1. Causes of the Revolutionary War

2. Death and Taxes
• After the French and Indian War (Seven Years
War) the British had war debts
• To pay for war debts the British began to tax
the colonists
– OH NO YOU DIDN’T!!!!

3. Opposition to taxes
• The colonists first complained about taxes
• Gradually they became more angry and
refused to pay taxes
• They organized boycotts

4. Townsend Act 1767
• tax on imports of glass, paint, paper, and tea
• New York Legislature was suspended until it
agreed to quarter British soldiers
• Boycotted British goods causing the Boston
Massacre and Boston Tea Party

5. Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre
was the killing of five
men by British soldiers
on March 5, 1770.

6. Boston Tea Party
December 16, 1774
• In protest of the tea act
• 50 individuals dressed as Indians
• boarded three vessels docked in the harbor and
threw 90,000 pounds of tea into the water

7. Coercive Acts
• closing of the port of Boston until the East
India Tea Company received payment for
the tea dumped into the harbor.
• The Royal Governor took control over the
Massachusetts government and would
appoint all officials.
• British took the right to quarter soldiers
anywhere in the Colonies.

8. Common Sense
Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet which
blamed the King for the problems not the
colonists

9. • Drafting the declaration of Independence by JLG Ferris

10. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
PURPOSE- justify independence from England
IDEAS- 1- all people have natural rights
2- governments get power from the consent of governed
3- when government doesn’t do its job people have the
right to alter or abolish it
“NO TAXATION WITHOUT
REPRESENTATION!”