American Revolution

• Causes:

  • Taxation without representation
  • Discontent with the Stamp Act. Tea Act, and Intolerable Acts
• Stamp Act:

  • Created in 1765
  • Imposed a tax on various paper goods in the colonies
  • Taxed paper included newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards
  • Colonists argued it was against their rights to be taxed only by their own representatives
  • Stamp Act Congress gathered in New York in 1765 and issued a declaration asserting colonial rights and grievances
• Tea Act:

  • Created in 1773
  • Passed to bail out the British East India Company from financial struggles by granting it a monopoly on the sale of tea in American colonies
  • Colonists saw it as the colonial governments way of asserting authority
  • Boston Tea Party was a protest organized by the Sons of Liberty in December 1773 saw colonists disguised as Native Americans dumping chests of tea into the Boston Harbor
• Intolerable Acts:

  • Created in 1774
  • AKA the Coercive Acts
  • Series of Acts
  • Acts included; Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act
  • led to resentment and armed resistance
• Whats the Boston Port Act?


  Closed the port of Boston until the East India Company was compensated for the lost tea
• Whats the Massachusetts Government Act?

  revoked Massachusetts' charter and restricted town meetings
• Whats the Administration of Justice Act?

  allowed British officials accused of crimes to be tried in England or other colonies
• What's the Quartering Act?


  Required colonists to provide housing and supplies for British troops
• George Washington:

  • commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775
  • Difficulties; harsh winter conditions, limited supplies, and poorly trained army
  • Secured victories at Trenton and Yorktown
  • Played a pivotal role in getting support for the revolutionary cause
• Thomas Jefferson:

  • Wrote the Declaration of Independence
  • Member of the Second Continental Congress
  • Statesman
  • Helped the Governor of Virginia
  • 3rd President of the United States
• Benjamin Franklin:

  • Diplomat
  • Secured support from France (military aid, financial support, and diplomatic recognition)
  • Facilitated signing of the Treaty of Alliance in 1778 (formalized Franco-American cooperation against Britain)
  • Scientist, Inventor, and Philosopher
  • Placed with the founding father
• Declaration of Independence:

  • Drafted by Thomas Jefferson
  • Asserted the natural rights of individuals to life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
  • Listed grievances against King George III and proclaimed the colonies' Independence from British rule
  • Step towards nationhood and inspired movements for freedom and equality around the world