REER - The American Revolution and the New Nation Key Concepts (Lesson)
The American Revolution and the New Nation Key Concepts
Before you begin...
Notes are given here as well as in the Readings Document from Boundless that is available to download below.
The Key Concepts lesson is very important as it covers the main areas of the Advanced Placement frameworks and the Georgia Performance Standards. Many of the test questions will relate to items found here. Many of the test questions will relate to items found here.
Download the Boundless: PDF of readings for this module. Links to an external site.
You may also find it helpful to download Lecture Notes Part One Links to an external site. and Lecture Notes Part Two Links to an external site..
Key Concepts:
Download the key concepts questions that are found below and answer these as you read and view the information in the module. The answers are found in the text on this and the following pages, the readings, the online textbook links, and in the presentation. After you have done this, you will use these answers to review for the multiple-choice test for this module.
Download the Key Concepts Questions. Links to an external site.
French and Indian War
Think back to the previous unit when you learned about the French and Indian War.
The French and Indian War resulted from a long simmering rivalry between Great Britain and France and their competition for territory in North America. The French and Indian War broke out in 1754 when Great Britain challenged the French for control of the land that is now Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Native Americans tended to support the French because, as fur traders, they built forts rather than permanent settlements. Great Britain eventually won the war.
The Treaty of Paris (1763) that ended the French and Indian War forced France to turn over control of Canada to Great Britain. France also surrendered its claim to all land east of the Mississippi River with the exception of the city of New Orleans. Additionally, the treaty gave the British government control of all of Britain's American colonies. The colonists objected to the loss of control over their own affairs, and some Americans first got the idea of an American Revolution. Tensions grew when Parliament passed laws to tax the colonists to pay for the cost of keeping a large standing army in North America to protect both Britain's possessions and the American colonists from attacks. Tensions increased with the Proclamation of 1763 on October 7, 1763, by which American colonists were forbidden from settling beyond the Appalachian Mountains in an effort to limit their conflicts with Native Americans following Pontiac’s War and other attacks of white settlers on the frontier.
The American colonists (at the end of the French and Indian War) were never prouder to be British subjects than they were at that moment. Colonial militias had fought alongside the best equipped, best trained troops in the world and they had won. The American colonists were definitely proud to be British, but that sentiment was short-lived.
Closer Look - Map of the French and Indian War
Schematic map of the French and Indian War
Image Credit: Hoodinski via commons.wikimedia.org
King George’s Proclamation Line (the Proclamation of 1763) that forbade settlement west of the crest of the Appalachian Mountains irked colonists who believed that they had fought the war for the right to settle the western lands acquired in the treaty that ended the war. The Proclamation Line was the first in a series of events down the road to revolution.
Colonial Resistance
Britain's American colonists believed the king and Parliament were violating their rights as Englishmen. Among the rights they felt were being violated were protection from taxation without representation, the right to a trial by a jury of their peers, the protection from searches without warrants, and protection from having troops quartered on their property. You may view this video on the Boston Massacre that shows the growing tensions. Links to an external site.
Children of Liberty
American colonists led by Samuel Adams, cousin to future president of the United States John Adams, who were opposed to British authority in Massachusetts formed a secret organization called the Sons of Liberty. To show their dislike of British rule, they damaged British property, including government offices and the homes of wealthy supporters of the British. The Daughters of Liberty joined the Sons of Liberty in protesting British rule in North America. They wove homespun fabric to make clothes and other goods so the colonists would not need to rely on British imports as a part of their non-importation agreements. (These were boycotts, but they were not called that at the time. Boycotts were named for a man named Charles Boycott in the 1880s.)
Many Parliamentary actions to tax the colonists or to enforce the tax laws provoked a negative reaction from the colonists that eventually led to open rebellion. These actions included the Stamp Act and the Coercive Acts (known as the Intolerable Acts in the colonies.) The Stamp Act required the colonists to print newspapers, legal documents, playing cards, etc., on paper bearing special stamps (like postage stamps). Buying the stamped paper was the equivalent of paying a tax. Some colonists formed groups called the Sons of Liberty to stop distribution of the stamped paper. Nine colonies sent representatives to the Stamp Act Congress, a group of delegates from the colonies, and their group sent a formal protest to the king.
The Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts) closed the port of Boston as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. These acts also allowed British officials accused of major crimes to be tried in England and forced the colonists to house British troops on their property. Colonists called for the First Continental Congress to protest these actions and formed colonial militias to resist enforcement of these acts. Much of the planning for the First Continental Congress was carried out by committees of correspondence. These committees were formed because American patriots could not communicate publicly. One committee would exchange written communications with another committee within or between the colonies. Committees of Correspondence were the first organizations linking the colonies in their opposition to British rule. (You’ll learn more about the Parliamentary Acts and these groups of rebels whose purpose was to protest in this module.)
Check out the learning object below to learn more about the Parliamentary acts that were imposed during the Revolutionary Period.
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