Download
1 / 29
290 likes | 422 Views
Topic E & F. Committees of Correspondence Started by Samuel Adams Goal to help unite the colonies By keeping them informed.
E N D
Topic E & F • Committees of Correspondence • Started by Samuel Adams • Goal to help unite the colonies • By keeping them informed In an era before modern communications, news was generally disseminated in hand-written letters that were carried aboard ships or by couriers on horseback. Those means were employed by the critics of British imperial policy in America to spread their interpretations of current events.
Trouble over tea • 1773 British Government past the tea act • Goal was to help the British East India Tea Company, which had 15 million tons of unsold tea in its warehouse. This act left a small tax on all tea EXCEPT the British East India Tea Company’s This gave them a large advantage over all other companies including American company’s Colonist boycotted again- it has worked well in the past—The issue of Parliaments right to tax has never been solved.
Tea act • The Tea Act, passed by Parliament in May of 1773, would launch the final spark to the revolutionary movement in Boston. The act was not intended to raise revenue in the American colonies, and in fact imposed no new taxes. It was designed to prop up the East India Company which was floundering financially and burdened with eighteen million pounds of unsold tea. This tea was to be shipped directly to the colonies, and sold at a bargain price. The Townshend Duties were still in place, however, and the radical leaders in America found reason to believe that this act was a maneuver to buy popular support for the taxes already in force. The direct sale of tea, via British agents, would also have undercut the business of local merchants.
Tea act • he so-called Tea Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (13 Geo III c. 44), passed in May, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea to the British colonies in North America without the usual colonial tax, thereby allowing them to undercut the prices of the colonial merchants and smugglers. This was primarily intended to aid the finances of the East India Company, which were close to collapse due to famine in India and economic weakness in European markets. The British government intended to give the East India Company an effective monopoly on tea imports to the Thirteen Colonies. • The Tea Act did not add any more taxes to tea; however, it backfired anyway. Because many Americans earned their living from smuggling, they disliked the commercial advantages granted by the government to the Company. This act led to widespread boycotts of tea throughout the colonies, and, eventually, to the Boston Tea Party
Tea Party • protests in the colonies against the Stamp Acts had died down when Parliament passed the Tea Act. The new act granted a monopoly on tea trade in the Americas to the East India Tea Company. • The Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, insisted that tea be unloaded in Boston, despite a boycott organized by the Sons of Liberty. • On the evening of December 16th, thousands of Bostonians and farmers from the surrounding countryside packed into the Old South Meeting house to hear Samuel Adams. Adams denounced the Governor for denying clearance for vessels wishing to leave with tea still on board. After his speech the crowd headed for the waterfront. From the crowd, 50 individuals emerged dressed as Indians. They boarded three vessels docked in the harbor and threw 90,000 pounds of tea overboard.
Events • 3 ships loaded with tea • Colonist did not want it unloaded • Colonist went to Governor Hutchinson and insisted the ships be turned away • Hutchinson insisted the ships be unloaded • Sons of Liberty had other plans • Meeting at old south church Boston • Short time after Sam Adams meeting • 50 dressed as Indians rowed out to the ships and dumped 342 chests of tea
Events • Many cheered these actions, others feared the British response. • Sons of Liberty have enforced the boycott • Will the British Punish the Colonies? • Ship names Beaver, Darmouth,Eleanor • Today's value over $90,000
Questions • 1-What was the goal of the comm. Of correspondence? • Keep the colonies informed and united them • 2- give examples of their actions? • Paul Revere • 3- Why did the British care so much about the Br. East India Co. • Lots of unsold tea—British owned Inida at this time • 4- If the price went down why did the colonist object to the tea act? • Cut American tea companies out of the trade / gave unfair advantage to British tea company • 5- How did the Americans try to avoid the tea party? • Went to governor Hutchinson and asked for ships to leave • 6- Explain the tea party • 12/16 / sons of liberty / 342 chests of tea • 7- Do you feel the colonist should be punished for destroying Br. Property? • This was the first time they destroyed property, other protest did not
Topic F • Intolerable Acts • Four laws designed to punish the colonies • Laws will be in effect until the tea is paid for----Ben Franklin offered to pay but colonist did not want him to • British felt Colonist should pay the cost • Colonist refused • The colonist felt these laws were harsh
Intolerable Acts • 1- Boston Port Act– closed the Boston harbor—which will affect everyone's employment in the Boston area. • 2- Government Act– Suspended all town and local meetings – local powers also reduced • 3-Crimes Act– Made British immune to colonial laws, and if problem trials would be in England • 4-More British soldiers sent to enforce these rules / more quartering act
At same time as Int. Acts • Quebec Act in Canada • Gave them more rights and freedoms at the same time as reducing the rights in Boston. • This makes the colonist even madder. • Colonist started to form militia and groups of minutemen. • Colonist for the first time start to talk of Independence • Committees of Correspondence working hard to keep other colonies informed.
1st Continental Congress • Sept. 5 1774 • Delegates from all but Georgia (12) • Philadelphia • Most still loyal to King • Lasted 7 weeks • Loyalist - loyal to king • Patriot- resist British control
Results of 1st CC Declaration of Rights (like a letter to King) 1- loyal to King BUT felt their rights were violated 2-Will boycott until unfair laws repealed 3-Agreed to meet again May 1775 Urged colonies to set up militia’s (note – stating loyalty, but threat and time limit with further threat)
Kings Reaction • “I wish nothing but good- therefore everyone who does not agree is a traitor” • “ The die is cast, the colonies must submit or triumph”
Lexington and Concord • Lexington and Concord, battles of, opening engagements of the American Revolution, Apr. 19, 1775. After the passage (1774) of the Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament, unrest in the colonies increased. The British commander at Boston, Gen. Thomas Gage, sought to avoid armed rebellion by sending a column of royal infantry from Boston to capture colonial military stores at Concord. News of his plan was dispatched to the countryside by Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott. As the advance column under Major John Pitcairn reached Lexington, they came upon a group of militia (the minutemen). After a brief exchange of shots in which several Americans were killed, the colonials withdrew, and the British continued to Concord. Here they destroyed some military supplies, fought another engagement, and began a harried withdrawal to Boston, which cost them over 200 casualties.
http://www.earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm • THE FAMOUS RIDE • British troops were planning a march to Lexington to arrest John Hancock and Sam Adams, then on to Concord to seize colonial munitions. At nightfall on April 18, Paul Revere hung a two-lantern signal in the steeple of Old North Church, alerting his comrades that the Redcoats were crossing the harbor. Revere then galloped to Lexington and pressed on to Concord, where he was captured by a British patrol. Questioned at gunpoint, Revere was released after divulging nothing but misinformation. • LEXINGTON and CONCORD"The shot heard 'round the world" • Over 700 Redcoats marched through the night of April 18, 1775, reaching Lexington near dawn. Awaiting them were 77 Minutemen - farmers and laborers trained to be "ready in a minute." One musket went off. Historians still debate which side fired the first shot, but within seconds, eight colonists lay dead on Lexington Green. • On to Concord, 400 Minutemen exchanged gunfire with 120 Redcoats at the North Bridge. Pealing church bells spread the alarm and colonial numbers grew to 5,000. The British would have been massacred, but reinforcements arrived as they fled back to Boston. April 19, 1775 … the war had begun!
Views • From the British view they had been attacked by the colonist. • From the Colonial view innocent colonist were murdered in cold blood. • War was now unavoidable !
Questions • 1- What were the goals of the Intolerable Acts? • Punish the colonies • 2-list the four parts of the Intolerable Act? • Port / Gov’t / Crime / More troops • 3- How did the Colonies respond to the Intolerable Acts? • Held the 1st continental congress • 4-Facts on 1st Continental congress • 12 all but Georgia • Philadelphia • Loyal to king / unfair laws / Meet again / set up militia • 5- Why was Gage planning to arrest Adams &Hancock? • Storage of weapons • 6- Explain the role of the midnight ride? • Warn colonist (Dawes, Prescott, Revere) >
Questions • 7- Explain the events in Lexington? • 8killed • 75 vs. 700 • “ shots heard around the world” • 8- Explain the events in Concord? • Town empty • North Bridge • 9- What is meant by the “shot heard around the world” • Point of no return as far as war is concerned.
