American Literature Revolutionary Period 1750-1850

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American LiteratureRevolutionary Period1750-1850

• Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant
  of rapid growth.
• --------George Washington
• Please prepare to take notes!!!!

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Unit 2 will focus on

• Breaking Free
• people wanted to break free from old traditions
  and do things their own way

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Setting the Scene

• 1754 French and Indian WarFrench and British
  fight for control of Canada.
• Many of the colonist still considered themselves
  British (not American) therefore there was a
  strong allegiance to England, not the respective
  colony.

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The Revolution

• The American Colonist were angry because they
  hoped that America would be a land of freedom and
  opportunity.
• They had labored hard and endured severe weather
  and risked disease and starvation in order to
  build towns and farms.

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The Revolution Continued

• They had helped the British in the French and
  Indian War
• However, that war had put the British in debt and
  to raise money, they looked to the Colonist.

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Still the Revolution

• The British passed a series of unpopular laws
• --forced the Colonist to house British
  Soldiers
• --TAXING everyday items such as newspapers,
  almanacs and legal documents.

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And more Revolution

• Some colonial political leaders refused to
  comply, yet Britain dissolved their power.
• Then, in 1770, British troops fired on Boston.
  This event became known as the Boston Massacre.

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December 16, 1773

• Three British ships filled with chests of dried
  tea leaves lay in Boston Harbor.
• A group of colonist furious at the faraway King
  for taxing and restricting the sale of tea,
  refused to let the ships unload

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1773

• That night, about 200 colonist decided to
  disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians and toss
  the tea leaves into the harbor

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The Boston Tea Party

• This infuriated the British king and became known
  a symbol of Colonial resistance.
• King George III responded by passing Intolerable
  Acts of 1774, a means of punishment to the
  colonies.

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Less than two years later

• The Acts outraged the Colonist.
• Shots fired in Lexington, Massachusetts signaled
  the start of the AMERICAN REVOLUTION (1775)

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The American Revolution

• Ralph Waldo Emerson called this The Shot Heard
  Round the World.

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July 4, 1776

• American Leaders justified their revolt against
  British authority in the remarkable Declaration
  of Independence

• The colonial volunteers ultimately managed to
  defeat the British Soldiers.

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In 1781..

• The Second Continental Congress met to establish
  a government for the new nation.
• At first, they created a set of laws called the
  Articles of Confederation, which proved to be
  weak for central government.

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As a result

• George Washington was inaugurated as the first
  President of the United States

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