Causes of the American Revolution

Causes of the American Revolution

New Imperialism • After the end of the Seven Yrs War, Britain was at peace for first time in 50 yrs – gave more attention to governing the colonies in Nth Am • Had a new King and Prime Minister (P.M.) with new ideas on how the Empire should be managed • New Policy - New Imperialism: The Colonies would be made to “Obey and Pay” (for the costs of war / defense)……erosion of Salutary / Benign Neglect

George III • wanted to expand the authority of the monarchy, which he felt had been eroded • had serious intellectual and psychological limitations / bouts of insanity: young and immature - only 22 when he became King – “ill equipped to handle the challenges of office” • as a result he was “inflexible, intransigent, stubborn, unwilling to compromise”

Grenville • Described as an excellent administrator – “hard working, well informed, efficient, conscientious. But as a politician he was a disaster – “tactless, uncompromising, unwilling to bargain” • felt his main task as PM was the elimination of Britain's enormous debt: 140m British Pounds, half of it incurred in defending the Colonies. • felt that people in Britain already paid too much tax – felt Colonists had contributed virtually nothing to the support of a war fought in large part for their benefit. • believed that the colonies had for too long been indulged: but he was willing to compromise: they would be asked to pay onlyone third of the cost of only their future defense: felt this was very reasonable

felt that, since the Colonists had co-operated so little with the British Govt. during the war, that they could not be relied on to willingly contribute (tax themselves) to their defense. • taxes, fees, would have to be imposed on them by the British Govt. ….. • and anyway the British Govt.. as the parliament for all the Empire, had every right to pass laws for / tax the Colonies, even without their consent (principle of absolute authority)…the Govt. would “Make them Obey and Pay”

11 steps to the American Revolution • A series of laws / decisions / measures (over the next 11 yrs) that the British perceived to be reasonable and the Colonists perceived to be oppressive

1. Proclamation of 1763 • 2. Application of Navigation Laws, 1763 • 3. Sugar Act, 1764 • 4. Currency Act, 1764 • 5. Stamp Act, 1765 • 6. Declaratory Act, 1766 • 7. Quartering Act, 1766 • 8. Townshend Duties, 1767 • 9. Tea Act, 1773 • 10. Coercive / Intolerable Acts, 1774 • 11. Quebec Act, 1774 • Know the Background, Details, Colonists response / reaction – of each of these 11 “measures”

They led to the First Continental Congress, 1774… • led to the events at Lexington and Concord, 1775… • led to the Second Continental Congress, 1775… • leading to the Revolutionary War, 1775, and then… • the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

1. Proclamation of 1763 • The need to control the new lands and find money to pay for defense was brought home to the Govt. by conflict between the Colonists who moved West and Native Americans / Chief Pontiac (Pontiac’s Rebellion / Uprising) in the Ohio Valley • Britain had to send troops to defend the settlers: (infected blankets): expensive, more debts • The Proclamation of 1763 forbade Colonists from advancing West beyond a defined line along the Appalachians.

Grenville’s reasoning • avoid conflicts with Ind’s, to reduce military costs • control westward movement, which henceforth would take place in a planned, orderly fashion • slow down the population exodus from the coastal colonies where England’s most important markets and investments were • Control and taxation would be facilitated by keeping settlers in the East • felt the Proclamation was reasonable and within the powers of the Br. Govt.

The Colonists bitterly resented the Proclamation. • Sign of British ingratitude for their role in helping to defeat Fr and Ind. • Frustrated: barrier to their ambitions to move West – the main reason many fought in the War • Felt the British were interfering in what was essentially an internal matter: right to determine their own destiny / Westward movement had always been a local / Colonial decision (Salutary / Benign Neglect)

The Proclamation was the first in a series of British attempts to increase its control and authority over the colonies. • Signaled the end of the period of Salutary Neglect (threatened during the French and Indian War: impressment, requisitioning, quartering) • While objecting to the Proclamation in principle (the implication, rather than the reality), the colonists proceeded to ignore it in practice, swarming over the boundary into the Ohio Valley. The British govt. didn’t have the will or means to prevent them ……yet it helped sour the relationship between Britain and the colonists

2. Application of Navigation Laws, 1763 • Grenville hoped to increase Govt. revenues to pay for more troops / defense by enforcing the Navigation Laws (such as Molasses Act of 1733) - to collect customs duties on imports and exports: eliminate smuggling • Sent more naval vessels to patrol, increased number of customs officials, who had to come in person • Restrictions were applied to Colonial manufacturing: woolen goods, hats…

Grenville was for the most part just reviving the old concept of Mercantilism…but the Colonists complained • objected, not so much to the actual restrictions, but to the fact decisions were being made from a distance without their consent – they were much more sensitive to this now • they also felt that the revenues would be used to control them more (more troops) – felt they didn’t need defending any more (defense meant control): up to this the Navigation Laws / Import and Export duties were more to regulate trade / raise money for the treasury, but now the money would be used to control them

Again, little enforcement – objection was to the Principle involved: erosion of their previous independence / rights as Englishmen to make decisions through their representatives…….contributed to souring the relationship

3. The Sugar Act, 1764 • A new import tax of 3 pence a gallon on molasses / sugar (was actually less than the Molasses Act - 6 pence)….the intention was to actually apply the new tax • In reality the tax was very small and had little impact on the price of sugar (absorbed by merchants) • Also it was an importation tax – at the point of entry – and so did not arouse as much opposition as a direct, internal tax would have.

Grenville again felt it was reasonable • But colonists again rejected the idea of taxation by an outside authority / British govt., by an authority other than their state legislatures. • What also outraged the Colonists was the revival of the hated The Writs of Assistance – customs officials were given general search warrants that authorized indiscriminate search of ships and dwellings for “illicit goods” / “blank check” search warrants (didn’t mention specific premises) – which they felt was a serious denial of their Rights as Englishmen to protection of property

Colonial response at this stage was peaceful. It took the form of: • 1. Heated debate / criticism in Colonial Legislatures • 2. Petition signed by many leading politicians was sent to the British Parliament, drafted by Sam Adams: (Br Govt. ignored it) • 3. Boycott of Br. goods until the tax was repealed • Escalation of responses – complaints and criticism of 1 and 2, now to a Petition and Boycott • British ignored the protests and proceeded to introduce more restrictive measures…………

4. Currency Act, 1764 • required the Colonial Assemblies to stop issuing paper money and to retire all the paper money already in circulation – must use British paper currency / notes • only hard money / coins could be used to pay for British goods • this could be a setback for colonial trade, esp. given the shortage of gold and silver coins in the colonies, and of British notes.

What would they use for internal trade? felt they would be forced to return to the system of barter • The Colonists complained, but again, for the most part, they ignored the new law • their objection was to the decision / principle, that the decision was not made internally, and that it was another attempt to regulate / control them

5. Stamp Act, 1765 • imposed a tax on every printed document in the colonies, legal and commercial; newspapers, diplomas, almanacs, pamphlets, deeds, wills, marriage and other licenses. • to be valid these documents had to carry a stamp for which they would have to pay a tax to a Govt. official / Stamp Agent. • whereas the tax of the Sugar Act really only affected some of the merchants, the Stamp Act tax affected most Americans, from all colonies and all classes: hence the opposition was greater – the most intense and extreme so far…universal

Again, the amount of the taxes was small….the objections were to the principles involved / the implications: they complained that • it was a direct, internal tax (worse than the external Sugar Tax) • it threatened the authority and independence of the provincial legislatures; it was a decision by an outside authority in which they were not represented, without their consent • it might threaten the power of the purse which gave the lower house control over the upper house, if, as they suspected, revenues were to be used to pay the Governor’s salary • Again, they didn’t want to pay taxes to support an army which they felt they no longer needed now that the French had been defeated (now about control)

The British Govt. responded by reminding the colonists that stamp taxes had been in force in the rest of the empire for over 100 yrs, and in fact in England the stamp tax was much higher than the one being introduced in the colonies • Told colonists they paid only about one twenty-fifth (an exaggeration?) of what inhabitants of England paid in taxes.

On the subject of Representation, the British argued that the colonists were “Virtually Represented” in the British Parliament - even though they did not elect representative - that the Members of Parliament served the interests of the whole empire • But the colonists rejected these arguments. From their experiences with the town meetings, and the Colonial assemblies, they believed in “Actual Representation". Since none of their representatives sat in the British Parliament, then they were not represented there. Only their own colonial assemblies fairly and truly represented them.

The Colonists became particularly upset when the Govt. decided to put evaders of the Stamp Act, as well as those charged with smuggling, on trial in the new Vice Admiralty Courts / Admiralty Courts: military courts / tribunals, without juries - thus again depriving them of their rights as Englishmen, to be tried in a civil court of their peers (trial by one or more officers) • And, in the Vice Admiralty Courts, one was presumed guilty until proven innocence

Reaction • 1. Condemned by Colonial Assemblies. • Many legislatures, - esp. VA and Mass, debated the new Act – condemned the Act. • In the House of Burgesses Patrick Henry made a dramatic, defiant speech (May 1765) concluding with a prediction that if present policies were not revised, George III, like previous tyrants, might lose his head. (he was forced to apologize – too outspoken and critical for most reps)

Patrick Henry “Give me liberty or give me death.”

He introduced a set of resolutions declaring that Americans possessed the same rights as the English, esp. the right to be taxed only by their own representatives: that Virginians should pay no taxes except those voted by the VA Assembly: and that anyone advocating the right of Parliament to tax Virginians should be deemed an enemy of the Colony. • Some of his resolutions were approved, most were not: all of them were printed and circulated as the "Virginia Resolves" - creating an impression in other Colonies that VA was far more militant than it actually was – encouraged other colonies to follow and be outspoken and militant too

In Mass, James Otis (‘taxation without representation is tyranny”)proposedan inter-colonial Congress to plan concerted action against the new tax. • Otis – a lawyer, had become famous when he argued that the Writs of Assistance represented a crime against the natural law and natural rights and therefore against the English Constitution and so were illegal • He had lost a case protesting the Writs but he had helped to inflame the passions of the people of Boston so much that the Writs were never again enforced in Mass.

2. Mob Riots • Riots erupted in protest against the new Act, in several coastal towns / cities, esp. Boston: people began taking the law into their own hands (also affected by other issues: unemployment, high prices) • passions were stirred up by pamphlets and by eloquent lawyers and printers who feared a loss of business

Sons (and Daughters) of Liberty – Sam Adams - terrorized stamp agents and destroyed the stamps, and terrorized those who ignored the boycott of British goods • A mob destroyed the home of Andrew Oliver, the Distributor of Stamps for Mass, and hanged him in effigy (he promptly resigned): same in other colonies, inc. tarring and feathering • A Boston mob also destroyed the home of Chief Justice, Thos Hutchinson. • Due to intimidation, so many agents resigned that the sale of stamps virtually ceased.

Stamp Act Protest

3. Stamp Act Congress. • In Oct 1765, the Stamp Act Congress met in N.Y. with 27 delegates from 9 cols (most ever – 7 colonies represented in Albany, now 9). They agreed: • not to cooperate with the use of the stamps • to again petition the king and Parliament: their petition respectfully conceded that Americans owed to Parliament "all due subordination", but it denied that the Colonies could rightfully be taxed except through their own Assemblies • Issue a statement of their rights and grievances • support the boycott of British goods

The Stamp Act crisis had brought many of the colonies together - an important step towards unity among colonies. • The Stamp Act crisis might have brought the Colonies to the brink of war with Britain – but the crisis subsided when the British Govt. backed down • The main reason was the pressure, back in Britain, from traders, merchants, workers affected by the Boycott, put on the Govt. to repeal the Stamp Act, so the Boycott would be called off • Stamp Act and Sugar Act were repealed in 1766….mostly because of events in Britain – Colonists believed it was because of their actions / pressure

6. Declaratory Act, 1766 • The British Govt., somewhat embarrassed, tried to save face by this Act, declaring Parliament’s authority over the Colonies "in all cases whatsoever". This was an attempt to salvage something from the crisis. (“face-saving Act”) • Colonial representatives objected, but only mildly…..they were too busy rejoicing over the repeal: most Americans paid little attention to this sweeping declaration of Parliament’s power.

7. Quartering Act, 1766 • Introduced by the new Prime Minister Townshend: feeling was that if the Colonies were not going to pay taxes to contribute to their defense, then they would have to house / take on costs of the upkeep of the British troops through Quartering • Again, the British considered this reasonable: the soldiers were there to defend the Colonists…the Colonists refused to pay taxes – hence the need for Quartering

To the Colonists, however, this was another assault on their liberties. • They didn’t need to be defended (controlled) and the Law amounted to an indirect form of taxation, and was again made without their consent • The Massachusetts and New York Assemblies were the most defiant, refusing to co-operate with the new law: esp. difficult for the British, since the British army had its headquarters in N.Y.

Townshend responded by disbanding the NY assembly, until such time as it accepted the Act. The colony would be governed directly by the Governor. • He hoped to send a message to the other Colonies – the same might happen to them if they did not co-operate. • Considered an outrage: tampering with their democratic system, their elected Assembly

8. Townshend Duties • He wanted to increase revenues: imposed import duties - the Townshend Duties – on various goods imported from Eng - lead, paint, paper, tea, glass. • He authorized Writs of Assistance to again be used to search for illegally imported goods • The duties were not very high (light and indirect compared to Stamp Act) and smuggling continued – but the Colonies again protested and complained - again the objection was in principle, to taxation without their consent...they continued to fear erosion of the “power of the purse” over the Governor ...Townshend earmarked the proceeds of the new duties to pays Governors salaries • g

Townshend argued that these were not direct taxes, but indirect tariffs / duties • To the Colonists there was no longer any distinction between direct and indirect taxes – all were unacceptable….opposition best expressed in John Dickinson’s Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer….pamphlet • The Massachusetts Assembly, undeterred by the suspension of the NY Legislature, called on all the Colonies to resist the duties: received much support from other colonies

Townshend, to enforce these duties, and the Navigation Laws in general, set up a new Board of Customs Commissioners (also hoped to eliminate the rampant corruption among officials) • The new Board was effective in significantly reducing smuggling in Boston, though not in the other colonies. • The Boston merchants were furious: they organized a renewed – the most effective to date - boycott of all British goods (received a lot of support from VA, unlike the earlier boycotts)

Late in 1767, Townshend died: Lord North becomes new PM • Wanted to ease the situation and appease British merchants who complained about the boycotts: repealed the Townshend Duties in 1770 • But kept the duty on Tea, to keep alive the principle that the British Govt. still insisted on its right to tax the Colonies

Boston Massacre, 1770 • As Townshend Duties were being repealed this event occurred - somewhat negated calming effect of the repeal • Heavy presence of British soldiers in Boston to protect Customs Officials, under command of Capt. Thomas Preston • Bostonians resented presence of Redcoats; arrogant, badly behaved, there to control them, and…..took their jobs (moonlighting)

March 5, 1770: angry exchange between soldiers and workers seeking work on the docks • Workers later began throwing rocks at soldiers on guard duty outside Customs House: soldiers fired, killing 5 (inc. mulatto, Crispus Attucks). • The incident was exaggerated by local leaders: presented as a calculated assault on a peaceful crowd…..this propaganda created intense outrage. • soldiers involved (defended by future Pres. John Adams) were tried and found guilty of only manslaughter and given a token punishment (branded on the hand) / discharged.. increased outrage

The Boston Massacre

The leading figure in fomenting public outrage (spreading propaganda) about the Boston Massacre was Sam Adams (also organizer of the Sons of Liberty). • An inflammatory journalist and orator: often spoke in public (town meetings), denouncing British legislation since 1763: a persistent voice of outrage at British oppression. England, he argued, had become a morass of sin and corruption; only in America did public virtue survive. • Was one of the first to advocate independence at this early stage…1765 – not just complain, but break away • In 1772, he formed the Committees of Correspondence in Massachusetts – letter writing Committees, communities / towns shared their views / complaints about British policy

Soon Mass had up to 80 Committees • Other Colonies followed this lead, inc. VA • Inter-Colonial and Intra Colonial communication • Helped spread the spirit of dissent and resistance and helped create inter-colonial co-operation and unity…… wrote for the Boston Gazette….helped generate nationalism • Sam Adams became known as the "penman of the revolution“: considered a “rabble rouser” – the most effective propagandist of these years

1770 - 1773 • No legislation – but not a quiet period • But political issues / previous legislation were much debated: in increasing number of newspapers, pamphlets, in the Taverns, in the Town Committees and Colonial Legislatures, and among the Committees of Correspondence….and newspapers (40 weekly newspapers…as well as pamphlets, leaflets, journals) • Legislation / British Policies had aroused people to take an interest in political ideas…politically, a very conscious society (and very literate)

the crises of the 1760's had aroused an ideological excitement; no where in the world was the general public so interested and concerned with politics. • Enlightenment Ideas - John Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu - were much discussed: Locke’s ideas on natural rights, social contract, government by consent, right to rebellion against tyrannical kings….were all familiar to colonists • There was discussion about altering the relationship with Britain – maybe a Home Rule type arrangement within the empire would be better (up to now, just complained)

9. Tea Act, 1773 • Destroyed the three years of relative calm • For the British, the costs of defense were increasing, but the Colonies were still contributing very little • Tea Act, allowed British East India Company to import Tea into Colonies without paying the 3 pence tax (well-connected Company) • Company was near bankrupt; it’s demise would have severely hurt the British economy

Causes of the American Revolution