The Road to the Revolution: What led to the writing of the Declaration Of Independence and the...

The Road to the Revolution:

What led

to the writing of the

Declaration

Of

Independence

and the

Revolutionary

War?

The Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1696 restricted American trade in the following ways;

Only British ships could transport imported and exported goods from the colonies.

The only people who were allowed to trade with the colonies had to be British citizens.

Commodities such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton wool which were produced in the colonies could be exported only to British ports.

Britain helped colonists to defeat the French in war

Britain needed money to pay for war expenses

Taxed colonists, restricted settlements and limited self-govt.

Legal documents allowing British officers to search for smuggled goods without warning

Established in 1764

Devised to monitor colonial trading to prevent evasion of the Navigation Acts

England saw colonies as a source of Revenue (money)

Colonists become outraged!!!

Source of incoming money

England saw the colonies as a source of incoming money

$$$$$

British taxed colonists on many of the goods coming into the colonies from other places

British imposed taxes upon all paper products and stamped the item once the tax had been payed.

Stop molasses smuggling between colonies and the French West Indies

Lowered taxes on imported molasses

Set-up courts where accused smugglers were tried by a British judge and NOT a jury

Placed a tax on almost all printed materials – newspapers, pamphlets, wills, playing cards

Taxed colonists directly

Passed by Parliament without colonial vote or consent

Rally Cry: “No taxation without Representation”

“No Taxation

Without Representation!”

•Patrick Henry’s speech

•Sons and Daughters of Liberty•Benjamin Franklin’s visit to Parliament•Boston Massacre

Vocal patriot advocating colonial rights

Believed only the colonists had the right to tax the colonists

Organized in Boston by Samuel Adams

Protested by burning effigies

Raided and destroyed homes of British officials

Spread propaganda

Organized boycotts

Colonial women organized groups to support the boycott of British goods

Urged Americans to wear homemade clothing and to produce their own goods

EFFIGIES - RAG DOLLS REPRESENTING UNPOPULAR TAX COLLECTORS

BOYCOTTS – REFUSAL TO BUY GOODS

To get rid of

British merchants rallied for the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766

Americans successfully Boycotted British goods

Replaced the repealed Stamp Act

Allowed parliament the right to tax and to make decisions “in all cases whatsoever.”

Created in 1767

Taxed imported goods at the port of entry: glass, paper, tea, lead and other basic goods

Enforced by Writs of

Assistance – upset colonists

King George III Sent 700 troops to Boston on October 1, 1768 – set up camp on town green

Harassed colonists and interfered with their daily lives

March 5, 1770, colonists antagonized soldiers by throwing rocks and ice

Soldiers fired 7 shots into the crowed – 5 colonists died including Crispus Attucks

Depicted by Paul Revere as a massacre

Effective propaganda, as colonist depicted as heroes, soldiers as evil villains

John Adams successfully defended British soldiers saying acted in self defense

Revived by Samuel Adams in 1772

Used to circulate colonist’s grievances against the Britain

Passed by Parliament to keep the British East India Tea Company in business

Allowed the tea company to ship its surplus tea to the colonies without paying taxes

Colonists boycotted the tea – rather smuggle colonial tea, and refused to accept British tea at ports.

Lower price on British tea

Colonists still pay taxes

Boycotted British tea

Sons of Liberty dressed in disguise and dumped British tea overboard

December 16, 1773

British governor in Boston ordered the tea from the ships to be unloaded

Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded the ships at midnight

Threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor

Tea valued at $70,000; today over $1,000,000

Official name – Coercive Acts

Created to punish Massachusetts

Closed the Boston Harbor until colonists paid for damaged tea

Prohibited town meetings

Forced colonists to quarter the British soldiers.

The King assigned British General Gage to be Massachusetts governor.

Purpose: Punish colonists for Tea Party

Result: Helped to unify colonists

First Continental Congress meets in

Philadelphia

Group of prominent colonial leaders

Met September 1774

Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Jay, George Washington, Patrick Henry & more

Drafted a statement of grievances

Called for the repeal of the 13 Acts of Parliament

Voted to boycott all British goods and trade

Passed a resolution to form a militia

Meet again in 7 months

Key step in American history as delegates determined to uphold colonial rights

•British General Gage learns of hidden weapons in Concord. Also, John Hancock and Samuel Adams in nearby Lexington.

•Two lanterns hung in church tower to warn the British coming by “sea” (Charles River)•Paul Revere and William Dawes make midnight ride to warn Minutemen of approaching British soldiers

First military engagements of the Revolution

April 19, 1775

Known as the “shot heard ‘round the world”

Representatives brought

money to help establish…

the Continental

Army

(i.e. pay soldiers, buy guns, bullets,

food, and uniforms

May 10, 1775

Also present: Ben Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson

Congress began to govern the colonies

Authorized the printing of money

Set up Post Office with Franklin in charge

Created committees to communicate with Native Americans

Created the Continental Army with Washington in charge

Sent the Olive Branch Petition

One last chance to avoid war by protecting the colonists’ rights

King refused to read it

Sent 30,000 paid Hessian soldiers instead

Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine

Using plain language, it urged for complete independence from Great Britain – three points:

1. All men, not just land owners, have right to vote

2. Kings ruling by will of God is ridiculous and all monarchies are corrupt

3. The new nation can survive on its own and not be economically tied to England

the freedom to govern on one’s own.

declaration : (n)

an official statement

Benjamin Franklin

John Adams

Robert R. Livingston

Roger Sherman

Thomas Jefferson

This is a replica of the Graff house where Jefferson wrote the majority of the 1st draft of the Declaration of Independence. The original building (at this location) was destroyed in 1888.

Who wrote the first draft?

July 4, 1776

Written by Thomas Jefferson

Signed 1st by John Hancock

Two major ideas:

Every person has natural and unalienable rightsthe government cannot take away: life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

If a government disregards these rights – the people have the right to abolish that government by force if

necessary and form a new government

Contains 4 major sections

Preamble or introduction Listed rights colonists should have Listed grievances against the British Proclaims the existence of a new country

Have you ever wondered what happened to the fifty six men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well death would be the cost if captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education.

They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!