Transcript The Road To Revolution

The Road To Revolution
Actions & Reactions
• The road to the revolution was
paved with a series of actions
and reactions by both the
English Government and the
Colonials.
Action
Reaction
Writs of
Assistance
Colonial Protests
James Otis’ lawsuit
Proc. Of 1763
Restricts growth
Sugar Act of 1764
More duties &
enforcement
Quartering Act of
1765
Resentment of Policy &
willful violation
Defied law w/ smuggling &
illegal trade
Boycotts
Colonial objection
NY Assem. defies
Parl. suspends NY leg. pwr
Stamp Act of 1765
Internal tax on
documents &
publications
Repeal of Stamp
Act (1766)
Declaratory Act
(1766) Reasserts
Parliamentary pwr
Sons of Liberty
Boycotts
Stamp Act Congress
Viewed as a Colonial
victory
Met w/ relief &
gratitude
Viewed as face-saving
gesture - ignored
Charles Townshend
• New Finance Minister of Britain - 1766
• Responsible for passage Townshend
Duties of 1767
• External taxes on colonial imports
– Glass, paint, lead, paper & tea
• $ raised would pay governors & other
British officials, making them
independent of colonial legislatures
Renewed Colonial Protests
• John Dickinson’s Letters from a
Farmer in Pennsylvania - 12/1767
– Argued that Parliament had no right to
tax commerce for purpose of raising $
– Legality of external tax depended on
intent - no tax if elected reps did not
vote for it
• 1768 - Sam Adams to drafts “circular
letter” of protest
Circular Letters
• Condemned taxation w/out rep & threat
to self-government - called for
resistance
• Sent to other legislatures
• VA sent out own circular letter calling for
opposition to policies - more radical
• Brit. Sec. of State threatened colonial
legislatures if they endorsed the circular
letters
Circular Letters cont.
• Colonial governors dissolved
legislatures for not disowning the letter
• Move resulted in even sharper
opposition
• Sons (& Daughters) of Liberty led new
protests & enforced boycotts on British
products
• Growing mob actions divided colonial
opinion & led to more troops (1768)
Repeal of Townshend Duties
• April 1770 - under PM Lord North
• Hastened by widening boycotts
• Parl. retains tax on tea to under-score
its authority
• 2nd time in 3 years that colonial
pressure led to changes
• Tea duty was a nagging reminder of
Parliamentary power
Boston Massacre (3/1770)
• Boston mobs threatened customs
officials - leading to more troops
• Friction between troops & citizens high
• March 5 - a mob led by Crispus Attucks
confronted Red Coats w/ insults &
snowballs
• Troops fired into the crowd, killing 5
• Became a spark for colonial radicals
Committees of Correspondence
• 1772 - Samuel Adams called for
formation of Committees of
Correspondence between Mass. towns
• For exchanging information & planning
measures to defend colonial rights
• Idea eventually spread to other colonies
& later served as a link between colonies
• By 1774 - colonial leaders linked by C of
C’s
Tea Act of 1773
• Designed to bail out East India Co.
• Company given monopoly on tea in
America - only co. agents could sell tea
• Taxes reduced as incentive to buy
• Undercut colonial merchants & made
taxed tea competitive w/ smuggled tea
• C of C’s call for non- violent consumer
boycott
Boston Tea Party - 12/16/1773
• Colonies resisted allowing tea to be
unloaded
• In Boston, 150 men disguised as
Mohawk Indians boarded 3 EIC ships
• Dumped 45 tons of tea in harbor
• No one hurt & no property damaged
except the tea
The Coercive (Intolerable) Acts
• Passed by Parliament in 1774
– Reaction to Boston Tea Party
• Boston Port Bill closed Boston Harbor to
commerce until tea was paid for
• Mass. Govt. Act suspended the colonial
charter of 1691
– All colonial officials appointees of crown
– Town meetings forbidden w/out permission
of governor
Coercive Acts cont.
• Administration of Justice Act permitted
trials of British officials to be held in
England or other colonies
• A new Quartering Act ordered Mass. to
provide lodging & food to troops there
• General Thomas Gage made Gov. of
Mass. - gave appearance of military rule
Quebec Act of 1774
• Passed along w/ Coercive Acts
• Granted land west of Alleghenies &
north of Ohio R. to Quebec
• To be governed by British officials
• Special privileges given to Roman
Catholic Church
Response to Intolerable Acts
• Pushed colonies toward brink of
revolution
• Repeal became a non-negotiable
demand
• 6 of 27 reasons given in Dec. of Ind. for
breaking from England related to I.A.’s
• Reps from all colonies but GA sent
delegates to Phila. in Sept. 1774
• Known as First Continental Congress
First Continental Congress
• 56 delegates - prominent colonial leaders
(Adams, Jay, Lee, Washington, etc.)
• Initially endorsed Suffolk Resolves which
declared Intolerable Acts unconstitutional
– Originally drafted by Mass. Legislature
• Formed Continental Association to
coordinate boycotts of British goods
• Committees formed locally to enforce
boycotts
First Continental Congress cont.
• Issued Declaration of Rights & Grievances
to King George III
• Declaration demanded repeal of
Parliamentary measures that produced their
grievances since 1763
– It conceded to Parliament’s right to regulate
commerce but not tax, disband assemblies, etc.
• Addressed King, hoping he would dismiss
ministers responsible for Coercive Acts
First Continental Congress cont.
• The delegates at the C.C.
agreed to meet again in the
Spring of 1775 if the issues had
not been solved.
• As scheduled, the Second
Continental Congress met the
next year.