SECESSION: AMERICA AT WAR

UNIT III – CH. 4 & 5

ROOTS OF REVOLUTION

COLONIAL

“Rights as Englishmen”Self-government

Lost English identity for American identityTo emigrate was to rebelDistance weakens authority

F & I WARBoost confidenceWestward expansion

BRITISH

• Managing an empire• Salutary neglect

OVER• Enormous debt• Enforcement of trade• New land• Protection of Indian

border

UNPOPULAR POLICIESProclamation of 1763Navigation Acts, Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Quartering

Act, Currency Act, the Townsend Acts, the Boston Massacre, & the Intolerable Acts: 1765 - 1773Caused American colonists to organize to protest

policies“no taxation without representation”

EARLY REBELLIONSPaxton Boys – (1763) band of people from western

PA descended on Philadelphia w/ demands for relief from colonial (not British) taxes and for money to help them defend against native attacks

Regulator Movement – (1771) small-scale civil war in NC. Farmers of the Carolina upcountry in opposition to high

taxes and local sheriffs (appointed by colonial governor)Underrepresented in colonial assemblyFAILED – eventually 6 hanged for treason

SUGAR ACT - 1764– First ever to be passed by Parliament w/ the

express purpose of raising tax revenues from the colonies

– Constitutional issues:• Sugar Act not voted on by assemblies• Smugglers tried by vice-admiralty courts= no

jury– “Degrade every American…below the rank of

an Englishman.” – John Adams

STAMP ACT CRISIS• Stamp tax • Required all printed materials be

stamped indicating that a tax had been paid to the Crown

• Raise revenue (support redcoats in America) by requiring postage on most printed documents

COLONIAL BACKLASH

Stamp Act Congress – declared that only the colonists’ elected representatives could impose taxes“virtual” v. “actual” representation

Sons of Liberty – leading group of mobs demanding the resignation of newly appointed stamp-collectorsBeheaded and burned; breaking and entering; tar and

featheringCollectors eventually gave in – accepted documents w/o

stampsBOYCOTTS

AMERICAN PATRIOT BORN!!!

VICTORY IS MINE…SORT OF

• March 1766 – Parl repealed Stamp Act :D

• BUT…issued Declaratory Act same day

• Asserted Parliament’s authority over all colonies “in all cases whatsoever.”

• Quartering Act 1765• 1767 - New tax on glass, lead, paper,

paint, tea (imports)• Revenue pay salaries of royal governors

and judges• No longer at whim of colonial assemblies• Eventually repealed, except for tea• Smuggling of tea lead to more troops in

Boston

COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE

• 1772 Main purpose – spread propaganda and information by interchanging letters keeping alive British intolerance

• Led to seditious intercolonial unity

Perhaps the most famous form of colonial protest was the Boston Tea Party of 1773, where several colonists disguised themselves as Indians and dumped 18,000 pounds of British owned tea into the waters of the Boston Harbor.

“The Shot Heard Round the World”

Arsenal @ ConcordApril 1775 – redcoats encountered “minutemen”

at LexingtonLooking for Sam Adams and John Hancock in Lex

and arsenal of weapons in ConBritish lost almost 3 times as many men as

AmericansTechnically not @ war, but decisive step

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT• 2nd Continental Congress – 1775

– John Dickinson’s “Olive Branch Petition”• Directed at King George III, hope for reconciliation and no further

hostility– Dickinson & Jefferson “Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of

Taking Up Arms” (surrender to tyranny OR resistance by force)• Rejected independence, death over enslavement

• King refused petition• Congress: named GW head of Continental

forces, created PO under BF, created a navy – ALL FUNCTIONS OF INDEPENDENT GOVERNMENT

“Are not the people of America, BRITISH

subjects?”• Shift from redress to independence–Quebec Act – favored French Catholics–Brits recruited slaves, natives, and

foreigners (Hessians – German soldiers)–Rejection of Olive Branch Petition and

enacting “Prohibitory Act” – blockade ports

Common Sense• Thomas Paine, emigrated to US• Editor of Pennsylvania Magazine• Appealed to emotions of mankind• Didn’t blame just Parliament but blamed

the SYSTEM - monarchy• Over 100,000 copies sold

(unprecedented) – enabled colonists to imagine independence– Advance “the representative system of government”– Rejected divine right– “Something absurd” for a continent to “governed by an island”

INDEPENDENCE DECLARED

Turn from English rights to natural rights Idea of John Locke Universal rights extending beyond any particular place, religion, or

national history

No more divine right - elimination of royal prerogative

EVERYONE is equal “self-evident”

MAJOR SCHISMDOCUMENT

Philosophical basis Grievances State of Separation

SELF-DETERMINATION &

NATIONHOOD• Based upon Locke’s conception of

individual rights• life, liberty, right to own property• government as a social contract to

protect individual rights• Outlines basic political philosophy of the

new republic• Justifies rebellion against Britain – rights

emphasized reflected traditional liberties to which colonists thought they were entitled

LOYALISTS V. PATRIOTS

• Those who remained loyal to the king

• Identification• Alliance• Fear• Royal officials• Anglican clergy• Merchants• Backcountry• Some slaves

• Those in favor of independence

• Actively sought supporters

• City dwellers• Colonial

representatives

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

COLONIES

• Fought and died in wars w/ NA and Europeans enemies

• Risk life and health in a new environment

• Proud and loyal English subjects entitled to rights

• Familiar with life in colonies more so than in England

• God-given liberty

BRITISH EMPIRE/PARLIAMENT

• Provide protection from Natives and Europeans

• Benefit exceptionally well from success of British Empire w/ little contribution

• Abide by the rule of law

• Colonists as second-class citizens

• Britain's pay 2-3 times taxes than colonists