American Government

Sections: Introduction | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 | Section 5

Government : Origins : Section Three The American Revolution By the early 1700s, Great Britain had established colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America. Military victories against the French and Native Americans helped the English expand their colonial territory in the New World. Most colonists were generally happy living under British rule, and viewed themselves as loyal British citizens. This attitude began to change in the second half of the eighteenth century. In 1763, England defeated France in the French and Indian War. This ended the threat that the French and their Native American allies had posed to the English colonists. This war had been very expensive for the British, and to compensate they wanted the colonies to pay more revenue for the cost of their defense. Since Britain had defended the colonies by fighting this war, English leaders felt the colonists were responsible for some of the costs incurred. The events that followed would eventually lead the colonies to war with their motherland. England passed  the Sugar Act in 1764, imposing a tighter enforcement of existing trade laws and levying new taxes on American commerce.  The new taxes led the colonists to adopt the slogan “no taxation without representation.”   With no representatives in Parliament, Americans were especially displeased that they had no say in the making of the new laws affecting them.  Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765, placing a tax on paper documents, and the Townshend Acts in 1767, which taxed everyday goods such as tea.  England also passed a law requiring colonists to provide food and lodging for British soldiers in places where barracks were inadequate.  The colonists resented the new taxes and the presence of British troops, which they believed were no longer needed.  Americans began boycotting British goods, decreasing the amount of tax money the England collected.  The colonists argued that they, and not Parliament, had the right to impose taxes on the colonies.  On March 5, 1770, British troops open fire into a crowd of unruly colonists in Boston. Although accounts of the event vary, it is believed that the colonists were throwing snow balls at the troops.  Whether the soldiers opened fire on their own will, or if someone gave the command to “fire”, is unknown.  A few weeks after the Boston Massacre, Parliament repealed the Townshend Act, except for the tax on tea.  In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act, which colonists viewed as another attempt to tax them.  A group of colonists dressed as Native Americans, boarded British ships at night, and threw crates of tea overboard into Boston Harbor.  This event became known as the Boston Tea Party. The British were infuriated by colonists’ actions and passed the Coercive Acts, or what Americans referred to as the Intolerable Acts, in 1774.  These measures  ended self-government in Massachusetts.  Under the Intolerable Acts: The charter of Massachusetts was changed and town meetings were restricted. Trials for British troops were ordered to be held in England, not the colonies. The port of Boston was closed, and the British demanded the price of the tea be repaid. Boston residents were forced to open their homes to British troops requiring shelter. As a result of all of this, the First Continental Congress was held in 1774 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Protests erupted around Massachusetts in which British court officials were blocked from entering courthouses.  These types of events caused England to react by sending in more troops to attempt to keep order.  The redcoats maintained a firm grip on Boston, but the remainder of the colony resisted British control. Fighting between the British and the colonists began with the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.  No one knows for sure who fired the first shot, but this shot is referred to as the “shot heard ‘round the world.”   The war had begun, but the Americans were not yet fighting for independence. The Second Continental Congress, which convened in May 1775, tried to get England to end the matters diplomatically.  The king, however, was furious over the actions of the colonists. He issued the Proclamation of Rebellion, calling for force to subdue the rebellious Americans.  In early 1776, Thomas Paine published a pamphlet entitled Common Sense.  The document stated that the only way to solve the problems with England was to declare independence from England. By July 1776, British royal governmental officials had fled to get away from the threats of violence and revolt existing around them.  The colonies were in fact in a state of rebellion.        The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, officially declaring the United States an independent nation, no longer under British control.  The document, written by Thomas Jefferson, contains many references to John Locke’s ideas.  It cites all of the colonists’ complaints against the king.  The document claimed that the rights being violated were unalienable rights, or those that were based on the laws of nature and could not be taken away. Click here to read the full text of the Declaration of Independence.  You will see questions about the document on the quiz and exam, so read carefully.  Now it’s time to take the quiz on section 3. When you are finished, proceed to section 4 Go to next section

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