Download Revolutionary Fervor

Revolutionary Fervor
1) Prior to the French and Indian War the British
Empire maintained a fairly distant relationship
with its American colonies. The colonial
economy became much more self-sufficient and
a relative degree of independence and selfgovernment developed in America while the
British were pre-occupied expanding their world
empire.
Revolutionary Fervor
4) However, victory in the
French and Indian War for
the British was quite costly
and the massive expansion
of their North American
empire didn’t ease their
economic dilemma. The
British now had to deal
with Indian uprisings like
Pontiac’s Rebellion and
were eventually forced to
station over 10,000 troops
along the western frontier
of the American colonies.
Revolutionary Fervor
5) British Parliament felt that the American colonists
should help shoulder the new costs of empire
and issued various colonial taxes like the Sugar
and Stamp Acts. American colonists were
accustomed to paying taxes that were issued by
their colonial governments, but they had never
paid a tax that was designed to raise revenue for
the British crown in London.
Revolutionary Fervor
6) Colonial protests to taxation only solidified the
growing sense of inter-colonial unity and
cooperation that had developed during the
French and Indian war. The growing number of
challenges to British authority generated a sense
of “American” identity in the colonies.
Revolutionary Fervor
8) What began as objections to unjustified taxation
later evolved into a revolution for political
independence. In 1775 & 76 the thirteen colonies
united against the world’s most powerful empire
in order to establish an American republic that
protected individual liberty.
Revolutionary Fervor
9) Future President Teddy Roosevelt would
later remark that revolution broke out
because “Britain failed to recognize an
emerging nation when it saw one.”
Colonial Divisions
King George III
1) The American
Revolutionary War
amounted to a civil
war that divided the
colonial population.
One-third of the
colonial population of
2.5 million considered
themselves to be loyal
subjects of King
George III. They
accepted British taxes
and recognized the
power of Parliament
over the colonies.
Colonial Divisions
2) The Loyalists (also known as “Tories”) were
usually wealthy individuals that identified
themselves (and their titles) with aristocratic
British culture. They had little concern for
individual liberty, egalitarianism (equality), and
republican government.
Colonial Divisions
3) The Patriots arose from the various groups that fought for
a degree of self-government in the face of British
oppressions following the French and Indian War. The
Patriots would eventually support the call for Revolution
and would rise to fight the British for their independence.
Unlike other revolutions, many of the earliest Patriots
were economic leaders and members of the colonial
legislatures.
Colonial Divisions
4) However, like the
Loyalists, the Patriots
only represented 1/3 of
the colonial population.
At the outbreak of
rebellion, 1/3 of the
population considered
themselves to be
neutral and didn’t
support either side. As
the war spread, so did
the Patriot cause and
most of the neutrals
eventually supported
the Revolution.
Colonial Divisions
5) Revolutionary ideals and the principles that supported
rebellion came from the patriotic statesmen that served
the colonial legislatures. (Ex. – George Washington (VA),
Thomas Jefferson (VA), Patrick Henry (VA), Ben Franklin
(PA), and John Adams (MA). However, much of the
revolutionary fervor among the masses was inspired by
the merchants and businessmen that organized various
acts of protest.
The Committees of Correspondence
1) Samuel Adams of
Massachusetts was one of
the most vociferous leaders
behind the early Patriot
cause. Adams was the
principle leader behind the
sometimes violent group
known as the “Sons of
Liberty.” Adams was a
master propagandist that
printed and distributed
hundreds of pamphlets that
encouraged various forms
of protest to British
authority.
The Committees of Correspondence
2) Adams helped to greatly expand the Patriots’
cause by establishing secretive Committees of
Correspondence. These committees used an
organized exchange of letters to keep the
Revolutionary spirit alive through coordinated
opposition to British authority.
The Committees of Correspondence
Carpenters’ Hall
3) Virginia set the stage for inter-colonial
committees of correspondence by creating one
within the House of Burgesses in 1773.
Eventually, every colonial government had a
committee of correspondence to communicate
through. This inter-colonial unity soon evolved
into the first American Congress.
The Townshend Acts (1767)
1) Following the 1766 repeal of the Stamp Act,
the British felt the need to reassert their
authority in the American colonies and
passed a series of new taxes that were
known as the “Townshend Acts.”
The Townshend Acts (1767)
2) The new laws taxed glass, lead, paper,
paint, and tea. However, these duties were
indirect taxes that were collected at
American ports and customs offices.
The Townshend Acts (1767)
5) The tax on tea was
particularly offensive
because more than
half of the colonial
population consumed
it on a daily basis.
However, many
merchants like John
Hancock were able to
smuggle cheaper tea
in order to circumvent
the new law.
The Townshend Acts (1767)
6) Organized protest to the new law wasn’t as
widespread as the response to the Stamp Act
because the taxes were light and indirect.
However, many feisty Bostonians still refused to
pay the new taxes and British customs officials
were continuously harassed at the ports.
The Townshend Acts (1767)
7) In response to the situation in Boston, the British
sent two regiments of troops in 1768 to restore
law and order. However, the military presence in
Boston only made problems worse when
undisciplined and profane soldiers harassed the
independent-minded Bostonians.
The Townshend Acts (1767)
8) The Townshend duties were eventually
repealed in the face of colonial opposition.
However, a small three pence tax remained
on tea in order to uphold Parliament’s right
to tax.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
1) The British military
presence in
Boston only
increased
tensions and
several scuffles
erupted between
rowdy civilians
and the arrogant
soldiers.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
2) On March 5th, 1770 a young barber’s apprentice
named Edward Garrick insulted British officer,
Captain John Goldfinger when he publicly
accused him of not paying his barbers bill.
Goldfinger ignored the boy, but a British soldier
named Hugh White stopped Garrick and clubbed
him in the face with the butt of his musket.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
3) Garrick’s friends
gathered around White
and began shouting
insults at him until they
were chased off by a
British Sergeant. The
young boys returned
with a larger group of
locals that started
throwing snowballs,
ice, and litter at the
British soldiers.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
4) Hugh White sent a messenger
for reinforcements in order to
disperse the growing mob.
The mob had grown
considerably by the time
Captain Thomas Preston
arrived with four other
soldiers. A threatening group
of sailors and dockworkers
wielding clubs, sticks, and
knives had moved to the front
of the mob.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
5) At the head of the Boston mob was Crispus
Attucks, a massive runaway slave of Indian and
African heritage. Members of the mob had
swelled in size and some began to throw things
at the soldiers. Private Hugh Montgomery was
stuck down by a piece of ice and he fired his
musket, sparking a sporadic volley of fire into
the crowd.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
6) All evidence suggests that
there was never an order
to fire, but all of the
soldiers fired their
weapons except one.
7) Attucks was shot twice in
the chest and died almost
immediately. Four others
were killed and six were
seriously wounded. The
British soldiers were
swiftly arrested and were
tried for murder.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
8) Most colonial leaders discouraged acts of
mob violence, however, this event caused
such widespread outrage in Boston that
many Revolutionary leaders sought to
capitalize on this opportunity to unite the
colonists against the British.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
Ex. –Samuel Adams is credited for naming the
event the “Boston Massacre” in various
pamphlets that were published following the
incident.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
Ex. –Paul Revere used a drawing of the incident (by
Henry Pelham) to create a multicolor engraving
titled “The Bloody Massacre.” Hundreds of prints
of Revere’s engraving were sold in colonies in
order to spread news of the event.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
1) Despite the American boycotts that forced
the British to repeal taxes like the Sugar,
Stamp, and Townshend Acts, the British
still maintained their right to tax the
colonists.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
2) In 1773, the British East India Company was
on the verge of bankruptcy and was sitting
on a large surplus of tea that it would be
unable to sell exclusively in England.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
3) In an effort to save the company,
Parliament passed the Tea Act of 1773,
giving the company the right to export its
tea directly to the colonies without paying
any of the regular taxes.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
4) This gave the company a virtual monopoly
because it was able to sell their tea much
cheaper than any of the colonial
merchants. Despite the reduction in
prices, a slight three-pence tax remained
on the tea.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
5) Most colonists and merchants were outraged at
the East India company’s monopoly over tea and
many believed that the cut in prices was merely a
ploy by Parliament to trick the colonists into
accepting the principle of British taxation.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
6) The colonists responded by boycotting tea and
other British goods. Mass demonstrations in
New York and Philadelphia forced the ships to
return to England without unloading a single
chest of the East India tea. In Annapolis,
Maryland the ships and cargoes were burned in
the harbor. In Charleston, South Carolina, the
tea was confiscated by the state and
warehoused.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
7) However, Massachusetts
Governor Thomas
Hutchinson insisted on
enforcing the laws of
Parliament and made sure
that the trade ships could
dock despite the fierce
opposition from the citizens
of Boston. Opposition to
Hutchinson grew more
violent when one of his
private letters was
published, revealing a
statement that an
“abridgement of English
liberties” was necessary to
restore law and order in the
colonies.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
8) On the evening of
December 16th, 1773,
a protest meeting in
Boston’s Old South
Meeting House
attracted an
enormous crowd of
over 8,000
Massachusetts
citizens.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
9) That same night a rowdy group of one hundred
and fifty men awkwardly disguised as Mohawk
Indians were led by Samuel Adams and Paul
Revere on board the three British ships carrying
the East India tea. For the next few hours the
men broke open the chests and heaved over
90,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
10) Governor Hutchinson was so frustrated with
colonial resistance that he left for England and
never returned to the colonies. Sam Adams and
Paul Revere saw this as a great success for the
Sons of Liberty and the Patriot cause.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
11) However, some colonial leaders like John Adams
and Ben Franklin criticized the act because it
represented the criminal destruction of private
property. Franklin argued that the tea must be
repaid, even offering to repay the debt with his
own money.
First Continental Congress (1774)
King
George III
1) The British Parliament was outraged by the
Boston Tea Party and responded with a
series of oppressive laws that became
known as the “Intolerable Acts” (also
known as the “Coercive Acts”).
First Continental Congress (1774)
A) The Boston Port Act = this called for a
significant British military force to close
the port of Boston until the ruined tea was
repaid and British ships were allowed to
dock.
First Continental Congress (1774)
B) The Massachusetts Government Act = this
radically changed the government of
Massachusetts and made almost all positions
appointed by the King or the Royal Governor.
The act also put severe limitations on local town
meetings in order disrupt the organization of
colonial protests.
First Continental Congress (1774)
C) The Administration of Government Act =
this allowed the Royal Governor to move
trials of accused royal officials to another
colony or even to Great Britain.
First Continental Congress (1774)
D) The Quartering Act = Colonial legislatures had
proven to be uncooperative in providing quarters
for British troops. This gave Royal Governors the
power to arrange for the housing of British
troops in the colonies. (Soldiers were rarely ever
housed in private homes)
First Continental Congress (1774)
2) Parliament hoped that the severe
nature of the Intolerable Acts
would isolate the radicals in
Massachusetts and would
intimidate the other colonies
away from their rebellious
positions.
3) However, the plan backfired and
the unjustified use of British
force only brought the colonies
closer together. The colonists
responded to the Intolerable Acts
by forming the First Continental
Congress in Philadelphia. This
was the first elected Congress
that represented all of the
colonies. (all colonies except
Georgia sent delegates)
First Continental Congress (1774)
Ex. – Flags were flow at half-mast
throughout the colonies on the day the
Boston Port Act went into effect.
Ex. – Support from other colonies poured
into Boston, shipments of rice were even
received from distant South Carolina.
First Continental Congress (1774)
4) The colonies revived the boycott of British goods
and non-importation agreements spread
throughout the colonies. Sympathy for
Massachusetts also prompted the delegates
from the other colonies to pledge military
support to Massachusetts if they were attacked.
First Continental Congress (1774)
6) Many colonial leaders realized that their disputes
with the British were irreconcilable and that a
military confrontation was inevitable. Following
his service on the First Continental Congress,
Patrick Henry returned to his seat in the Virginia
House of Burgesses in late 1774.
First Continental Congress (1774)
7) As tensions grew in
occupied Boston, Patrick
Henry gave the most
stirring speech of his
career on March 23rd, 1775,
demanding that the
colonies prepare
themselves for a clash of
arms. He declared, “Is life
so dear, or peace so sweet,
as to be purchased at the
price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God! I
know not what course others
may take; but as for me, give
me liberty or give me death!”
Lexington and Concord (1775)
1) Thomas Gage, the British commander in
Boston, was secretly ordered to enforce
British law and to suppress open rebellion
in Boston by using “all necessary force.”
Lexington and Concord (1775)
2) A doctor named Joseph Warren was one of the leading
members of the Patriot movement in Boston. He was a
leader in the Sons of Liberty, the Chairman of the
Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence, and was
also the Grandmaster of the very secretive Freemasons
in Boston. (of which many founding fathers and later
Presidents were members)
Lexington and Concord (1775)
3) On the night of April 18th he received intelligence
of British troop movements from Boston. Dr.
Warren then sent William Dawes, Paul Revere,
and Dr. Samuel Prescott on their famous
midnight rides to spread the alarm throughout
the surrounding areas.
Lexington and Concord (1775)
4) Over 700 British soldiers left Boston in the middle
of the night in order to march to Concord,
Massachusetts to destroy a hidden arsenal of
colonial weapons. The British also intended to
capture John Hancock and Sam Adams who
were rumored to be hiding out there.
Lexington and Concord (1775)
5) Revere, Dawes, and Prescott had to elude the
British patrols throughout the countryside and
had to secretively pass information to colonial
leaders that were sympathetic to their cause.
Their alerts prompted others like Israel Bissell to
mount their own horses in order to spread the
word. Bissell actually rode over 300 miles to the
colonial capital in Philadelphia.
Lexington and Concord (1775)
6) Fearing capture before he
reached Boston, Revere
had arranged to leave
signals in the steeple of
the Old North Church
outside of Boston. One
lantern would signify
that the British were
coming by land by
marching across the
neck of Boston, two
lanterns meant that they
were crossing the
harbor to march directly
on Lexington from north
of the city.
Lexington and Concord (1775)
7) Revere was actually captured at Lexington by British
patrols. However, he escaped when his captors ran to
join the British force from Boston that had exchanged
fire with 70 Massachusetts Minutemen (state militia). The
uneven skirmish resulted in the death of eight
Americans. Revere was free to witness the first shots of
the Revolutionary War.
Lexington and Concord (1775)
Concord’s Old North Bridge
8) The British continued their march toward Concord
as the sun was rising across the plains of
Massachusetts. However, by the time they
arrived they faced a force of over 500 Minutemen
and were forced to retreat back to Boston.
Lexington and Concord (1775)
9) Minutemen and angry farmers descended upon
the British at every corner of their retreat to
Boston. The British suffered close to 300
casualties with over 70 dead before they reached
reinforcements just outside of Boston Harbor.
Lexington and Concord (1775)
10) Ralph Waldo Emerson
would later write in the
poem Concord Hymn:
By the rude bridge that
arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze
unfurled,
Here once the embattled
farmers stood
And fired the shot heard
round the world.