Key Events Leading to American Revolution

Sep 9, 2024

The Road to the American Revolution (1763-1775)

Key Turning Point: 1763

  • End of the Seven Years War, also known as the French and Indian War.
  • England wins major territorial gains but incurs significant debt.
  • The era of 'salutary neglect' ends; England seeks to pay off war debt by imposing control over colonies.

Major Acts and Colonial Responses

Proclamation Act of 1763

  • Purpose: Prevent colonial expansion westward to avoid conflicts with Native Americans.
  • Colonial Reaction: Anger and opposition.

Sugar Act of 1764

  • Purpose: Raise revenue through taxation on sugar; stricter enforcement of the Navigation Acts.
  • Colonial Reaction: Anger due to vice-admiralty courts and lack of juries.

Quartering Act of 1765

  • Purpose: Colonies to provide housing and food for British troops.
  • Colonial Reaction: Seen as an imposition.

Stamp Act of 1765

  • Purpose: Direct tax on legal documents, newspapers, etc.
  • Colonial Reaction: Heavy opposition; "No taxation without representation."
    • Virginia Resolves: Patrick Henry argues only colonial legislatures can tax colonies.
    • Stamp Act Congress: First organized colonial resistance.
    • Sons and Daughters of Liberty: Organize boycotts and protests; effective in reducing British trade.

British Policies and Colonial Unity

Repeal of the Stamp Act

  • Declaratory Act 1766: Parliament asserts authority to tax colonies.

Townshend Acts

  • Purpose: New taxes on imports like tea, paper, glass.
  • Colonial Reaction: Resentment due to funding of royal officials and search rights without warrants.
    • John Dickinson: "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" opposing taxes.
    • Growing Boycotts: Non-importation and non-consumption agreements.

Rising Tensions and Incidents

Boston Massacre (1770)

  • British troops kill five colonists.
  • Used as propaganda against British; defended by John Adams in court.

Committees of Correspondence

  • Purpose: Maintain communication and resistance.

Tea Act and Boston Tea Party (1773)

  • Purpose: Bail out British East India Company by giving it a tea monopoly.
  • Colonial Reaction: Opposition due to lack of consent; results in Boston Tea Party.

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (1774)

  • Intent: Punish colonies (especially Massachusetts) for Boston Tea Party.
  • Actions: Closing Boston Port, reducing Massachusetts legislative power, expanded Quartering Act.
  • Colonial Reaction: Outrage; viewed as violating rights.
    • Suffolk Resolves: Boycott British goods.

Continental Congress

  • First Meeting (1774): Colonial elites gather to address grievances, not independence yet.
  • Actions:
    • Declaration of Rights and Grievances.
    • Creation of the Association for economic boycotts.
    • Military preparations.

Prelude to Revolution

Lexington and Concord (April 1775)

  • First battles of the American Revolution.
  • British troops kill eight colonists at Lexington.
  • Marks start of open conflict, leading to eventual independence.

These events and actions significantly contributed to the growing tensions that led to the American Revolution, setting the stage for the eventual Declaration of Independence in 1776.