Causes of the American Revolution
We won't give in without a fight
The Boston Massacre of 1770
The Boston Massacre is where colonists protested against the Townshend Acts on the streets of Boston. Some British soldiers saw them, and they ended up having a fight, but know one knows who started it. Either (in American's eyes) the colonists were being innocent and were randomly shot at, or (in Britain's eyes) they were drunk and throwing rocks everywhere. Five colonists were killed during this, and the first one to die was an African American man named Crispus Attucks.
Three other reasons we went to war with Britain:
Common Sense
Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet Common Sense. This encouraged colonists to support the move for independence against Britain. It did, so many people became Patriots. Patriots are people who support independence. These articles told the colonists to use their "common sense" to see how badly their mother country, Britain, had been treating them.
Sons of Liberty
Samuel Adams is the leader of the Sons of Liberty, a group of Patriots. They put together boycotts against Britain and spread ideas that would influence people's opinions about protesting against Britain's taxes and policies. The Sons of Liberty organized the Boston Tea Party to protest the Tea Act. They dressed up like Indians and dumped millions of dollars worth of tea from a British ship into the Boston Harbor.
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 is another law by the British to seemingly be in charge of the colonists. This particular law prohibited settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains after the French and Indian war. This was intended to reduce conflict with the Native Americans. Colonists viewed this as another attempt to gain control over them.
Questions to the website
1. What year did the American Revolution start?
A) 1775 C) 1765
B) 1776 D) 1763
2. Britain won the American Revolution.
A) True
B) False
3. Who organized the Committees of Correspondence?
A) Thomas Paine C) George Washington
B) King George III D) Samuel Adams
Questions to the video
1. What year was the Declaration of Independence?
A) 1763 C) 1773
B) 1776 D) 1876
2. Who won the French and Indian war?
A) India C) France
B) Britain D) America
3. What did the Proclamation of ______ do?
A) 1773; outlawed European migration west of the Appalachian Mountains
B) 1773; forced colonists to pay Britain back for the Boston Tea party
C) 1763; outlawed European migration west of the Appalachian Mountains
D) 1763; forced colonists to pay Britain back for the Boston Tea party
JOIN, or DIE
This political cartoon was created by Benjamin Franklin during the French and Indian war in 1754. This is representing the colonies-(left to right) South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and New England. They are split apart in this picture because they didn't really work together. Franklin is saying that the colonies need to join together to defeat the French and Indians or they'll face death.