THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
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Transcript THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:
FROM ELITE PROTEST TO
POPULAR REVOLT, 1763-1783
Structure of Colonial Society
1760s an optimistic post-war period
– striking ethnic and racial diversity
– 60% of population under 21 years old
– high level of post-war prosperity
– wealth unevenly distributed
Americans proud to be part of Europe’s
most thriving, prosperous empire
George III (1751)
upsets Whigs
Instability in England
until 1770s
5
Breakdown of Political Trust
1760--George III ascended throne
Suspicions on both sides of the Atlantic
that Crown wished to enlarge its powers
Conflict over Parliamentary sovereignty
–
–
English officials assumed that Parliament
must have ultimate authority
colonists tried to reserve internal colonial
authority for their own legislatures
No Taxation Without
Representation: the American
Perspective
Colonists assume their legislatures
equal in some ways to Parliament
Americans not represented at all in
Parliament
British officials espoused “virtual
representation”
Colonists insist only colonial assemblies
could tax Americans – believe in direct
representation
Ideas About Power and Virtue
John Locke, "Commonwealthmen"
inform colonial political thought
All governments believed susceptible to
corruption into “tyranny”
–
“tyranny” understood as any attempt to
encroach upon the people's liberty
“Virtuous” citizens, alert to rights and
determined to live free, resist tyranny
Problems Resulting from the
French and Indian War
Indian relations
– Pontiac’s Rebellion
Imperial defense and finance
– Standing army: 10,000
– 1755: £72,000,000
– 1764: £130,000,00
6
Writs of Assistance
1760
search warrant
combat smuggling
no grounds for suspicion
James Otis
– “instrument of slavery”
– lost case but Massachusetts assembly
protests “Writs” to British government
9
Eroding the Bonds of Empire
Large, expensive army left in America at
the end of the Seven Years’ War
Colonists doubted the army’s value
Pontiac’s War
– exposed the British army’s weakness
– revealed the desperate situation of Native
Americans after withdrawal of French
Colonists determined to settle transAppalachian West
Proclamation of 1763
To stabilize western frontier British pass
law prohibiting colonists from settling
west of Appalachian Mountains
Hoped to prevent conflict between
Native Americans and colonists
Colonists reacted with defiance and
anger, they wanted to reap rewards of
French & Indian War
Paying off the National Debt
First minister George Grenville attempts
to reduce England’s war debt
Revenue Act of 1764 (the Sugar Act)
Merchants and gentry protest, most
colonists ignore
The Grenville Ministry
(1763-65)
10
Sugar Act (1764)
Purpose: Raise Revenue
sugar, coffee, wines, other products
tax on imported molasses halved
Enforcement increases
Vice Admiralty Courts
11
Primary Source Documents
James Otis
Virtual Representation
12
Colonial Products and Trade
Primary Source Documents
James Otis
Virtual Representation
12
Quartering Act of 1765
Must provide living quarters to troops;
provisions
Traditional hatred of standing armies in
peacetime (Whig tradition)
American POV
– Widespread plot to rob all Englishmen of
liberties
14
Stamp Act (1765)
15
Stamp Act (1765)
Purpose: maintenance of troops,
salaries of governors/judges
Vice-admiralty courts
Direct taxation
£60,000
16
Popular Protest
1765--Stamp Act requires that colonists
purchase stamp to validate documents
Unites the gentry and the mass of the
population in protest
Stamp Act Congress petitions the King
and Parliament for repeal
Protest includes mob riots, boycotts
Patrick Henry & the VA
Resolves
House of Burgesses
5 resolutions
Colonists have same rights as
Englishmen
Taxes ok if “persons chosen by
themselves to represent them”
Newspapers printed resolutions
including more radical ones
17
Stamp Act Congress (1765)
9 of 13 colonies
“all due subordination” to Parliament
colonists entitled to same rights as
British
no taxation w/o representation
trial by jury is an inherent and inviolable
right
NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT
18
Stamp Act Riot
After 11/1/1765
Sons of Liberty
22
Who Were the Sons of Liberty?
Secret Society organized to intimidate
tax agents
– Shopkeepers and artisans
Andrew Oliver- stamp distributor in
Boston (destroyed his office)
Thomas Hutchinson – royal governor –
his house is burned down
Bridge between lower classes and
political leaders
23
Why Mobs?
Common (Guy Fawkes)
Political goals were new
Sons of Liberty leaders fear loss of
political liberty
– Artisans feel cheap British goods threaten
livelihood
– Other rioters fear new taxes and British
governing elite
– Some joined for the excitement
24
Stamp Act Riot (8/75) PD
25
STAMP ACT PROTESTS
Britishlaws
•Had the backing if not
participation of the “better
classes”
•Forced tax collectors to
resign
•Even Moderates discredited
•Forced open harbors
•Closed civil courts
Stamp Act Protests: 1765 to 1766
Rockingham Ministry (1765-66)
Grenville out
London merchants want Stamp Act
repealed
William Pitt:
– “Exercise every power whatsoever, except
that of taking their money out of their
pockets without their consent.”
27
Failed Attempts to Save the
Empire
1766--New administration in office,
favors repeal of Stamp Act
Repeal tied to Declaratory Act of 1766
–
Parliament sovereign over America "in all
cases whatsoever"
Controversy estranges colonists from
English officials
Fueling the Crisis: the
Townshend Duties
Charles Townshend: chancellor of the
exchequer
1767--Townshend Duties tax American
imports of paper, lead, glass, and tea
American Board of Customs
Commissioners created to collect duties
Fueling the Crisis: Response
to the Townshend Duties
Sons of Liberty organize boycott of
English goods
Circular letter from Massachusetts
House of Representatives urges protest
92 Massachusetts Representatives defy
government order to rescind letter
“Letter from a Farmer in Pennsylvania”
(John Dickinson) - PD
Fatal Signs of Force
English government moves troops from
frontier to Boston to save money
1768 – 4,000 troops sent to Boston
Tensions increased
March 5, 1770--English soldiers fired on
Boston mob, killed five Americans
– incident labeled the “Boston Massacre”
– Paul Revere engraving a best-seller
Tensions defused by Lord North
Boston Mass.
Last Days of the Old Order,
1770-1773
1770--New prime minister, Lord North,
leads repeal of all duties except tea
1770-1773 marked by tranquility
Customs collectors antagonize colonists
Radicals protest tea tax as violation of
American rights
Committees of correspondence built up
alternative political structure
North Ministry (1770-82)
Townshend Act repealed on day of
Massacre
Boycott a success
Tax on tea left in place (Symbol?)
Dutch Tea smuggled
34
The Final Provocation:
The Boston Tea Party
1773--Parliament passes Tea Act
–
designed to help the East India Company
by making its sale cheaper in America
Americans interpret as a subtle ploy to
get them to consume taxed tea
December 1773--Boston protestors
dump the tea into the harbor
The Final Provocation:
The Coercive Acts
Port of Boston closed until tea paid for
Massachusetts government restructured
–
–
upper house made appointive body
town meetings permitted only once per year
Accused officials to be tried in England,
not America
Army authorized to quarter troops
wherever needed
The Final Provocation: The
Quebec Act
Quebec Act establishes authoritarian
government for Canada
Colonists interpret Act as final proof of
Parliamentary plot to enslave America
Mainland colonies rally to support
Boston, protest the British blockade
The Final Provocation: The
Ultimate Crisis
Parliament’s insistence on supremacy
would make rebellion unavoidable
Ben Franklin suggests Parliament
secure colonial loyalty by renouncing
claim to supremacy
Parliament rejects Franklin’s advice
Steps Toward Independence
September 1774--First Continental
Congress in response to Coercive Acts
Congress commends “Suffolk Resolves”
urging forcible resistance
Intercolonial “Association” halts commerce
with Britain until Coercive Acts repealed
Shots Heard Around the
World
April 19, 1775--skirmish breaks out in
Lexington, Massachusetts
Fighting spread along road between
Lexington, Concord, Boston
English retreat to Boston with heavy
losses
Beginning “The World over
Again:” Early War Effort
June 1775--Congress appoints George
Washington commander of Boston force
English government blockades colonial
ports, hires German mercenaries
Royal governors urge slaves to take up
arms against their masters
Beginning “The World over
Again:” Decision for
Independence
January 1776--Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense urges independence
July 2, 1776--Independence voted by
Congress
July 4--Declaration of Independence
issued
Fighting for Independence
The British entered the war confident of
a full and complete victory
English task
–
–
–
meet the challenge of a long supply line
use better-trained army to occupy territory
crush the popular spirit of independence
They underestimated the Americans’
commitment to their political ideology
The American Revolution, 1775-1781
Building a Professional Army
Washington’s task
–
–
defend territory as well as possible
keep his army intact
The Continental Army would be a
fighting force and symbol of the
republican cause
Militia’s role: compel support for
Revolution
Testing the American Will
American army routed on Long Island
New York City captured
Washington forced to retreat through
New Jersey
British obtain thousands of “Oaths of
Allegiance” in wake of retreat
"Times That Try Men's Souls"
December 25, 1776--Washington
captures Trenton
January 3, 1777--Washington captures
Princeton
Victories rekindle wartime patriotism
British consolidate forces, leave territory
in patriot control
Victory in a Year of Defeat
British campaign for New York under
John Burgoyne defeated at Saratoga
British capture Philadelphia under
General William Howe
Washington's army winters at Valley
Forge, Pennsylvania
The French Alliance
Saratoga prompts British suit for peace
to prevent Franco-American alliance
Terms include repeal of all laws since
1763, respect for colonial taxation rights
February 1778--Americans ally with
France to secure full independence
The Final Campaign
Spring 1780--English capture Savannah
and Charleston
August 1780--American army routed at
Camden, South Carolina
Nathaniel Greene’s forces deal several
defeats to English under Cornwallis
October 19, 1781--Cornwallis surrenders
to Washington’s combined forces
The Loyalist Dilemma
Loyalists treated poorly by both sides
English never fully trusted Loyalists
Patriots seize property, imprison,
execute some
More than 100,000 Loyalists leave U.S.
at war’s end
Loyalist Strongholds
Winning the Peace
Peace Treaty of 1783 negotiated by
Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay
Terms secured by playing France
against England, include
–
–
–
independence
U.S. gains all territory east of Mississippi
River, between Canada and Florida
U.S. secures fishing rights in North Atlantic
Preserving Independence
The American Revolution begins
construction of new form of government
Question remains: a government of the
elite or a government of the people?