaper to important legal documents

Consequences of the 1765 Stamp Act

-drained currency of the colonies
-James Otis and Samuel Adams formed The Sons of Liberty to lead a revolt in Massachusetts
-The Stamp Act congress was formed in October 1765

What did the Stamp Act congress do?

-Nine of the thirteen colonies sent delegates to form the congress
-passed a moderate resolution against the act
-Americans boycotted British goods
-In 1766 the Stamp act was repealed

King George III replaced Prime Minster Grenville with who? Why?

In 1765 Charles Wentworth became the new British Prime Minister.
Grenville and the King had differences in political views

What did Charles Wentworth pass in 1766 and why?

The Declaration Act, stated that Parliament had total power to make laws for the American colonies

After Charles Wentworth’s brief leadership, ______ took over and passed what Act?

Charles Townshend took over and passed the 1767 Townshend Act.

What did the Townshend Act do?

a series of 1767 British laws that placed import taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea in the American colonies

Americans’ reaction to the Townshend Act

In February 1768, the Massachusetts legislature at the 
leadership of Samuel Adams, passed the Massachusetts
circular letter calling parliament to repeal the act.

British reaction to the Massachusetts circular letter

-ordered the Massachusetts assembly to rescind the letter
-directed royal governors to dissolve any colonial assembly supporting it
-deployed British troops to Boston to restore order

What lead up to the 1770 Boston Massacre?

-increased British army presence in the colonies
-the new prime minister Fredrick North repealed the Townshend taxes except for tea

Events of the 1770 Boston Massacre

British soldiers fired into an angry mob of colonists who were throwing snowballs, rocks, and insults.

Five colonists were killed, known as the first casualties of the American Revolution.

Significance of 1773 Boston Tea Party

-Led by the sons of Liberty

-“no taxation without representation”
-Colonists dressed as natives dumped over 90,000 pounds of british tea into boston harbor
-Britain closed boston harbor as a result

April, 1775 Battle of Lexington and Concord events

-British troops marched from Boston to seize colonial weapons
-Paul Revere and William Dawes alerted colonial towns “the british are coming!” headahh
-Standoff occured at Lexington Green, “shot heard round the world”, colonists forced to retreat.
-Colonists counterattacked at Concord bridge and forced British back to Boston.

Significance of Battle of Lexington and Concord

-Started the American Revolution
-Proved the colonists can stand up to the most powerful military

June 17, 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill events

-Occurred during the Siege of Boston, fought mostly on Breed’s hill

-British forces won after three charges but suffered over 1000 fatalities compared to 450 colonial fatalities
-Gave belief to the colonies they could win a war

On July 5, 1775 the second continental congress adopted what? What was its purpose?

They adopted the Olive Branch Petition as a final attempt to avoid full-scale war with Great Britain.
Affirmed loyalty to King George III while asking him to address colonial grievances and unfair taxes.

What was Britain’s response to the Olive Branch Petition?

King George III refused to accept or read the petition, in August 1775 he officially declared the colonies to be in rebellion.

On June 5th, 1776, Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee introduced ________ for the purpose of _______

The Lee resolution to the second continental congress, declaring that the American colonies were free and independent states and absolved from all allegiance to Great Britain

Result of the Lee resolution

Congress accepted the ideas and named two committees, one led by John Dickinson to write the framework of a national government.
The other led by Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence.

What was formally adopted by congress on July 4th, 1776? Who was the commander in chief?

Declaration of Independence, George Washington.

Which country did Britain turn to for recruiting more troops?

Germany

After the declaration of independence, George Washington aggregated communities and forced the British to:

move their troops out of Boston and out of Nova Scotia

Significance of Battle of Long Island in August 27th, 1776

First major conflict after the declaration of independence.
British forces under General William Howe defeated the Americans, who retreated across the east river.

Significance of Battle of Princeton, New Jersey January 3rd, 1777

Washington led the continental army to victory and regained New Jersey. This revived the American cause which was suffering from low morale.

From whom did most Americans receive their weapons? Why?

France, because they hated Britain and wanted to weaken its power