Trouble Brewing in the Colonies

1. Trouble Brewing in the Colonies

2. French and Indian War Aftermath • Colonists began to become disenchanted with British rule after the French and Indian War • Treatment of colonial militias during war • Proclamation of 1763 • Colonists denied the land they felt they had earned • Taxes levied on colonies to pay for French & Indian War

3. Let the Taxes begin • George Grenville becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1763 • Is responsible for paying off massive debt from Seven Years War • Parliament passes the Sugar Act in 1764 • Duties on all sugar/molasses imported by the Colonists • Indirect tax – tax levied on businesses who paid to import goods. Average colonists did not directly pay this tax • First tax specifically to raise money • NOT regulate trade • Began crackdown on smugglers • Searching ships • Vice-admiralty courts • No jury • Guilty until proven innocent

4. Adams and Otis in Boston • Boston colonists Samuel Adams and lawyer James Otis began to spread their slogan “No Taxation without Representation” • James Otis wrote pamphlets defending colonial rights • Along with Adams, he wrote letters editors of local Newspapers • Britain should not be allowed to tax the colonies since they had no direct representation in Parliament • Adams helped organize Committees of Correspondence • Local organizations who spread the word of new British laws and ways to challenge them • Communicated with other committees throughout the colonies • Led boycotts against sugar, etc.

5. Quartering Act • Passed in 1765 • Forced Colonial governments to provide free housing, food, alcohol, etc. to British soldiers stationed in the colonies • If governments refused, colonists had to provide • Colonies felt that this violated their rights • No taxation w/out representation in Parliament • Standing army was not authorized by Parliament

6. The Stamp Act • Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765 • Required colonists to get a stamp on all paper items they bought • Newspapers, playing cards, legal documents, etc. • Direct tax – a tax paid directly by colonists when they bought a product

7. Sons of Liberty • Samuel Adams organized an underground group called The Sons of Liberty • devised ways to protest the tax • Tarred and feathered tax collectors • Burned and hung tax collectors in effigy • Burned Homes • Boycotted paper products, sugar, etc.

8. Patrick Henry • Freshmen Virginia representative, Patrick Henry, proposed the Virginia Resolves • Claimed that Parliament did not have the right to tax the colonies • Only colonial representatives could levy taxes • Passed the House of Burgesses by one vote • The most Anti-British legislation to that point • Proved that anti-British sentiment was spreading throughout the colonies, not just Boston

9. Stamp Act Repealed • A Stamp Act Congress composed of nine colonies met in New York • Colonies uniting • Declared that Stamp Act was in violation of their rights and it needed to be repealed • Due to mounting pressure from the Colonies, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act in 1766 • Benjamin Franklin pleaded the colonial case before Parliament • Lord William Pitt, now a member of Parliament, led the movement to repeal the taxes • However, Parliament does issue the Declaratory Act • Parliament has the right to issue whatever taxes it sees fit and make laws and policy for the colonies • Trumps colonial authority • Did not want to seem weak; wanted to assert their authority

10. You say you want a Revolution...

11. Townshend Acts - 1767 • Named after financial cabinet officer Charles Townshend • Indirect tax on certain imports • glass, lead, paint, silk, paper, & tea • Gave tax collectors to have writs of assistance • Allowed tax collectors to search ships for smuggled goods without proper warrant • Like a warrant to be used whenever they saw fit • Repealed taxes in 1770 • Retained tax on tea as a matter of principle

12. Liberty Case - 1768 • John Hancock is accused of smuggling wine on his ship the “Liberty” • British officials sent to search the ship • Officials got locked below deck during their search • The next morning, the officials and smuggled wine had disappeared • Officials ordered arrest of Hancock and confiscation of “Liberty” • Public riots broke out • Burned customs-house • Burned tax collector’s boat • Destroyed British property • Defended by John Adams • Acquitted of all charges, but his ship was seized • Ironically, it was later armed and used by the British to search for smugglers

13. Boston Massacre - 1770 • Do to the oftentimes violent nature of Colonial protests and the difficulty that British officials had in collecting the Townshend duties, over 3,000 redcoats were stationed in Boston • British soldiers were guarding a customs house in Boston • Citizens began to taunt the soldiers and threw snowballs at them • Packed with glass, oyster shells, bricks, rocks, etc. • Someone yelled “Fire!” • Redcoats fired muskets into the crowd • 5 people were killed • Crispus Attucks • Known as the first martyr of the Revolution • 6 others injured • Soldiers defended by John Adams • “Facts are stubborn things...” • 6 Soldiers, Captain were acquitted • 2 were accused of manslaughter • Branded on their thumbs

14. Paul Revere’s Engraving • Paul Revere quickly capitalized on the event by producing an engraving of the event • Titled “Boston Massacre” • Sold color prints 3 weeks after event • A great example of Anti-British propaganda • Propaganda - the attempt to influence collective attitudes by a systematic manipulation of words, pictures, or symbols. • Allowed even the illiterate to understand

15. Tea Act -1773 • Ever since the Townshend Acts taxed tea in 1767, boycotts by the Sons of Liberty and others had almost bankrupted the East India Tea Company • Britain passed the Tea Act in 1773 to help the prominent British business • Kept the original tax on tea from the Townshend Acts • Allowed tea from the East India Tea Company to be imported directly from Indian without the usual duties/taxes • Made this tea cheaper than ever • Required this tea to be sold only by certain “agents” or stores • Colonists were outraged • Saw it as a backdoor way to get them to pay the tea tax • believed this would undercut (hurt) colonial businesses • People would buy tea from only East India Tea agents and not from other colonial business

16. Colonial Response to Tea Act • Colonists in Philadelphia and New York turned tea ships around • In Charleston, the cargo was left to rot on the docks • In Boston the ships were held in port • Over 2 weeks • Sons of Liberty threatened violence if the tea was unloaded

17. Boston Tea Party • Samuel Adams organized 150 members of the Sons of Liberty to raid the 3 East India Tea Company Ships • Dressed like Mohawk Indians • Took hatchets and opened/dumped 342 cases of tea into the Boston Harbor • £10,000 worth of tea • Crowd gathered to watch • The Sons of Liberty destroyed only tea • Hurt no one, took off their shoes, swept the deck, and repaired the one padlock that they broke

18. Boston Tea Party

19. Coercive (Intolerable) Acts • A set of laws passed by Parliament in 1774 aimed at bringing the colonies back into submission • Punishment for Tea Party, colonial rebellion • Consisted of several laws • Boston Port Act – closed the port of Boston to all trade • Massachusetts Governance Act – did away with elected officials in Massachusetts, making them appointed by the crown • Quartering Act – required colonists to provide lodging, food, etc. to British soldiers • Administration of Justice Act – authorized Royal Governor to transfer trials of British officials to London to avoid hostile colonial juries • Colonists called them “Intolerable”

20. Intolerable Acts

21. Intolerable Acts

22. First Continental Congress • In response to the Intolerable Acts, 12 colonies sent delegates to Philadelphia • No Georgia • Centrally located • Leading Colonial City • 9/5/1774 – 10/26/1774 Carpenter’s Hall Philadelphia, PA

23. First Continental Congress • 55 delegates • Presided by Peyton Randolph (Va.) • Notable Names: • George Washington • John Adams • Samuel Adams • Patrick Henry • John Jay The Rev. Jacob Duche opening the Sept. 7, 1774 session of the First Continental Congress with an extended prayer asking God to support the American cause.

24. First Continental Congress • Drafted the Articles of Association • Intended to alter Britain’s policies towards the colonies, not to break ties • Defined American grievances against Britain • Intolerable Acts • Taxes imposed not to regulate trade • Suspended trade with Britain until Intolerable Acts were repealed • Boycott of British Goods • No Imports from Britain (effective Dec. ’74) • No Exports to Britain (effective Sept. ’75)

25. Articles of Association • Precursor to the Declaration of Independence • First to claim colonial rights of “life, liberty, property” • Refers to the colonies as “America” • Unites Colonies for the common good

26. First Continental Congress • Agreed to meet again in May 1775 if their demands were not met • Urged colonies to ready their militias • Created Committees of Observation to enforce the boycotts, etc. • Local “police” chosen by voters