Road to the Revolution — Key Points

Albany Plan of Union ( 1754 )

  • Proposed by Benjamin Franklin to unite the colonies for a common defense and coordinated handling of westward expansion and Native American issues.

  • Created a grand council to manage defense and colonial issues; failed because colonies wouldn’t cede power or share sovereignty.

End of French and Indian War & Debt ( 1763 )

  • War ends with the Treaty of Paris in 1763; Britain incurs large costs.

  • Britain seeks revenue from colonies to pay war expenses.

Pontiac’s Rebellion & Proclamation ( 1763 )

  • Native resistance in Ohio territory after the war.

  • Proclamation of 1763 restricts westward settlement past the Appalachian Mountains; angers colonists who want land.

End of Salutary Neglect & Early Taxation

  • Britain reasserts authority; Navigation Acts enforced again.

  • Sugar Act ( 1764 ): tax on molasses; strengthens anti-smuggling enforcement; taxes colonists.

  • Quartering Act ( 1765 ): colonies must provide housing and provisions for British soldiers.

Stamp Act & Colonial Reaction ( 1765 )

  • Stamp Act imposes a tax on printed items (newspapers, deeds, licenses, etc.).

  • Widespread impact leads to Stamp Act Congress; slogan "no taxation without representation."

  • Boycott British goods; Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty organize resistance; some violent actions (
    tar-and-feathering of tax collectors).

  • Stamp Act repealed; Declaratory Act asserts Parliament’s right to tax and legislate in all cases.

Townshend Acts & Enforcement ( 1767 )

  • Taxes on paper, glass, tea; revenue to pay royal officials in colonies.

  • Writs of assistance authorize searches of private homes; New York Assembly suspended for defying Quartering Act.

Boston Massacre & Tea Act ( 1770 – 1773 )

  • Boston Massacre ( 1770 ): five colonists killed; used as propaganda against Britain.

  • Tea Act ( 1773 ): lowers tax on tea but requires purchase from the East India Company; fuels protests and leads to the Boston Tea Party.

Coercive Acts & Quebec Act ( 1774 )

  • Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts): Boston Harbor closed; royal governor’s powers increased; trials of officials in Britain; expands the right to govern.

  • Quebec Act: expands Quebec territory into the Ohio Valley; seen as punishing colonists who wanted western lands.

First Continental Congress ( 1774 )

  • Delegates from most colonies (Georgia absent) meet in Philadelphia.

  • Suffolk Resolves call for repeal of Intolerable Acts; another boycott; begin military preparations.

  • Declaration of Rights and Grievances; plan to reconvene if grievances not addressed by May 1775.

Lexington & Concord; Early War ( 1775 )

  • April 1775: confrontations at Lexington and Concord; initial colonial fatalities and rising tensions.

  • Colonial militia adopts guerrilla tactics around Boston; Battle of Bunker Hill ( 1775 ) demonstrates colonial resolve (approx. 250 British dead vs. 95 colonial deaths).

Second Continental Congress & Early Governance ( 1775 – 1776 )

  • Meets in May 1775; acts as de facto American government.

  • Olive Branch Petition pledges loyalty to the king and seeks redress from Parliament; Declaration of Causes of Taking Up Arms outlines reasons to fight.

  • Authorized to organize a colonial army; George Washington appointed as commander.

Enlightenment Influence, Common Sense, & Independence

  • Republican ideals and Enlightenment thought influence colonial leaders (rights, government by consent).

  • Thomas Paine’s Common Sense ( 1776 ) argues against monarchy and for independence; broad appeal to common people.

Declaration of Independence ( July 4, 1776$$ )

  • Drafted mainly by Thomas Jefferson; influenced by John Locke (natural rights: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness; Jefferson reframes as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).

  • Declares colonies independent from Great Britain and establishes the United States.

Key People & Ideas to Remember

  • Ben Franklin: Albany Plan of Union ( united defense, early push for intercolonial cooperation).

  • John Locke: natural rights and government by consent (influences the Declaration).

  • Thomas Paine: Common Sense—persuasive call for independence.

  • George Washington: chosen as head of the colonial army by the Second Continental Congress.