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Explore how Enlightenment ideals and the Great Awakening influenced the American Revolution, from theories of liberty to colonial protests against British taxation.
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Topic #8 Coming of the Revolution
How did the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening contribute to the American Revolution?
Employing Enlightenment theories, Americans made what two separate political arguments or political philosophies to push for revolution against Great Britain?
Liberalism Society is best is everyone is left alone to pursue their own best interest, then society as whole will improve (sort of derived from Adam Smith). But king is not allowing colonists to pursue their individual interests
Republicanism Society is best if everyone works for the whole (sort of derived from Locke’s social contract). But king is not working for the whole but just for himself and a few others
What was the French and Indian War and how did it contribute to the American Revolution?
How did Great Britain decide to deal with its debt from the French and Indian War, and what legislation did it enact just after the war from 1763 to 1765? How did the colonists react to this initial legislation?
New Prime Minister George Grenville decided to tax the colonists directly since in the British view they had benefitted from the war and had never paid taxes. The British had to this point only controlled trade leaving issues of taxation to individual colonial governments.
The Sugar Act of 1764 (officially the Revenue Act of 1764) placed a tax on imported molasses. Molasses was a byproduct of sugar production and the French had not liked it and had sold it to the colonists cheaply. Now the British were trying to drive the colonial market to British molasses producers while raising money for the debt. Grenville soon lowered the tax but cracked down on the rampant smuggling that resulted.
Grenville also got Parliament to pass the Currency Act of 1764, which prohibited the colonists from printing their own paper money. The colonists had been printing their own paper money for some time because British money was specie-based (precious metals) and thus limited. This had stunted colonial economic growth. Now, after the French and Indian War, many colonial governments began to print a lot more of their paper money and many colonial businesses had begun paying their debts to British merchants with it. The British merchants were upset because of its depreciated value.
The Stamp Act of 1765 placed a direct tax on all printed items (for example, newspapers, licenses, court documents, pamphlets, etc.). When the tax had been payed, the document displayed a prominent stamp. While in a sense the earlier Sugar Act and the Currency Act had involved trade and thus arguably fell under the British tradition of mercantilist control, the Stamp Act did not. It was a direct tax on the colonies by parliament.
Virtual Representation Parliament members were not elected from any specific area or district, but represented all citizens Direct Representation Assembly members elected from specific districts or areas and responsible only to it
In the Virginia colony’s legislature, the House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry proposed the “Virginia Resolves.” They declared Virginians British citizens with full British rights, including a say in their own taxation. Because of this, only the House of Burgesses could tax the colony and anyone who declared otherwise was an enemy to the colony.
Fired up, nine colonies sent delegates to New York City in the fall of 1765 for what became known as the Stamp Act Congress. The delegate formally petitioned the king to lift the Stamp Act
After George III essentially ignored the Stamp Act’s petition, radicals began forming various vigilante groups known as the Sons of Liberty. The groups would encourage street demonstrations and terrorize tax collectors, most of whom were fellow Americans
A leader of the radicals was Samuel Adams of Massachusetts. The growing street demonstrations and violence became known as the “Stamp Act Crisis” of late 1765
How did tensions between the American colonies and the British government grow from the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765 through the Intolerable Acts of 1774?
Following the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765, George III picked a new British Prime Minister, Lord Rockingham. Rockingham thought it best to defuse tensions while at the same time asserting the right of Parliament to tax all British citizens, including American colonists.
Rockingham first repealed the Stamp Act but then got Parliament to pass the Declaratory Act of 1766. This legislation declared bluntly that Parliament had authority over the American colonies in “all cases whatsoever.” Rockingham’s actions indeed began to slow the American protests.
Any calm, however, did not last long because the unstable George III suddenly decided to switch course and replaced Rockingham with a new prime minister, William Pitt
Pitt was old at the time and basically left fiscal matters to his chief financial minister, Charles Townshend. While known as “Champagne Charlie” for his love of partying, he worried extensively about the debt, which still had not been paid.
Townshend helped get Parliament to pass the Revenue Act of 1767, often referred to as the “Townshend Duties” or “Townshend Act.” Townshend decided to tax a number of items Americans imported, such as tea, glass, led, paper and paint. Townsend argued it was not taxing the colonies, only controlling trade, because the tax would be paid by the importer, not everyone. The American colonists, however, recognized that the average colonist would still pay because the importers were sure to raise their prices to offset their tax. Also, the Townshend duties promised to affect a far greater number of colonists than the Sugar Tax had earlier. Americans grew angrier.
Soon a movement to boycott British goods to America grew, a non-importation agreement among the colonists. As resistance grew Pitt and Townshend sent troops to Boston to ensure order and demonstrate British power. The non-importation agreement – the economic boycott – began to hurt British merchants, who complained. George III then, in 1769, decided to replace Pitt with a new prime minister, Lord North. Lord North repealed the Townshend Duties.
After the Boston Massacre, tensions remained high but no violence or agitation grew until Lord shifted British policy again in 1772 and 1773. Then he then got Parliament to pass the Tea Act of 1773.
Led by Samuel Adams, Committees of Correspondence grew in each colony, frequently coordinating a growing economic boycott of British goods
Lord North and Parliament responded with the Coercive Acts of 1774, known to Americans as the “Intolerable Acts.” First, these laws closed the port of Boston, until the tea was paid for.
