Download Lead Up to Revolution: Neglect and War

Lead Up to Revolution:
Neglect and War
 For much of the late 1600’s and early 1700’s England
followed a relatively hands off policy towards the
American colonies.
 Although most of the colonies were taken under direct
control of the crown there was no concerted effort on
the part of the English government to curtail the level
of autonomy the colonies enjoyed.
 After the Glorious Revolution and the succession of
the German born kings George I and George II more
and more power was placed in the office of prime
minister.
 These modern prime ministers, such as Robert
Walpole, were more beholden to the wealthy
merchants and landholders of England than to the
crown. This meant they were hesitant to interfere with
trade through implementing new taxes.
 The British government did not have a department
solely devoted to the colonies; colonial affairs were
dispersed a wide range of departments.
 American agents in England, such as Benjamin
Franklin, worked to discourage interference in colonial
business.
 Many of the people appointed to serve as royal officials
in the colonies were of poor quality and often took
bribes or submitted to intimidation by locals. This
meant they played a minor role in the day-to-day
operations of the colonies.
 By the 1750s many of the American assemblies had
taken over such powers as:
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Taxation
Approve government appointments
Make appropriations (budget)
Pass laws for the colonies
 Colonial assemblies came to think of themselves as
relatively self governing and sovereign within the
greater framework of the Empire.
 Although the colonies viewed each other as greatly
different from one another there were some things that
drew them together. The colonial postal service, for
example, enabled colonists to communicate from New
Hampshire to Georgia by the mid 1700s.
 In 1754 representatives from several colonies agreed to
a plan ( the Albany Plan) proposed by Benjamin
Franklin that would have created a confederation of
colonies under one government- it did not survive.
The French and Indian War
(or as Europeans call it- The Seven Years War)
 The Combatants:
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England
France
Native allies
Prussia
Russia
Austria
Holy Roman Empire
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
 The war in Europe began as an action by France,
Austria and Russia to limit the power of Prussia.
 Prussia was relatively small but its army was well
trained, well organized, and very efficient. It was also
commanded by a genius- Frederick the Great.
 Prussia faced what seemed to be overwhelming odds
and with only financial support from Britain things
looked grim. Fortunately for Prussia the alliance that
opposed it was weak and eventually crumbled after
several defeats and some side-switching by Russia.
 For England and France the war in Europe was a small
part of a larger clash of empires. Fighting took place in
India and North America.
 The war in North America actually began in 1754, two
years before the war in Europe.
 It was sparked by a young Virginia militia officerGeorge Washington.
 His defeat by French forces at his hastily built Fort
Necessity in 1754 provided the excuse for France to
escalate the conflict. Approximately a third of
Washington’s soldiers died during the battle.
 During the early stages the war was conducted mainly
by colonial militias- poorly trained and poorly led
groups of “citizen soldiers”.
 The British native allies- the Iroquois- undertook few
offensives of their own and played only a small role in
the overall events of the war. They followed a policy of
limited engagement for fear of being on the wrong side
at the end.
 With the outbreak of fighting in Europe (1756) Britain
took greater interest in the Colonies and began to send
British regulars to fight. Colonials resented this in part
because they were forced to house and supply the
troops, often without compensation.
 By 1758, following protest riots in New York, hostility
between the colonists and the British government was
serious enough that it threatened the outcome of the
war and English secretary of state, William Pitt, made
concessions that addressed most of the colonist’s
complaints.
 British forces won a series of victories- the most
important being the capture of Louisbourg in July of
1758, and the fall of Quebec city on September 13, 1759.
 The French officially surrendered in September 1760.
Impact of the War
 The Peace of Paris, signed in 1763, brought the war
officially to an end. As part of the settlement France
transferred all of its North American territory east of
the Mississippi (except for New Orleans) to Great
Britain.
 The war brought the colonies together like never
before. It gave them a sense of common purpose and
fraternity.
 Grievances against Britain were not forgotten at war’s
end. Britain’s increased interest and control of the
colonies did not sit well with the Americans.
 The debts that Great Britain incurred during the war
prompted them to implement tighter financial control
over commerce in the colonies (taxation) and led to
less support for such things as protection from native
attacks along the expanded western frontier.