Road to Revolution
Laws passed from
1763-1765 that the English
colonists are displeased or
angry about
Sugar Act Currency
Act Stamp Act Quartering Act
United in Dissent
Patrick Henry: young politician in Virginia
Assembly who led passage of resolutions saying
colonial assemblies had sole right to tax themselves
(not Parliament)
Colonists in cities like Philadelphia and Boston
realized they have more in common with each other
than Britain, and began to organize against Britain.
Rioters protested the Stamp Act all throughout the
colonies, destroying officials’ homes. All stamp
officials in the colonies resigned by the end of 1765. British depiction of Bostonians tormenting
tax officials
Screenshot #1
Which of these best describe the colonists attitude on taxes?
a. No Taxation. Period.
b. I wanna pay all the taxes!
c. Taxes are fine, but I should have a say.
d. Taxes are for the weak.
A suffragette demonstration. Image Credit:
Women’s Library, LSE Library
Sons of Liberty
A group of men who protested the Stamp Act- mostly shopkeepers, merchants, and
craftsmen.
Organized a boycott of British goods. Merchants in New York, Philadelphia, and
Boston agreed to stop importing goods from Britain.
In 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed (*repeal= removal or reversal of a law)!
Paul Revere: a silversmith and famous member of the Sons of Liberty. Responsible
for the Sons of Liberty Bowl, an engraved silver bowl to commemorate the 92
members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives who refused to retract a
letter condemning the Townshend Act (1767), another tax levied on colonists.
Sons of
Liberty Bowl
at the Boston
MFA (Museum
of Fine Arts)
(portrait of Paul
Revere in back)
Benjamin Franklin
Printer, inventor, scientist, diplomat
When the Stamp Act was passed, he was
in England serving as a colonial
representative.
Helped persuade Parliament to repeal it
Over time, though, he became convinced
that the colonies should break away from
Great Britain, and returned back to the
colonies.
Screenshot #2
The head of the snake,
or “ N .E .” stands for
New England
Mr. Franklin asks:
“Can you identify
each colony?”
Write the colonies the other sections of the snake stand for
Explaining the Join or Die cartoon
“...the snake was cut into eight pieces, rather than 13. The head of the snake was labeled “N.E.,”
signifying the four New England colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut
and Rhode Island, which Franklin combined to emphasize the importance of unity. Other pieces
were marked to signify New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North
Carolina, and South Carolina. Delaware, which shared a governor with Pennsylvania, and
Georgia, a newer colony that Franklin didn’t think could contribute much to colonial defense,
were left out.”
*Literacy was low, so the drawing and its message was able to reach a much wider audience.
Townshend Acts (1767)
Taxes on tea, glass, paper, lead, and paint- all goods colonists could only buy directly
from Great Britain
Revenue from these taxes was to be used to pay colonial judges and governors,
previously paid for by Colonial Assemblies.
Q: Why would colonists dislike British Parliament taking responsibility for
paying the salaries of colonial governors and judges?
Townshend Acts (cont’d)
A: Being responsible for the salaries of
governors/judges was one way for Britain to
gain more control over the colonies.
*The Townshend Acts also required colonial courts
to provide “writs of assistance,” which were
basically search warrants for officials to look for
smuggled goods inside homes and businesses.
Buying Power as Protest
In August of 1768, Boston merchants signed a
non-importation agreement in which they pledged not to
import or sell British goods, causing a shortage of goods
like textiles.
Women mobilized and organized events like spinning
bees to spin yarn and wool into fabric.
“Women took to their spinning wheels – what had been a chore for
solitary women, spinning wool into yarn, weaving yarn into cloth, now
became a public political act. Ninety-two ‘Daughters of Liberty’ brought
their wheels to the meeting house in Newport, spending the day spinning
together until they produced 170 skeins of yarn. Making and wearing
homespun cloth became political acts of resistance.”
Daughters of Liberty
These women were referred to as the
Daughters of Liberty, the counterpart to the
Sons of Liberty.
They distributed petitions for signatures and
circulated anti-tea pledges.
Colonial women tried to promote beverage
alternatives to tea. They searched gardens and
orchards for suitable herbs and fruits to fill
their pots, calling these brews “Liberty Teas.”
woman in a man’s hat, with powder horn
and weapon in front of a British fort
Screenshot #3
Draw or write 2 ways women contributed to
the Patriot cause (protesting British laws).
The Boston Massacre (1770)
A fight breaks out when a young boy hurls insults at a soldier standing guard at a
government building, and the soldier hits him with his gun.
Crowd grows in response to additional soldiers being brought in to defuse the
situation, and becomes rowdier until eventually someone knocks a gun out of a
soldier’s hands.
Soldiers respond by shooting into the crowd, killing 5 and injuring 6.
Became known as the Boston Massacre, and the event was used to represent
everything the colonists despised about British rule
The first person shot and killed
during this event was:
a. Richard Palmer, a colonial
merchant
b. Patrick Henry, a Virginia
politician
c. Captain Preston, a British
Officer
d. Crispus Attucks, a free Black
man
Paul Revere’s depiction in 1770 vs W. L. Champney’s depiction in 1856
Respond on the next slide.
Reflection Slide Screenshot #4
← Revere’s depiction in 1770
Champney’s depiction in 1856→
Q: Compare and contrast Revere’s depiction of the Boston Massacre to Champney’s depiction of the massacre. How are
the colonists and British soldiers depicted in each picture? What’s different and what’s similar? (2-3 sentences)
