Download From Comfort to Discontent

From Comfort to
Discontent
A change in the relationship
between Great Britain and its
American Colonies
In the 1700s, Great
Britain was
comprised on
England, Wales, and
Scotland.
Today, Northern
Ireland is also part
the UK, or United
Kingdom (in 1800 all
of Ireland was part
of it; all but the north
wanted & won
independence)
1619 (or so)

Promises of cheap land and religious &
political freedom attract settlers to
America.
– Southern colonies = financial profit.
– New England colonies = religious freedoms
– Middle Colonies= some religious, some
financial
– Idealism (the perfect society!!) Examples:
Pennsylvania: William Penn wanted people to be “as
free and happy as can be.” Georgia: James
Oglethorpe was saddened by the men and women
rotting in England’s prisons for doing nothing more
than being in debt-- he founded GA as a refuge
A Tiny Little Bit of Control….

During these early years of settlement
England largely ignored its colonies.
When Charles II became King in 1660 he
insisted that “distance of place” should not
remove the colonies from “justice and
power.” Thus, we have the….
Navigation Acts of 1660: more
control!!
Under the Nav. Acts, colonists could
export primary crops only to England or
other English colonies.
 Under the Nav. Acts, colonists had to
import all manufactured goods from only
England (and all goods flowing in and out
had to carried on English ships!!!)

Self Sufficient Empire!!!
Colonial Reactions to the Nav. Acts:
For the most part, cool with it and even thrived-- they had a
guaranteed market for their stuff…
– Southern colonies shipped tobacco, rice and indigo
directly to England for sale.
– Middle colonies sent grains to English sugar plantations in
West Indies to feed slaves.
 New England colonies however…
– Thin soil meant no crops for export.
– NE colonies had a lot of the stuff that England had…
– Wealth was based on fishing, shipbuilding and trade-now that trade was considered illegal if it wasn’t from
England.
– Ironically, smuggling goods became a respected
profession amongst the descendants of Puritans.

A typical view of the
England/Colonist relationship by
1750:
Most colonists looked at royal
instructions as little more than
guidelines set down by the crown
for governors in the colonies.
More on a typical colonial view of
the relationship by 1750…
Our governor is a political
hack and no good. He
is more fit for an insane
asylum or other
hospital, than to be set
over a respectable
colony. We will simply
control how much
money he makes and
the fool will do as we
please!
North American land Claims, 1753
By 1750, the rivalry between the
British and the French was
intense. The focus of tension:
The Ohio River Valley
-- it was LUSH and both sides
thought it essential to their
colonial expansion (French troops
were building forts on what Brits
thought was their territory)
The French and Indian War
 George
Washington and 150 Virginia
militiamen crossed the Appalachian
Mountains to warn the French that they
were building forts on land “known to be
the property of the Crown of Great
Britain.” The French said bug off.
One Year Later:
Washington and his men return to the Ohio
River Valley with 150 Virginia militiamen
 WA + men defeated a small French
force….they then found themselves
surrounded by 600 French troops
 WA + men threw together a log stockade
aptly named “Fort Necessity”
 WA + men held their ground for 10 hours
before surrendering (lost over 100 men!)
 The Native Americans, who watched this
conflict with great interest, side with the
winners…the French

1755, things begin to go badly for
British
British Guy
French Guy
More F&I War:

In 1755, British General Braddock and
800 troops join Washington with his 600
militiamen to drive the French from the
Ohio River Valley. 2/3 of the British force
was lost in this wilderness slaughter
(Native Americans helped the French by
hiding in the woods and picking off the
red-coated Brits!)
And then in 1759, things go better
for the British
British Guy
French Guy
The tide turned…..

This took place when British troops
invaded the city of Quebec (see photo in
next slide). British troops were able to
sneak up the cliff side in the dark and
attack the French the following morning.
Quebec fell to the British and was just one
of many victories in the year 1759.
The Treaty of Paris, 1763
Officially ended the French & Indian War
– French are kicked out of N. America
– France gave Canada to Britain, as well as the
Mississippi River Valley (Louisiana).
– Spain gets everything West of the Mississippi
River (France gave all its western lands to Spain to keep the British
out --Spain gave up Florida to get the lands).

The sun never sets on the British Empire
(the British emerged from the war as the
most powerful nation in the world!)
North American land claims, 1763
Cost of Victory to Colonists
With victory came new problems: How to keep peace
with Natives in Ohio River Valley?????
 Native Unrest in Ohio River valley

– 1763, an Ottawa chief named Pontiac organized an attack
on the British fort of Detroit.
– The Delawares, Shawnees, and Senecas captured other
outposts.
– Attacked backcountry settlements in Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and Virginia, killing about 2,000 colonists.

Britain issues a proclamation that no settlers will cross
the Appalachians and makes the Ohio River Valley an
Indian reservation.
The Proclamation of 1763

Angered Colonists
– Land-hungry settlers had no where to go.
– Land speculators with investments on the
other side of the app. mtns. feared their land
worthless– it was now essentially an Indian
Reservation
– Veterans and supporters of the French and
Indian war felt that their efforts were useless.
The fruits of victory were
denied…so many disobeyed
and settled there anyway!
King George III
How do I keep
my peeps from
disobeying the
Proclamation of
1763???
Your
ideas???
Fallout of the F & I War
10,000 British troops to be stationed in
the colonies (to enforce Proc. of 1763)
 £ 140,000,000 debt incurred from war,
half from defending the colonies.
 Had to figure out a way to pay for war
and troops…

– The assemblies of the colonies, even during
the war, were reluctant to vote money for war
supplies or raise troops.
– Some other way would have to be
found….wait for it…
The colonists perspective of all this…
Didn’t feel they should have to pay for war
 Questioned the use of troops

– Why were they needed now with the French
gone?
– Parents worried that children would pick up bad
habits of “rakes and wastrels” of the British army.
– Some colonists believed troops were there to force
unpopular acts of Parliament on them (ummm,
they were).
– Worried they would have to pay to support the
troops (and the war!)….and they did….in TWO
WAYS:
How were the colonists forced to help pay for war costs and
troops?
1.THE SUGAR ACT OF 1764: taxed imported sugar and
molasses; $ goes to England
2. QUARTERING ACT OF 1765: The troops sent to enforce the
Proclamation of 1763 would now be supported by the
colonists; the act forced colonies to provide for the basic
needs of all soldiers living within its borders (bedding, cooking
utensils, firewood, beer, candles, and housing!)
3. THE STAMP ACT OF 1765: When the colonists FREAKED
about the Sugar Act (they organized and boycotted!), this was
put in place instead. It required them to pay for a stamp or
seal whenever they bought paper items. If you refuse to pay,
you are fined or jailed.
Sooooooooooo…
Things are heating up
between Colonists and
Mother E.!