Breaking Away from Britain

UNIT 1 LESSON 2: ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN NATION: REVOLUTION

L.E.Q.: Why did the colonists fight a war for independence against Great Britain?

Drill:

Consider what you now know about the British Colonies and life of a colonists. Why might you begin to resist British law and influence in the New World?

Seeds of Revolution:1. New ideas developed in the 1600s (Age of Reason/Enlightenment) =

govt. should protect the natural rights of life

2. Disagreements over the way in which Great Britain treated the colonies versus the way the colonies felt they should be treated

L.E.Q.: Why did the colonists fight a war for independence against Great Britain?

Drill:

What were the Townshend Acts?

A: Tax's on sugar

B: Duties on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea

C: Laws against murder

D: Laws against freedom of religion

Seeds of Revolution:British Red Coats arrive in Boston in 1768 to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by the Townshend Acts of 1767: tax on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies

1770 – Boston Massacre – 5 Bostonians killed by British soldiers

The Stamp Act of 1765 - imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies

Seeds of Revolution:1773 – Boston Tea Party – act of defiance and protest against taxes by colonists in Boston; threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor

Coercive Acts 1774 – closed Boston Harbor, Quartering Act, restrictions on Fur Trade, restricted town meetings in Massachusetts, immunity for British soldiers

The Patriot: Council meeting

The Revolutionary WarFirst shots rang out April 19, 1775 in Lexington and Concord

The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 was the first great American victory of the war and a turning point, the French join as American ally

The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, and Great Britain acknowledged America's independence

American casualties = 4,435

WeaponsMuskets w/ bayonets

Cannons

Flintlock Pistol

Swords an Sabers

L.E.Q.: How was government crafted through compromise?

Drill:What is the purpose of the Constitution of the United States? “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,

establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Preamble to the U.S. Constitution

The Articles of Confederation Adopted in 1777 and went into effect 1781

Established a framework for a central national government

The states were sovereign and the central government was weak

sovereignty – the ability to rule absolutely within a territory