Essential Question: Why, in 1766, did the colonists stop resisting and rejoice over the repeal of the Stamp Act,
even though the Revenue Act of 1766 continued to tax molasses?
I. Imperial reform: From Pitt to Grenville
A. The wars with France were costly to Britain
B. The George Grenville (lord of the treasury) inaugurated an ambitious program
1. Proclamation Line of 1763 sought to restrict colonist�s encroachments onto Indian lands.
a. No settlements west of the line
2. Pontiac�s War of 1763 threatened western settlements
a. Ottawas and other nations attacked 13 British posts.
C. The Sugar Act of 1763 sought to increase revenue and stop smuggling by lowering duties on molasses
1. Taxes on wine, coffee, and other products.
2. Lowered tax on molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon.
D. The Currency Act (1764) and Quartering Act (1765)
1. No more paper money.
a. All taxes had to be paid in silver or gold
2. Quartering of British troops in public buildings
E. The Stamp Act of 1765 sought to increase revenue in the colonies by taxing all official documents.
1. Also, newspapers, pamphlets, playing cards, and dice
2. Colonies saw it as taxation without representation
II. Colonial dismay at the Stamp Act and other British initiatives since 1763 climaxed in the Stamp Act Crisis
A. Colonies sent delegates to Stamp Act Congress (1765)
1. Affirmed loyalty to King and subordination to Parliament
2. Condemned Stamp and Sugar Acts
B. Nullification
1. Sons of Liberty sought nullification of the Stamp Act.
a. Hung stamp distributors in effigy, forcing many to resign
b. Colonial merchants adopted a nonimportation agreement
b. Eventually act was nullified throughout the colonies
C. Repeal
1. Colonial vigilance and pressure from London�s suffering merchant community forced Parliament
to repeal the dreaded stamp tax
2. Three pieces of legislation ended Stamp Act Crisis
a. Declaratory Act affirmed Parliaments power and authority to make laws
b. Stamp Act was repealed because it was economically detrimental to the empire
c. Revenue Act of 1766 reduced duty on molasses but imposed it on all molasses British or foreign
d. The colonists greeted repeal with wild celebrations
-In the end, the colonist seemed to object to internal taxes but accept external duties
______________________________________________________
Chapter 5: Reform, Resistance, and Revolution (Sec 2)
Essential Question: Why were many colonists beginning to question the decency of the
British government and its commitment to liberty?
III. Townshend Crisis of 1767.
A. Townshend program was an ill-fated attempt to raise revenue through external
taxation on colonial imports
1. Charles Townshend (Chancellor of the Exchequer) presented annual budget
2. The Townshend Revenue Act (1767) was a central component to that
year�s budget
a. The act imposed duties on lead, paper, china, glass and tea).
-Revenue would be used to pay judges and governors salaries.
3. Other measures gave more powers to the Customs Commissioners.
4. The British Army began to withdraw from their frontier posts and
concentrate instead near the coast.
a. This suggested that the real purpose of the troops was to police the colonists
B. Defeating the Townshend Acts would prove more difficult than nullifying the Stamp Act.
1. The Massachusetts assembly petitioned the king
a. It also sent a Circular Letter to the other assemblies urging them to pursue resistance
against the Townshend Acts.
b. Non-importation of British goods also began to take hold.
C. An experiment in military coercion
1. In response to colonial defiance, troops were sent to Boston.
a. Patriots compiled a �Journal of the Times� describing the dangers posed by a standing army.
D. The Second Wilkes Crisis in England reinforced colonial convictions that the
king and Parliament were corrupt and power hungry.
1. Wilkes was elected to a seat in Parliament but was refused the seat
because he questioned the king�s integrity.
a. Britons began to sympathize with the colonial cause.
E. The Boston Massacre of 1770, marked the failure of Britain�s first attempts at
military coercion and served to galvanize anti-imperial sentiment
1. The Sons of Liberty began to confront the British army in Boston.
a. Clashes between soldiers and civilians grew frequent
2. On Monday March 5, rocks and snowballs were thrown at the soldiers
a. Shots rang out; five people were killed and six were wounded.
F. Disaffection set in between colonies and mother country
1. Lord Frederick North, who had replaced Townshend, agreed to a partial
repeal of the Townshend Acts.
a. All items were repealed except tea.
b. Repeal lacked impact it had in 1766
c. Colonists seriously doubted the decency and justice of G. Britain
2. By 1773, several New England leaders were calling for colonial union.
_____________________________________________________________
Chapter 5: Reform, Resistance, and Revolution (Sec 3)
Essential Question: Why did the colonists start a revolution after the government lowered the price of tea
through the Tea Act of 1773?
IV. Internal divisions
A. The feudal revival and rural discontent (Chesapeake Valley, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.)
1. A revival of old proprietary charters caused protests
a. The common folk took to the fields and the roads to protest the terms of their leases.
B. The regulator movements in the Carolinas
1. Regulators from the South Carolina backcountry sought to impose order in the absence of local government.
a. Even though most of the white settlers now lived in the backcountry, they elected only
2 of the 48 members of the assembly.
2. In North Carolina, the backcountry�s problem was corruption.
C. Slaves and women
1. Slaves began questioning their plight.
a. Slavery came under attack for the first time
2. Women joined in the non-importation of tea and joined discussions.
V. The Last Imperial Crisis
A. The tea crisis resulted from the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, when
angry Bostonians threw India Tea Company tea into Boston Harbor.
1. Tea Act 1773 -The East India Tea Company had been granted a
monopoly by Parliament as well as permission to retain a duty on tea imported into the colonies.
B. Britains response to the tea party was a set of Coercive Acts,
1. The Boston Port Act shut down Boston�s port until tea was paid for.
2. It also established the Massachusetts Government Act , which restricted town meetings
a. This restricted the colonies right to self-government
3. A new Quartering Act allowed the British to house soldiers on civilian property if necessary
C. The Intolerable Acts resulted in a radical explosion
D. The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in September to act as the voice of the united colonies.
1. It petitioned the King for relief of the Intolerable Acts
2. Cut off trade with England
E. England�s stubbornness and colonial unity precipitated the Battles of
Lexington and Concord, which virtually moved the empire toward war.
_____________________________________________________________________
Chapter 5: Reform, Resistance, and Revolution (Sec 4)
Essential Question: How and why did a resistance movement, dedicated to protecting the colonists rights as Englishmen,
end by proclaiming American Independence instead?
VI. The improvised war of the colonies and mother country
A. In April 1775, neither side had a plan for winning the war.
1. After Lexington and Concord, and lacking an adequate command or
supply structure, the colonists besieged Boston.
a. Battle of Bunker (Breed�s) Hill
-British lose over 1000 soldiers in a frontal assault.
-Colonists eventually withdraw.
2. In May 1775, Vermont and Massachusetts militia took Ft. Ticonderoga
and seized the artillery and gunpowder.
B. The Second Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia in May 1775,
organized national defense and acted as the executive for the fledgling U.S.
1. It voted to form an Army � The Continental Army
2. It voted George Washington commanding general
a. When he took control he was appalled at the poor discipline.
3. The colonial objective was still to restore government by consent under the crown.
a. Moderates favored the Olive Branch Petition.
-It stated that the colonists were still loyal to the crown, and implored King George III
to take the initiative in devising �a happy and permanent reconciliation.�
b. Another document was written by Thomas Jefferson titled, �The Declaration of the Causes and
Necessities of Taking up Arms.�
-This set forth the colonists grievances and right to revolt.
4. The Continental Congress could not tax, regulate trade, or pass laws.
C. Independence came with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.
1. George III dismissed the moderate Olive Branch Petition outright.
a. This only strengthened the colonial cause.
2. By early 1776, New England, Virginia, and Georgia all favored independence.
a. Resistance came from the middle colonies
b. In order to get the colonies on board, Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense.
-In it, Paine attacked the monarchy and aristocracy and urged Americans to unite
under a single republican government.
3. Finally, on July 4, 1776, all 13 colonies approved Jefferson�s Declaration of Independence.