Download The Duel for North America

Survey
yes no Was this document useful for you?
   Thank you for your participation!

* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project

Document related concepts
no text concepts found
Transcript
The Duel for North America
1608-1773
I. France Finds a Foothold in Canada
 Latecomer to colonizing New World
 Louis XIV took interest in colonial






expansion
First successful colony Quebec 1609
Samuel de Champlain explore,
solider, leader early French colonial
efforts
Colony known as New France
Problems with Iroquois hampered
French conquest of Ohio River
Valley
French colonies autocratic, no
representative assemblies, no right
to fair trail
Favored Caribbean colonies because
of sugar trade
II. New France Fans Out
 Most valuable resource in New




France- beaver fur
Fur trappers (voyageurs)
trapped beaver, recruited
Indians into fur business
Traveled deep into wilderness,
created ecological disaster by
eliminating most of beaver
population
French Missionaries
attempted to “Christianize”
Indians
Voyageurs, missionaries vital
role as explorers, geographers
II. New France Fans Out
 French try to block British and Spanish expansion
 Detroit (1701), keep out British
 LaSalle claims Mississippi River Valley for France
(Louisiana)
 French fortify posts along river to keep out Spanish,
protect beaver trade
 Establish New Orleans (1718) to keep fur and grain
flowing to mother country, keep MS River from
Spanish
French, Spanish and English Settlers
 Each country had different motives and settlement patterns
 French- friendly relations with Indians (comparatively), tried
to convert Natives to Christianity, came in small numbers,
extractive economic activity (fur trade), explored deep into
continent, Catholic, had economic motives
 Spanish- came to conquer (conquistador), looked for and
found precious minerals, tried to convert Indians, blended
their culture with Native culture, explored deep into continent
to look for wealth, Catholic
 English- came in larger groups (especially NE), settled and
“improved” land, more religiously tolerant, wiped out Indian
culture, established their own “footprint”, did not explore
deep into continent, mostly Protestant
III. Clash of Empires
 Four wars in the 17th and 18th century for economic
control of Americas
 King Williams War 1688-1697, Queen Anne’s
War 1701-1713
 Did not involve large numbers of troops, America
not seen as worthy of commitment from
European powers
 Usually involved French and Indian allies
attacking English colonial settlements
 Deerfield, MA; Schenectady, NY scenes of most
violence
III. Clash of Empires
Treaty of Utrecht 1713 British defeat French
England controlled most of Canada except land along St. Lawrence River
End of war begins period of “salutary neglect”
War of Jenkins Ear 1739 between British and Spanish, mostly in Caribbean,
some fighting in GA
 King Georges War 1744-1748 Colonists and British capture fort at entrance
to St. Lawrence River
 Peace treaty 1748 gives it back to France, enrages colonists
 As a result of wars British military more involved in colonies




IV. George Washington Inaugurates War with France
 Ohio River Valley becomes




source of problems between
British, French
Key to continent for French,
linked colonial holdings
Region key to economic
security for French
Land hungry British
colonists attempt to secure
“rights” to region
French building forts to
secure region
IV. George Washington Inaugurates War with France
 1754 Governor of VA sends group of militia to






secure claims, led by George Washington
Encounter small group of French soldiers near
Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh)
French initially defeated, return with
reinforcements
Washington forced to surrender
1755 British authorities uproot 4,000 French
from Nova Scotia, deportees end up in LA
(Cajuns)
Beginning of French and Indian War
War began in America, others began in Europe



England and Prussia vs. France, Spain,
Austria, and Russia
Bloodiest battles in Germany
“America conquered in Germany” British
statesman William Pitt
V. Global War and Colonial Disunity
 French and Indian War beginning






of colonial unity
Before certain colonies had
enjoyed advantage of remoteness,
now needed to come together to
fight French
1754 Colonists meet Albany, NY
Plan to keep Indians in check,
achieve colonial unity, common
defense against French
7 of 13 colonies show up
Ben Franklin “Join or Die” slogan,
presents Albany Plan for colonial
home rule (rejected by British),
colonists could not agree on details
First sign of colonial unity
VI. Braddock’s Blundering and Its Aftermath
 Indians allied with French, worried about British settlement
 First part of war went badly for British
 Slow moving, heavy artillery
 Poorly supplied, poorly disciplined colonial militia
 Smaller French force defeated them at Ft. Duquesne (Pittsburg)
 Opened up frontier from NC to PA to Indian attack
 Losses began to pile up for British
VII. Pitt’s Palms of Victory













1757- William Pitt becomes leader of London gov’t
Stopped concentrating on West Indies, focused on
Canada
Understood colonial concerns
Offered colonists a compromise:
col. loyalty & mil. cooperation-->Br.
would reimburse col. assemblies for
their costs.
Remove oppressive gov’t. officials
Result was improved colonial morale by 1758
1758 Louisbourg defeated
32 year old James Wolfe (BR) commanded troops
that attacked and defeated Quebec (1759)
1760 Montreal falls, last French stronghold
1763 Treaty of Paris French give up all claims
in NA
Spain received all land west of MS River and New
Orleans
British emerged as dominant regional power,
worlds most powerful navy
VIII. Restless Colonials
Effects of the war on the colonies
 Colonists came out of war confident, shattered myth of
British invincibility
 Colonists began to feel part of British Empire
 Barriers of disunity began to dissolve
 Colonists found unity in language, tradition, ideals
 Friction between colonials and British officers
 Colonials felt they deserved credit for war effort
 British said they did not support cause
 Smuggling by colonists helped FR and SP
 British position – colonists demand rights, without
paying dues, war increased British debt
IX. War’s Fateful Aftermath
 With Fr. gone colonists could roam freely across





Appalachian Mts.
Spanish, Indian threat reduced
Indians could not play Br and Fr against each other
1763 Ottawa chief Pontiac (Pontiac’s Rebellion) led attacks
on settlers
British retaliated (gave Indians smallpox infected blankets)
British saw need to stabilize frontier now that it was open
to settlement
IX. War’s Fateful Aftermath
Proclamation of 1763
 Prohibited settlement west
of Appalachian Mts.
 Designed not to oppress
colonists but to solve Indian
problem
 Colonists viewed it as form
of oppression
 Settlers went west anyway in
defiance of royal authority
The Road to Revolution
1763-1775
I. Deep Roots of Revolution
 Victory in Seven Years War costly
 After 1763 British wanted colonists to take on financial





burden
Crown began to exercise more authority (end of salutary
neglect)
Change in policy reinforced sense of American identity
American experience caused colonists to question ways of the
Old World, colonists felt fundamentally different from British
Americans had grown accustomed to running own affairs,
shock when British try to crack down
Two new political ideas emerged during colonial experiencerepublicanism, ideas of Whigs
I. Deep Roots of Revolution
Republicanism
 Society where citizens
subordinate selfish interests
to common good
 Stability of government
depended on authority of
“good” government
 Opposed to authoritarian
institutions (monarchy,
aristocracy)
Whig Political Thought
Result of more royal authority
 Threat to liberty by monarch
 Warned citizens to be on
guard against corruption
 People should be
represented by elected
officials, not monarchs
II. Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances
 British authorities embraced policy of mercantilism
(countries wealth measured by gold and silver, needed to
export more than import, colonies needed to supply mother
country with raw materials)
 Colonists felt British policies handcuffed American trade
 Colonies provided raw materials, acted a market for
finished products
 Enumerated goods, certain products could only be
shipped to England
 To the British the Americans were tenants, not built for
economic self sufficiency or self government
II. Merits and Menace of Mercantilism
Merits of Mercantilism
British tried to regulate colonial trade (Navigation Acts 1660, 1663,
1673, 1696)
 Before 1763 Navigation Laws (with some exceptions) not a






burden, lack of enforcement called “salutary neglect”
Tobacco planters had a monopoly in Britain
Americans had some form self-government.
British mightiest army in the world, colonists didn’t have to
pay for it.
Repressive laws weren’t enforced much, average American
benefited much more than the average Englishman.
Mistakes that occurred didn’t occur out of malice, at least until
revolution.
France and Spain embraced mercantilism, enforced it heavily.
II. Merits and Menace of Mercantilism
Menace of Mercantilism
 After enforcement of mercantilist policies fuse of
revolution was lit
 Stifled economic initiative
 Dependent on British agents and creditors
 State of perpetual economic adolescence
 The South, which produced crops that weren’t grown
in England, was preferred over the North
 Colonists felt British were taking advantage of them
III. Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances
Currency shortage in colonies
 Regularly bought more than they sold to Britain, trade with West
Indies drained cash
 Colonies needed hard currency
 Parliament prohibited colonies to print money, they did anyway
 Colonists saw interests being sacrificed for British commercial
interests
 British also could nullify any colonial legislation (did not happen
often)
 Principle weighed more heavily than practice
IV. The Stamp Tax Uproar
 Half of British debt came from Seven Years




War, wanted colonists to pay for own
defense
Britain began to redefine relationship with
colonies
1763- Prime Minister George Greenville
began to enforce Navigation Acts
1764- Parliament passed Sugar Act- duty
on imported sugar
1765- Quartering Act, required certain
colonies to provide food and lodging troops
IV. The Stamp Tax Uproar
 1765 worst of all the Stamp Act
 Mandated the use of stamps, certifying payment of
tax.
 Required on bills of sale for about 50 trade items and
on certain types of commercial and legal documents.
 Both the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act offenders tried
in the admiralty courts, where defenders were
guilty until proven innocent
 Greenville felt taxes were justified, British paid much
heavier tax
IV. The Stamp Tax Uproar
 Colonists angry at fiscal aggression



Colonial assemblies refused to provide supplies for
troops
Felt unfairly taxed for unnecessary
army, lashed out against the stamp tax.
Americans formed the battle cry, “No taxation
without representation!”
 Angered, to the principle of the matter
 Americans denied the right of Parliament
to tax Americans, since none were in
Parliament.
 British idea of “virtual
representation,” every Parliament
member represented all British subjects
(so Americans were represented).
 Americans rejected “virtual
representation”, began to consider political
independence
V. Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act
 1765- Stamp Act Congress drew up statement of
rights and grievances, asked king and Parliament to
repeal tax
 Congress made colonies feel unified against common
cause
 Colonists began to boycott imported British goods,
more effective than congress
 Ordinary people began to participate in colonial
protests, opportunity for women “spinning bees”
V. Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act
 Sons and Daughters of Liberty took the





law into their own hands
Punished people who purchased British
goods, stormed the houses of important
officials
Machinery to collect tax broke down, no
officials to collect taxes
Hit England hard (25% of exports purchased
by colonies)
Parliament confused, Britons had to pay
much heavier taxes
1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act,
passed the Declaratory Act, defined British
had unqualified sovereignty over the colonies
VII. The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston Massacre
 Americans in rebellious mood after





victory over Stamp Act
1767 Charles “Champagne Charley”
Townshend persuaded Parliament to
pass the Townshend Acts
Revenue to pay salaries of royal
officials in America
Taxes on lead, paper, paint, and tea,
later repealed, except tea.
1767- New York’s legislature
suspended for failure to comply with
the Quartering Act.
Tea became smuggled, to enforce the
law, Brits had to send troops to
America
VII. The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston Massacre
 March 5, 1770, a crowd of about 60
townspeople in Boston were harassing
some ten Redcoats.
 One fellow got hit in the head, another
got hit by a club.
 Without orders but heavily provoked,
the troops opened fire, wounding or
killing eleven “innocent” citizens,
including Crispus Attucks, a black
former-slave and the “leader” of the
mob in the Boston Massacre. Attucks
became a symbol of freedom (from
slave, to freeman, to martyr who stood
up to Britain for liberty).
 Only two Redcoats were prosecuted,
represented by John Adams
VIII. The Seditious Committees of Correspondence
 1770- King George III good person, but a poor
ruler who surrounded himself with “yes men”, like
Lord North.
 Townshend Taxes repealed, except for the tea tax,
kept alive idea of parliamentary taxation
 1772- Resistance kept alive through Committees
of Correspondence, organized by Samuel
Adams
 1773- Inter-colonial committees established,
exchanged letters, ideas and information, kept alive
opposition across all colonies
IX. Tea Brewing in Boston
1773- British East India Company, overburdened
with unsold tea, was facing bankruptcy.
 The British decided to sell it to the Americans,
 Seen as an attempt to trick the Americans with the
bait of cheaper tea to pay tax.
 December 16, 1773, some whites, led by patriot
Samuel Adams, disguised themselves as Indians,
opened 342 chests and dumped the tea
into the ocean in this “Boston Tea Party.”
 People in Annapolis did the same and burnt the
ships to water level.
 Reaction was varied, from approval to outrage to
disapproval.

o British felt they had no alternative
but to whip colonists into shape
X. Parliament Passes the Intolerable Acts
1774- Parliament passed a series of repressive acts to punish the colonies, namely
Massachusetts.
 Called the Intolerable Acts by Americans.
 The Boston Port Act closed the harbor in Boston.
 Self-government limited by forbidding town hall meetings without approval.
 The charter to Massachusetts was revoked

The Quebec Act
 Intended by British to administer conquered territory
 Guaranteed Catholicism to the French-Canadians, retain their old customs, extended
the old boundaries of Quebec all the way to the Ohio River (areas off limits by
Proclamation of 1763)
 Americans saw their territory threatened, aroused anti-Catholics, lack of
representative assemblies or trial by jury seen as a dangerous precedent, land
speculators see huge area taken away

XI. Bloodshed






Philadelphia 1774- First Continental
Congress met to discuss problems.
Not wanting independence yet, came up with a list
of grievances, ignored in Parliament.
12 of 13 colonies met, only Georgia didn’t have a
representative there.
Came up with a Declaration of Rights.
Boycott of British goods
Began to arm colonists
 Split into three groups- moderates
(wanted relationship with GB repaired)
radicals (wanted complete split,
minority) and conservatives (wanted to
restore pre-1763 relationship)
XI. Bloodshed
 The “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”



April 1775, the British commander
in Boston sent troops to nearby
Lexington and Concord, seize
supplies, capture Sam Adams and
John Hancock.
Minutemen, after having eight of
their own killed at Lexington,
fought back at Concord, British
retreat to Boston
Beginning of American Revolution
XII. Imperial Strength and Weakness
 Britain had the heavy advantage:
 7.5 million people to America’s 2 million
 superior naval power
 great wealth, could hire mercenaries (German Hessians)
 Little popular support in Britain
 Whigs wanted American victory, feared George III arbitrary rule
 Generals poor, soldiers well trained
 Provisions scarce
 Fighting far from home
 American geography, lack of population centers gave Americans time,
British fits
XII. American Pluses and Minuses
 Advantages
 Great leaders -George Washington (giant general), and Ben Franklin
(smooth diplomat).
 French aid (indirect and secretly), provided the Americans with guns,
supplies, gunpowder, etc…

Marquis de Lafayette a great asset.
 Fighting in a defensive manner, and they were self-sustaining.
 They were better marksmen. A competent American rifleman could hit
a man’s head at 200 yards.
 Americans enjoyed the moral advantage in fighting for a just
cause
XII. American Pluses and Minuses
Disadvantages
 Lacking in unity
1. Colonies resented the Continental Congress’ attempt at
exercising power
2. Sectional jealousy over the appointment of military leaders
 Americans had little money. Inflation also hit families of
soldiers hard, and made many people poor.
 Colonial money worthless, inflation of prices for basic
goods
 Americans had no navy.
XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes







American army was desperately in need of clothing, wool, wagons to ship food, and other
supplies.
Many soldiers had also only received rudimentary training.
German Baron von Steuben, who spoke no English, whipped the soldiers into shape
African Americans fought in the beginning, many colonies barred them from service.
 By war’s end, more than 5,000 blacks had enlisted in the American armed forces.
 African-Americans served on the British side.
 1775, Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, issued
a proclamation declaring freedom for any enslaved black in Virginia who
joined the British Army.
 End of war more than 1,400 Blacks were evacuated to Nova Scotia, Jamaica, and
England.
Many people also sold items to the British, because they paid in gold.
Many people just didn’t care about the revolution, raising a large number of troops was
difficult
Select few threw themselves into the cause with passion