We the People Lesson 8.pdf

Why did the colonies want to free
themselves from Great Britain?
Lesson 8 Objectives
You will identify the situations in which the
colonists claimed the British government
violated some of the basic principles of
constitutional government and analyze the
reason to justify a declaration of
independence from Great Britain.
Lesson 8: Terms of Importance
1. ministries – departments of government created by
Parliament and the king to help develop new policies
and enforce the laws Parliament had passed.
2. corrupt government – when leaders work with
bankers and businessmen for their own self interests
at the cost of the common welfare.
3. 1 st Continental Congress – 12 of 13 colonies sent
delegates to Philadelphia in 1774 to decide on a
response to the actions of Britain. They decision was
to ban trade with Britain to get it to change its
policies toward the colonies.
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Lesson 8: Terms of Importance
4. abuse of power – when the balance of
power is upset in a government and the
common welfare is threatened by those
in charge.
5. Minutemen – militias formed by local
communities from civilians that had great
pride in who they were and how quick
they could form for an anticipated British
attack.
Minutemen
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Britain becomes a World Power
• England had the strongest army and navy in the
world and could exert it’s power worldwide.
• Britain’s empire needed a larger government to
deal with it’s world empire which included
America.
• To do this, the king and Parliament created
ministries, headed by appointed ministers, to
carry out the laws in these colonies around the
world.
Charges of Corruption
• By the early 1720s, some in Britain believed the executive
branch was too strong.
• They claimed that the king and his ministers
– ignored the limitations placed on them by the English
Constitution
– violated the rights of people
– favored their own interests at the cost of common welfare
• It was common for the king to bribe members of Parliament.
• It was well known that the king and his ministers were working
closely with bankers and businesses to gain wealth and power
at the expense of all others.
• The king got taxes raised to keep a huge navy and army.
• The American colonists were aware of this but ignored it
because Britain had basically ignored them since AD1607.
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British Government Tighten Control Over the Colonies
• America had been obeying only the laws they agreed
with.
• One they did not obey was the Navigation Acts which
forced America to trade only with Britain.
• Cost British money to protect Americans on the
frontier
• The French and Indian War
– Started in America and spread to Europe
– Fought from 1754-1763 between Britain and France
– Cost Britain money to protect American colonies
– Britain raised taxes and restrictions on America to
help pay for war
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The Colonists Begin to Resist
• New laws and restrictions meant colonists
would lose money.
• Accustomed to Salutary Neglect
• Colonists did not have the right to vote for
Parliament. They felt like that Parliament had
no right to tax them.
• NO TAXATION WITHOUT
REPRESENTATION!
The Colonists Begin to Resist
ACTS AND EVENTS THAT CONVINCED AMERICANS THAT
THE BRITISH WERE VIOLATING THEIR RIGHTS
1. Quartering Act – required colonists to allow
British soldiers to live in their homes.
2. The Boston Massacre – a mob threatened to
attack a sentry at the Customs House in
Boston, the mob was fired on by the British
troops, Crispus Attucks first to be killed (7
total), British troops charged with murder but
found innocent – made colonists more
resistant to British rule.
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The Colonists Begin to Resist
3. Tea Act – lowered taxes on tea but reasserted
Parliament’s power to tax the colonies - result
was The Boston Tea Party and the boycott of
British goods.
4. The Intolerable Acts – Britain’s response to the
Tea Party. It shut down the port of Boston,
limited town meetings, gave more power to the
royal governor, and planned for a massive
British occupation of Boston.
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The Colonists Organize
• Fall of 1774 – 12 of 13 colonies sent delegates
to Philadelphia for the 1 st Continental Congress.
• Delegates agreed to stop trade with Britain to
stop the abuse of power
• Many colonies, especially in New England,
were preparing for war – they had organized
Minutemen Militias in anticipation of an attack.
• They believed it was the right of the people to
overthrow a government that no longer
protected their rights.
The Revolution Begins
• On April 19, 1775, British troops tried to march
to Concord, MA.
• They heard that Minutemen were hiding arms
and ammunition there.
• Paul Revere and William Dawes rode ahead of
the redcoats warning people that the British
were coming.
• On that day, at Lexington and Concord, the
Minutemen and Britain met on the battle field
and the “shot that was heard around the world”
was fired.
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Colonies Organize and Unite
• June 1775, delegates met in Philadelphia for 2 nd
Continental Congress (first government to
unify the colonies as a nation)
– Appointed Payton Randolph as first president
Continental Congress Presidents - 1774 to 1789.mht
– George Washington is chosen as commander-in-chief
of the Continental Army
– A year later, they chose a committee to draft a
Declaration of Independence that would explain why
America wanted to be free.
Lesson 8 Review
1. Critics of the British government believed it
was becoming corrupt. What evidence did they
have for their opinion?
2. By the 1760s, American colonists began to
resist certain actions of the British government.
What were these actions and why did many
Americans resist them?
3. The British government, for the most part,
believed that its policies in the colonies were
fair and just. Develop arguments in support of
the British government’s point of view.
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Lesson 8 Review
4. List 2 specific events that led to the
American decision to revolt against the
British government. For each you select,
identify the basic idea about government it
violated. Then, develop an argument
based upon the ideas and events to justify
the American revolution against the British
government.
Lesson 8 Review
5. Women took an active role in the revolutionary
struggle, forming anti-tea leagues and nonimportation
groups to see that colonists did not
buy British goods during the boycott. What does
the following quotation tell you about women’s
views on their role in colonial politics?
“Let Daughters of Liberty, nobly arise, And tho’s
we’ve no Voice, but a negative here, The use of
the Taxables, let us forbear.”
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