Grade 9 · History · 2 minutes
The Road to Revolution
War debt → taxes → protest → revolution.
Key terms
- Stamp Act
- A 1765 law that taxed printed paper, such as newspapers, legal documents and playing cards.
- representation
- Having people in government who speak and vote for you; colonists had none in Parliament.
- propaganda
- Material, like Paul Revere's engraving, that shapes how people see an event to win support.
- Boston Tea Party
- A protest in December 1773 when colonists dumped about 340 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.
- militia
- Local colonists who fought as citizen soldiers, like those who met British troops at Lexington and Concord.
- Declaration of Independence
- The document Congress adopted on July 4, 1776, declaring thirteen colonies free and independent states.
Transcript
In 1763, most American colonists were proud to be British. Just thirteen years later, they declared independence. So what changed?
It starts with a war. Britain had just beaten France in the French and Indian War, but victory was expensive. Britain's debt nearly doubled, so Parliament decided the colonies should help pay.
In 1765, it passed the Stamp Act, a tax on printed paper. Newspapers, legal documents, even playing cards needed an official stamp, and colonists paid for every one.
Colonists were furious. They had no representatives in Parliament, so why should it tax them? Their rallying cry: no taxation without representation.
In March 1770, British soldiers in Boston fired into a jeering crowd, and five people were killed. Paul Revere's famous engraving made it look like a deliberate attack, and the Boston Massacre became powerful propaganda.
Then came the tea. In December 1773, angry at a British tax on tea, protesters boarded three ships in Boston Harbor, and dumped about three hundred forty chests into the water. The Boston Tea Party.
Britain struck back, shutting Boston's harbor. Then, in April 1775, British troops marched on Lexington and Concord to seize colonial weapons. Militia met them, and the first shots of the Revolution rang out.
On July fourth, 1776, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Thirteen colonies declared themselves free and independent states. The war would last years longer, but a new nation had begun.
So, a costly war led to new taxes. Taxes without a voice led to protest. And protest became revolution.
Sources
Every fact in the video, and where it comes from.
- 1history.state.gov/milestones/1750-1775/french-indian-war
- The French and Indian War (North American part of the Seven Years' War) ended in 1763 with Britain defeating France
- 2en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_costs_of_the_Seven_Years'_War
- Britain's national debt nearly doubled during the Seven Years' War (roughly £75m to £133m, 1756–1763)
- 3britannica.com/event/Stamp-Act-Great-Britain-1765
- Parliament wanted the colonies to help pay for the war and their defence; the Stamp Act (1765) taxed printed paper: newspapers, legal documents, playing cards; repealed 1766
- 4britannica.com/topic/no-taxation-without-representation
- Colonists had no elected representatives in Parliament; slogan 'no taxation without representation'
- 5nps.gov/bost/learn/historyculture/massacre.htm
- Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770: British soldiers fired into a crowd, five people killed; Paul Revere's engraving was used as propaganda
- 6masshist.org/features/boston-tea-party
- Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773: protesters boarded three ships and dumped about 340 chests of tea (about 90,000 lb) into Boston Harbor, protesting the tax on tea
- 7britannica.com/event/Intolerable-Acts
- Britain responded with the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts in 1774, including closing the port of Boston
- 8nps.gov/mima/learn/historyculture/index.htm
- April 19, 1775: British troops marched to Lexington and Concord to seize colonial military supplies; militia met them; first shots of the Revolutionary War
- 9archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-history
- July 4, 1776: the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence; thirteen colonies declared themselves free and independent states; the war continued until 1783
- 10nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/maps.htm
- Boston, Lexington and Concord locations (lat/lon)
- 11britannica.com/event/Townshend-Acts
- The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766; new taxes (Townshend Acts, 1767) followed
Image and sound credits
- “King George III in coronation robes” by Allan Ramsay, c. 1762 (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
- “The Death of General Wolfe” by Benjamin West, 1770 (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
- “Proof sheet of one penny stamps, Stamp Act 1765” by the Board of Stamps (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
- “The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street” engraving sold by Paul Revere, 1770 (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
- “Destruction of tea at Boston Harbor” by N. Currier, 1846 (Public domain, Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons)
- “The Battle of Lexington, Plate I” by Amos Doolittle, 1775 (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
- “Declaration of Independence” by John Trumbull, 1819 (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
- Declaration of Independence, William J. Stone engraving, 1823 (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
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