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Guiding Question: Why Did Britain
Rise to Global Power in the 1700s?
1. Location: England in a position to control trade. It was
surrounded by water which gave them a strategic advantage.
2) Success in War: In the 1700s, Britain was usually on the
winning side in European conflicts.
-England had developed a powerful navy, which could protect
its growing empire and trade.
3) Favorable Business Climate: England was more open to
business and commerce than its European rivals.
-The 13 colonies overseas brought economic advantages to
England. The union of England and Scotland was also
beneficial.
United Kingdom of Great Britain
The 13 Colonies
Britain’s Colonial Empire
In North America, Britain
controlled parts of Canada as
well as the thirteen colonies
on the eastern coast of what is
now the United states.
The colonies were well
populated, containing more
than 1 million people by 1750.
They were also very prosperous
Who was the reigning British monarch at this time?
KING GEORGE III
What kind of government does
George III want to create?
ABSOLUTE MONARCHY
Causes of the American Revolution
In 1775, George’s policies in North America triggered
the American Revolution
General Causes
1) George’s policies, heavy tax burdens on the colonies
2) The colonists felt entitled to the rights of English
citizens
3) Their colonial assemblies exercised much control
over local affairs.
4) Increasing sense of their own identity separate from
that of Britain.
Now we will look at some more specific causes…
The Stamp Act (1765)
In 1765, British Parliament
imposed the Stamp Act on
the colonies.
The act required certain printed materials, such as legal
documents and newspapers, to carry a stamp showing that a
tax had been paid to Britain.
Opposition to the stamp act was widespread and often violent.
The act was repealed in 1766, ending the immediate crisis, but
the cause of the dispute was not resolved.
The Townshend Act (1767)
The Townshend Act of 1767
authorized British Parliament to
issue taxes on in-demand imports
such as glass, lead, paint, paper
and tea.
Protests to the Townshend Act led
to more violence. British soldiers
had to be brought into Boston to
prevent an uprising.
British Propaganda, the colonists tar
and feather an innocent tax collector
and force him to drink tea. This
created sympathy for the British and
resentment for the American colonists.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
Tension over the presence of British troops in Boston led
to the Boston Massacre, the first episode which resulted
in the loss of life. Four Bostonians were killed when
Redcoats fired into an angry mob in 1770.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
Angry Bostonians known as the Sons of Liberty boarded a
British tea vessel dressed as Indians and dumped all of its
tea into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea tax.
The Intolerable Acts (1774)
The Intolerable Acts were laws that were really punishments that
King George III put on the colonies for dumping tea into the harbor
at the Boston Tea Party.
These were by far the harshest
laws Parliament had ever passed,
limiting the rights of the
American Colonists. This was a
major step on the Road to
Revolution.
Bellringer
Write a complete paragraph
describing the major causes of
the American Revolution.
Bellringer
Create a timeline for the
American Revolution. Give it a
title, and plot at least 5 dates on
it.
The Intolerable Acts (1774)
• The Boston Port Bill: Boston Harbor closed to everything but British ships.
• The Quartering Act : The King sent lots of British troops to Boston. The
colonists had to house and feed the British troops. If the colonists didn't do
this for the British troops, they would get shot.
• The Administration of Justice Act: British Officials could not be tried in
colonial courts for crimes. They would be taken back to Britain and have a
trial there. That left the British free to do whatever they wanted in the colonies
and to the Colonists.
• Massachusetts Government Act :The British Governer was in charge of all
the town meetings in Boston. There would be no more self-government in
Boston.
First Continental Congress
To counteract British actions in the 1770’s, the colonies
organized the First Continental Congress, which met in
Philadelphia in September 1774.
Members urged colonists
to take up arms and
organize militias
Militia: a military force of civilian, non-professional soldiers.
The Revolutionary War Begins
Fighting finally erupted between colonists and the British
army in April, 1775 in two battles at Lexington and
Concord, Massachusetts.
British troops were sent to Concord to capture John
Hancock and Samuel Adams, but both men had been
warned about the British attack.
Paul Revere’s Ride
The night of April 18th, Paul
Revere rode through Concord
warning everybody about the
British attack.
Paul Revere’s Ride (poem)
Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,--A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.
Lexington and Concord (1775)
When the British came in to take and attack the Rebels, the
Minutemen, Americans who were“ ready to fight in a
minute," were waiting to attack at Lexington.
Shot heard ‘round the world
Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famous poet, called the Battle of
Lexington "the shot heard 'round the world," because this
battle began the Revolutionary War.
George Washington
Soon after, the Second
Continental Congress met
and set up an army, called
the Continental Army.
George Washington of Virginia served as commander in chief.
Advantages and Disadvantages
British Advantages
1) Professional Soldiers
2) Huge Fleet
3) Plentiful money
4) 1/3 of Americans were
Loyalists
British Disadvantages
1) Fighting on unfamiliar
territory
2) Fighting without a cause
3) Far away from home base
American Advantages
American Disadvantages
1) Fighting for a cause
2) Home turf advantage
3) Controlled the countryside
4) French alliance
1) Few resources
2) Low on money
3) Enemies within their
territory (slaves,
Loyalists, Natives)
Declaration of Independence
More than a year passed before the colonies declared
independence from the British Empire.
On July 4th 1776, the Second
Continental Congress approved the
Declaration of Independence written
by Thomas Jefferson.
Benjamin Franklin and John Adams
helped revise the document.
Declaration of Independence
This document, written by political leader Thomas
Jefferson, was firmly based on the ideas of John Locke and
the Enlightenment.
“We hold these truths to be selfevident…that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by
their creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among
these are life, liberty, and pursuit
of happiness.”
Declaration of Independence
Jefferson kept the Declaration relatively short and to the point:
he wanted its meaning to be direct, clear, and forceful.
Goals of the Declaration:
1. Expressed clearly the ideals of the American cause
2. Argued against George III
3. Offer arguments to give the colonies’ actions international
legitimacy
4. Express the American spirit of freedom and unity.
French Support
Support from foreign countries was important to the
colonists. These nations were eager to gain revenge for
earlier defeats to the British.
The French supplied arms and
money to the rebels. French
officers and soldiers also served in
Washington’s army.
British Defeat
In February 1778, following a British defeat, the French
recognized the United States as an independent nation.
When General Cornwallis
was forced to surrender to
the American forces in
1781, The British decided to
end the war.
In 1783, the Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of
the American colonies.
The Birth of a New Nation
After overthrowing British rule, the former colonies feared the
power of a strong central government.
The states’ first constitution, the Articles of Confederation
(1781) created a weak central government that lacked the
power to deal with the nation’s problems.
The Birth of a New Nation
In 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia at the Constitutional
Convention to revise the articles of confederation. The
delegates planned for an entirely new government.
The Constitution
The proposed constitution created a federal system, in which the
national government and the state governments shared power.
Based on Montesquieu’s ideas, the national (federal) government was
separated into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
Separation of Powers
1. A president served as the head of the executive branch.
2. The legislative branch consisted of elected
representatives of two houses: the Senate, and the House of
Representatives.
3. The Supreme Court and the other courts formed the
judicial branch.
The constitution took effect after 9 of the 13 states ratified
(agreed to it)
The Bill of Rights (1791)
After ratification, the new Congress proposed 12
amendments (changes) to the Constitution.
The states approved 10 of these amendments. Together, they
became known as the Bill of Rights.
These amendments guaranteed freedom of religion, speech,
press, petition, and assembly. They also gave Americans the
right to bear arms and to be protected against unreasonable
searches and arrests. They guaranteed trial by jury, due
process of law, and protection of property rights.