History 1301 3a-4c

@ grayson college, prof: chad tomaselli

Six Arguments of Colonists against Eng

Six Arguments of Colonists against Eng

1. Violation of rights as british citizens

2. the king personally violated their rights

3. taxes existed w/out precedent

4. no point bc they wouldnt be enforced

5. not fair

6. no taxation w/out representation

sons of liberty

title used by colonists fighting compliance to new taxes

• tarring and feathering

• poured hot oil down throats

famous sons of liberty

john hancock and samuel adams(boston chapter)

Sugar Act (1764)

big tax on french molasses to encourage buying british molasses

• colonists wrote angry letters

Stamp Act (1765)

tax on all paper products

Stamp Act Congress (1765)

gathering with representatives from 9/13 colonies to fight stamp act

• wrote letter w/ “no taxation w/out representation”

• little to no short term change

Declaratory Act (1766)

repealed sugar and stamp acts, stated colonists had virtual representation by all of congress

reasons parliament didnt give colonies represantives

1. saw colonists as lesser englishmen

2. would have caused other non-white colonists to ask for reps

Townsend Acts (1767)

small tax on 5 most imported products to colonies (glass, led, paper, paint, tea)

• got rid of all but tea tax

Boston Massacre (5 March 1770)

escalated conflict between colonist teens and british soldiers that lead to 5 civilians being killed

• name penned by Sons of Lib

Crispus Attacks

black man who was first to die from boston massacre

tea act (1773)

gov policy that gave British East India company monopoly on tea trade to prevent BEIC going bankrupt

Boston Tea Party (16 Dec 1773)

Sons of Lib dressed as natives and dumped 340 crates of tea into harbor

• 2m dollars of tea

Ecletnon Tea Party (25 Oct 1774, North Carolina)

51 WOMEN wrote letters and boycotted BEIC tea

• first political action led by women

Battle of Lexington and Concord (19 April 1775)

beginning of fighting for revolutionary war

• colonial victory

2nd Continental Congress (before declaration)

• created continental army and appointed George Washington

• requested assistance from French

• sent out Olive Branch Petition

Olive Branch Petition

document sent directly to King George III seeking to reach a compromise that lead to Proclamation of Rebellion

• showed colonists did not originally want independence

continental congress acts as a government

1. sold bonds to raise money

2. oversaw continental army

3. recruited foreign military officers

4. successfully got help from France

5. authored new constitution and government

General Von Steuben

prussian man hired to train colonial militia into a disciplined and proffesional army

• commands got translated german → french → english

Marquis de Lafayette

french noble who supported colonist’s in independence that was a skilled general who also fought good

Intolerable Acts, or Coercive Acts (1774)

collection of acts imposed mostly on Boston and Massachusetts that resulted from Parliament/Kings anger at colonists destroying property

Boston Port Act

boston harbor was closed until destroyed tea was paid for

Justice Act

trial of british soldiers was held in london courts, not colony courts

• protected against persecution of soldiers

Second Quartering Act

British officers given the right to quarter soldiers in private homes, without compensation

Government Act

• basic rights stripped from Mass (assembly, press, speech)

• legislative power given to crown appointed governor

• colonial assembly loses power

• democracy undone in favor of crown

colonial response to intolerable act

• mass began war with passage of acts

• other colonies saw they would likely be treated the same way

First Continental Congress (Fall 1774)

12/13 colonies sent reps to meet in Philadelphia to discuss intolerable acts→ drafted document of grievances w/demand if repeal

• stated six arguments

• agree to train militia

• “wait and see” not revolution, but seeking rights

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

persuasive pamphlet written in 1776 stating arguments for independence in simple language

• got common people to support rebellion

• hired to write for continental congress

Thomas Jefferson

wrote majority of D of I last minute by himself

• future VP, Pres., and had key ideas to American politics

philosopher John Locke’s “Social Contract”

the idea that there are certain exceptions between authority and followers, including:

• consent of governed

• gov gives right to life liberty and property

• people must remove bad gov and rebuild a good one

relation between John Locke’s ideas and D of I

Jefferson tried to show that British government was bad because it didn’t protect Life, Liberty, and Property of colonies so colonist were acting on their duty to withdraw consent and build a new gov

• provided moral code for government, not system

“ all men are created equal” meaning in D of I vs now

• then: all white, british, land-owning men were created

• now: all people are created equal

significance of D of I

• established colonists’ independence on paper, but they still had to win war for real independence

• created framework/inspo for future documents by other countries

ration of colonists who: wanted indep., loyalists, vs neutral

• wanted indep: 40-45%

• loyalists: 15-20%

• neutral: 35-45%

reasons colonists stayed loyal to british

• old/wealthy→ rejected any change

• valued british identity

• didn’t believe colonists could win war

• supported ideals but rejected colonists’ violence

washington’s W-L % for rev. war battles

W- 2 ½

L- 30+

washington’s key skills as a general

retreat and leadership

• kept morale high despite losses

washington’s battle strategy in rev. war

survive long enough with minimal material losses so that british would waste resources and quit

Battle of Saratoga ( 7 October 1777)

american victory that convinced french to support war effort

significance of french help during war

america wouldn’t have won w/out french army, money and supplies

• supplied 80-90% of black powder used

Treaty of Paris (1783)

treaty that ended/paused revolutionary war

• john jay, john adams, and ben franklin represented US In france

five terms to Treaty of Paris (1783)

1. Brits recognize american indep

2. established new US borders

3. Brit. agreed to remove troops right away

4. US agreed to pay debt to Brit., even for Rev. War

5. US agreed to restore rights and property of loyalists

significance of Treaty of Paris (1783)

both sides failed to uphold promises long term

• in some cases, there was more of a pause than an end to conflict

significance of Revolutionary War

the new US gov + gov ideals had to succeed or war was pointless