Download Chapter 7 Powerpoint

Who drew this?
What was his purpose?
What was this in response to?
What conclusions can be drawn from what is depicted
here?
Chapter 7: The Road To Revolution
1763-1775
-7 Years War
= Brits dominant in America
-Victory was costly
-After 1763 attempt to compel colonists to take on costs of empire
-Change reinforces emerging sense of American political identity
-Most still reluctant revolutionaries – seek only rights of Englishmen, not
separation
MERCANTILISM
FRENCH AND
INDIAN WAR
ENLIGHTENMENT
IDEAS
CAUSES OF
AMERICAN
INDEPENDENCE
MOVEMENT
POPULATION
EXPLOSION AND
EXPERIENCES
OF COLONIAL
SELF-RULE
RESTRICTIVE
LAWS
PASSED
BY BRITISH
GREAT
AWAKENING
3
In what ways was life in the BNA
colonies different than in Europe?
New – new ideas about society, citizen,
gov’t; could make world the way they
wanted it
 Old – changeless surroundings; don’t
question social status

What were two ideas about
government that were taking root in
the minds of the colonists?
Republicanism: a just society where
citizens subordinate private interests to
common good; stability depends on
consent and involvement
 Vigilance: guard against corruption,
conspiracies to strip liberties; fight for
what you have

What were the basic ideas behind
mercantilism?





Helps to justify Brit control over colonies
Wealth = power- must export more than import
w/ colonies, have raw material base and
guaranteed market for exports
Colonists seen as tenants – supply materials to
England, buy English imported goods
See Adam Smith’s comments, p. 123
Mercantilism
Defined as the economic system practiced mainly during the 17th
and 18th centuries by European nations.
Based on the belief that there was a limited amount of wealth in
the world and the way to get the most gold and silver was to heavily
regulate manufacturing, trade, and production within a country and
its colonies.
Great Britain, for example, would purchase raw materials from the
North American colonies at a low price determined by the British
government.Then the colonies were required to purchase the finished
goods manufactured in Britain at high prices also set by the British
government.The North American colonies were only allowed to trade
within the British empire.
This system led to bitterness on the part of the colonists who had
very little input in their economic policies.
7
How mercantilism worked
Mother
country
Raw materials
Colonies
Finished products
8
How did the British attempt to
regulate the mercantilist system?

Navigation Law of 1650
◦ To eliminate competition, all commerce to
and from colonies transported in Brit ships
◦ European goods to America first stop in
England, collect tariff, middlemen get their cut
◦ American merchants ship goods only to
England, then re-exported from there
Molassas Act of 1733
What were the merits and menace
of mercantilism?
Until 1763, laws only loosely enforced
 Americans have monopoly in B markets
 Protection from world’s best navy w/out
having to pay for it
 Bad – stifles economic initiative;
dependence on one supplier; shortages
 See cartoon p. 124

The Brits came out of the 7 Years War
w/ a huge empire and huge debt, much
from defending colonies. Name 4 ways
they tried to recoup that debt.





1763 – strict enforcement of Navigation Laws
1764 – Sugar Act – 1st law ever for raising $ for crown in colonies
1765 – Quartering Act – requires some colonies (not individual
colonists) to provide food/quarter for Brit troops
1765 – Stamp Act – worst – stamped paper or stamps on basically
all paper products from legal documents to playing cards
Grenville sees as fair – Americans should pay for own defense, plus
Brits had heavier stamp tax for some time
Sugar Act (1764)
• Passed by Parliament upon the urging of
Prime Minister George Grenville.
• Increased tax duties colonists had to pay on
goods such as coffee, sugar, textiles, indigo,
and wine.
• Grenville hoped to increase his popularity
with the British people by decreasing their
tax burden, while increasing the responsibility
of the colonists to pay the cost of maintaining
British troops in the colonies.
• Colonists opposed the idea of being taxed
without representation in Parliament, which
was one of the fundamental causes of the
American Revolution.
Prime Minister
George Grenville
12
The Stamp Act, passed by British Parliament March 22, 1765.
The purpose of the law was
to pay for the high cost of
managing and protecting the
colonies, as well as the war
debt from the French and
Indian War.
AN ACT for granting and applying certain
stamp duties, and other duties, in the British
colonies and plantations in America, towards
further defraying the expences of defending,
protecting, and securing the same; and for
amending such parts of the several acts of
parliament relating to the trade and revenues of
the said colonies and plantations, as direct the
manner of determining and recovering the
penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned.
13
The law required that a tax be placed on nearly all
“everyday” transactions.
Included in the list
were:
• Newspapers
• Diplomas
• Playing cards
• Printed sermons
• Deeds for transacted
property
The stamp
• Nearly all printed
materials
Colonists read with dismay about
the new Stamp Tax imposed by
the British Parliament
14
Why, besides the obvious, were the
colonists upset about these actions?
Taxes striking at local liberties (time)
 Jeopardize rights of Englishmen

◦ Sugar/Stamp Acts – tried in admiralty courts,
no jury, burden of proof on defendant –
assume guilty
◦ Jury trial/innocence privileges all Englishmen
had
PLUS…WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE HERE
ANYWAY!!??
Writs of Assistance
Writs of Assistance were court orders, originally passed in Massachusetts in 1751,
which allowed customs officials to search locations for “contraband”, items that
were being smuggled into the colonies without the proper duties (taxes) being
paid.
The searches were “non-specific”… the goods being searched for did not have to
be announced, nor did the locations searched. Essentially they were blank search
warrants with no limits.
Not only were colonial businesses allowed to be searched, but customs officials
were also empowered to search private homes as well. Many colonists saw this as
a direct violation of their rights.
16
James Otis: Colonial America’s
Worst Luck Winner
Opposition to the Writs
James Otis, a former customs official and attorney, was
an important leader in colonial opposition to British
mercantile policies and the Townshend duties.
He represented Boston merchants in the court case
that attempted to block renewal of the writs. Otis
argued that the writs violated the colonists’ natural
rights, noting:
“A man’s house is his castle; and whilst he is quiet, he is
as well guarded as a prince in his castle.This writ, if it
should be declared legal, would totally annihilate this
privilege.”
After a harsh attack against a Boston Customs official
published in a newspaper, the official found Otis, and
beat him severely with a cane. For the remainder of his
life, Otis was subject to bouts of temporary insanity, and
was killed by lightning in 1783.
James Otis
18
How do the colonists try to distinguish
between taxation and legislation?
Concede right of Parliament to legislate
matters affecting entire empire
 Denies right of Parliament to impose
taxes on them

◦ No Americans in Parliament = no
representation
◦ Only own colonial legislatures could tax
What was the British (PM Grenville)
response?
Power of Parliament is supreme and
undivided
 “virtual representation” – every member of
P represents all Brit subjects, even
Americans
 Power of gov’t can’t be divided b/t legislative
authority in London and taxing authority
colonies
 Will force Americans to deny authority of P
altogether

Did Americans really want direct
representation anyway?
Probably not
 If did, would be few in number
 Would have no power in P and P could
pass taxes anyway and claim that
Americans had representation

What were the reactions in the
colonies to the Stamp Act?
Outcries take various forms
 Stamp Act Congress 1765

◦ 27 delegates, 9 colonies
◦ Statement of rights and grievances, ask King/P
to repeal
◦ Largely ignored in both England/America
The Stamp Act Congress
 Delegates from nine colonies met in New York City in October, 1765 with
the goal of convincing Britain to repeal the Stamp Act.
 The Congress issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances which included:
1. Only the colonial assemblies had a right to tax the colonies.
2.Trial by jury was a right, and the use of Admiralty Courts was abusive.
3. Colonists possessed all the rights of Englishmen.
4. Without voting rights, Parliament could NOT represent the colonists.
23
Reactions - continued

Nonimportation Agreements
◦ More effective than SA Congress
◦ United in common action (unity?)
◦ Opportunities to participate in colonial
protests
◦ Petitions to vow to consumer boycotts
◦ Public defiance spreads angry resistance
Reactions - continued

Sons/Daughters of Liberty
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Enforce nonimportation agreements
Take law into own hands
Tar/feather violators
Ransack officials homes
Hang effigies of stamp agents on liberty poles
Machinery for collection broken down
 Stamp agents all forced to resign, no one to sell
stamps
The Sons of Liberty, 1765
The Sons of Liberty brought
together several colonial groups
that opposed the Stamp Act.
Many members of the group were
less educated shopkeepers, artisans,
and laborers. Sometimes their
protests turned violent; harassing
tax collectors, or in one instance,
burning the home of Lieutenant
Governor Thomas Hutchinson.
Later, as the colonies edged closer
to war, the Sons of Liberty
masterminded the Boston Tea
Party.
This banner was the Sons of
Liberty’s official flag.
26
Founding members of the Sons of Liberty
Samuel Adams
Born in 1722, he attended Boston Latin School
as well as Harvard. After graduation, he became
partners with his father in a brewing business.
Adams’ father lost most of his fortune in a
paper currency deal when the British
government outlawed colonial paper currency,
which may have been a factor in Samuel
becoming a leader in the Sons of Liberty. Later
he signed the Declaration of Independence and
fought for the Bill of Rights to be included in the
Constitution.
Patrick
Henry
Radical advocate of independence from
Britain. Proposed the Virginia Stamp Act
Resolutions, and in his speech
introducing them, Henry remarked, “…if
this be treason, make the most of it!”.
Henry’s most famous quote: “I know not
what course others may take, but as for
me, give me liberty or give me death!”.
Henry later served as governor of
Virginia.
27
Tarring and feathering a tax collector
Seen as a symbol of unfair
British authority, tax collectors
were frequently hung in effigy,
or as this colonial era drawing
depicts, some tax collectors
were tarred and feathered.
In this process, the head of the
victim was shaved, and hot tar
poured over it. Afterwards, a
bag of feathers was shaken over
him.
28
What effect did the nonimportation
agreements have in England?
Brits hard hit
 America bought ¼ of all Brit goods; ½ of
Brit shipping devoted to American trade
 Loud cries in P for repeal – done in 1766
 But… do issue Declaratory Act

◦ Reaffirms P’s right to rule over colonies in all
cases
◦ Absolute and unqualified sovereignty over
colonies
The Next Step…

How was the Townshend Tea Tax
supposed to collect money, and what was
the real problem the colonists had with
the tax?
Townshend Tea Tax, 1767
Light import duty on glass, white lead, paper,
paint, tea
 Indirect customs duty payable at American
ports
 Indirect vs. direct taxation
 The real problem:

◦ Americans lose POWER OF THE PURSE
◦ Also:
 After Townshend taxes, Brits suspend NY legislature
 Nonimportation agreements arise, but not as severe
(got illegal tea cheap)
How did the Boston Massacre
unfold?
Brit officials faced w/ breakdown of law
and order
 Send 2 regiments of many drunken and
profane troops to Boston in 1768
 Colonists resent presence and taunt
unmercifully
 March 5, 1770 – 60 colonists taunting and
throwing snowballs at squad of 10
redcoats

Paul Revere’s engraving of the Boston Massacre
March 5, 1770
33
Tension in Boston erupted in violence
The British military occupation of Boston
increased the friction between the
colonists and the soldiers and resulted in
an event known as the “Boston Massacre”.
Apparently, several local youths began
hurling snowballs at British sentries. Other
Boston residents joined in.
The British soldiers moved into formation,
and although ordered by their
commander not to fire on the crowd, they
did so. Five colonists died in the
encounter, and six were injured. One of
the killed was Crispus Attucks who is
considered by some to be the first
casualty of the American Revolution.
34
The colonist version
The British version
The engraving on the left, created by Paul Revere, demonstrates the colonial view of
the massacre, with the British appearing to be the aggressors. The painting on the
right, done by a British artist, shows the colonists armed and the British soldiers more
in a defensive posture.
Without photographic evidence both sides could interpret the event to their
advantage.
35
The dead colonists
Among those killed in the Boston
Massacre was Crispus Attucks.
Generally believed to be a runaway
slave, he is featured prominently in
several of the engravings of the
Massacre, and is considered in legend to
be the first casualty in the American
Revolution.
However, some modern historians
believe that Attucks wasn’t the first
killed, but rather was killed by a bullet
deflected as it passed through another
casualty of the Massacre.
Crispus Attucks
Also killed was Samuel Gray, Samuel
Maverick, James Caldwell, and Patrick
Carr.
36
The trial of the British soldiers
In October 1770, a trial was
held in colonial court
accusing several of the British
soldiers involved in the
shootings with murder.
John Adams, defense
attorney for the British
soldiers. Later was
elected the second
president of the United
States.
Six of the soldiers were found
innocent of any charges.Two
were convicted on
manslaughter charges and
were punished by having their
thumbs branded. Their
captain, Preston, was
acquitted because the jury
couldn’t be sure that he
ordered his troops to fire into
the crowd.
37
Video Clip
The Boston Massacre
 Perception vs. Reality

The Townshend Acts failed and were
repealed, but they kept a small tax on
tea (jerks). What did this prompt Sam
Adams to create? The answer is not
beer.
Sam Adams and Committees of
Correspondence
Spread spirit of resistance by exchanging
letters, keep opposition to Brit policy
alive
 Begin in Massachusetts, spread to others
 Significant in stimulating sentiment in
favor of united action - UNITY
 Evolves directly into first American
congress

December 16, 1773
41
What events led to and what was the
significance of the Boston Tea Party?
1773: 17 million lb tea surplus
 Brits give BEIC monopoly on BNA tea
 In other areas (Philly, NYC, Charleston)
ships turned back or confiscated
 Only Gov Hutchinson in Massachusetts
decided to enforce law

Causes of the Boston Tea Party
 Under pressure, Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts
 However, as a symbol of British authority, Parliament
maintained the tax on tea
 In 1773, the British Government passed the Tea Act, which
gave the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales
by allowing them to sell tea at a lower price than their
competitors
 The theory was that the colonists would accept the tax
more readily if they were able to get tea from the East India
Company at a lower price
 However colonial leaders in Boston protested, and cargoes
of tea on ships were held in Boston Harbor
 The captain of one of the ships, unable to unload, decided to
go back to England, but the British officials refused to allow
the ship to leave
43
continued
Demonstrations along eastern seaboard
 Boston – Gov Thomas Hutchinson
refuses to give in to will of colonists

◦ Agreed tax unjust, but colonists have no right
to disobey
◦ Orders tea ships not to leave Boston harbor
until unloaded
◦ Private letter intercepted where he declared
that some English liberties must be sacrificed
to preserve law and order – confirms
conspiracy theories
continued

December 16, 1773
◦ 100 Bostonians disguised as Indians smash
342 tea chests and dump into Harbor –
several hundred watch
◦ Tea symbolic – everyone, regardless of social
class, drank it
◦ Reactions vary
What were the British reactions to
the tea party?

British
◦ 1774 – P passes series of acts to punish
Boston in particular and Massachusetts in
general
◦ Collectively known as the Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts
In this cartoon from London Magazine, Lord North, author of the Boston Port Act, forces the “tea”
(the Intolerable Acts) down the throat of America while “Mother Brittania” weeps in the
background. Paul Revere saw the effectiveness of the cartoon and distributed it widely in the
colonies.
47
The major laws considered “intolerable”
 Boston Port Act: Closed the Port at Boston Harbor until the tea was paid for.
 Quartering Act: Forced the citizens of Massachusetts to house and feed British
soldiers in their homes.
 Massachusetts Government Act: Suspended the Massachusetts Colonial
Legislature until the tea was paid for.
 Administration of Justice Act: Guaranteed that British officials would not be tried
in colonial courts for capital crimes, but extradited to Britain. This meant local courts
could not try British officials giving them free reign.
48
Why was the Quebec Act of 1774 even
more despised than the Intolerable Acts?







Passed at same time as IA’s, but not punishment
Brits plan to manage 60k French in Canada
Guaranteed Catholic religion, old customs and
institutions (no jury trial, no rep assemblies),
boundaries extended to OH river
IA’s directed at Massachusetts, Quebec much
farther reaching
Set dangerous precedent for Americans
Large amount of trans-Allegheny land taken from
speculators and Protestants
See map p.133
The Intolerable Acts primarily punished Boston, while these two laws
passed around the same time affected a greater area
 Quebec Act: Restored French common law and moved the southern
boundary of Quebec to the Ohio River. Since many colonial land speculators had
claims in the frontier, this caused them to be concerned.
 Currency Act: Prohibited the colonies from issuing paper money. Since many
colonies had already issued script, their money was worthless and the result was
a severely handicapped colonial economy.
50
What were the colonists responses
to the Intolerable Acts?

First Continental Congress, 1774
◦
◦
◦
◦
Philly, 12 of 13, 55 men, 54 days
Not legislative, but consultative
Declaration of Rights
The Association – most significant act of 1st
CC – complete boycott: nonimportation,
nonexportation, nonconsumption
◦ NOT calling for independence
◦ P rejects (of course, jerks)
Print shows satire of
American women from
Edenton, North Carolina,
pledging to boycott English
tea in response to
Continental Congress
resolution in 1774 to
boycott English goods
52
Delegates from 12 colonies (all except Georgia) met to
discuss the situation with Britain in the fall of 1774.
They met at Carpenters’
Hall in Philadelphia in what
became known as the “First
Continental Congress” to
convince Parliament to
repeal the Intolerable Acts.
Delegates included John
Adams, Benjamin Franklin,
Samuel Adams, George
Washington, Richard Henry
Lee, and John Jay.
Carpenters Hall
53
Continental Congress’ Resolutions
The Congress did not intend to declare
independence from Britain.The delegates
believed that they were entitled to the
same rights as all Englishmen and that
the Intolerable Acts and other laws
violated those rights.
At the conclusion of the Congress, the
delegates signed non-importation
agreements boycotting British goods. In
addition, they pledged to meet again in
1775 if the Intolerable Acts were not
repealed.
However, before the delegates could meet
again, the Revolutionary War had begun,
and the Second Continental Congress
found itself occupied with the conduct of
a war rather than repeal of the
Intolerable Acts.
The Non-Importation agreement
54
So, how does the Revolutionary
War actually begin?

Lexington and Concord
Colonists prepared for combat
 In several Massachusetts towns people
had begun to stockpile weapons and train
openly for combat
 General Thomas Gage, British military
governor of Massachusetts, learned of
colonial military preparations, and ordered
British troops to Lexington and Concord
to seize weapons
General Thomas Gage
56
“One if by land, two if by sea”
Many of the leaders of the rebel
movement, known as the “Patriots”,
fled Boston to avoid arrest by the
British.Those who stayed devised a
plan to alert those who remained of
a British advance: one lantern in the
steeple of the Old North Church,
two if from the Charles River.
On April 18, 1775 silversmith Paul
Revere saw the lanterns and along
with William Dawes and Dr. Samuel
Prescott, rode through the
countryside warning colonists and
militia that the British were on the
march to Lexington and Concord.
57
The riders
William Dawes
Only Prescott was
able to make it to
Concord
Paul Revere
Revere was captured, but
lied to the British about
colonial troop strength,
and was eventually
released to return to
Boston on a poorly rested
horse.
Dawes took the longer “by land”
route across the isthmus of
Massachusetts and was able to elude
capture by British forces and
warned militia at several locations
along the route the British traveled
to Lexington and Concord. Dawes
was thrown from his horse and was
captured.
58
Lexington and Concord
April 19, 1775
“The shot heard round the world”
59
How the war began
When the British troops arrived in Lexington, the colonial militia under
Captain John Parker, was lined up on the village green. Parker had ordered
his men to “stand their ground…”, but added “if they mean to have a war,
let it begin here”.
As the two sides watched each other, a shot apparently was fired in the
distance.The British responded by firing at the militia, who returned fire. At
the end of the skirmish, along with the subsequent one at Concord, 50
militia and 73 British soldiers were killed.
The British marched back to Boston under heavy fire from the colonists,
who practiced guerrilla warfare, meaning they were hiding behind rocks and
trees.The British army had always fought in a traditional style, in the open
with both sides facing each other, which made it difficult for them to
effectively fight back. Eventually the British troops made it back to
Charlestown after suffering many more casualties on the march.
The British army and colonials were now at war.
60
The Tea Party, Intolerable Acts, and
beginning of the War

Video Clip
What were the strengths and
weaknesses of the British?

Strengths
◦
◦
◦
◦
3:1
Wealth and naval power
Professional army of 50k
George III has $ to hire foreign soldiers – 30k
Germans (Hessians)
◦ 50k American loyalists
◦ African American troops – promised freedom
if fought for Brits (at war’s end evacuate 14k)
British Weaknesses








Has to dedicate manpower, $ to other concerns
(Ireland, France)
Gov’t is rather inept
Brit reluctance to kill American cousins
Whigs in P believe that if GIII wins in America,
rule in Britain might become tyrannical
See Edmund Burke comment p.135
British army in America – weak comparatively
Distance from home, lack of communication
Large territory w/ no central urban nerve center
What were the American
strengths/weaknesses?
Outstanding leadership – GW, BF
 Foreign aid – eventually
 Many European officers join
 Fighting defensively
 Self sustaining agriculture
 Belief in just cause
 Participation by several thousand slaves

American Weaknesses








Poorly organized, still lack of unity
Colonial jealousy, contempt for Congress’s
powers
Lack of $, inflation of own “continental”
Much desertion
Shortage of military supplies, manufactured goods
Poorly trained/equipped militia
Profiteering – American merchants selling supplies
to Brit troops at greatly inflated prices while
American troops went without
Only minority attach selves to cause of
independence w/ selfless devotion
Questions for Patrick Henry’s “Give
me liberty or give me death” speech: