CHAPTER 5 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Lesson 1 Tensions

CHAPTER 5: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Lesson 1: Tensions with Britan Pg 204 -209

LESSON GOALS I will know that the colonists believed that fighting against unfair laws was worth the risk.

VOCABULARY Debt Congress Repeal Effigy Boycott Tariff

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR From 1754 -1763 France and Great Britain fought each other in the French and Indian war in North America. Even though France got help from the Native Americans, Britain still won the war. The victory gave Britain control over most of the colonies in North America.

TROUBLE OVER TAXES (PG 204) Great Britain had won the French and Indian war. As a result Great Britain gained a huge amount of land in North America. However, it also gained a huge debt, which means that it owed money. The British needed to send thousands of soldiers to North America to protect the new lands. To pay for the debt, leaders in Great Britain decided to tax American colonists. King George III supported the idea of taxing colonists, so did the members of Britain’s law making group, parliament. The Stamp Act was passed in 1765, which placed a tax on paper products in the colonies, such as legal documents, newspapers, and even playing cards.

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION (PG 205) Colonists complained about the Stamp Act. Since colonists had no representatives in parliament, they thought Parliament should not tax them. A common cry in the colonies was “No taxation without representation!”

THE COLONISTS TAKE ACTION (PG 206) Patrick Henry was a lawyer from Virginia who opposed the Stamp Act. Other leaders agreed with Henry. In October 1765, representatives from nine colonies met in New York City. The meeting they held was called the Stamp Act Congress. A congress is a formal meeting. It can also be a law-making body. The congress asked Parliament to repeal, or cancel the Stamp Act.

THE COLONISTS TAKE ACTION (PG 206) A group in Boston, called the Sons of Liberty organized protests. Other groups formed throughout the colonies. These groups burned stamps, threatened stamp agents, and sometimes attacked the agents homes. In Boston, protesters created an effigy, or a life sized puppet of the local stamp agent and hung it from the tree. Soon no one was willing to sell the stamps.

THE COLONISTS TAKE ACTION (PG 206) Some merchants decided to boycott British goods. Boycotts take place when people act together and refuse to use or buy something. Parliament repealed the Stamp act in 1766.

NEW TAXES FROM GREAT BRITAIN (PG 207) Although the Stamp Act had been repealed, Great Britain still needed money. King George III also wanted the colonists to know that Great Britain had the right to tax them. In 1767, Charles Townshend called for a new set of laws to control the colonies. These laws were called the Townshend Acts, which placed a tariff, or tax, on many goods that the colonists imported from Britain. These good included paper, wool, glass, paint, and lead. The purpose of these tariffs was to make money for Great Britain. Colonists did not agree with the new tariffs and boycotted many of the taxed items. In Boston, the sons of liberty organized protests.

NEW TAXES FROM GREAT BRITAIN (PG 208) Protests and boycotts became more widespread in the colonies and more men and women joined the effort. Mercy Otis Warren was the wife of a Massachusetts politician who wrote poems and plays that opposed the British. In Newport, Rhode Island, a group of women known as the Daughters of Liberty began weaving their own cloth, that way they wouldn’t have to buy it from the British.

TOWNSHEND ACTS REPEALED, MOSTLY (PG 209) The colonists boycotts were successful. Many British merchants lost money. To try to limit the protests, the British government sent warships to the Boston Harbor in 1768. The troops did not stop the colonists and the British merchants continued to lose money. They asked Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts. In 1770, Parliament agreed and repealed all of the taxes, EXCEPT a tax on tea.

TIME TO PLAY!!

FACT OR FIB? Because of Spanish and Indian war, the British were in a lot of debt. Because of the French and Indian war, the British were in a lot of debt

FACT OR FIB? In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which put a tax on all paper products in the colonies.

FACT OR FIB? ? Patrick Henry was a leader from Virginia who fought to have the Stamp Act. He argued that Parliament had the right to tax the colonists. Patrick Henry OPPOSED the Stamp Act. He gave a powerful speech to Virginia’s lawmakers. He argued that Parliament had no right to tax the colonists.

FACT OR FIB? Parliament repealed the Stamp Act because of the colonists protests and boycotts.

FACT OR FIB? ? The Sons and Daughters of Liberty fought back against the taxes by organizing protests and choosing to make their own fabric for clothing.

FACT OR FIB? ? King George still needed money, so he passed the Townshend Acts, which were laws that placed a tariff on goods that colonists imported from Britain.

FACT OR FIB? ? A woman named Mercy Otis Warren was a supporter of the British. She encouraged colonists to buy tea and other taxed goods. Mercy Otis Warren OPPOSED the British. She encouraged people to boycott tea and other imported goods from Britain.