The document outlines the escalating tensions between the American colonies and Britain leading to the American Revolution, highlighting key events such as the French and Indian War, various tax acts, and the Boston Tea Party. It describes how Britain’s policies sparked resentment and unity among the colonies, culminating in the formation of the First and Second Continental Congresses and the eventual outbreak of war. The narrative illustrates the impact of British actions on colonial sentiment, emphasizing their fight against perceived oppression and the quest for independence.

1. The Road to Revolution

2. • Colonies could
trade only with
England
• Upset colonies
who counted on
trade and
shipping for their
economy

3. French and Indian War 1754-1763
England taxed
the colonists to
help pay for the
war
Fought between England and
France over the Ohio Valley,
England won

4. Land ceded to Britain after the
French and Indian War

5. 1. It increased her colonial empire in
the Americas.
2. It greatly enlarged England’s
debt.
3. Britain’s contempt for the
colonials created bitter feelings.
Therefore, England felt that a
major reorganization of her
American Empire was necessary!
Effects of the War on Britain?

6. 1. It united them against a
common enemy for the first
time.
2. It created a socializing
experience for all the
colonials who participated.
3. It created bitter feelings
towards the British that
would only intensify.
Effects of the War on the
American Colonials

7. This political cartoon by Benjamin
Franklin encouraged the colonies to
work together during the French and
Indian War.
During this era,
there was a
superstition that a
snake which had
been cut into pieces
would come back to
life if the pieces
were put together
before sunset.

8. Proclamation of 1763
Created the Proclamation Line to keep colonists
from moving into the Ohio Valley
Further upset colonists

9. Stamp Act - 1765
• A special tax put
on all paper
goods to pay for
the F & I War
• Colonists refused
to pay the tax and
would not buy
(boycott) the
items that were
being taxed

10. Tar and Feathering

11. Tea Act - 1773
• Colonists were
forced to buy
tea from a
British
Company, so
they
boycotted the
tea.

12. The Boston Tea Party- 1773
• Sons of liberty
(a protest
group) boarded
British ships
filled with tea
and dumped
the tea into the
harbor.

13. Intolerable (or Coercive) Acts - 1774
•England punished
colonies for the Tea
Party by closing Boston’s
harbor until tea was
paid for.

14. The Coercive or Intolerable Acts (1774)
Lord North
1. Port Bill
2. Government Act
4. Administration of
Justice Act
3. New Quartering
Act

15. First Continental Congress (1774)
55 delegates from 12 colonies
Agenda  How to
respond to the
Coercive Acts &
the Quebec Act?
1 vote per colony
represented.
They also listed
the problems they
had with King
George III

16. Second Continental
Congress -1776
• The Declaration of
Independence was
written.
• Explained WHY the
colonies were breaking
away from England.

17. The Declaration

18. The Enlightenment and The American Revolution

19. Chain of Events

20. Parliament levies taxes on stamps to
pay for the French and Indian War.

21. The Virginia House of Burgesses votes
on a resolution claiming Parliament is
practicing "taxation without
representation" because Americans
are not represented there.

22. Stamp tax collectors arrive, but
resistance is strong. Some Americans
burn tax collectors’ houses.

23. The British repeal the Stamp Act and
Parliament passes customs duties on
lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea.

24. Colonists boycott British goods and
smuggle foreign goods.

25. As imports decline ten thousand
British troops arrive in America to
help enforce tax laws and catch
offenders.

26. A crowd of men and boys throw sticks
and snowballs at British soldiers
outside the customs house in Boston.

27. British troops kill
five men, and
colonists spread
news of the
"Boston
Massacre."

28. Angry colonists join the Sons of
Liberty, the Daughters of Liberty, and
Committees of Correspondence to
create more active revolt.

29. To break Americans’ resistance to
taxes, Parliament gives the British East
India Company a monopoly on tea
that helps lower the price.

30. Americans refuse to buy tea and
colonists disguised as Indians throw
342 chests of tea into Boston harbor.

31. Parliament removes Boston’s self-
government by passing the Intolerable
Acts.

32. The colonies unite to aid the people
of Massachusetts who are arming
themselves, and the First Continental
Congress meets.

33. General Thomas Gage in sends British
troops from Boston to Lexington and
Concord to destroy colonial military
supplies.

34. Americans kill 250 British soldiers on
their march back to Boston and begin
to gather on hills around the city.

35. General Gage sends his men to
capture Bunker (Breed’s) Hill. Forty
percent of his men die. The war is on.