The American Revolution

1
The American Revolution

• Today we will be able to answer the following
  questions
• What caused the American Revolution?
• Who were the main players in the Revolution?
• What were the consequences of the Revolution?

2
Review Questions

• What are the main ideas of the Enlightenment
  philosophers?
• How do they challenge the powers of Absolute
  Monarchs?  

John Locke
Voltaire
Thomas Hobbes
3
Causes of the Revolution

• British neglect ? allowed a large degree of
  autonomy and self-government in the colonies
• 1760s
• Britain began to attempt to recover lost assets
  and funds by increasing taxes in the colonies
• Boston Massacre The Sons of Liberty, Boston Tea
  Party
• Intolerable Acts

4
Great Britains New Laws

• Imposed on colonists to help pay for the war
  debts caused from the French and Indian War/Seven
  Years War (ended 1763)

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Stamp Act- (1765)

• Required colonists to pay a tax for an official
  stamp on all newspapers, legal documents, and
  other public papers
• Taxation without Representation
• Reply boycott English goods
• Parliament repeals the Stamp Act in 1766.

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Townshend Acts- (1767)

• New series of taxes on glass, paper, paints, and
  tea
• Boston merchants were furious
• call for another boycott!
• British send over troops to keep order in the
  city, most of which are harassed by the colonists
  ? leads to Boston Massacre (1770)

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The Conflict Heats up

• Sons of Liberty- (1773) groups of organized
  Patriots (shopkeepers, artisans, etc.)
• Boston group led by Samuel Adams and Paul
  Revere, carry out the Boston Tea Party
• British response Intolerable Acts/Coercive Acts
  (1774)
• British close the port of Boston
• Massachusetts charter was revoked crown colony
• Protection of British officials removed from
  colonies for a trial
• House British troops

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The War Begins

• April 19, 1775 (official 1st battles)
• Sons of Liberty had hidden weapons in the
  countryside
• British soldiers found out and started searching
  for them.
• Lexington, Massachusetts First battle of
  American Revolution ? The Shot Heard Round the
  World
• Declaration of Independence written July 4th 1776
  severing all ties with Great Britain

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Leaders

• Thomas Paine
• English-American
• wrote pamphlet Common Sense, which argued that
  the colonist should be free
• Helped sway public opinion in favor of removing
  British rule
• Secretary of Committee of Foreign Affairs
• Ardently supported French Revolution

Thomas Paine
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• Second Continental Congress
• Committee formed to write a document declaring
  the colonies independence from Great Britain
• John Adams- well-educated man who believed in the
  enlightenment ideas
• Thomas Jefferson- wrote the Declaration
  incorporating ideas the Enlightenment
• George Washington- commanding general of the army
  
• Benjamin Franklin- was in Paris, France at the
  time asking for help in the war

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Colonist Win!

• Pivotal assistance from France
• British surrendered to General Washington on
  October 19, 1781.
• Treaty of Paris (September 1783)- British
  government formally recognized the independence
  of the United States

13
Consequences

• The colonist form a new government
• Articles of Confederation (1781)
• Constitution (1787)
• French Revolution (1787-1799)
• Haitian Revolution (1791-1803)
• First test of Enlightenment ideals towards
  government

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New government

• Constitution-based
• Separation of powers
• Checks and balances
• Guarantee of individual liberties (sort-of)
• Popular sovereignty
• Federalist system power divided between nation
  states

• Was it that radical?
• Didnt touch slavery
• Voting rights established by state but usually
  only property-owning, free males could vote

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• What caused the American Revolution?
• Who were the main players in the Revolution?
• What were the consequences of the Revolution?