The Road to American Independence:

An Overview of the Events Leading to the

Revolutionary War

Colonial America

• British rule• French rule• and Spanish rule

Early American Settlements

Colonies developed different identities according to climate and charter

Colonies were divided into 3 regions1. New England – NH, MA, RI, CT2. Middle Colonies – NY, PA,NJ, MD, Del.3. Southern Colonies – VA,NC, SC, GA

13 ColoniesNew England Colonies – mostly came for religious

freedom (Pilgrims/Puritans)• Economy was based on fishing, lumbering, and

shipbuilding

Middle Colonies – More of a mix coming for religious freedom and economic opportunities – more diverse backgrounds

• Economy was based on farming and trade (Furs)

Southern Colonies – mostly came for economic opportunities

• Economy was based on agriculture – Tobacco, Cotton, Rice, Indigo

Slavery• Much more widely used in the Southern colonies –

mid 1600’s to 1865• Between 1517 and 1808, over 20 million people

are taken from West Africa. Half did not survive to reach America

• Slaves were viewed as necessary for the South’s agricultural economy.

Triangle Trade – three-part voyage• 1. Europe to Africa – guns, textiles, manufactured

goods• 2. Africa to America – Middle Passage – slaves

to America - 6 to 8 weeks• 3. America to Europe – sugar, tobacco, cotton etc.

Graph for Loading slavesAboard ship

North Carolina• Created in 1663 by Charles II – named after his

father, Charles I• Lords Proprietor – 8 men who were rewarded for

their loyalty to Charles• 1712 – splits into North and South Carolina• 1729 – becomes a royal colony under direct

control of the King• Original economy – tobacco and lumber/naval

products – most people are small farmers (Yeomen)

• Original settlers – English, Quakers, Moravians, Scotch-Irish

Early Problems in North Carolina• 1677 – Culpeper’s Rebellion – NC refused

to enforce the Navigation Acts

• Bath – NC’s first town - 1706

• 1700’s – NC’s coast was a prime hiding spot for pirates – Blackbeard

• Colonists began to have more conflicts with Native Americans

• 1711 – Tuscarora War – lasts for two years, Indians upset over colonists taking their land

Charles II Early Carolina Colony

• Beginning in the late 1600’s – France and England competed for control of North America – Most Indians sided with France – series of wars for control

• French believed that British were trying to take away their fur trade

• British believed that the French were stopping their expansion west

French and Indian War – 1754-1763 – England wins

Treaty of Paris – 1763 – peace treaty ending the war

• 1. French lose all of their North American territories

• 2. England controls everything east of the Mississippi – Spain controls everything west

British Soldier Delaware Indian

• Afterwards, English colonists (pioneers) begin expanding west into the Appalachians and Ohio River Valley - backcountry

• Conflicts with Native Americans – Indians did not believe European treaties applied to them – would not give up land – Pontiac’s Rebellion - 1763

Proclamation of 1763 – British government wanted to avoid future conflicts

• 1. Banned British settlers from moving west of the Appalachians

• 2. Any settlers already there had to move back• Caused great anger in the colonies and was widely

ignored• These conflicts left the British in financial

difficulty, looking for new ways to pay these debts

King George III George Washington

The Colonies develop…in spite of England

• Mercantilism– The colony existed for the

economic benefit of the mother country

– All trade rules were dictated by the mother country

– Raw materials were for the sole benefit of the mother country

– Finished good were returned to the colonies and sold at a great profit.

– An early version of Imperialism

• Salutary Neglect– England imposed little,

to no authority, over the colonies.

– Mercantilism satisfied England’s needs

– Over time, colonists became less British and more American

MERCANTILISM: AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM IN WHICH NATIONS SEEK TO INCREASE THEIR WEALTH BY OBTAINING GOLD & SILVER AND WITH A FAVORABLE BALANCE OF TRADE

MERCANTILISM

• England had many debts from French and Indian War – believed that the colonies should help pay for these

• Navigation Acts – 1650-1696 – required colonies to trade primarily with England

• Set taxes on some imported goods for the first time

Sugar Act 1764• British needed money to

pay back war debts.• George Grenville – British

Prime Minister• 3 cent tax on foreign sugar.• Higher import tax on non-

British cloth, coffee, indigo, and Madeira Canary wines.

• Resulted in…– Banning of importation of

foreign rum and French wine

– Local production increased.– Colonies begin to protest

British taxation.– Increased smuggling

No Taxation Without Representation

• James Otis/Sam Adams – first colonial leaders to speak out against British taxes

• Parliament could not tax the colonies since the colonies had no representatives in it. This was unfair.

• Committees of Correspondence – spread info about British acts and how to resist them – Boycotts

Quartering Act 1765

• England kept a standing army in the Colonies after the French and Indian War.

• Act required colonial assemblies to house and provision the British soldiers.

Stamp Act 1765

• Americans had to pay a tax on…

• Paper• Legal Documents• Newspapers• Playing Cards• Other Documents• Americans had to buy

the special stamp to put on these

• Tax equaled half a penny

• Resulted in…• Stamp Act

Congress – asked England to repeal Stamp Act -Declaration of Rights and Grievances

• Colonists’ boycott of British goods.

• King George repealed the Stamp Act on March 18, 1766

• Sons of Liberty – secret protest group created in Boston – used violence to protest British acts – created by Sam Adams

• Colonists were never asked to pay any taxes that people in England were not paying – British were paying 25 times more – Colonists would have paid an extra dollar per year.

Stamp Act Protests Sam Adams

Townshend Acts 1767

• Established a board of customs collectors in Boston.

• Writs of Assistance – search warrants for smuggled goods

• Money from taxes paid salaries of British colonial officials.

• New import taxes…– Glass– Lead– Paints– Paper– Tea

• Colonists boycotted all imports from England.

• Daughters of Liberty

• March, 1770, repealed all taxes, expect for tax on tea.

The Regulators• Western NC was increasingly unhappy with

all political power being held by Eastern NC – corruption/Embezzlement

• Tryon’s Palace – William Tryon

• Regulators – Westerners who refused to pay taxes or follow state government’s laws

• Herman Husband

• Battle of Alamance – May 16, 1770 – Regulators lose

Boston Massacre

• Sons of Liberty began attacking tax collectors – British soldiers begin arriving in Boston in 1768 to restore order

• Boston Massacre – March 5, 1770 – five colonists are killed by British soldiers (Crispus Attucks – free black – maybe runaway slave)

• Sons of Liberty used this as propaganda (only telling one side of the story) against British

• John Adams defended the British in court case• All but two British soldiers found not guilty – the

two get light punishments

Tryon’s Palace

Battle of Alamance

Boston Massacre

John Adams

Tea Act 1773

• Created to save the ailing East India Company.

• The Company could sell its surplus tea in the American colonies.

• The act retained the import tax on tea (Townshend Acts).

• 3 pennies per pound

• This Tax resulted in the Boston Tea Party.

The Boston Tea PartyDecember 16, 1773

• Group of men disguised as Blacks and Mohawk Indians.

• Led by Samuel Adams.

• Dumped 342 chests of British tea into the Boston Harbor.

• 3 million dollars damage

Boston Tea Party

• Intolerable Acts – 1774 – shut down Boston

• Disbanded Massachusetts legislature

• Put Massachusetts under military rule

• – made colonists even angrier since it violated their rights as British citizens

• Proposed total boycott of British goods – (refusal to buy or use)

• NC – Edenton Tea Party – Penelope Barker

INTOLERABLE ACTS (COERCIVE ACTS)

“No Taxation Without Representation!”

First Continental Congress Meets in Philadelphia September 1774

First attempt to unite the colonies to protest British taxationBoycott of British goods

No one yet willing to pursue independence