The Steps On The Path To Revolution

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The Steps On The Path To Revolution
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1. Salutary Neglect

• British allowed Colonies to, more or less, govern
  themselves from 1607 to 1763
• Good for Americans built a tradition of
  self-government
• Good for British didnt cost the British
  anything to administer

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2. Trade Navigation Acts (1640s 1660s)

• British attempt to enforce mercantilism by
  controlling Colonies imports exports
• Bad for Americans led to a trade deficit (debt)
  with England (less money for Americans)
• Good for British led to a trade surplus with
  America (more money for British)

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3. French Indian War (1754 1763)

• War against France in which the British gained
  control of all of North America east of the
  Mississippi River
• Good for Americans opened up the Ohio River
  Valley for settlement
• Bad for British led to huge war debts

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4. Proclamation of 1763

• England banned colonists from settling west of
  the Appalachian mountains in order to maintain
  peace with the Native Americans
• Bad for Americans closed the frontier they had
  fought to open in the French Indian War
• Good for British ensured good trade relations
  with the Native Americans

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5. Sugar Act (1764)

• Placed a tax on sugar and other trade items
  coming into the Colonies
• Bad for Americans made price of the goods taxed
  go up had no say in decision to tax (taxation
  without representation)
• Good for the British generated tax revenue to
  help pay debts of the French Indian War

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6. Currency Act (1764)

• British banned the use of paper money in the
  Colonies
• Bad for Americans made it much harder to pay
  off debts to British merchants
• Good for British kept the value of currency
  high, ensured profits for British merchants

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7. Stamp Act (1765)

• Placed a tax on all paper goods (newspapers,
  wills, playing cards, etc.)
• Bad for Americans made price of the goods taxed
  go up had no say in decision to tax (taxation
  without representation)
• Good for the British generated tax revenue to
  help pay debts of the French Indian War

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8. Sons of Liberty (1765)

• Group of colonists who resorted to terror tactics
  against British tax collectors (tar and
  feathering, burning homes)
• Good for Americans believed British deserved
  the threats attacks for failing to recognize
  colonists rights
• Bad for British they saw theses actions as
  criminal acts

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9. Stamp Act Congress (1765)

• Colonial assembly which petitioned England to
  repeal the Stamp Act
• Good for Americans re-enforced their concept of
  self-government and basic rights
• Bad for English seen as an act of defiance
  against British authority to tax

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10. First Quartering Act (1765)

• Required Colonies to build housing for British
  soldiers at their own expense
• Bad for Americans forced them to pay to house
  British soldiers sent to police the Colonies
• Good for British reduced the cost of keeping
  troops in the Colonies

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11. Declaratory Act (1766)

• Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but maintained
  they had the authority to tax the Colonies
• Good for Americans tax was repealed
• Bad for Americans rights werent recognized
• Bad for British lost revenue from Stamp tax
• Good for British maintained their right to tax

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12. Townshend Acts / Writs of Assistance (1767)

• New tax on goods imported into Colonies and
  removed search trial rights of those accused of
  smuggling
• Bad for Americans - made price of the goods taxed
  go up had no say in decision to tax loss of
  civil rights
• Good for British generated new tax revenues,
  deterred smuggling

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13. Boston Massacre (1770)

• Violent confrontation between Bostonian civilians
  and British soldiers that saw 6 colonists killed
• Bad for Americans saw event as British
  oppression
• Good for Americans unified colonists in
  opposition to British
• Bad for British riled up American opposition

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14. Gaspee Affair (1772)

• Colonists burned a British ship that had been
  patrolling for smugglers
• Good for Americans satisfaction of standing up
  to British oppression
• Bad for Americans British further cracked down
  on smugglers
• Bad for British Americans growing more willing
  to use violence

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15. Committees of Correspondence (1773 1781)

• Effort by the Colonies to remain in constant
  communication and to present a united front
  against British oppression
• Good for Americans unifying force, allowed for
  a consistent response to British acts
• Bad for British Americans still pursuing
  self-government and challenging British rule

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16. Tea Act (1773)

• Allowed East India Company to sell tea directly
  to Colonists duty-free (tax-free)
• Bad for Americans cut American merchants (and
  smugglers) out of the tea trade
• Good for the British kept the East India
  Company from going bankrupt and damaging the
  British economy

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17. Boston Tea Party (1773)

• Destruction of East India Companys tea cargo by
  Bostonian colonists
• Bad for Americans led to passage of the
  punitive Coercive Acts (a.k.a. Intolerable Acts)
  by the British
• Bad for the British Acts of colonial defiance
  growing viewed the destruction of the tea as
  criminal destruction of private property

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18. Coercive/Intolerable Acts (1774)

• Closed port of Boston, put Massachusetts under
  direct royal control, allowed British soldiers to
  be tried only in England, allowed the housing of
  British soldiers on private property, gave Ohio
  Valley to Quebec (Canada)
• Bad for Americans damaged economy, loss of
  self-government, loss of civil rights, loss of
  territory
• Good for British asserted their authority to
  act against colonial disobedience
• Bad for British further angered colonists

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19. Second Quartering Act (1774)

• One of the Intolerable Acts allowed for British
  troops to be housed on private property
• Bad for Americans failed to recognize their
  protections under the English Bill of Rights
• Good for British allowed them to maintain law
  and order by decentralizing their troops and
  housing them in areas of unrest

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20. First Continental Congress (1774)

• Colonial meeting in Philadelphia that called for
  a repeal of the Intolerable Acts, organized a
  boycott of British goods, but still expressed
  loyalty to the King
• Good for Americans further promoted unity
• Bad for British Americans still denying
  Britains right to tax

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21. Lexington Concord (1775)

• First battles between colonial militias and
  British troops Britain had moved to seize
  weapons stores used by these militias
• Good for Americans they had stood up for their
  rights
• Bad for Americans now at war with Britain
• Bad for British attempts to exert authority
  have failed

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22. Second Continental Congress (1775 1783)

• Met to determine a course of action now that
  fighting has started. Agreed to both extend the
  Olive Branch Petition (seeking peace) and to
  create a Continental Army commanded by George
  Washington
• Good for Americans organized and united
  colonial opposition created an army
• Bad for British Americans now moving towards
  full independence

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23. Thomas Paines Common Sense (1776)

• Pamphlet calling on colonists to support
  declaring their independence from British rule
• Good for Americans its effective arguments
  convinced many colonists to support rebellion
• Bad for British - its effective arguments
  convinced many colonists to support rebellion

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24. Declaration of Independence (1776)

• Document which listed Americans complaints
  against the King and declared that the Colonies
  were no longer under British rule
• Good for Americans tied the 13 Colonies
  together and asserted their right to
  self-governance
• Bad for British Americans now in open and
  declared rebellion