Chapter 7: The Road to Revolution

1763-1775

Chapter 7 Vocabulary

1. “no taxation without representation”

2. Navigation Acts3. First Continental

Congress4. Sugar Act5. Boston Massacre

6. Stamp Act7. Committees of

correspondence8. Boston Tea Party9. Loyalists10. Stamp Act Congress

After the 7 years’ war

• Britain’s victory enlarges their land holdings in North America

• Revolution wasn’t inevitable• Americans were reluctant

revolutionaries• -wanted “rights of

Englishmen”• Economic squabble that

eventually blew out of proportion

Revolutionary Roots

• Challenging social status in Europe was virtually unheard of• Challenges of North America forced changes in status that

were embraced • Two ideas of thinking begin to shape colonies– Republicanism, Radical Whigs

Republicanism

• Greek and Roman republics• A just society is where citizens give up selfish

desires for public good• Stability of government is dependent on the virtue

of citizenry – selflessness, self-sufficiency, courage and civic involvement

• Opposed to hierarchical and authoritarian institutions – Examples: Aristocracy and Monarchy

Radical Whigs

• Widely read by the colonists• Feared threat to liberty posed by monarch

and the ministers elected in Parliament• Attacked patronage and bribes used by King’s

ministers• Warned colonists to guard against

“corruption”• Be watchful that liberties not be stolen

Old World vs. New World

• Old World aristocracy and titles unfamiliar in New World–Barons, dukes, princes has no stock in America

• Land ownership and political participation are the backbone for colonial society

• Great distance weakens authority greatly

British theory• Mercantilism–Belief that wealth = power–Country’s economic wealth and military/political

power could be measured by amount of gold/silver in treasury– Exports must be greater than imports

British Mercantalism

• British view Americans more as tenants than as equal partners– Tobacco, sugar, ship masts, cotton all to be

sent to England–Colonies have great exports, no need for

colonies to import from foreign nations• Exports used only for British gain• Only allowed British imports–Regulate trade through laws

Navigation Law of 1650

• Focused on Dutch shippers to colonies• Only way for trade is with British ships• Ships must stop in Britain for tariff duties – Middle men took a cut

• No matter price, all shipping went to England• British forced money shortage in colonies– Colonists imported more than exported..

Difference made up in gold/silver

Results of Nav. Law of 1650

• Colonists resorted to trading necessities– Butter, nails, pitch, feathers for everyday needs

• Colonists are unhappy over the lack of concern for their welfare

• British monarchy had power to void legislation passed by colonial assemblies– Used 469 times out of 8,563– Principle over practice

Colonies benefit from Mercantilism

• Navigation laws loosely enforced – smuggling• Colonists enjoyed a monopoly in British

markets• Received protection from the world’s

mightiest navy – without paying for it

• However, Colonists found mercantilist system debasing – kept in a state of perpetual economic adolescence

Taxation Begins

• Debt from war is £140 million• Half of that came from the defense of

the colonies• Prime Minister George Grenville begins

increasing taxation in the colonies– Start enforcing navigation laws

Sugar Act• 1st law ever passed by

Parliament for raising tax revenue in the colonies

• Increased duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies

• After protests, the duties were lowered

Quartering Act• 1765• Required colonists to provide food and

quarters for British troops• Some colonists were loyalists and had no

problems, others despised the troops

Stamp Act• 1765• Grenville passes the tax to raise revenue for new

military force• Mandated use of paper with stamps on them– Legal documents–Marriage licenses–Playing cards–Newspapers–diplomas

• British citizens had had these same taxes with heavier fees for 2 generations

Violated Rights?

• Sugar and Stamp Act offenses were tried in Admiralty courts with no jury – guilty until you prove yourself innocent

• People suspicious of why British soldiers were needed in the colonies at all – where was the threat?

• “No taxation without representation!”• “Taxation without representation is tyranny!”• Parliament has the right to legislate, but not tax

Stamp Act Congress

• 1765 • New York City 27 delegates from 9 colonies• Draw up statement of “rights and grievances”• Ignored largely by England, but helped to unite the

colonies• Adopted nonimportation agreement on British

goods– United the American people for the first time in common

action

Sons and Daughters of Liberty• Encouraged home spun

clothing• Spinning bees were held to

create clothing• Drank coffee instead of tea• Ransacked homes of public

officials• Hung effigies of stamp agents

on liberty poles• 1766 Stamp Act was repealed

Declaratory Act• Followed the repealing

of the Stamp Act• Passed in 1766• Reaffirmed the right of

Parliament to bind the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”– The proverbial “line in

the sand”

Townshend Tea Tax• “Champagne Charley”

Townshend - 1767• Import duties on glass, tea,

white lead, paper, paint• $$ to be used to pay the salaries

of the governors– This specifically upsets colonists

• Nonimportation agreements were less effective – indirect tax

• Increased smuggling

British Soldiers

• 1768 two regiments of British troops land in Boston

• Many drunken, and profane

• Colonists called them:–Red-coated “ruffians”– “bloody backs”

Boston Massacre• March 5, 1770• 60+ people taunted and

threw snowballs at redcoats• Crispus Attucks – 1st to die– Mob leader

• Acted without orders– opened fire on crowd

• Killed 5, wounded 6 colonists• Both sides to blame

Committees of Correspondence• Sam Adams– Passionate and instigator in revolutionary

cause• Boston first committee of

correspondence 1772• Over 80 towns followed suit• Spread spirit of resistance by

exchanging letters and fueling opposition to British

• Expands to intercolonial committees• Significant in stimulating and

scattered feelings favoring unification

Boston Tea Party

Approx. 100 Bostonians disguised as Indians dumped tea in harbor

December 16, 1773

Colonies support Boston

• Flags flown at half mast• Food shipped to Boston– rice sent from SC• Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia,

1774• 12 of 13 colonies attended– Georgia was the only one to be absent

1st Continental congress

• Sept 5th –October 26th 1774• Not legislative but consultative body– Declaration of Rights– Creation of the Association• Complete boycott of British goods• Not calling for independence

• Parliament rejects petitions

Lexington and Concord• April 1775• British commander sends

troops to seize stores of gunpowder

• Retrieve Sam Adams and John Hancock

• “Minute men” and British engage and 8 Americans killed

• “Shot heard around the world”• British advanced to Concord

but then had to retreat

What are the odds?

• Population 3:1 against Colonists• Britain favored economically• Britain hires hessian soldiers, loyalist colonists,

Indians• Ireland- causes problems for Britain• Parliament split in relation to revolution

(Whigs vs. Tories)

Disadvantages

• Have to defeat rebels• Operating 3000 miles from home• Provisions are scarce• Second rate Generals• Orders were outdated when received from

Europe• Geography was unknown and huge• No central city to cripple whole country

British

Colonistsadvantages

• Great leadership• Defensive fighting• Self-sustaining for food• Belief in a just cause

disadvantages• Lack unity• Badly organized• Congress isn’t strong• Sectional Jealousy• Economic difficulties

Military Life

• Military supplies were scarce– One of the reasons to align with France is for reliable

source of military supplies• Food– Valley Forge soldiers went for 3 days without food during

winter• Uniforms were needed– Some froze and marched barefoot in winter

• Lack of training and service requirements– Farmers and young men

Blacks in the war• Originally not allowed to be on

the colonial side– Changes as the war progresses

• Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation– Nov. 1775– Promises freedom to any

enslaved black in Virginia who joins the British army.

• “Seldom have so few done so much for so many”