• Unit 3 -- American Revolution (1763 to 1783)

• Peace of Paris, 1763 -- France loses all its North American possessions
• Questions for Parliament and George III (1760 to 1820)
• English settlers moving west of the Appellations
• Indians in the newly won lands
• French settlers in Quebec
• Treasury is empty from fighting a war the colonists wanted
• Proclamation Line of 1763 – act passed by Parliament that said that colonists could not move west of a line down the crest of the Appellations. Ten thousand British soldiers were to be sent to guard the line. This act caused considerable resentment among the colonists.
• Prime Minister Greenville has the chore of dealing with the problem of debt from the war – Revenue vs. Regulation Acts
• Sugar Act (1764) – act that tried to enforce the Navigation Acts and the Molasses Act (1733) – New England shippers simply bought cheaper French molasses and sugar and smuggled it in – some opposition in the port cities, but not much
• Stamp Act (1765) – all legal documents, newspapers, wills, etc, must have a special stamp on them showing the tax had been paid – the tax actually affected few colonists, only those with newspapers, bills etc, but these people were also the lawyers, newspapermen and other prominent and educated men in the colonies. In response to the Stamp Act Congress, the act is repealed early in 1766, but Parliament’s authority to tax is reinforced with the Declaratory Act
• Greenville resigns over a disagreement with the Crown. Lord Townsend, exchequer of the realm will now take over funding colonial problems
• Townsend Duties (1767) – an act placing a series of duties on goods imported into the colonies. The thought in London is that the colonists won’t mind an "external tax," similar to ones already on the books (Molasses Act of 1733, Sugar Act of 1764). The Revenue Act of 1767 (known in America as the Townsend Duties) places small import taxes on a variety of goods, including glass, lead, paper and tea. Troops are also authorized to enter homes and businesses without writs of assistance (warrants) to search for and confiscate untaxed goods. Colonists, however, after the Stamp Act are in no mood to allow any taxes without their consent. Massachusetts leads the charge. Boycotts all over the colonies (see the Massachusetts circular letter of 1768)
• Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770) – In Boston, roving mobs, many encouraged by Sam Adams and other Sons of Liberty, enforced the boycott. Troops were sent by Parliament to maintain order. Bostonians saw them as part of an oppressive government. When some of the soldiers took second jobs in a city with already high unemployment, the situation seethed with potential violence. On the evening of 05 Mar 1770, a street gang started throwing snowballs at the redcoats. Eventually someone fired. Five colonists were killed, including an escaped mulatto slave, Crispus Attucks. John Adams defended the soldiers at the trial, mostly to prove that sensible colonial leaders did not condone street violence. Two soldiers were eventually convicted of manslaughter and were branded on the thumb.

• Over the course of two years, British merchants feel staggering losses. London counting houses and shipping merchants will call on Parliament to get rid of the duties. In April 1770, Parliament did just that. The Townsend duties were repealed, save for a small tax on tea, left in place by a 5-4 vote of the king’s cabinet.
• Tea Act (1773) – in an effort to bail out the East India Tea Company, Parliament passed the Tea Act in May 1773 which lowered the price of tea for colonials below the smuggling price. Colonists all over the colonies saw the act not for its favorable monetary practices, but rather as an attempt by the government to reinforce its will on the American colonies.
• Boston Tea Party (Dec 1773) – a rowdy group of Bostonians, dressed as Mohawk Indians and probably led by John Hancock and Sam Adams, boarded three ships in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor. When news of the festivities reached London, George III wrote Lord North (leader of Parliament) that "the colonists must either submit or triumph."
• Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (April-May 1774) – Three acts passed by Parliament to punish Boston and make an example of the old Puritan city.
• Port of Boston closed
• Soldiers now transferred to England for trial and a new Quartering Act
• Massachusetts colony officials now will be appointed by the Crown. No town meeting could be held without the royal governor’s consent
• Quebec Act (June 1774) – although not included by Parliament as a Coercive Act, it’s seen as an Intolerable Act by colonists
• extended the boundary of Quebec throughout the Ohio Valley
• legalized Catholicism in Quebec
• no voting for an assembly in Quebec – government by absolutism for now
• First Continental Congress – September 1774 – meets in Philadelphia to discuss the colonial response to the Intolerable Acts. Fifty-five delegates from 12 colonies show up (Georgia, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Florida did not attend, although all were invited).
• Suffolk Resolves – declared the Intolerable acts null and void
• Declaration of American Rights – denied Parliament’s right to internal colonial affairs and called on each colony to determine its own laws. This declaration also spelled out exactly what Parliament had done wrong
• Continental Association of 1774 – called on each town in every colony to adopt a boycott of British goods
• Called on George III for relief from Parliament (contrast with Declaration of Independence)
• Another Congress was called for May 1775
• In Massachusetts and other colonies, Sons of Liberty and other patriot leaders prepare for war.
• October 1774 – Massachusetts’s legislature meets in violation of the law and appoints John Hancock as head of a Committee of Safety, with authority to call up the militia. Minutemen begin to drill on town commons all over the rebellious colony. The powder keg is in place, waiting only for a spark to set it ablaze.

• Lexington and Concord – 19 Apr 1775 – "Shot Heard Round the World" – Paul Revere’s Ride – 273 British Soldiers and 93 Colonials died – Boston surrounded by colonial militiamen
• Second Continental Congress (10 May 1775) – Continental Congress
• Raise and Supply an Army – decides to take over the militiamen surrounding Boston as the continental army and appoints George Washington its commander. He accepts with the provision that he will receive no pay for his services. In June, the Continental Congress will take over the militia surrounding Boston and it’ll now be known as the Continental Army.
• Negotiate a reconciliation with England – as the war drags on, however, this seems more and more impossible – delegates forced to consider the treasonous act of independence
• Declaration of Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms – Written by Thomas Jefferson, a young Virginia planter known for his study of the enlightened thinkers of the time –doesn’t declare independence, but states the necessity for fighting for their rights as Englishmen.
• Massachusetts will push for independence – they had been affected the most by the Intolerable Acts and the Massachusetts legislature was led by radical Sons of Liberty leaders John Adams, Sam Adams and John Hancock
• Most of the delegates not ready to declare independence at first
• some wondered if a country needed a monarch to be "civilized"
• others thought that they needed Britain to protect the colonies from France and Spain

• Delegates – not street thugs, but rather the leaders of colonial society
• George Washington
• John Hancock
• Ben Franklin
• James Madison
• John Adams
• Sam Adams
• John Dickinson – moderate from Pennsylvania
• Fort Ticonderoga -- (May 1775) – Ethan Allan and Benedict Arnold capture the British fort in upstate New York – 60 cannon captured and brought to Boston for the siege. Allan becomes a colonial military leader and hero.
• Battle of Bunker (Breeds) Hill – (17 Jun 1775) – 1400 colonial troops dug in atop Breed’s Hill outside Boston – 2500 British soldiers sent up in three waves of frontal assaults – American soldiers low on ammo, so the commander (Prescott) tells his troops to hold their fire until they "see the whites of their eyes". The strategy works until the ammo runs out on the third assault. The British win, but at a heavy cost. British casualties: 226 dead, over 800 wounded. American casualties: 140 dead, 271 wounded, 30 captured
• The British Army pulled back into Boston – They would stay there until the Exodus (March 17, 1776)
• A week after Bunker Hill, Washing took control of the army and proceeded to turn it into a more professional military force with discipline and regiment.
• Olive Branch Petition (July 1775) – Continental Congress puts forth a resolution by Dickinson
• reaffirms loyalty to George III
• blamed Parliament for everything
• called on a reorganization of the realm whereby colonial legislatures would be recognized as individual parliaments under the crown’s umbrella (Commonwealth)
• George, however, rejected the petition and was determined to crush the rebellion and hang the traitors
• Common Sense – Thomas Paine – Published in Jan 1776 in Philadelphia – refer to the assignment and tell students to look for themselves at the document
• Paine came to America in the fall of 1774 as a printer
• After meeting delegates from Congress, he wrote his pamphlet to spell out a compelling argument for independence
• Attacks King George III as the problem
• Advocated republican government to replace a monarchy that was unresponsive to the people.
• People should run government (akin to the "Social Contract")
• Sold 150,000 copies in a matter of weeks
• Read all over the colonies
• Swayed public opinion around the colonies to independence

Key Terms for Late Colonial Period and American Revolution – no particular order

Possible Essays

1. Loyal subjects to Patriots, 1763 to 1773
2. The Intolerable (Coercive) Acts and their impact on the American Revolution
3. Military Campaigns from 1775 to 1778
4. Military Campaigns from 1778 to 1783
5. French involvement in the American Revolution