The document summarizes key events leading up to and during the Revolutionary War between the American colonies and Great Britain from 1763-1783. It outlines imperial actions by Britain that increased taxation of the colonies, such as the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts, as well as colonial reactions including boycotts and the Sons of Liberty movement. Major events included the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the battles of Lexington and Concord which marked the beginning of the armed conflict. The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 was a major turning point that led France to enter the war in support of the Americans.

1. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR (1763-1783)

2. A BRIEF LIST OF IMPERIAL ACTIONS
• The Sugar Act of 1764
• The Currency Act of 1764
• The Stamp Act of 1765
• The Declaratory Act of 1766
• The Townshend Revenue Act of 1767
• The Tea Act of 1773
• The Coercive/Intolerable Acts
• The Quebec Act

3. REASONS FOR INCREASED TAXATION
• The Treaty of Paris (1763)
• Britain was roughly 130 million pounds in debt from the French/Indian Wars
• Britain’s solution: Tax, tax, tax!
• George Grenville was appointed by King George III to solve this minor
debt issue
• Many colonists believed they possessed the same rights as British citizens
• Independence was not declared quickly because most colonists
wanted government modification
• Choosing Sides
• Tories – those who sided with the British and were considered Loyalists
• Whigs – those who wanted independence and became known as American
patriots

4. REASONS FOR INCREASED TAXATION
•
Imperial Action and Colonial Rejection
• Many colonists were suspicious of King George III’s attempts to restrict liberties on
the colonies through taxation
• Parliamentary sovereignty would become the main issue between Great Britain and
the colonies
• Basically, the colonies felt the King was going to far without Parliamentary
approval (again)
• Furthermore, the colonists still wanted equal representation in Parliament
• Colonists also felt that colonial assemblies were equal to Parliament
• Thus, Parliament could not directly tax the colonies without colonial
approval
•
After the Treaty of Paris (1763), Spain was forced out of Florida
• Britain took possession of Louisiana
• The only two nations left in North America in 1763
• Britain and Spain (New Mexico and Texas)

5. IMPERIAL ACTION
•
The Stamp Act: 1765
• Required colonists to pay a tax on
every piece of printed paper they
used
• What made the law so offensive to
the colonists was not so much its
immediate cost but the standard it
seemed to set
• Stamp Act Resolves
• Virginia Governor Francis
Fauquier did not approve of
the resolutions, and he
dissolved the House of
Burgesses in response to their
passage

6. COLONIAL REACTION
•
Nonimportation begins: economic
boycott of British imported goods
•
Involved the majority of free Americans
in one manner or another: a person did
not have to cast a vote or tear down a
mansion to make a statement-- even
those who could never afford imported
goods in the first place were able to
participate by forcing others to comply
•
March, 1766: Repeal of Stamp Act
•
(George Grenville replaced by the
Marquess of Rockingham, who was
more favorable towards the colonies)

7. COLONIAL REACTION
•
The Sons of Liberty
• The group initial grew out of the angry
mobs protesting the Stamp Act
• Most members were small merchants,
shopkeepers, and craftsmen
• Businessmen hurt most
economically by the British
restrictions
• The majority of the group’s actions were
not aimed at subverting the British
government
• They disliked the taxation acts and
wanted to change them
• The group later becomes an influential
movement in the push for independence
in the 1770s

8. IMPERIAL AGGRESSION
•
The Declaratory Act of 1766
• The act claimed that Parliament held sovereign power over the American colonies “in all
cases whatsoever”
• This caused friction in the colonies as the Americans believed that their colonial
legislatures were equal to Parliament
• Their logic assumed that only colonial assemblies could tax the colonists legally.
• Parliament did not have the authority to directly tax the colonists
• For slaves in the colonies, the “freedom deprivation” argument touted by the Americans
seemed ironic.

9. COLONIAL REACTION
•
LEX TALIONIS: The Regulators (1764 to 1771)
• A militant group formed in North Carolina
over the issue of corrupt local officials
charging excessive court fees
• Also, the officials were not allowing
adequate legal representation for
colonists from the rural backcountry
• The Regulators targeted the colonial elite
• This was a struggle between the lower
class citizens (majority of the
population) and the upper class elite
(5% of the population that controlled
the government)
• Some historians argued that the
“Regulators’ War” was a direct catalyst for
the American Revolution

10. IMPERIAL AGGRESSION
•
Townshend Revenue Act of 1767
•
Placed taxes on glass, tea, paper, lead, and paint
•
The revenue from this tax would pay the salaries of officials, centralize colonial control, and
allow for search and seizure at any time.
• This is one of the reasons the 4th Amendment made it into the Bill of Rights
•
Colonists considered this act dangerous
• Raised revenue without the consent of colonial legislatures
• Removed law making from the colonial legislature's control
• Up to this point, only legal representatives of the colonies could impose taxes
•
Boycotts began on all items the act targeted
• Sons of Liberty grew in numbers and strength as a response
• Merchants quit ordering British goods on 1 January 1769
•
•
The boycotts successfully limited British imports by 38%
Overall, the Townshend Acts raised 21,000 pounds revenue, but cost the British ten times that
amount to enforce the acts

11. COLONIAL REACTION
“The Age of Homespun”
Non-importation continues
Female involvement: spinning,
weaving; after mending,
milking, studying, and
performing various other
chores, Betsy Foote carded two
pounds of wool and “felt
Nationly.”
Breaking down of a political
barrier: private realm of the
household now has a
connection with the public world
of politics

12. THE BOSTON MASSACRE
•
5 March 1770
•
Boston residents resented British soldiers stationed in Boston to enforce the Townshend Acts
•
•
A crowd gathers, the British call for backup, and the colonists began to throw snowballs,
insults, and other small objects at the soldiers
•
A British Private was struck down by a colonist carrying a large club
•
The Private came to his feet and yelled fire.
•
•
The incident began on King Street as a wigmaker’s apprentice harassed a British Lt. Capt. For
supposedly not paying a bill
The result: 5 colonists killed and 6 wounded
The incident appears to have crystallized the colonists’ argument against standing armies in times of
peace
•
Tensions between the Americans and British grew significantly after this incident

13. THE BOSTON MASSACRE

14. IMPERIAL AGGRESSION
•
The Tea Act of 1773
• The act was passed to keep the East India Company from going bankrupt
• The company received a monopoly on the colonies and began shipping large amounts of
tea to the colonies.
• When the ships arrived, Samuel Adams and the Boston Committee of Correspondence
prevented the ships from unloading
• When the ships refused to leave, colonists dressed like natives, boarded the ships
at night, and dumped the tea in Boston harbor
• Caused a loss of nearly 10,000 pounds in the infamous Boston Tea Party

15. THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

16. IMPERIAL AGGRESSION
•
The Coercive/Intolerable Acts
• After the Boston Tea Party, Parliament responded forcefully
• They closed Boston until the tea could be repaid
• Altered the colonial charters to allow Crown-appointed leaders to take control of the
colonies
• Expanded Crown-appointed control over the colonial court systems
• Allowed for trials concerning royal officials to be moved to England
• Required colonists to house British soldiers in their homes if no barracks were
available

17. FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
•
Met to petition the Coercive/Intolerable Acts in
1774 at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
•
The Congress insisted they wanted to remain
loyal British citizens, but wanted a policy
overhaul
•
•
•
Stated the colonies would end all trade
with Britain until further notice. Colonists
were obligated to expose all those who
violated this rule.
Anyone who opposed the rules established
by the First Continental Congress were
considered “enemies of liberty”
Parliamentary Sovereignty Issues (Again)
•
Ben Franklin (ambassador to Britain)
suggested that Parliament renounce its
claim of supremacy in order to prevent a
colonial rebellion.
•
Parliament refused his advice.

18. BIRTH OF A REBELLION
•
Lexington and Concord
• April 19, 1775 – Gage’s men arrive in Lexington and are met by 70 armed militiamen
• In the confusion that ensues, a shot rang out.
• It is unknown who fired first, but this became known as the “shot heard round the world”
• A small skirmish ensues
• 8 militiamen are killed, 10 wounded
• The British proceed to leave for Concord
• Along the way, a detachment of militiamen ambush them
• Many British soldiers were killed
•
After Lexington and Concord, 20,000 men signed up for the Massachusetts militia. The little army
proceeds to surround Boston.

20. THE AMERICAN SOLDIER
In the spring of 1775, thousands of volunteers
had to be turned away for lack of
supplies-- by the end of that year, the
Cont. Congress was unable to raise half
the number of troops it wanted or
expected
Majority of soldiers, then, are boys, and men
so poor they had no other options
Only 1/5 of soldiers were married men
Most state and local govts had to resort to the
draft to fulfill the quota fixed on them by
Congress
Most long-term soldiers were men of little
wealth and were decidedly NOT the
average colonial American

22. BATTLE OF SARATOGA
•
October 1777
•
The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point in the war for the Continentals
•
British General Burgoyne lost 1,000 men in two battles
• Left him outnumbered 3 to 1
• He also lost many of his effective leaders
•
17 October 1777
• Burgoyne was surrounded by Continentals and surrendered to Continental General
Horatio Gates
•
News of Burgoyne’s surrender reached France
• King Louis XVI decided to negotiate with the Americans at this point
• This resulted in the French entering the war, assisting the Americans.

23. LOYALISTS
Appear to represent conscious minorities-people who felt week and threatened
Almost all had interests they felt needed
protection from an American majority
Survival and self-interest
Often split families: Benjamin Franklin
repudiated his son William for being a
loyalist
The South, particularly South Carolina,
marked by civil war

24. AMERICAN TROOPS AT YORKTOWN

26. TREATY OF PARIS (1783)
• Signed on September 3, 1783
• Stated that the United States
would acquire territory to the
Mississippi River
• Somewhere in the agreement,
Spain acquired New Orleans
• The American delegation was
made up of:
• John Adams
• Benjamin Franklin
• John Jay
• They played the French
against the English in the
peace talks