US. History Chapter 4

Requires colonists to purchase stamped paper.
The first direct tax

- Secret resistance group organized in Boston
- Samuel Adams is a founded
- Harrassed British officals
Protests were effective

- Delegates from nine colonies meet in New York
- Issue a Declaration of Rights and Greivances
- “no taxations without representation”

- Indirect tax on glass,lead,paint and paper
- Also taked tea
- Angers colonists more boycotts of british goods on taxations without repersentations
A lot of red coats

· King George III is mad about the tea
· He gets Parliament to pass the Intolerable Acts
· Shuts down Boston Harbor
· Quartering Acts
Places Boston under martial law

· Colonists begin to build up military supplies and militias (minutemen)
· Gen. Gage needs to stop this preparation
· Gage decides to march to Concord
· Agents have told him that there were military supplies
· They will also march through Lexington to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock
· Paul Revere and a network of riders warn the people that “The Regulars are coming”
· April 19. 1775 – Bristish troops reach Lexington
· They are met by 70 minutemen
· Someone fires a shot
· 8 minute are killed, 1 British soldier is wounded
· The British march on to Concord
· They find nothing and begin to march back to Boston
· 3,000-4,000 minutemen are hiding behind stone walls and trees
· They fire on the British all the way to Boston
· They humiliate
· This is comsidered the first battle of the American Revolution

· After Lexington and Concord a second Congress meets in Philadelphia
· Need to decide what to do next
· Appoint George Washington to command the Continental Army
· They begin to act like an independent government.

O 2^nd Continental Congress is getting ready for war but hoping for peace
o Sent to king George in hopes of working things out
It is rejected by King George who declares the colonies in rebellion and requests a naval blockade of the American

· Fighting on their home turf
· The leadership of George Washington and others
· Fighting for a cause: independence

· Untrained and undisciplined soldiers
· Food and ammunition shortages
· Very weak navy
· No strong central government to coordinate the war effort

· Strong, well-trained army and navy
· Strong central government with money
Support of colonial Loyalists

· Large distance separates Great Britain from the colonies
· Fighting on unfamiliar ground
· Weak military leaders
· Mot fighting for a cause
Some British politicians support the American cause

O British land 32,000 soldiers at New York harbor
o Commanded by Gen. Howe
o Includes thousands of German mercenaries (Hessians)
o Washington has 23,000 men to defend NY
§ Most are untrained with poor equipment
o Washington is forced out of NY- heavy loses
o The British force them into Pennsylvania
o Washington has only 8,000 men left by winter 1776
o Washington needs a victory so his men don’t quit

· Washington plans a surprise attack
· 2,400 men will attack Trenton on Christmas night, 1776
· They defeat a garrison of hung-over hessians
This is a huge morale booster for the Colonial troops

· Colonial Gen. Gates defeats British Gen. Burgoyne at Saratoga
· This is a major victory for the Americans
· Two results make this a turning point in the war
o 1) The British change their strategy
§ They will keep their troops along the coast
o 2) The French will now support the Americans
§ This victory increased French trust in the American army
§ The British now have to worry about the French and Americams