The American Revolution Britain and Its American Colonies

The American Revolution

Britain and Its American Colonies • Settled along the eastern coast of North America • Population – 1700 - 250, 000 – 1770 - 2, 150, 000

Britain and Its American Colonies, cont. • Colonists had been living there for nearly 150 years • Each of the 13 colonies had its own government • Grown very independent from Britain, but were technically still citizens and were expected to obey British law • Economically, the colonies thrived on trade with the nations of Europe

Navigation Act • This and other trade laws prevented the colonists from selling their most valuable products to any country except Britain • Colonists also had to pay high taxes on imported French and Dutch goods

British Policies • Benefited both the colonists and the motherland • Britain bought American raw materials for low prices and sold manufactured goods to the colonists

French and Indian War • War between Britain and France (Indians fought with the French) • Britain and France had both colonized parts of North America • Britain won and seized nearly all French land in North America

British/Colonist Relations • Britain ran up a huge debt to fight the French and Indian War • They expected the colonists to help pay off their debt

Stamp Act • Tax on the colonists to help pay off war debts • Colonists had to pay a tax to have an official stamp on wills, deeds, newspapers, and other printed material • This outraged Americans because they had no representation in Parliament – “No taxation without representation”

Boston Tea Party • Colonists dumped a large load of tea in Boston Harbor to protest a tax on tea – King George III ordered that the port be closed

Continental Congress • First Continental Congress. Representatives from every colony except Georgia met in Philadelphia to protest the treatment of Boston • Second Continental Congress- Colonies met again because the king ignored their initial complaints

Battle at Lexington and Concord • First gunfire of the war • Second Continental Congress raised an army and organized for battle under the command of George Washington

Influence of the Enlightenment • Colonial leaders used ideas from the Enlightenment to justify independence • Colonists were being denied basic rights by King George III – Locke asserted that people had the right to rebel against an unjust ruler

Influence of the Enlightenment, cont. • The Declaration also included a long list of grievances against King George III • The document ended by declaring the colonies’ separation from Britain

Declaration of Independence • Written in July 1776 by Thomas Jefferson • Based on the ideas of John Locke and the Enlightenment – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ”

Success for the Colonists • At first, the colonists looked as though they would be defeated quickly • The colonists won their independence for several reasons – 1) Their motivation for fighting was much stronger than that of the British (they were defending their homeland)

Success for the Colonists, cont. – 2) Overconfident British generals made several mistakes – 3) Time was on the side of the Americans • For the British, fighting a war 3, 000 miles away was very expensive – 4) French aid