1763-1775. The war was extremely costly for Great Britain. American colonists were content as...
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Transcript of 1763-1775. The war was extremely costly for Great Britain. American colonists were content as...
1763-1775
The Road To Revolution
The war was extremely costly for Great Britain.
American colonists were content as English citizens in the New World.
They only sought the “rights of an Englishman.”
The French & Indian War Ends
Deep Roots of Revolution
In true republicanism spirit, all citizens willingly give up their private, selfish interests.
They devote themselves to the “common good,” or the “good of the whole.”
Republicanism
Colonists who feared that their liberties would be taken away by the monarch and his ministers.
Always on guard against corruption in government.
Radical Whigs
Mother England
Distance weakens authority.
Great distance weakens authority greatly!
There were no titled nobility in the colonies.
Property ownership and political participation was common.
The American Colonies
Wealth is power and a country’s economic wealth can be measured in the amount of gold and silver in its treasury.
EXPORT MORE THAN YOU IMPORT
Colonies - Raw materials
England - reduced need for foreign imports
Mercantilism
Navigation Law of 1650All commerce in and out of the colonies must be transported by British ships.
This included colonial vessels.
European goods heading to colonies must first pass through England for tariffs
No Hard Money
Gold and Silver were scarce in the American Colonies
Gold and Silver are called hard money
Colonists used butter, nails, pitch, feathers, etc. for exchange
Colonies issued paper notes, which quickly depreciated in value
No Hard Money
English Parliament prohibited colonial legislatures from printing money.
This angered the colonists because there was a shortage of necessary cash.
Currency Act
Parliament’s Hand In America
The British Crown could nullify any law passed by a colonial legislature
Only used 469/8,563 colonial laws
Colonists fiercely resented this right of Parliament
Colonists would disregard or ignore restrictions placed on them by Parliament.
1st American fortunes came from smuggling
John Hancock
Colonial Rebellion
Colonists made a large profit from producing ship parts.
Virginia had a monopoly on the tobacco market in colonies and in Britain.
Colonies were protected by the world’s strongest Navy and Army of Redcoats.
Colonial Advantages
Colonists felt used in the mercantilism system.
Colonists were dependent on British agents and creditors.
Feeling Used…
After The Seven Years’ War, England had the largest empire in the world.
They also owed a tremendous debt for protecting its empire.
England’s debt was over L 140,000,000
Half of which was spent defending the American Colonies.
ENGLAND
George Grenville
Grenville became Head of the Treasury
Introduced several taxes on the American colonies.
Felt America should shoulder some of the costs of the 7 Years’ War
Increased tax on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies
Sugar Act of 1764
Required certain colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops.
Quartering Act of 1765
Stamped paper that certified the payment of an appropriate tax
ex. Playing cards, pamphlets, newspapers, diplomas, bills of laden, marriage licenses.
Stamp Act of 1765
Colonists saw Grenville as an aggressive tax collector.
Some colonies refused to comply with the new laws.
Colonists wondered why the British Army was still needed in the colonies after the French and Indian War.
Grenville
This becomes the rallying cry of the colonists who disliked Grenville’s taxes.
Irony – Not all the colonies allowed representation.
Colonies didn’t want members of the House of Commons – they would be the minority and the taxes would be passed anyway.
“No taxation without representation.”
Actual Stamp on Newspapers
The colonists hated the Stamp Act
The Stamp Act Congress met in New York City with 27 delegates representing 9 colonies.
Drew up a statement of rights and grievances.
Asked King and Parliament to repeal Stamp Act
Their pleas were ignored in England
Stamp Act Congress of 1765
The Stamp Act Congress agreed voluntarily not to purchase imported goods from Great Britain to show disapproval of the tax.
Widespread success
Non-Importation Agreement
The Sons of Liberty
The Daughters of Liberty
Took law into their own hands and violently enforced the non-importation agreement.
Mobs destroyed homes of unpopular officials
TAX COLLECTION BROKE DOWN
Taxation without Representation
Mobs forced tax collectors to resign from their posts.
There were no agents left on the day the Stamp Act went into effect.
Law was openly defied!
Stamp Act Mobs
Colonies bought ¼ of British exports
½ British shipping devoted to colonial trade
Non-importation hurt British economy
Many laborers lost jobs in England
England Hit Hard
The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766
BUT passed the Declaratory Act of 1766 – declared its “absolute” sovereignty over its North American colonies.
Repeal of Stamp Act
Charles Townshend
“Champagne” Charley
British Prime Minister
Could give great orations in Parliament while completely drunk!
Light taxes on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea.
These were indirect customs taxes at the ports, unlike the Stamp Tax.
However, colonists did not overlook the tax, and they were rebellious after the Stamp Act victory
Townshend Acts of 1767
Colonists & Teas
1,000,000 colonists drank tea twice a day
Townshend Acts – revenue went to pay royal governors and judges
Colonists were again angered
Parliament shut down the New York colonial legislature for failure to follow the Quartering Act
Colonists found that smuggled tea was cheaper
Smuggling was high in Massachusetts
John Hancock
London
Boston
Because of rebellious actions of colonies, Britain sent 2 regiments of troops to Boston to face the breakdown of law and order - 1768
March 5, 1770
60 Bostonians attacked 10 British soldiers with clubs
Troops opened fire and killed 11 “innocent” citizens
1st to die – Crispus Attucks – “mullato” African American leader of the mob
Boston Massacre
King George III
In 1770, King George III was 32 years old
Good man in private morals
Bad ruler
Stubborn and lustful for power
The Townshend Acts failed to generate any sort of revenue
However, they did produce near rebellion from the colonists
Lord North – King’s “yes man” repealed the Townshend Acts but kept a 3 pence tax on tea…angered colonists
Townshend Acts Fail
Samuel Adams
From Boston
Cousin of John Adams
His hands trembled
Lived and breathed politics
Zealous, courageous, tenacious, faith in common people
Samuel Adams organized local committees of correspondence to spread resistance to British laws
Virginia followed Adams’ idea in 1773
Soon, every colony had a central exchange system
Adams cont…
Tea
By 1773, colonists were paying the tax on tea
Legal tea was cheaper than smuggled tea
Even cheaper than tea in England
The government in London awarded the British East India Company a monopoly on American colonial tea trade – 1773
This principle of monopoly outraged the colonists
Colonists protested and forced all ships with BEIC tea to return to England with a full cargo (Philadelphia and New York City)
Problems with Tea
Gov. Thomas Hutchinson
Governor of Mass.
Hated by colonists
Ordered tea ships not to clear Boston Harbor until tea was unloaded
Colonists refused the ship to unload its cargo
Boston Tea Party
Band of Bostonians load the ship dressed as Indians
They smash 342 chests of tea and dumped it into Boston Harbor
Hutchinson left MA for England
Parliament passed a series of acts to punish Boston and Massachusetts for the acts of the Boston Tea Party and other defiant actions of the colonists.
Many colonial charter rights were taken away from MA – restrictions on town meetings
Intolerable Acts
Closed Boston Harbor until damages were paid and order was restored.
Boston Port Act of 1774
Quebec Act of 1774
Boundaries of Quebec were extended South to the Ohio River – trans-Allegheny area was snatched away from the colonists.
A congress was called to meet in Philadelphia from Sept. 5 – Oct. 26, 1774
Met to consider ways to address their concerns to the King
12/13 colonies – 55 delegates (GA)
Sam Adams, John Adams, George Washington, Patrick Henry
Continental Congress of 1774
This was more of a convention than a Congress that makes laws.
Congress created The Association – called for a complete boycott of British goods; non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption
DELGATES DID NOT CALL FOR INDEPENDENCE !!!!!
Congress would meet again May 1775
Continental Congress of 1774
April 1775
British troops were sent to Lexington and Concord to seize stores of gunpowder
They were to capture Sam Adams and John Hancock
8 Americans killed @ Lexington
Redcoats were forced to retreat from Concord
300 dead British soldiers
The fight for America’s Independence
The Revolutionary War Begins
7.5 million British citizens
2.5 million American colonists
British Army of 50,000 men
30,000 Hessian mercenaries
50,000 American Loyalists
Indians
130,000 + British troops for the war…
War Against A Mighty Empire
British Parliament
Parliament was confused and inept
No more William Pitt
Brits didn’t want to kill American cousins
Some Brits openly cheered the colonists
British Generals in America were 2nd rate and untrained
Provisions for troops were scarce, rancid and wormy
One load of biscuits for the troops had been confiscated from French – 15 year old biscuits – a cannon ball dropped on them to soften them up…
British Army In America
3,000 miles away from home
Delays
Uncertainty
Obvious communications problems
American was HUGE – 1,000 miles X 600 miles
Britain
Parliament and the King rejected all of the Continental Congress’ petitions
Colonists began to drill openly in the streets with their militias
A clash seemed certain
Parliament’s Reaction
April 1775 – British troops were sent to Lexington and Concord to seize stores of gunpowder and capture Sam Adams and John Adams to be hanged
8 Americans killed and several wounded at Lexington
Redcoats forced to retreat from Concord
300 dead British Redcoats
Lexington and Concord
The American Revolution
War Begins
Great American Leaders
George Washington
Benjamin Franklin
Marquis de Lafayette
Fled from France because of boredom
Loved glory
Ultimately loved liberty
19 years old when he became Major General in American Army
They believed the war was a just cause
BUT, they were badly organized for war
Lacked unity, states saw themselves as sovereign
“Continentals” – paper money printed in great quantity – became worthless
Moral Advantage