Unit 2 Causes & American Revolution Study Guide PDF

Unit 2: Causes & American Revolution Important dates: _________________________ Salutary Neglect: King ignored the colonies for years (due to distance between colonies & Great Britain), allowed colonies to develop self-government. The colonies are going to be extre...

Unit 2: Causes & American Revolution Important dates: _________________________ Salutary Neglect: King ignored the colonies for years (due to distance between colonies & Great Britain), allowed colonies to develop self-government. The colonies are going to be extremely upset when the king starts to try to control them. French and Indian War (1754-1763) – a.k.a. Seven Years War in Europe: Conflict between France (and Native American allies) and Great Britain Fought over the Ohio River Valley Great Britain wins – signs Treaty of Paris, 1763 Receives all land EAST of Mississippi River With all the land west, the colonists were excited to begin migrating west Effects (results) of the French and Indian War: 1. Proclamation of 1763 signed by King George III Stopped colonists from moving west to prevent conflict between the colonists & Natives in the Ohio Valley Angered colonists – felt their freedoms were being taken away & limited westward movement 2. British needed money to pay for the war (war debt = higher taxes) Believed they defended the colonists The colonists should help pay for the cost of the war (taxes) Causes of the Revolution: 1. Proclamation of 1763 – Forbid colonists to move beyond Appalachian Mountains 2. Sugar Act, 1764 – Taxes on sugar, molasses 3. Stamp Act, 1765 – Required colonists to buy a stamp for anything printed on paper (paid to maintain British soldiers in the colonies). Effects: Newspapers, documents, playing cards, etc. Sons of Liberty (led by Samuel Adams) – a group of Patriots who wanted to protect the rights of the colonists Convinced the British Parliament that the Stamp Act would NOT be obeyed Daughters of Liberty – formed to boycott British goods and to provide things that were boycotted to all colonists First evidence of NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION – never voted any representatives into Parliament, so they should not be getting taxed! 4. Quartering Act, 1765 – Soldiers were allowed to stay in anyone’s house, if they needed a place to stay (becomes 3rd Amendment to the Constitution) 5. Townshend Acts, 1767 – Set of customs duties (taxes) on British glass, lead, paints, paper and tea Result = boycott of British goods; British lose A LOT of money 6. Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770 – Mob of colonists confronted British soldiers and a fight broke out, soldiers opened fire killing 5 colonists (first to die was Crispus Attucks). Results: Parliament repealed most of the Townshend duties Sons of Liberty and Samuel Adams used incident as propaganda (called the colonists innocent bystanders being viciously attacked by British Redcoats) in order to increase protests of British 7. Tea Act, 1773 – Gave British East India Company the sole right to sell tea in the colonies; colonists saw it as a complete control of tea trade Result – Boston Tea Party 8. Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773 – Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded three British tea ships in Boston Harbor (MA) and threw 342 chests of tea in the sea Result – Intolerable Acts (to punish the colonists) 9. Intolerable Acts, 1774 (a.k.a. Coercive Acts) – Laws closed Boston Harbor, shut down all civilian courts, placed Massachusetts under firm British control and sent more troops to Boston Prompted anger throughout the colonies and began to work together to oppose British rule “Minutemen begin preparing for an organized fight with the British (Redcoats) 10. First Continental Congress, September 5, 1774 – Representatives met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the colonies decide to unite in order to better protect their rights; called for a complete boycott of all British goods 11. Battle of Lexington and Concord, April 18, 1775 – First shots in the American Revolution (“shot heard ‘round the world”) 700 British soldiers march to Concord from Boston to take a storehouse of weapons Small battle takes place in Lexington – no one knows who fired first (British defeat colonists) British march toward Concord where they are met at the North Bridge by more colonists and Minutemen (colonists win) “Common Sense”, January 1776  Written by Thomas Paine (a recent immigrant from Great Britain) Wrote to convince colonists that total independence was necessary (used as propaganda) Second Continental Congress, summer 1775-summer 1776 Representatives met again in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Had to decide what to do about the fighting between the colonists and the British Moved toward independence from Great Britain Declaration of Independence, July 1776 – The break-up with Great Britain; the war is increasingly serious Committee of 5 selected to write the document; Thomas Jefferson wrote the rough draft (follower of philosopher John Locke) Adopted and signed by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” 1. Parts of the Declaration: Preamble (intro) – Natural Rights of the colonists (unalienable rights); life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness 2. Grievances (formal complaints) Grievances were addressed or fixed in the Constitution & the Bill of Rights Example: King of England should not have imposed taxes without the consent of the colonists; U.S. Constitution states “Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises” Major Battles/Events of the Revolution: 1. Lexington and Concord (1775) – First official battle of American Revolution 2. Battle of Saratoga (1777) – Turning point of war; major colonial victory; helps convince France to help Americans 3. Winter at Valley Forge (1777-1778) – Washington spent winter training the army; faced a lot of hardships, including desertions and lack of food/supplies/funds 4. Battle of Yorktown (1781) – Last official battle of American Revolution; British troops surrender to Continental Army 5. Treaty of Paris, 1783 (signed September 1783) – Great Britain forced to recognize U.S.A. as an independent nation Important People of the Revolution: John Adams – on committee to write Declaration of Independence; defended the British troops in the Boston Massacre trial Samuel Adams – leader of Sons of Liberty Abigail Adams – wife of John Adams; member of Daughters of Liberty; helped begin boycotts of British goods Mercy Otis Warren – wrote anti-British propaganda supporting independence; member of the Daughters of Liberty Benjamin Franklin – Famous scientist and Enlightenment leader; on the committee to write Declaration of Independence Crispus Attucks – African and Native American descent; first to die in the Boston Massacre King George III – King of England before and during the American Revolution Patrick Henry – gave a speech with the “Give me Liberty, or Give me Death” phrase Thomas Jefferson – primary author of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Paine – author of Common Sense (a pro-independence pamphlet) George Washington – commissioned to be Commander in Chief of the Continental Army John Hancock – first man to sign the Declaration of Independence John Locke – wrote many essays on natural rights (Thomas Jefferson took Locke’s ideas of natural rights and turned them into ‘unalienable rights’) John Paul Jones – famous naval hero; “I have not yet begun to fight” Marquis de Lafayette – French general/military advisor to George Washington that helped train troops at Valley Forge