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• The French and Indian War was costly• The British needed revenue ($)• It was time for the colonies to act like
colonies
•Mercantilism – Colonies existed for the benefit of the Mother country
a) Colonies only traded with the Mother Country
b) Colonies only exported raw materials
c) Colonies did not manufacture goods
• And so the taxes!• But how can the colonists be taxed if
they did not elect representatives to Parliament?
• Protests began• Colonists boycotted British goods• Colonists published articles
challenging British policies• Colonists demanded liberty
• In Boston, a massacre had even occurred•March 5, 1770• British soldiers came to support a
soldier who was being heckled by a snowballing crowd• Shots were fired• Three persons were killed and two
died later of their wounds
• The Virginia governor dissolved the House of Burgesses• But the burgesses went to a nearby tavern• And Patrick Henry said, “I know not what
course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”
• On September 5, 1774, the first Continental Congress met in Philadelphia• It was time for the colonists to decide
what to do• They still hoped for peace with Britain
• But in Massachusetts, full-scale rebellion had begun• April 19, 1775• Hundreds of British troops marched
from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache
• And while some colonists still hoped for reconciliation with Britain• Others were listening to Thomas
Paine
• Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense in 1776• Paine encouraged many
colonists to join the Patriot cause and declare independence• “Our corn will fetch its
price in any market.”