The Road to Revolution

New Government in NC1729- George Burrington sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to convince the crown to appoint him the first royal governor of NC

Received his commission in January 1730

When NC became a royal colony, it fell under the jurisdiction of the English Board of TradeThe king and Parliament gave Burrington the authority to decide things regarding the AssemblyThey also gave him the authority to veto, or overrule, colonial laws

Days 1&2

Navigation ActsThe board ordered Burrington to use his royal powers to enforce the Navigation Acts

Navigation Acts- passed by the English Parliament in 1660 and 1663 to enforce colonists to help the growing English shipping industryAll goods had to be carried by ships built in England or the English colonies whose officers and crews were English

Burrington was governor until the Revolutionary War

The Great AwakeningEarly 1700s

Many colonists feared they had lost the religious passion that drove their ancestors to found the colonies

1730s and 1740s: The Great AwakeningPreachers taught that inner religious emotion was more important than outward religious behaviorSermons were very close to the heart and brought many listeners inCongregations argued over religious practices and often split apartJonathan Edwards- well-known preacher during this time that preached about God’s anger, but promised his listeners that they could be saved George Whitefield- preacher who drew many into his sermons and raised funds for start a home for orphans

The Great AwakeningSome churches at this time welcomed African Americans, Native Americans, and women into the congregationsChurches gained 20,000 to 50,000 new membersThis time period encouraged ideas of equality and the right to challenge authority, which inspired the revolution years later

The EnlightenmentBegan around 1715 in EuropeThis time period emphasized reason and science as the paths to knowledgeIt was an intellectual movement that appealed mostly to wealthy, educated menIt began in Europe as certain scientists discovered natural laws governing the universe

Key Figures of the Enlightenment

Isaac NewtonScientist who discovered and explained the laws of gravity

Benjamin FranklinFamous American Enlightenment figure that used reason to improve societyHe proved that lightning was a form of electricityInvented the Franklin Stove, lightning rod, and bifocal glasses

John LockeEnglish philosopher who applied the idea of natural law to human societies.Argued that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and propertyAlso challenged that the king had the God-given right to rule, but still believed that the natural rights of individuals came from God

French and Indian War1753-1759A war where the French and their Native American allies fought British soldiers and American militia for control over a large part of North America

Part of a larger war going on in Europe: “The Seven Years’ War”

The French were exploring the N. A. interior while then English colonists were settling the eastern coastLieutenant Colonel George Washington and his VA troops were sent to Pittsburgh, PA in the Ohio River Valley to give a letter to the French explaining that the territory belonged to England(1754)

The letter made it clear that war was going to occur

The French and Indian War

War finally ended and the French were defeatedBy 1760, the French Colony, New France, had a European population of about 80,000 and the British colonies had more than one million settlersThe war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763

Signed by British and FrenchFrance was forced to give up most of its territory east of the Mississippi Rover and all of Canada to Britainhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJv86RpLsVQ

Events Leading Towards the Revolution

Proclamation of 1763Drew an imaginary line down the spine of the Appalachian MountainsTemporarily closed all lands west of the line to the colonial settlements by English colonistsProclamation leads to anger

Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)Sugar ActStamp ActQuartering ActTownshend ActsTea Act

Day 3

Intolerable Acts(Coercive Acts)

Sugar ActApril 5, 1764Revised duties on sugar, coffee, tea, wine, and other importsExpanded jurisdiction of vice-admiralty courtsCauses colonists to boycott British Goods

Stamp ActMarch 22, 1766 repealed March 18, 1766Printed documents (deeds, newspapers, marriage licenses, etc.) issued only on special stamped paper purchased from stamp distributorsColonists continue to boycott British goods

Intolerable Acts(Coercive Acts)

Quartering ActMay 1765Colonists must supply British troops with housing and other items including candles, firewood, etc.

Townshend ActsJune 26-July 2, 1767; repealed except on tea March 1770New duties on glass, lead, paper, paints, tea; customs collections tightened in AmericaNew boycotts occurred; eventually leads to the Boston MassacreWhen it was repealed the tension between the colonies and Britain reduced slightly

Tea ActMay 10, 1773Parliament gives East India Company the right to sell tea directly to Americans; some duties on tea are reducedEventually leads to the Boston Tea Party

Other ActsProhibitory Act

December 22, 1775Declares Britain intention to pressure Americans into submission; embargo (ban) on American goods; American ships seized

Declaratory ActMarch 18, 1766Parliament declares its sovereignty over the colonies “In all cases whatsoever”Created when the Stamp Act was repealedColonists basically ignored it

Reaction to British Control

The colonists were very unhappy with the new laws and tax increasesIn 1768, John Harvey, speaker of the NC Assembly, introduced the circular letter from the Massachusetts Assembly toe the NC Assembly

The Assembly wrote King George III “No taxation without representation”Harvey sent a letter to the MA Assembly saying that NC was ready to join in protesting

Day 4

Reaction to British Control

1768- Parliament ordered the MA royal governor to dissolve that colony’s assembly unless it retracted the letterNon-Importation Association- a group that started among the colonists that would refuse to buy any British goods

Speaker Harvey presented the plan for it in NC on Nov. 2, 1769When Governor Tryon heard about this he dissolved the Assembly64 of the 74 members who had attended the Assembly gathered in the New Bern courthouse and two days later the association was approvedThis was the first action taken by a colonial legislature independent of a governor

The Boston MassacreThe Non-Importation Association was a great success, which caused the British merchants’ businesses to suffer greatly so they demanded Parliament to retract the unpopular lawsIn 1770, Parliament retracted all the taxes except for the tax on tea

March 5, 1770- the trouble beganAfter some words between a group of colonists and British guards there was lots of confusion and hustle and shots were firedThe British soldiers killed five colonists and injured six

The Boston MassacrePatriots, supporters of colonial liberty, used this event to inflame passion inside of the colonists

Samuel Adams led a group of Patriots in circulating letters telling the story of the Boston MassacreEventually Britain brought the soldiers to trail and in the end only one was given a mild punishment

The Boston Massacre

Image engraved by Paul Revere

The Boston Tea PartyAfter the Tea Act, Patriots of Boston took the lead in protestingOn December 16, 1773, a small band disguised as Native Americans boarded several tea ships anchored in the Boston Harbor.In less than an hour, they dumped more that 300 chests of tea into the waterVideo Clip:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBBTF0Wg7dY

The Edenton Tea Party1774- One year after the Boston Tea Party, a group of women held a different sort of tea party in North Carolina51 year-old Mrs. Penelope Barker gathered the “patriotic ladies” in Edenton to support the Patriot causeThey signed an agreement vowing to not to drink tea or to wear English dresses

This was one of the first organized protests by women so it attracted a lot of attention

The London press mockingly named the event the “Edenton Tea Party”

The Edenton Tea Party

Time to Protest!

Approaching the RevolutionBy the end of 1774, some colonists were preparing to fight

Many thought it would be a short fightSome expected a war

Patrick Henry- “… I know now what course others may take. But as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Day 5

Approaching the Revolution

Sam Adams had built a spy network to keep watch over British activities. British had their own spies as well

General Gage (British) had learned that the MA militia was storing arms and ammunition in Concord (20 miles from Boston)He had also heard that Sam Adams and John Hancock were in Lexington

Paul Revere and the Midnight Ride

April 18, 1775Gage ordered his troops to arrest Adams and Hancock and to destroy the supplies in ConcordThe Sons of Liberty had already prepared for this

Sons of Liberty- engaged in violent protests against British lawsPaul Revere, a Boston silversmith, was in charge of spreading the news about the British comingWilliam Dawes was a second messenger

If one lantern burned in the Old North Church steeple then the British were coming by landIf two lanterns burned then they were coming by sea

When the British moved, so did Revere and Dawes on their “midnight ride,” spreading the news

Lexington and Concord, 1775

Revere and Dawes ended up in Lexington where they met Dr. Samuel PrescottRevere and Dawes were stopped by British control but Prescott made it to Concord to carry out the messageThere was chaos and then shots were fired

“The shot heard around the world”

The Battles at Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the Revolutionary War

Revere and Dawes’ Journey

Paul Revere’s RidePoem by Henry Wadsworthhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4hUMQG3MI8

The Revolutionary Warhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKwLCVQWiIU