Transcript The American Revolution “let us disappoint the men who are

The Road to Independence
“let us disappoint the men who are raising
themselves upon the ruin of this country”
Samuel Addams, 1776
Phase II – A New Republic
Key Topics Covered
Influence of British political System
Origins of Resistance
British response
Choice of Independence
Military Course
Peace for a New Nation
British Mercantilism
 17th century economic policy
 Mercantilist doctrine
 Role of the colony
 English Acts of Trade and Navigation
 Positive / negative effects
Mercantilism
New Economic Policy
• Founding of colonies, new goods
in Europe led to significant
changes
• 1500s, Europeans developed new
economic policy, mercantilism
Intense Competition
• Wealth measured by amount of
gold, silver possessed by nation
• Mercantilists believed there was
fixed amount of wealth in world
• Nation’s strength depended on its
wealth
• For one nation to become wealthier,
more powerful—had to take wealth,
power away from another nation
• Wealthy nation had power for
military and expanded influence
• Mercantilism led to intense
competition between nations
Balance of Trade
• Mercantilists built wealth two ways—extract gold, silver from
mines at home, in colonies; sell more goods than it bought from
foreign countries, creating favorable balance of trade
• With favorable balance of trade, country received more gold,
silver from other nations than it paid to them
• Increased its power; weakened foreign competitors
Imports
Exports
• To achieve favorable balance of
trade, could reduce amount of
imports by placing tariffs on goods
• Encourage exports that could sell
for higher prices than raw materials
• Importer paid tariff, added cost to
price of good
• Countries encouraged
manufacturing and export of
manufactured goods
• Imported goods more expensive,
discouraged people from buying
• Governments provided subsidies to
help start new industries
Controlling Sources
Third approach for favorable balance of trade,
controlling sources
 Nation that controlled own sources would not need to
import from competing nations
 Why important
 Country did not need to spend own money to obtain raw
materials
 Foreign countries considered rivals, might become active
enemy, cut off supply of raw materials
 European nations worked to become more self-sufficient
 Nations began to establish colonies
Colonies
Building colonial empires essential to mercantilist system
Colonies
Strict Laws
• European powers wanted to
establish colonies
• Monarchs restricted economic
activities in colonies
– To control sources of raw
materials
• Colonists could not sell raw
materials to other countries
– To provide new markets for
manufactured goods
• Could not buy manufactured
goods from other nations
• To mercantilist, colonies existed
only to benefit home country
• Strict laws forbade colonies from
manufacturing goods
• Forced to buy only from home
country
A New Business Organization
New Ventures
Joint-Stock Companies
• Overseas business ventures
often too expensive for individual
investors
• Investors bought shares of
stock in company
• Investors began pooling money in
joint-stock companies
• If company made profit, each
shareholder received portion
Shares
Financing Colonies
• Profit, loss based on number of
shares owned
• British East India Company, one
of first joint-stock companies
• If company failed, investors lost
only amount invested
• 1600, imported spices from Asia
• Others formed to bear cost of
establishing colonies
The Economy
 Increase of trade by 1760’s
 Agriculture
 New England
 Middle
 Southern
 Monetary system
 Transportation
Religion
 Variety
 Protestant dominance
 Anglicans
 Congregationalists
The Great Awakening
 18th C; intellectual discourse
 Dramatic changes
 Expressions of religious feeling
 Jonathan Edwards
 George Whitefield
 The impact
 Political influence
What is an American?
“The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles;
he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new
opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, and
useless labor, he has passed to toils of a very different
nature, rewarded by ample subsistence. This is an American”
J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur
1782
National Character
 Motivations
 Political heritage
 Natural environment
 American viewpoint
 Outsider observations
Empires at War
 End of 17th C.
 A series of four wars
 King William’s War
 Queen Anne’s War
 King George’s War
French and Indian War
 The beginning
 What was at stake / Ft. Duquesne
 The Virginia Militia
 A British invasion
 Albany Plan of Union
 British Victory
 effects of war
North America in 1750
French and Indians
1754  The First Clash
The
Ohio Valley
British
Fort Necessity
* George Washington
French
Fort Duquesne
* Delaware & Shawnee
Indians
"Join or Die"
Ben Franklin à representatives from
New England, NY, MD, PA
 This is Benjamin Franklin's 1754 cartoon emphasizing the need
for the various colonies and regions to work together. While this
became a potent message during the revolutionary period of the
1770s, the cartoon was actually intended to unite colonists
against the Indian threat.
Albany Congress  failed Iroquois
broke off relations with
Britain & threatened to
trade with the French.
1755  Br. Decides to
Eliminate Fr. Presence
in No. Amer.
Gen. Edward Braddock  evict the
French from the OH Valley & Canada
(Newfoundland & Nova Scotia)
A Attacks OH Valley, Mohawk Valley,
& Acadia.
A
Killed 10 mi. from Ft. Duquesne 
by 1500 French and Indian forces.
Only Br. Success  expelled France
from Louisiana.
The French & Indian War (the
next slides…)
Lord
Loudouin
Marquis
de Montcalm
Native American tribes
exploited both sides!





1756 British reaction - full scale assault against Fr. in Canada and in the world
1757 William Pitt - The Great Organizer
1758 Louisbourg victory
1758 Quebec
1760 Montreal
British-American
Colonial Tensions
Colonials
Methods of
Fighting:
British
• Indian-style guerilla • March in formation or
bayonet charge.
tactics.
Military
• Col. militias served
Organization: under own captains.
• Br. officers wanted to
take charge of colonials.
Military
Discipline:
• No mil. deference or
protocols observed.
• Drills & tough
discipline.
Finances:
• Resistance to rising
taxes.
• Colonists should pay
for their own defense.
Demeanor:
• Casual,
non-professionals.
• Prima Donna Br.
officers with servants
& tea settings.
1757  William Pitt
Becomes Foreign Minister
A
He understood colonial concerns.
A
He offered them a compromise:
- col. loyalty & mil. cooperation-->Br.
would reimburse col. assemblies for
their costs.
- Lord Loudoun would be removed.
RESULTS?  Colonial morale
increased by 1758.
1758-1761  The Tide
Turns for England
* By 1761, Sp. has become an ally of Fr.
The French & Indian War
Battle of Quebec Sept. 1759
Wolfe’s strategy - hit the
roots not the branches
Montcalm’s mistake
Treaty of Paris 1763
1763  Treaty of Paris
France --> lost her Canadian possessions,
most of her empire in India, and claims
to lands east of the Mississippi River.
Spain --> got all French lands west of
the Mississippi River, New Orleans, but
lost Florida to England.
England --> got all French lands in
Canada, exclusive rights to Caribbean
slave trade, and commercial dominance
in India.
North America in 1763
Fr. & Ind. War Transforms Colonial Relations in
N. America
The first four years saw nothing but severe reverses for the British regulars
and American colonials, primarily because of superior French land
forces in the New World. Lack of colonial assistance to the war effort
compounded British problems. By the end of 1757, however, the
course of the war began to be altered by three major influences.
1.
One was the dynamic leadership of the British prime minister, William
Pitt the Elder, who saw that victory in North America was the supreme
task in the worldwide struggle and who has been truly called the
organizer of victory in the Great War for the Empire.
2.
The second was the increasing superiority of British financial and
industrial resources, food supplies, and naval equipment, as opposed
to growing national bankruptcy and economic paralysis faced by
France.
3.
Finally, both the British and Americans were becoming seasoned
wilderness fighters.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
English-French
rivalry worldwide
World War b/w
two powerful
empires
English, w/
colonial help, fight
Fr. And their
Native American
allies
Fr. Finally lose
war & are expelled
from N. America
Eng. Inherit vast
new land holdings
in N. America
http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9035340/French-and-Indian-War
Effects of the War on Britain?
1. It doubled the size of Britain’s North American territory
and it must be governed
2. It greatly enlarged England’s debt. They will have to
pay to maintain and control this vast empire. To make
matters worse, citizens in Great Britain were already
heavily taxed.
3. Britain’s contempt for the colonials created bitter
feelings. Intractable American colonists were not about
to accept restrictions on their activities. Some colonists,
in fact, were beginning to compete effectively with
British capitalists and refused to subordinate their
economic interests to those of British manufacturers.
4. Hostile NA in the Appalachian region, who felt
threatened by American westward expansion into the
Ohio River Valley, needed to be controlled. - Pontiac’s
Rebellion
Therefore, England felt that a major reorganization of
her American Empire was necessary!
Effects of the War on the
American Colonials
1. It united them against a
common enemy for the first
time.
2. It created a socializing
experience for all the
colonials who participated.
3. It created bitter feelings
towards the British that
would only intensify.
Mercantilism
 Was the period from 1650 to end of Fr. Ind. War 1763 a period of
“salutary neglect?”
 Some historians question this view especially given that
mercantilism was the prevailing economic system
 It emphasizes that a nation’s economic power expands by
maintaining a favorable balance of trade and controlling hard
currency-specie. The American colonies were Britain’s reliable
source of raw materials and a viable market for British goods. Ex: lg
swaths of British deforested and for its massive navy it needed N.
America for lumber supply.
 British mercantilist policies were not generally challenged by the
colonists, in part b/c they were difficult to implement and often
infrequently enforced
 As long as competition from the Americans wasn’t significant and
Britain wasn’t experiencing an economic or fiscal crisis, there was
little need or incentive to abandon the policy of salutary neglect.
Major British mercantilist policies in
the pre-1760 period
 Navigation laws 1660, 1663, 1673, 1696- designed to promote
English shipping and control colonial trade in regard to important
crops
 The Wool (1699), Hat (1732), and Iron (1750) Acts- designed
to thwart American business men from turning raw material into
finished commodities - obviously the merchant class will disdain
these laws
 The Molasses Act (1733) - rum
 Overseeing all: British Board of Trade
 OK until post 1763
 King George III put George Grenville as Prime Minister - his
solution: fundamentally change British economic, trade, political
relationship with Americans
 Abandoned salutory neglect as a policy
 Begin: Proclamation of 1763
The Aftermath: Tensions
Along the Frontier
1763  Pontiac’s Rebellion
Fort Detroit
British “gifts” of smallpox-infected
blankets from Fort Pitt.
Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)
BACKLASH!
British  Proclamation
Line of 1763.
Colonials
Paxton Boys (PA)
Paxton Boys
descended on
Philadelphia where NA
(Pontiac’s men?)
sought refuge. Paxton
Boys wanted funding to
support safety on
frontier.
Ben Franklin
negotiated for funding.
What happened @100
years earlier that
echoed this armed
insurrection?
Colonial perception:
colonial gov’ts favored
the aristocracy over the
needs of the masses?
Carolinas in 1771 Regulators- asserted
taxation w/out
representation =
tyranny
Rethinking Their Empire
Br. Gvt. measures to prevent
smuggling:
A
1761  writs of assistance
 James Otis’ case
 Protection of a citizen’s
private property must be
held in higher regard
than a parliamentary
statute.
 He lost  parliamentary
law and custom had equal
weight.
British Actions and Colonial
Reaction
 Issue of revenue
 Sugar Act
 Quartering Act
 Stamp Act
 Protest
 Declaratory Act
George Grenville’s
Program, 1763-1765
1. Sugar Act - 1764
2. Currency Act - 1764
3. Quartering Act - 1765
4. Stamp Act - 1765
Theories of
Representation
Real Whigs
Q-> What was the extent of Parliament’s
authority over the colonies??
Absolute?
OR
Limited?
Q-> How could the colonies give or
withhold consent for parliamentary
legislation when they did not have
representation in that body??
Stamp Act Crisis
Loyal Nine - 1765
Sons of Liberty – began in
NYC:
Samuel
Adams
Stamp Act Congress – 1765
* Stamp Act Resolves
Declaratory Act – 1766
Townshend Duties
Crisis: 1767-1770
1767  William Pitt, P. M. & Charles
A
Townshend, Secretary of
the Exchequer.
Shift from paying taxes for Br. war
debts & quartering of troops 
paying col. govt. salaries.
A
He diverted revenue collection from
internal to external trade.
A
Tax these imports  paper, paint,
lead, glass, tea.
A
Increase custom officials at
American ports  established a
Board of Customs in Boston.
Colonial Response to
the Townshend Duties
1. John Dickinson  1768
* Letters from a Farmer in
Pennsylvania.
2. 1768  2nd non-importation
movement:
* “Daughters of Liberty”
* spinning bees
3. Riots against customs agents:
* John Hancock’s ship, the
Liberty.
* 4000 British troops sent
to Boston.
Second Phase
 Charles Townshend
 Reaction
 Repeal
 Boston Massacre
Tar and Feathering
The Boston Massacre
 For enlisted men, serving in
the British army was often
an act of desperation;
subsistence wages
 They often took spare jobs contributed to tensions
 Crispus Attucks
 John Adams defended
British soldiers; winning
acquittals for most
 Calm afterwards as Lord
North - new prime minister withdrew all of Townshend
Acts except Tea Tax
 Sam Adams kept everyone
informed through
committees of
correspondence
http://ns.netmcr.com/~ambro/bm2.jpg
The Boston Massacre (March 5,1770)
Renewal of the Conflict
 The Gaspee
 Boston Tea Party
 Intolerable Acts
 Coercive Acts
 Quebec Act
The Gaspee Incident (1772)
Providence, RI coast
Committees
of Correspondence
Purpose  warn neighboring colonies
about incidents with Br.
 broaden the resistance
movement.
Tea Act (1773)
8 British East India Co.:
 Monopoly on Br. tea
imports.
 Many members of
Parl. held shares.
 Permitted the Co. to
sell tea directly to
cols. without col.
middlemen
(cheaper tea!)
8 North expected the
cols. to eagerly choose
the cheaper tea.
Boston Tea Party (1773)
Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts 1774)
 What will the British response be?
 Boston Port Bill
 Administration of Justice Act
 Massachusetts Gov’t Act
 Quebec Act 1774
 Facilitate incorporation of Fr Canadians and their land into
British empire
 Quebec’s boundary extended to Ohio River
 Catholicism recognized as Quebec’s official religion
 *nonrepresentative gov’t estb. for its citizens
 This wasn’t just Mass. but larger range
 Dissolved jury trials and popular assemblies
 Alarmed land speculators that this lg. swath removed
First Continental Congress (1774)
55 delegates from 12 colonies
Agenda  How to
respond to the
Coercive Acts &
the Quebec Act?
1 vote per colony
represented.
First Continental Congress
 Purpose and intent
 Delegates
 Actions
 Adopted measures




Suffolk Resolves
Declaration of Rights and Grievances
The Association
Second congress
First Continental Congress
• Sept 1774 - delegates from colonies
meet to discuss response to
Intolerable Acts
• an advisory board not legislative
body
 Radicals - Va’s Patrick Henry, Ma’s Sam & John Adams, Pa’s Charles Thomson
- colonies relationship w/ Br. Has passed point of no return. For them there are
only 2 alternatives: force Britain to accede to their demands or declare
independence
 Moderates - Pa’s John Dickinson and Va’s George Washington - relationship b/w
the colonies and Gr. Britain can be repaired
 Conservatives - NY’s John Jay and Pa’s Joseph Galloway - mild rebuke of
Britain is ok but nothing aggressive - quasi-Albany Plan would be best. A colonial
“grand council” would have power to veto British acts. The Galloway plan was
narrowly defeated.
http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/visit/images/congress.jpg
First Continental Congress
The more radical delegates used
Thomas Jefferson’s A Summary View
of the Rights of British America to
post the following ideas
 Parliament possessed no inherent
authority to tax colonists
 The British Empire was a compact
(or loose union) between the center
(the mother country) and its
colonies, not one unit dominated by
Britain
 Each colony possessed its own
legislature independent of Britain’s
legislative authority
 Holding together this loose-knit
union was a collective allegiance to
the king
http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/visit/images/congress.jpg
They took the following actions:
• they declared the Intolerable Acts null &
void
•They recommended colonists arm
themselves
•Militias should be formed (Mass. Minute
Men)
•They recommended a boycott of British
goods - A TOTAL AND COMPLETE
BOYCOTT
•*note: not calling for independence yet
The British Are Coming . . .
Paul Revere & William Dawes make their
midnight ride to warn the Minutemen of
approaching British soldiers.
The Shot Heard ’Round the World!
Lexington & Concord – April 18,1775
Fighting Begins
 Lexington and Concord
 Bunker Hill
 The Second Continental Congress
 Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms
 Peace Efforts
Thomas Paine: Common Sense
Declaration of Independence
(1776)
Independence Hall
New
National Symbols
Arguments for Independence
 Thomas Paine
 Committee of Five
 Treason
“Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for separation “
“Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its
best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an
intolerable one. For when we suffer, or are exposed to the same
miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country
without a government
Why not declare independence?
F E A R
 Factions within the colonies
 Everyone was scared of British military power
 A mob-run state
 Reduction in revenues
Why not declare independence?
Loyalty to the empire
Poor unity within the colonies
Upper class feared mob rule
Middle class feared decline in business
All feared the British army & navy
 Irish rebels had been hanged, drawn, & quartered
Just a small minority of rebel-rousers?
 SOMEWHAT – Brits mistakenly thought by capturing
leaders in the colonies, the militia would disband.
Many were on the fence.
 Up to 16% were loyalists, mostly in the lower
southern colonies.
Catalysts for Independence
Harsh British actions
 Burning of Falmouth and Norfolk
 Hiring of Hessians
Common Sense
Experience running their own governments
Acceptable “umbrella of language” to shield
colonists against criticism that they were
rebelling against God.
June 1776 Richard Henry Lee moves that the
United Colonies be free and independent
states. The motion is passed July 1776.
Declaration of Independence
 An eloquent appeal
of why secession is
needed must be
created – a formal
explanation.
 Would be used to
help enlist foreign
aid
Task falls to Thomas Jefferson
The War
 Patriots
 African-Americans
 Loyalists
 Native Americans
 Initial losses and hardships
 Alliance
A War Fought on Many Levels
 Inter-colonial: Loyalists vs. Patriots
 Military: American rebels vs. British redcoats
 Role of the Militia
 Ideologically: Hearts and minds of the undecided and
indifferent
 African Americans mostly side with the British
Who did the Indians side with?
 Mostly with the English – believed to be a sure bet to win.
 Mohawk chief Joseph Brant and other key chiefs convince
thousands of Iroquois, Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, and other
warriors to join forces the British
 Conducted independent raids on American arsenals and
settlements along the western frontier.
 After the war the Americans felt justified in taking land from
natives.
On the Eve of the
Revolution ?
Britain
Americans
Advantages
?
?
Disadvantages
?
?
Loyalist
Strongholds
Washington’s Headaches
Only 1/3 of the colonists were in favor of a war for
independence [the other third were Loyalists, and the final
third were neutral].
State/colony loyalties.
Congress couldn’t tax to raise money for the Continental
Army.
Poor training [until
the arrival of
Baron von Steuben.
Exports & Imports: 1768-1783
Military Strategies
The Americans
Attrition [the
Brits had a long
supply line].
Guerilla tactics
[fight an
insurgent war 
you don’t have
to win a battle,
just wear the
British down]
Make an
alliance with
one of Britain’s
enemies.
The British
Break the
colonies in half
by getting
between the
No. & the So.
Blockade the
ports to prevent
the flow of
goods and
supplies from an
ally.
“Divide and
Conquer”  use
the Loyalists.
Phase I: The Northern Campaign
[1775-1776]
Bunker Hill (June, 1775)
The British suffered over 40% casualties.
Phase II:
NY & PA
[1777-1778]
New York City in Flames
(1776)
Washington Crossing the Delaware
Painted by Emanuel Leutze, 1851
Saratoga:
“Turning Point”
of the War?
Significance of Saratoga
 Swings momentum to the American side.
 Convinces France to join the Patriot cause.
Phase III: The Southern
Strategy [1780-1781]
Britain’s “Southern Strategy”
Britain thought that there were more Loyalists in
the South.
Southern resources were more valuable/worth
preserving.
The British win a number of small victories, but
cannot pacify the countryside [similar to U. S.
failures in Vietnam!]
Good US General:
Nathanial Greene
The Battle of Yorktown (1781)
Count de
Rochambeau
Admiral
De Grasse
Cornwallis’ Surrender at Yorktown:
“The World Turned Upside Down!”
Painted by John Trumbull, 1797
The road towards peace
 Fighting continued for over a year after Yorktown.
 World War become overwhelming to the British.
 A Whig ministry
 A chance to thwart the French & bring the Americans
back to English trade
Treaty of Paris of 1783
Britain recognized the independence of the US
Borders from Atlanta, to Mississippi, to the
Great Lakes, to Florida.
Americans must stop persecuting Loyalists
and recommend their property be restored.
British creditors could still collect payment.
France agrees to all parts – end to conflict
 Slips towards bankruptcy and bloody revolution
North America After the
Treaty of Paris, 1783
Victory
 Yorktown
 Treaty of Paris
 Strengths and weaknesses
Social Change
 Ending of aristocracy
 Church and State
 Women
 Slavery
Historical Perspectives
 Radical or Conservative