American Revolution Outline

 

I) The American Revolution

A) The French and Indian War: British Policy Before and After

  1) 13 Colonies enjoyed self-government

    a) Disregarded Navigation Acts

        i) British laws that restricted colonial industry

       ii) discouraged trade with all countries except Britain

2) French and Indian War put Britain into debt.

  a) British government compelled/ forced colonies to bear war’s cost; vigorous enforcement of Navigation Acts

       i) Combatted colonial smugglers

      ii) Colonists taxed on imported goods and printed materials (Stamp Tax)

  b) Britain’s post-war policy included violating rights colonists had as British citizens

      i) Colonial smugglers faced unlimited searches of residences

     ii) Colonial smugglers denied jury trials

    iii) Often, British soldiers stationed in the colonies were quartered in the homes of colonists.

 B) Colonists Resist Stricter Enforcement of Navigation Acts

   1) Smuggled goods to evade taxes

   2) Demonstrated against British soldiers

   3) Organized committees to coordinate efforts to protest British government

   4) Spoke out against British colonial policy

   5) Boston Tea Party

      a) Massachusetts colonists protesting an import tax dumped tea of British merchants into Boston Harbor

          i) Parliament punished Massachusetts by restricting Massachusetts self-government and closed Boston Harbor

         ii) Colonies rally to support Massachusetts by uniting and forming the First Continental Congress

         iii) Colonial Minutemen fire upon British troops sent to seize colonial military supplies and leaders; beginning of American Revolution

C) Causes of the American Revolution: Economic, Political, Social, Geographic

     1) Economic

          a) Colonial manufacturers and merchants angered at British laws that hampered their industry and trade

          b) Plantation owners and frontier settlers disliked British law that forbade settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains

          c) Professional people opposed the Stamp Tax

          d) Colonial consumers resented taxes which raised cost of living

      2)Political

          a) Colonists maintained they could only be taxed by their colonial legislatures.

               i) Considered taxes voted by Parliament as “taxation without representation

          b) Colonists deprived of their rights as Englishmen

               i) Quartering of British soldiers

               ii) Unlimited searches of private businesses

               iii) Denial of jury trials

               iv) Colonists compared themselves with those who revolted against the tyranny of the Stuarts (James I, Charles I, James II)

      3) Social

          a) Many colonists of English stock no longer considered themselves to be English

               i) Several generations in the New World transformed them into Americans

         b) Non-English colonists were from countries hostile to Great Britain

 

D) Declaring Independence and Forming a New Country

     1) In 1776 the Second Continental Congress decided the colonies were fighting for independence from Britain.

          a) Colonial patriots  hoped declaring independence might secure foreign allies

     2) Declaration of Independence

          a) Written chiefly by Thomas Jefferson

          b) Based on ideas of English philosopher John Locke

1) In its attempts to enforce the Navigation Acts, Britain violated the rights of the British colonists. List the rights that were violated.

2) What things did the British colonists do to resist Britain's strict enforcement of the Navigation Acts?

3) When did the Thirteen British Colonies declare independence.

4) What is the document that explained the reasons for which the Thirteen British Colonies left the British Empire and formed their own country?

     4a) Who wrote that document?

     4b) Whose ideas were used in creating that document?