Hi there, I'm Mr. Roberts and thanks for joining me for today's history lesson, where my job will be to guide you through our history resources.

I'll be making sure that by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to securely meet our lesson objective.

In today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the Enlightenment, we are familiarising ourselves with some of the key features of the Enlightenment movement.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe the role the Enlightenment played in causing the American Revolution.

There are five keywords which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those words are Enlightenment, social contract, colony, settlers, and constitution.

The Enlightenment was a movement in the 1600s and 1700s that promoted the use of reason and questioned authority.

A social contract is an agreement that rulers should govern in a way that benefits the people in exchange for having power over them.

A colony is an area under the control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country.

Settlers are people who have arrived to live in a new area of land.

And the basic principles or laws which govern a country are known collectively as a constitution.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and we'll begin by thinking about the American colonies and the impact Enlightenment ideas would have on them.

In Europe during the 1600s and 1700s, the Enlightenment, a movement born out the scientific revolution of the 1500s, caused people to question the authority of monarchy and the Church.

The Enlightenment also inspired further scientific advancement and successfully brought together philosophers who emphasised the use of reason and logic in working out right and wrong instead of looking to the Bible or the Church.

English philosopher John Locke argued that there was now a social contract between governments and individuals, meaning that those with power had a responsibility to protect those without power.

Thanks to the printing press, Locke's ideas were shared throughout Europe and the British Empire, including in Britain's 13 colonies in America.

Here, men like Benjamin Franklin, a newspaper printer and writer, saw themselves as part of the Enlightenment.

They wanted to make sure that Britain was upholding the social contract with the American settlers, even though they lived thousands of miles away.

Now it's time to see if we can remember what we've just heard.

Which of the following inventions helped Enlightenment ideas spread to Britain's 13 colonies in North America? Was it A, the telescope; B, the printing press; or C, the thermometer? Pause the video and come back when you are ready for the answer.

Welcome back, and congratulations if you said B, the printing press, which was a key invention in helping Enlightenment ideas to spread to Britain's 13 American colonies.

Let's try another one.

Which American settler and Enlightenment thinker was concerned that the British were not upholding the social contract? Was it A, Benjamin Franklin; B, John Locke; or C, Galileo? Once again, pause the video and restart it when you're ready for the answer.

Welcome back, and well done if you said A.

It was Benjamin Franklin.

Now let's put our learning into practise.

I would like you to match each of the sentence starters on the left with the correct supporting evidence from the right.

Pause the video and make your decisions.

When you're happy with your decisions, come back for the correct answers.

Hello again, and well done if you said that Enlightenment ideas revolved around questioning the authority of the monarchy and the teachings of the Church, that John Locke wrote about the social contract, which was the idea that anyone who has power over others has a responsibility to protect them, that the printing press helped to spread Enlightenment ideas, such as the social contract, to Britain's 13 colonies, and that Benjamin Franklin was becoming concerned that the British monarchy and government were not upholding the social contract.

Now it's time to embark upon the second part of today's lesson where we'll be looking into American frustration under British rule.

British people have been settling on the eastern coast of North America since 1607, when the first British colony, Jamestown in Virginia, was established.

The British Crown, inspired by the Enlightenment, had even funded the migration of 2,500 poor British people to the colony of Georgia in 1732 in the hope that they might have a better life.

However, by the middle of the 1700s, American settlers had grown frustrated with British rule.

Protecting the North American colonies from French and Native American attacks was expensive.

By 1763, Britain had spent a great deal of money protecting the colonies and defeating France in the Seven Years' War.

As a result, Britain chose to tax the American colonies heavily to make up for the money that they had spent fighting.

Britain argued heavy taxes, such as the Stamp Act of 1765, which put an extra charge on paper documents, were justified because of how much it had cost them to protect the colonies.

The settlers, however, believed that the taxes were too high, especially since the American settlers did not have any say in how they were governed.

In the same month, the Stamp Act, the British also issued the Quartering Act, which ordered the colonies to pay to feed and house the British soldiers protecting them.

Many settlers, including Benjamin Franklin, argued that through the high taxes and the lack of say in the laws that they had to follow, the British had gone against the Enlightenment idea of the social contract.

British tax collectors and anyone loyal to Britain could become victims of tarring and feathering by angry settlers who wanted to send a message to the British government.

Tarring and feathering involved wood tar being poured on the victim and then covering them in feathers as a form of ritual humiliation.

This signified that the longer the settlers felt they were being ignored by the British government, the angrier they became.

This brings us now to another opportunity to check for understanding.

True or false? Britain's American colonies were becoming frustrated with British rule by the middle of the 1700s.

Pause the video and have a think.

When you are ready for the answer, just press play.

Welcome back, and well done if you said the answer is true.

But instead of leaving it there, let's now justify our answer.

Is it true because Britain was charging heavy taxes on settlers without giving them any say in how they were being governed? Or is it true because Britain had failed to protect the settlers against French and Native American attacks? Once again, pause the video and give this some thought.

When you're done, just press play.

Hello again, and well done if you said it was true that the colonies were becoming frustrated at this time because Britain was charging heavy taxes on settlers without giving them any say in how they were governed.

Now let's try this one.

Which two of the following were American settlers angry about? The Stamp Act of 1765, the Declaration of Independence of 1776, or the Quartering Act of 1765? Pause the video and select the two answers that you think are correct based on what we've just talked about, and then restart the video for the answers.

Welcome back, and congratulations if you said A and C, both the Stamp Act, which increased the tax charge for paper documents, and the Quartering Act, which forced settlers to house British soldiers themselves, were both forms of taxation which angered the 13 American colonies.

What I'd like you to do now is to read Laura's opinion and decide, based on what you know, whether you agree with her.

Laura says, "Thanks to the Quartering Act, American settlers had to pay to feed British soldiers and give them somewhere to live.

They should not have had to pay for this, especially when they had no say in how they were governed as the British Parliament decided their laws despite being thousands of miles away." Do you agree with her statement? Explain your answer using evidence from this lesson as support.

Pause the video now and come back when you have completed your answer.

Welcome back.

I asked you whether you agree with Laura's statement and to explain your answer.

Remember, there will be a wide variety of answers to this question.

I will now give you a model answer for both sides of the argument, so well done if your answer included any of the following.

I agree with Laura's statement because the Quartering Act of 1765 was expensive for the settlers, especially since the Stamp Act had also been introduced the same month.

The American colonies were also Britain's responsibility as they were part of the British Empire, therefore Britain should pay to protect them.

It was also unfair that the settlers had to pay these taxes when the British Parliament gave them no say in the laws they had to follow, potentially breaking the social contract.

If you disagreed with Laura, then your answer may look something like this.

I disagree with Laura's statement because the settlers in the American colonies were under constant threat from French and Native American attacks.

Britain had spent huge sums of money protecting the settlers by the mid 1700s and they had to get this money back somehow.

It seems fair that the settlers should have to pay for the extra protection from the British soldiers who had to live and fight far from home.

And this brings us nicely on to the third and final part of today's lesson and the next part of our story, revolution and American independence.

In Boston, in 1770, an event took place that increased anger amongst the settlers beyond anything seen previously.

British soldiers, known as redcoats due to the colour of their uniforms, attempted to take over the housing of poor settlers who refused to move.

This led to angry confrontations between the redcoats and the people of Boston.

The most significant confrontation occurred on the 5th of March, 1770, outside the Customs House where British soldiers guarded the tax money.

A group of angry settlers confronted the British soldiers, who then opened fire, killing five people and injuring several others.

Opposition to British colonial rule continued in Boston, notably in 1773 when a tax on tea was introduced, known as the Tea Act.

The protest held in response was called the Boston Tea Party, and it involved Boston settlers throwing the tea into the harbour.

All other American ports joined the protest by refusing to unload any tea on ships docked in their harbours.

Enlightenment philosopher and scientist Benjamin Franklin sailed to Britain to seek help from the British Parliament, who instead humiliated him.

Franklin returned to the 13 colonies empty-handed.

It was clear that war between Britain and the settlers was becoming increasingly likely.

Two quick learning checks coming up now.

For the first one, pick the correct two events that occurred in the 1770s that made the settlers even angrier at the British government.

The Boston Massacre, the Quartering Act, the Tea Act, or the Stamp Act.

Pause the video, make a decision, and restart the video to hear the correct answers.

Welcome back, and well done if you decided on A and C, both of which happened in the 1770s, with the others happening in 1765.

Let's check that again.

Below are a list of events that will now be familiar to you that angered the American settlers.

Match the events to the date they occurred.

Notice that there are four events but only three dates.

This is because two of the events happened in the same year.

Press pause, and when you've made your mind up about which events happened when, come back to the video to see if you're right.

Welcome back, and well done if you identified that the two events that occurred in 1765 were the Quartering Act and the Stamp Act, while the Boston Massacre happened in 1770 and the Tea Act occurred later in 1773.

War eventually broke out in 1775, with the 13 colonies declaring their independence from British rule in 1776.

In the Declaration of Independence, the settlers included Enlightenment ideas of equality for all.

Fighting did not end until the British surrendered after losing the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.

The settlers had been supported by France who had long been an enemy of Britain.

After the settlers had secured their independence, the seven Founding Fathers of the United States of America, including Benjamin Franklin, signed the United States Constitution.

The Constitution laid out how America would be governed by representatives in Congress, ruled by the people for the people, just as Locke's social contract had intended.

It is still in place today.

The Enlightenment and the American Revolution would go on to inspire similar events in France at the end of the 1780s, demonstrating the power and influence of Enlightenment ideas.

Your last learning check now.

True or false? The Enlightenment played a role throughout the American Revolution.

Pause the video, make a decision, and press play for the answer.

Welcome back, and well done if you said it was true that the Enlightenment played a role throughout the American Revolution.

Now justify your answer.

A, Enlightenment ideas just helped to inspire the American Revolution, but had little impact beyond the revolution itself, or B, Enlightenment ideas inspired the American Revolution and formed the foundation of the US Constitution to this day.

Pause the video and come back when you are ready for the answer.

Welcome back, and well done if you selected B, Enlightenment ideas inspired the American Revolution and formed the foundation of the US Constitution to this day.

Now it's time for the final task of this lesson.

I would like you to write two paragraphs explaining how the Enlightenment led to the American Revolution.

There are a number of sentence starters on the screen, any of which you are free to use to help you to answer this question.

The more of them you use, the more fully you will have answered the question.

When you are ready to begin, simply pause the video and make sure you restart it to get some feedback on what a good answer looks like.

Hello again.

I asked you to write two paragraphs explaining how the Enlightenment led to the American Revolution using any of the sentence starters provided.

Your answer could have included the following.

The Enlightenment was a movement that believed in John Locke's idea of the social contract and spread ideas of equality and freedom.

These ideas spread to North America because of the invention of the printing press, and men like Benjamin Franklin who spread and promoted the Enlightenment ideas.

The settlers in Britain's 13 colonies were getting increasingly angry because of increased taxes, such as the Stamp Act and the Quartering Act of 1765, which were introduced even though the colonies had no say in their laws.

The colonies declared their independence from Britain and created a constitution which laid out laws based on Enlightenment ideas of freedom and equality.

Ultimately, the Enlightenment was a direct cause of the American Revolution because it was the spread and influence of Enlightenment ideas that gave the settlers the belief that they were being treated unfairly and inspired them to rebel against British rule.

Well done if you managed to include any of this in your answer.

And that's it for our lesson today.

The only thing left to do is to summarise what we've learned.

We began by seeing how Enlightenment ideas, including the social contract, were influential in both Europe and in Britain's American colonies.

We then moved on to how and why American settlers became frustrated with British rule, because they had to pay taxes whilst not having any say in how they were being governed, thus breaking the social contract.

We followed that up with exploring resistance to British rule, which led to the American Revolution in 1775, with the settlers declaring their independence from Britain in 1776.

And finally, we learned that following the American victory in the Revolution, the United States issued a constitution based on Enlightenment ideas.

The victory inspired similar unrest in France in the 1780s.

Really well done for all your hard work in today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to guide you through today's resources and I look forward to seeing you again in the future as we explore how the Enlightenment and its ideas helped to inspire further revolutions in both Europe and the Caribbean.