From Empire to Independence: 1754-1776

Part I

An Overview of the issues that led to Independence

The British and French Fight for and Empire

Longtime enemies, their final struggle occurred in North America.

The French and Indian War was fought from 1754 to 1763.

The winner would control the Ohio River Valley and access to Canada

Far from home, both sides needed allies.

Differing Motivations….. The British believed the French were trying to

“fence” them in and limit their access to the West.

The French believed that if the British crossed the Appalachians, it would ruin their lucrative fur trade in the Ohio River Valley and Southern Canada.

Native Americans groups were opportunists - siding alternately with both the French and the British to preserve their self interests.

Colonists wanted access to the Ohio Valley and agreed to help the British.

Who fought Who?

Ultimately more Indians sided with the French who were less interested in changing their habitat.

The Colonists sided with the British who promised access to the Ohio Valley.

An end and a Beginning

In 1763 the French surrendered

They lost all of their North American possessions except Martinique and Guadeloupe

The British, with substantial aid from the Colonists were victorious

The Treaty of Paris marked the formal end to the war

The British now dominated North America

They would now try and dominate the Colonists as well!

Review Quiz 1

What were the differing points of view that helped lead to the French and Indian War?

Why did more Indian cultures support the French?

What were two reasons for the colonists support of the British?

How much land did France retain in North America?

How do you think the war influenced relations between the Colonists and the British?

FROM LOYAL SUBJECTS TO REVOLUTIONARIES

FROM LAW ABIDING BRITISH CITIZENS TO TERRORISTS

FROM COLONISTS TO INDEPENDENCE

WHY?

PART II – THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

REMEMBER THIS?

The Proclamation of 1763 forbade colonists from moving west of the Appalachians.

They had been promised this land in return for service in the F&I War.

Times had changed, attitudes had changed

During the next 13 years a series of events would occur that would sever ties of loyalty and lead to Revolution

The British wanted to dominate the colonists

The Colonists would have none of it

The Stamp Act, The Tea Act, The Currency Act, The Quartering Act, The Coercive Acts, The Intolerable Acts, The Boston Massacre

Sons of Liberty, The Boston Tea Party, Lexington and Concord, Richard Henry Lee’s resolution, and finally…, The Declaration of Independence

Key Ideas and Events on the Road to Revolution!

Proclamation of 1763 The Boston Massacre The Stamp Acts American Nationalism The Boston Tea Party Lexington and Concord

The Proclamation of 1763 Closed the Ohio Valley…Why?

Pontiac’s rebellion was a united Indian movement against British Rule.

The British had neither the manpower or the money to protect the Colonists

The Colonists saw it as the British reneging on a promise to allow expanded colonization

A series of events follows…

Taxes and restrictions build Colonial Resentment

Various Stamp Acts cause the price of imported goods to rise.

The Quartering Act forces Colonists to provide Room and Board for British Soldiers Tax stamps placed on Goods

King George III is Blamed

The Boston Massacre

March 5, 1770 Sam Adams had

been drinking with some “friends” in a bar

He convinced them to go taunt the guards at the Boston Customs House

The “mob” began to throw ice and rocks at a guard

British soldiers came to his aid

In self defense they fired into the mob

The Result…. Sam Adams has

engraver Paul Revere immortalize the event

Revere adds women and children to the Crowd to gather revolutionary support

Coined as “The Boston Massacre”

Lawyer John Adams defends the soldiers

The Soldiers are acquitted

American Nationalism

Colonists are now more American than British

British Soldiers looked down upon them

They had different interests A unique culture had evolved

The Boston Tea Party

December 16, 1763 In response to the Tea Act Led by Samuel Adams The “Sons of Liberty”

destroy a shipment of Tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor

The British respond by closing Boston Harbor to all trade – strangling Boston

The First Continental Congress is convened!

September 1774 Colonists agreed to

boycott British goods until Boston Harbor was reopened

A List of Demands and Grievances is sent to King George

The Colonists unite in prayer

Lexington

Encouraged by the Continental Congress, Minutemen stockpiled munitions

April 18, 1775 – Gen. Gage marched 700 British troops towards Concord, Mass. 21 miles from Boston with instructions to seize the munitions

Along the way at Lexington, they encountered 70 Minutemen

Although the Minutemen agreed to disperse, a shot was fired (the shot heard round the world)

The British responded killing 8 Minutemen

Concord

Upon arrival in Concord the British found little useable munitions.

The Colonists had been warned.

The March back to Boston was a disaster

About 4,000 Minutemen ambushed the British Soldiers along the march back to Boston

Who really won these first battles?

The British had defeated the Colonists at Lexington and Concord

The Colonists humiliated the British along the march back to Boston.

Guerilla tactics had stymied the Red Coats.

Dozens were killed

Now what would George do?

Lexington and Concord began the Revolution in 1775

What other events fed into the Revolutionary attitude of the time?

Common Sense

Written by Thomas Paine in 1776

It clearly stated the logic behind the Revolution

Should an island govern a Continent?

What good are Kings? It sold about 150,000

copies 1 for every white man in

the colonies

Independence?

Formally introduced as a resolution by Richard Henry Lee in June of 1776

Who would write such a document?

Wouldn’t it be an act of Treason?

The Declaration of Independence

Thomas Jefferson is credited with writing the first draft

John Adams, Ben Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman assisted

July 4, 1776

After much debate over specific language, the Continental Congress ratified the Declaration.

Heavily influenced by John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers, it became the cornerstone of American Liberty.

Review Quiz 2

List 3 specific disagreements between the Colonists and the British

Why were the events at the Boston Massacre altered?

When was the Declaration of Independence written in relation to the Revolutionary war?

I Really hope this helped clear this stuff up!!

Where would we be without the Greek ideas about Democracy?

And here we are today!!