Download The American Revolution

The American
Revolution
And its effects on Canada
What is a Revolution?
The Anatomy of a
Revolution
1. A mass of discontent
2. New ideas and new systems to
replace the old
3. A leader
4. A catalyst
The Mass of Discontent
• During the Seven Years War the
British were not happy with the
ability of the colonies to defend
themselves
• Most of the fighting was done by the
British regular army and peasant
militia was of little consequence
• The British were then faced with the
task of raising, training, and
maintaining an army in North
America
The Mass of Discontent
(con’t)
•
This task would prove to be very
expensive
• The British felt that the cost should
be born by the colonies
• In order to finance this army Britain
instituted some new laws
1. The Stamp Act (1765)
2. The Quartering Act (1765)
3. The Townshend Acts (1767)
The Stamp Act
• The Stamp Act called for stamps to
be placed on all newspapers and
legal documents
• This was the first ever tax levied
directly on the colonies
• The representatives of the Thirteen
Colonies met in New York to discuss
their course of action
The Stamp Act (con’t)
• The group decided to boycott British
goods and to encourage the public to
disregard the act
• The Stamp Act Congress coined the
popular revolutionary phrase “no
taxation without representation”
• The turmoil caused by the Stamp Act
lead to its repeal in 1766
• The British also passed the
Declaratory Act which reasserted the
King’s power over the colonies
The Quartering Act
• This act allowed the quartering of
British troops in Private homes
• This was widely practiced in Europe
but had never been done in North
America
• The New York legislature refused to
make arrangements for the
quartering of General Gage and his
men as they felt it violated their
rights
The Townshend Acts
• These acts were also designed to
raise money for the cost of colonial
defense
• Duties were imposed on imported
goods such as glass, tea, paint, and
paper
• As they had done before the
colonials organized a boycott of
British goods
• The Boston Massacre resulted when
protesters clashed with British
troops
The Townshend Acts
• Because of this the act was
repealed except for a small tax on
tea
• Radicals encouraged by this show of
“weakness” then raided British ships
and dumped their cargo of tea into
the Boston harbor
• This was known as the Boston Tea
Party
The Mass of Discontent
(con’t)
• The response to these acts provoked
a change in tactics by the British
• In an attempt to make an example of
Massachusetts the British passed
the Coercive Acts
• In the Thirteen Colonies these were
known as the Intolerable Acts
The Mass of Discontent
(con’t)
The Coercive Acts were:
1. The Boston Port Act
2. The Massachusetts
Government Act
3. The Administration of Justice
Act
4. The Quartering Act
5. The Quebec Act
The Boston Port Act
• This act closed the port of
Boston to shipping and trade
• It effectively crippled the
economy of Massachusetts
The Massachusetts
Government Act
• This act revoked the Charter of
Massachusetts
• It outlawed township meetings
and limited the rights of the
people
The Administration of
Justice Act
• This act allowed British soldiers
who were accused of crimes to
stand trial in England away from
the hostile environment
The Quartering Act
• This act had already been in
place but was now strictly
enforced
• This made British troops more
numerous and apparent in
Boston
The Quebec Act
• This act was seen as proof that
Britain was planning to stifle
Massachusetts
• It cut off western expansion which
was a prized dream of the Americans
• It also recognized the Catholic
Church in Quebec
• Finally the Quebec Act did not prove
the people with an elected assembly
which the British-Americans held so
dear
The Quebec Act
The New Ideas
• The new ideas that the United
States would be based on were not
all new
• The idea of a republic was an
ancient Roman innovation
• The Separation of powers was
advocated by the Baron de
Montesquieu
• The Laissez-Faire economy was
theorized by Adam Smith
The Leader
• There was not one leader but several
in the American Revolution
• They included but were not limited
to:
•
•
•
•
George Washington
Tomas Jefferson
John Adams
Benjamin Franklin
The Catalyst
• In April 1775 General Tomas Gage
sent men to destroy a cache of arms
in Concord, Massachusetts
• On the way they met armed
militiamen and a battle ensued with
some loss of life
• Word quickly spread that the British
were shooting the innocent and…
Propaganda
The Canadian
Connection
• The conflict tested the Quebec Act
• Carlton’s plan to gain popular
support from the French inhabitants
of Quebec was tested when the
Americans offered to make Quebec
the fourteenth colony
• The Americans felt that as a
“captive people” the French would
be eager to gain independence from
the British
The Canadian
Connection (con’t)
• What the American’s did not
count on was the French desire
to remain a distinct society
• This they felt was better
achieved under British rule
• They were not moved to fight
for Britain either and remained
neutral throughout the conflict
The Canadian
Connection (con’t)
• American overtures in Nova
Scotia were also rebuffed
• The Nova Scotians were closely
tied to the British and did not
find British rule as oppressive
as their American relatives
Outcomes of the
Conflict
• The United States was formed
• The Ohio Valley passed from Quebec
to the USA
• IT became apparent that the French
Canadians were not concerned with
British Imperial matters
• In stead they were more concerned
with preserving their way of life
Outcomes of the
Conflict (con’t)
• British merchants in Quebec
accused the government of
sacrificing the interest of the
colonies to be on better grounds
with the United States
• American Revolution ended in 1783
and the creation of the United States
produced several geographic and
economic consequences for British
North America.
Discussion Questions
• In what way was the Quebec
Act a success?
• How did it fail?