1999 Revolutionary War DBQ
While the colonists had different views on England, as in, some of them were loyal while others were not, the colonists could all agree that they were on a new land that need a new government and that they should not look to England to govern them. The period of 1750 to 1776 is referred to as the road to the revolution due to increased tension between the colonies and England. The English Parliament passed numerous acts that increased the colonists taxes, which angered the colonists. In response to the tax laws, the colonists were able to form the identity of the United States of America.
As early as 1754, colonial unity was beginning to be discussed by multiple colonies and individuals. The Pennsylvania Gazette printed a cartoon of a snake divided into eight pieces along with the imperative statement: “join or die.” This cartoon stressed the importance of colonial unity and urged the colonists to unite against England. In the same year at the Albany
Congress, Ben Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union, which attempted to unite all colonies; however, it was not passed because several colonies and the English Parliament refused to agree with the idea. Nevertheless, it was one of the first steps towards colonial unity and showed that there was a thought about a united colonies. The French and Indian war, also known as the seven years’ war in Europe began in 1756 and lasted until 1763. Due to the war, England had a huge amount of debt. To pay off their war expenses, the crown began to tax the colonies in
America. Parliament passed the Sugar Act in 1764, the Stamp Act in 1765, the Townshend Acts in 1767, the Tea Act in 1773, and the Intolerable Acts in 1774 which was the last straw. These taxes angered the colonists who then said “No taxation without representation.” In response to the Stamp Act, a meeting of all but four colonies was held in which they wrote and sent a
“Declaration of Rights and Grievances” to the king and protested the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was repealed but Parliament ignored the Declaration, heightening the tension between the colonies and England further, helping the colonies in developing a sense of unity amongst themselves. In responding to the Tea Act, the colonists went about protesting in a whole different manner. On the night of December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as indians and dumped three hundred fortytwo barrels of British tea into the Boston Harbor. Parliament the passed the Intolerable Acts which closed off the port, extended the Quartering Act, and restricted the Massachusetts government. Richard Henry Lee of West Virginia asserted that the colonies were strongly unified and had agreed to defend their liberties and freedoms from England.
Ultimately, the colonists formed the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which was an extraordinary step towards unification. They drafted and sent the “Declaration for the Causes of
Taking up Arms” to England in which they stated that the colonists will do whatever necessary in order to preserve their liberties. Soon after, the first shots of the Revolution were fired at
Lexington and Concord and the Second Continental Congress was
