Antecedents to the Revolutionary War in America

• • • • • • Several areas of interactions helped to develop the necessary conditions for the colonists to seek independence Social differences between the colonies and Britain developed Cultural differences were also beginning to impact the colonies perception of themselves and Britain’s as well Political understandings became muddled and neither side really understood what the other was saying Economic issues also erupted All of these were interrelated to some degree

Political Issues

• • • Most colonies were founded during periods of great stress in Britain or England depending on the date Virginia- developed as a company colony. Its failure led to the creation of a royal colony, but as this occurred during the lead up to the Civil War, more attention was given to domestic issues in Britain than to a small outpost in America New England colonies- Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay were created as havens for non-conformist Protestants. Each assured its own rule by various means. Connecticut and Rhode Island were offshoots of these. The Civil War broke out during the initial planting of the colonies and so oversight was loose and confused

Political Issues

• • • New York and New Jersey were taken from the Dutch during wars in the 1660’s. Again the political situation in England was in flux. Colonists tended to be self governed despite England’s desires Pennsylvania was also a religious haven for Quakers, founded during the Glorious Revolution with a proprietary government not responsible to the English Crown The Carolinas were granted to several nobles, who devised a constitution for the colonies, but never went there. Over time these colonists also became self governing

Political Issues

• • • Due to the neglect of the government, all colonies developed similar institutions for government.

Taxpaying adult males generally voted for representatives to legislative bodies who had control of expenses for the colony. Governors in some colonies were royally appointed, but usually were either clueless or became coopted by the colonial system. In some cases, governors were directly elected by the people Colonies, in any case, came to consider this the appropriate state of affairs, and the government failed to exert any real power leaving the colonies essentially to themselves

Political Issues

• • • When Britain attempted to exert control after the French and Indian Wars to consolidate its empire using tariffs and other revenue raising methods, the colonists were not prepared to see their “rights” usurped.

Neither side would or could see the value in the arguments of the other leading to impasse.

Colonists were used to being in charge of themselves for all purposes, and saw their place in the empire as partners of not menials for Britain.

Economic Issues

• • • Each colony paid little attention to British trade laws. Smuggling and evasion were rife and became the norm. Merchants and retailers in the colonies expected that this state of affairs would continue. Political neglect and failure to impose true royal government contributed to this.

When Britain in the 1760’s attempted to impose taxation on the colonies, which it certainly had the right to do, all heck broke loose.

Britain had spent over $20 billion dollars to fight the French and taxes in the home islands could not be raised as Parliament was home to the taxpayers. Britain felt it was only right that some of the burden, and a minor part to be sure, should be borne by those who benefited from the war.

Economic Issues

• • Adding to the mix, mercantilism was the economic system that all European empires were using at this time. The colonies were supposed to exist for the benefit of the “mother” country, contributing raw materials, trading only with the home country for its benefit, and remaining rather undeveloped. This philosophy did not sit well with the colonists who had, in the meantime, created trade with all those who wanted it. They felt they had the right to determine this and not Parliament.

Economic Issues

• • • The imposition of new enforced regulations on trade seemed to the colonists to be a flagrant violation of their rights as Englishmen as seen through the lens of the glorious revolution and Whig rhetoric as well as from their prior experience British taxes appeared to be revolutionary in nature and contrary to established policy.

The Stamp Act, Tea Act and others whipped up storms of protest and embargos against British merchants and manufacturers. Each repeal led the colonists to assume they were right and Britain was wrong.

Social and Cultural Issues

• • • • Colonial life did not embrace the wide range of social levels found in Britain.

Most colonists were small farmers: around 90% There were some large land owners particularly in the South who for the most part embraced the small farm social and cultural attitudes of their neighbors.

There were few nobles in America, and though title and place were important to some, local status was much more important.

Social and Cultural Issues

• • Religion in the colonies was a very complex affair. Most colonies did have an established church, but this varied from Congregationalist to Anglican depending on the colony. Several did not. Unlike Britain, the Church of England did not have a monopoly on religious ideas. In fact, the colonies became a breeding ground of sects diverging more and more from England’s norms.

There were no bishops in the colonies, and the rumor that a bishop for the colonies would be appointed led to great unrest. The rumor was false; no bishop wanted to live in the colonies, and no colonist could ever be appointed as bishop.

Social and Cultural Issues

• • • Education in the Americas was more widespread than in Britain and literacy was almost universal for males and close to it for females.

This led to the development of a lively and free press (Zenger Case) with vivid expression of colonial positions and oppositions to Britain The lack of social class (as known in Britain) was decisive in how Americans (as they were beginning to see themselves) reacted to and accepted developments

Other Issues

• • • Britain tried to maintain peace with the Native Americans by restricting settlement and creating policies of amity with them. Colonists had little sentiment about Native Americans. They saw them as essentially nuisances who held land but didn’t know how to use it. Since land was the most important commodity in the colonies, American culture had created a most useful understanding of what to do with the Native Americans-get rid of them. (Useful to the colonists that is.) British politicians did not accept this.

Other Issues

• • Americans also felt (with good reason) that their British brothers looked down on them as inferior.

In almost all interactions with Britain this attitude could be seen. The colonists who certainly saw themselves as equals found this infuriating. Much of the rancor of this period derives from reaction on both sides to this.

Becoming American

• • Like the Europeans born in Spanish America, Europeans born in the English American colonies lacked the respect of their fellow Europeans from the homeland.

Distance and time helped to create a distinctive American way of thinking about certain issues. Even many who were not swayed by the rhetoric of those who came to be known as Patriots believed that they were Americans who happened to be members of the British Empire.

Becoming American

• • • Colonial political philosophy owed much to John Locke and the Whigs who were in charge of England for much of the early 18 th century.

These theories suited their needs and they saw what they had accomplished and were accomplishing through this prism of political thought.

If government did not work towards the ends that this indicated, it must be tyrannical. Perhaps even more than taxation and restrictions on trade, this was the impetus for revolution.

Becoming American

• • If one combs through the rhetoric and hundreds of documents leading up to the revolution written by Americans, it becomes more clear that the revolution was not primarily about gaining something new.

The revolution was about retaining something that the English colonies had already attained. And they justified their positions in the language they knew best: Locke and unalienable rights.