colonial america and the revolutionary war

Prepared by: Michelle G. Costales

The English Colonies are founded

The Colonists objects the British Policies

Parliament restricts colonial trade and industry

Parliament passed laws to regulate colonial trade to Britain's advantage.

Navigation Acts of 1660-1663 Required colonist to sell certain products such as tobacco, sugar,

indigo only to England

Hat Act (1732) Parliament took steps to prevent the colonists from developing

industries that would compete with British manufacturers.

Iron Act (1750) Removed taxes on Britain’s imports of iron ore from the colonists,

but it outlawed the colonial manufacture of iron goods.

The Colonists evade British laws

Parliament’s restrictions on the colonial economy were difficult to enforce.

The colonists resented to restrictions and many of them smuggled in goods to avoid paying British taxes.

The British also found out that the colonial officials tended to favour the colonists and did not always strictly enforce the laws.

Britain seeks revenue from the colonies

Sugar Act 1764- it passed the Sugar Act, which

lowered the tax on imported molassesin hopes that fewer colonists would smuggle it in to avoid paying the tax.

Quartering Act of 1765 This required colonists to provide living

quarters and certain supplies for British troops.

Stamp Act Which placed a tax on printed matters

The colonists protest Grenville’s plan

They were particularly angered by the Stamp Act

Stamp Act Was a simply an effort to increase British revenues.“taxation without representation” they declared, was against the principles of English law.

1765 Delegates from nine colonies met in New York to discuss the

situation.

Called the Stamped Act Congress, the delegates challenged the Parliament’s right to tax the colonies for revenue.

Lord Grenville

Groups of patriots known as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty sprang up throughout the colonies.

Their members pressured merchants –sometimes by force-to stop dealing in British goods.

1766 Parliament reluctantly repealed the Stamp Act.

The Townshend Acts increased colonial resentment

1767- it passed the Townshend (TOWN-zend)Acts, which imposed new taxes.

The new taxes raised the prices of many everyday items-particularly paint, glass, paper, and tea.

The colonist claim that the new law was “another taxation without representation”

Samuel Adams

Resentment leads to violence March 1770, a squad of

British soldiers fired into a crowd that have been taunting them and pelting them with stick and snowballs.

Five colonist were killed, and several more were wounded.

This incident, which American patriots called the Boston Massacre, deepened tensions.

The Tea Act renews colonial resistance

1773- Parliament tried to help the Company’s expansion by granting it special rights to sell tea in America.

Certain colonists in Boston decided to go ever further.

Disguised as Indians, they climbed aboard the ships and dumped several hundred chests filled with into Boston Harbor.

Others viewed the “Boston Tea Party” as a Criminal act since the colonist had destroyed valuable property and defined British law.

Boston Tea Party

Parliament passes the Intolerable acts

Intolerable Acts(1774) One law closed the port of Boston to all ships until

Massachusetts port to the East India Company for the Tea.

Another law put an end to self-government in Massachusetts

Third allowed royal officials charged with certain to be crimes to be tried in Britain or in another colony to avoid hostile colonial juries.

A new Quartering Act allowed troops to be housed in homes (instead of in their usual barracks) whenever the commanding officer thought it was necessary.

Colonists meet in a Continental Congress

The meeting called Continental Congress, was held in Philadelphia in 1774, with delegates from twelve colonists.

They protested the Intolerable Acts and organized committees to prevent the sale of each goods.

The Colonists fight at Lexington and Concord

April, 1775- British troops were sent from Boston to the nearby town of Concord and Lexington to destroy weapons and gunpowder that the militia or men soldiers had stored there.

The fighting at Lexington and Concord was a turning point in the relationship between Britain and the colonies.

They created an army.

Continental Army Fight at Lexington and Concord

George Washington

Virginia planter

Commander

Assumed some of the responsibilities of a central government for the colonies.

King George III

Was enraged by the colonists actions

Ignored the petitions want by the Continental Congress

Approved the ending of all trade with the colonies and

sent more troops to America to crush the rebellion.

The colonies move toward independence

1775- few Americans, angry as they were, favored separation from Britain.

This debate was greatly influenced by a pamphlet titled Common Sense, which was published in January.

1776-Thomas Paine, its author, called upon Americans to give up their “agreeable dream” of reconciliation and declare their independence from Britain. Thomas Paine

July 4,1776-the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence written largely by Thomas Jefferson a Virginia planter.

Reflected John Locke’s theory of natural rights.

The declaration stated that the people have the right to abolish a government that does not support their interest and establish a new one.

Thomas JeffersonJohn Locke

Declaration of Independence

Revolution brings Independence

Victory at Saratoga is the turning point of the war

March, 1776, the colonial forces finally drove the British out of Boston.

September they succeeded in capturing New York City.

Then, in the fall of 1777, the turning point of the war came near Saratoga, New York.

American general, Horatio Gates, surrounded a British force of nearly 5,000 men commanded by General Sir John Burgoyne.

Unable to obtain relief or supplies, Burgoyne was forced to surrender.

General Horatio Gates Battle at Saratoga

American writer and scientist Benjamin Franklin , had been in Paris negotiating for French help since the outbreak of war.

1778, France decided to aid the Americans in their struggle against Britain.

Later, Spain and the Netherlands also backed the American cause.

Marquis de Lafayette, closely assisted Washington

Others who joined Americans

Casimir Pulaski was a Polish nobleman soldier and military commander has been called "the father of the

American cavalry”

Thaddeus Kosciusko of Poland was a Polish military engineer a military leader who became a

national hero in Poland, Belarus, and the United States.tates.

Baron de Kalb (a German fried of Lafayette’s)

French officer served as a major general in

the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War

Baron von Steuben of Prussia military officer served as inspector general and

Major General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War

In the spring of the year 1781,Lord Cornwallis, commander of the British army, abandoned his campaign to subdue the southern colonies.

Washington’s troops and a large French force surrounded Cornwallis, who surrendered in October, 1781.

Battle at Yorktown

George Cornwallis

The Treaty of Paris ends the War

Peace negotiations among the United States, Britain, France , the Netherlands and Spain took almost two years.

The Treaty of Paris signed in September, 1783, officially ended the war

By that treaty Britain recognized the independence of its former colonies.

America’s leaders decide to write a Constitution

May, 1787, fifty-five delegates, including some of the ablest men in the country, assembled at Philadelphia to consider possible amendments to the Articles of Confederation.

The delegates were practical men-farmers, merchants, lawyers, and bankers.

They decided, instead to write an entirely new constitution.

The Constitution is ratified

Many Americans thought that the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government.

These people, called anti-federalists, warned that the proposed federal government would dominate the states and deprive citizens of their liberties.

Those who favoured the Constitution, called federalists, campaigned vigorously for its adoption.

Three leading federalists- James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay

James Madison, Jr.

James Madison, Jr. (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836)

fourth President of the United States(1809–1817).

He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for being instrumental in the drafting of the United States Constitution

the key champion and author of the United States Bill of Rights

Was a founding father of the United States

chief of staff to General George Washington

one of the most influential interpreters and promoters of the U.S. Constitution,

the founder of the nation's financial system,

and the founder of the first American political party

John Jay

John Jay (December 12, 1745 –May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, Patriot, diplomat,

Founding Father of the United States

signer of the Treaty of Paris

first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court(1789–95).

The Bill of Rights is adopted The newly elected Congress met in 1789, and one of its first

acts was to draw up ten amendments to the Constitution.

These were to be a Bill of Rights,

Guaranteeing Americans freedom of religion, of speech, of assembly, and of the press.

Assured them of trial by jury, protection from cruel and unusual punishment, and other basic liberties.

The tenth amendments answered the fears of many Americans about federal power.

Reference

Perry, The History of the world

Wikipedia. com