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The Coming of the American Revolution from the Massachusetts Historical Society provides an interactive look at key developments leading to the American Revolution, including the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Sons of Liberty, the Townshend Acts, the Boston Massacre, the Committees of Correspondence, the Boston Tea Party, the Coercive Acts, the First Continental Congress, Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and Washington takes command of the Continental Army.
A. The impact on the colonies of the French and Indian War, including how the war led to an overhaul of British imperial policy from 1763 to 1775
1) The French and Indian War (also known as The Seven Years’ War [2] ) occurred between 1754-1763 and became a large scale conflict involving most of the major European nations at the time.
The main belligerents, France and Britain, were fighting for supremacy in the New World.
In North America the French and British were battling in a part of this war that became known as the French and Indian War.
France had a lot of settlements in North America and the British were using their American colonies along with any native allies they could find to try and keep the French out of North America and also put down any of France’s native allies.
The British won the war and took control of France’s colonies, effectively making them the sole major European influence in the area.
Click here to view a time table of the French and Indian War
Click here for an interactive site that allows you to explore different aspects of the American Revolution including primary sources and items from the time period.
2) During the war, the British had an enormous amount of expenses and considered this a debt that the American colonies would have to repay.
Many taxes were imposed on the colonies; some were high but most were fair.
The colonists were outraged with this action.
The colonists were not being represented by people living in the colonies (which may have been hard) but were represented by Brits in London.
3) The British argued that the colonists, like all Englishmen, were represented in Parliament through virtual representation, the concept that every member of Parliament stood in for every English person, not only those of their own district.
There were several districts in England, including Manchester and Birmingham, which also did not send a member to Parliament yet still had to pay taxes.
Voting was reserved only for white men with a certain amount of property, and therefore those who did not have property were virtually represented by the members of Parliament. It is under this category that the colonists fell.
In response, the colonists could offer no alternative for paying, despite:
The colonists paid 1/20th of the taxes paid by the people living in England.
The colonists were on average wealthier than the British.
The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first direct tax imposed on the colonies. The Stamp Act required Americans to purchase tax stamps for any printed documents including newspapers, legal documents, marriage licenses and more.The colonists feared that this would set the stage for more taxes in the future. After one year of intense mob protests and the first organizations of the Sons of Liberty, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766.
See Digital History lesson plan comparing the arguments between the colonists and Parliament over virtual representation.
4) Tensions continued to rise through the further implementation of new taxes in what became known as the Townshend Acts of 1767, the purpose of which was to raise more direct taxes on goods like glass, paper, and tea, while simultaneously trying to improve colonist obedience to acts of Parliament.
It was repealed after three years. On the day of the repeal, March 5th 1770, the Boston Massacre took place, in which British troops opened fire on an angry mob of colonists.
- Click here for pictures depicting the events of the Boston Massacre. - Click here for witness accounts from the Boston Massacre trial.
There was also the infamous Boston Tea Party [5] in which colonists dressed up as Mohawk natives destroyed shipments of tea intended for the colonies.
The group who did this was the Sons of Liberty [6], and they were formed out of the common desire for liberation from Britain and its policies.
These were among many other examples of an unwillingness to follow British laws, including violent attacks on tax collectors and their homes, the burning of ships, and the practice of tar and feathering, which was used extensively against enforcers of the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts.
For a time table of events leading up to the American Revolution, click here
For further explanation of events leading up to the Revolution, click here.
LInk here for the Declaration of Rights and Grievances of 1774, a pivotal document in the progress towards the Declaration of Independence.
Click here for a Youtube clip analyzing The Boston Massacre.
Click here for information on Crispus Attucks, an African American considered the first man to die in the American Revolution.
Click here to see Schoolhouse Rock's depiction of events leading up to The American Revolution.
Women's Contributions to the American Revolution
The Daughters of Liberty, established in 1765, as a group of 92 women, who like the Sons of Liberty, rebelled against British control, primarily the taxation on British goods.
These women supported the non-importation of British goods by refusing to drink British tea and using their skills to weave yarn and wool into cloth. Both actions helped to lessen American dependence on British imports and textiles.
The Daughters of Liberty also fought for women's equality.
A notable woman during this time period was Abigail Addams. Not only was she an active member in the Revolutionary movement, but she was also concerned with the rights of women.
In a famous quotation for a letter she wrote to her husband John Addams, she urges him and other members of the Continental Congress not to forget about the nation's women when fighting for America's independence from Britain.
Image result for photo of Abigail Adams "Remember the Ladies" letter
In the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, the British were imposing more and more restrictions and taxes on the American colonists. For example, the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765, and the Townshend Acts of 1767 all taxed the colonists without their approval. Dissatisfaction was understandably growing, and as a result, various patriot groups sprang up as a way to counteract what was seen as British tyranny. One of the most well-known groups was the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty were an informal yet powerful and passionate group of male colonists who organized minor acts of rebellion (like the Boston Tea Party) to British autocracy; they were founded in 1765 and lasted in one form or another throughout the American Revolutionary War.
Not wanting to be left out of the growing energy for independence, women quickly formed their own counterpart to the Sons of Liberty: the Daughters of Liberty. From 1765 throughout the American Revolutionary War, both the Sons and Daughters of Liberty rallied the public's support for freedom throughout the American colonies. Neither group advocated independence or outright rebellion at first; the desire for independence from Great Britain did not really gain traction until the mid-1770s. However, the passion of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty helped to set the stage for the eventual American Revolutionary War. (https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-daughters-of-liberty-facts-history.html)
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has a useful collection of 
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