Seminar:
Causes of the American Revolution (Was it inevitable?)
American History
Honors / AP U.S.
History
Your
assignment is to do the following:
- Read the
textbook selections for the time period leading up to the start of the War
for Independence
and the beginning years of the conflict (1763-1778) [Honors: Sections 4.1 & 4.2]
- Prepare to
discuss the following in-class:
- Signs of
conflict during the colonial period (pre-1763)
- Taxes and new
laws passed 1763-1775
- Developing
signs of colonial unity
- What was the British
argument? (support/oppose); What was the colonial argument? (support/oppose) Who was right?
- Is the primary
cause the debate on taxation without representation? Did mercantilism
cause the conflict?
- What was the
purpose of the First Continental Congress?
- Could the war
have been avoided? Was the
American Revolution inevitable?
- Could fighting
have been avoided after Lexington and Concord?
- Is this a
“conservative” revolution? Who fights in this war?
- How do these
events leading to the Revolution contribute to our “American Identity”?
- How did world
events/actions/ideas shape this Revolution? How did this Revolution affect the rest
of the world?
How you will be
graded…
- 50% - Seminar
Preparation (have notes in class to discuss from)
- 50% - Seminar
Participation (must contribute thoughtful
ideas/remarks to the discussion; must be on-task)
TIMELINE:
1763
– Proclamation of 1763
1764
– Sugar Act; Currency Act; End of British Salutary Neglect (Boycott in America)
1765
– Stamp Act passed (Reaction: Stamp Act Congress)
1765
– Quartering Act
REACTIONS: Patrick Henry of the Va.
House of Burgesses – only local assembly may tax
Sons and Daughters of Liberty
Non-importation agreements
New
York refuses to comply with the Quartering Act
1766
– Stamp Act repealed; Declaratory Act passed
1766
– New York Assembly suspended over Quartering Act issues
1767
– Townshend Revenue Acts passed (Reaction: boycotts)
1768
– “No taxation without representation” – Samuel Adams (propaganda)
1768/1769
– From colonial adoptions of Adams’ circular letter, royal governors in Massachusetts and Virginia
dissolve assemblies
3/5/1770 – Boston Massacre
1770
– Townshend Acts repealed; Gaspee affair (customs schooner attacked by colonists off shore of Rhode Island)
1772/1773
– Committees of Correspondence are formed
1773
– Tea Act is passed in May; In December, the Boston Tea Party occurs
1774
– Responding to the Boston Tea Party, the Coercive Acts are passed in
Parliament
March
1774 – Boston Port Bill closes the harbor
September
5 to October 26, 1774
– First Continental Congress (and
the Association)
Declaration
and Resolves: Responds to Quebec Act, Coercive Acts, and further measures
Early
1775 – Massachusetts
declared in state of rebellion / Patrick Henry’s famous speech: “Give me
liberty or give me death!”