From Empire to Independence 1750-1776

1. Chapter 6 From Empire to Independence 1750-1776

2. The Seven Years’ War in America

3. What were the most important weaknesses of the British Empire in North America at the outset of the Seven Years’ War?

4. 1. Lack of cooperation between the Colonies in their struggles with the French. • Failure of the Albany Conference 1754 • Conference was called to mount a unified response to the conflict with France. • Iroquois delegation walked out because the colonists wouldn’t agree to stop taking land. • Colonies rejected Ben Franklin’s Plan of Union.

5. Why did the colonies reject the Plan of Union? • It would have created “one general government” for the colonies. • President-General • Grand Council • The colonies were all separate and different entities. • None wanted to surrender sovereignty to a central government. • The British government was a little afraid of this plan as well.

6. Widespread Warfare • Northern Atlantic Coast – Louisburg (“Gibraltar of the New World”) • Captured by Brits in 1745 • Reclaimed by France in 1748 • Border region of new France and New York • Canadians & New Yorkers fight for Indian trade. • Trans-Appalachian region along the Ohio River

7. See map p. 6-1 for comparison (p. 168) Strait of Gibraltar

8. Primary focus of the war: • Trans-Appalachian region along the Ohio River • British back country settlers wanted the land. • French were threatened by British encroachment on its territory. • Became a refuge for Indians pushed off their land in the east. • Indians tended to ally with the French, even though they weren’t thrilled with them either.

9. Skirmished in the Monongahela River. • Result: British General Braddock defeated. • Full-scale war breaks out between Britain and France in 1756. • British were losing because the colonial troops refused to be bossed around by British commanders.

10. Where “Cajuns” Come From

11. French farmers in Acadia who had lived under British rule for 40 years refused to take up arms against France to fight for the British. • The British punished the Acadians by forcing them out (18,000 people) and selling their land. • The Acadians were dispersed and many of them ended up in Louisiana where they were became known as “Cajuns.”

12. Conquest of Canada • Prime Minister William Pitt gets the support of the colonists by promising the king will pay for the war. • Colonists cooperate and help attack Canada. • British gain Iroquois cooperation by promising to pay for or give back land that had been taken from them.

13. These alliances changed the course of the war. The British unleashed total warfare on Quebec • British win historic battle - Plains of Abraham. Wolfe and Montcalm die. • Treaty of Paris 1763.

14. Treaty of Paris 1763 - Results • France gives up claims to all possessions on North American mainland. • Britain got all France’s land EAST of the Mississippi River (except New Orleans) • Spain got New Orleans and France’s land WEST of the Mississippi River. • Spain gave Britain Florida and Britain gave Spain colonies it had taken in the Pacific and Caribbean.

15. What did the Indians of the Ohio River area think of the Treaty of Paris? • “The French had no right to give away [our] country.”

16. Effects on the Indians • The British banned gift-giving to Indians as a means of gaining favor. • They stopped supplying the Indians with ammo for hunting. • Many Indians starved for lack of food. • Neolin – wanted Indians to break dependence on Europeans and return to their old ways.

17. Pontiac’s Rebellion • Chief Pontiac led the resistance inspired by Neolin. • May 1763, the Indian confederacy simultaneously attacked all the British forts in the West, killing 2000 settlers. • British General Amherst ordered distributing blankets infected with smallpox among the Indians. (Germ warfare) • Pontiac’s Rebellion ended in a stalemate.

18. Royal Proclamation of 1763 • Colonists were not allowed to settled west of the crest of the Appalachian Mountains without the approval of the king. • Colonists attacked the Indians. • British tried to punish them. • 600 frontiersmen marched to Philadelphia to protest.

19. Key result of Seven Years’ War: the French gave up its claims in North America. The size of the British territory more than doubled. • The British proved unwilling and unable to control westward migration of settlers. • The Indians hardened against the British.

20. The Americans “entirely disregard, and despise the settlement agreed upon by their superiors and us.” They “are come in vast numbers to the Ohio, and give our people to understand that they would settle wherever they pleased. If this is the case, we must look upon every engagement you made with us as void and of no effect.” p. 173

21. What factors led to the growth of American nationalism in the 1760s?

22. Seven Years’ War – promoted a spirit of nationalism and a wider notion of community among the colonies. • Colonial Newspapers expressed a “continental perspective.” • Sugar and Stamp Acts put American colonists in opposition to the British. • Virginia Stamp Act Resolution • Loyall Nine • Sons of Liberty • Stamp Act Congress

23. The Seven Years’ War showed contrasts between the colonists and their mother country: • Lewd, violent British soldiers • Swift and terrible punishment by officers • Fear of Britain enslaving colists • VOLUNTEER colonial troops • Colonial commanders less harsh with punishment

24. Colonial Publications • John Peter Zenger’s libel case • Editors offered a “continental perspective” on issuees • Colonists first began using the term “American” to denote their common identity. • Revealed certain political assumptions held by the American Colonists.

25. American Political Assumptions • Republicanism • Just government – Biblical value • Limited, self-government • Broad distribution of powers • Dependence leads to subservience • Property ownership is a virtue • Representative assemblies • History of struggle with royal authorities

26. British Political Assumptions • A strong state is necessary and desireable. • A hereditary elite forces the order of society.

27. Stamp Act of 1765 • Purpose of the tax - to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years' War. • A direct tax imposed by the British Parliamentspecifically on the colonies of British America. • Required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.[1][2] (legal documents, magazines, newspapers, etc.) • To be paid in valid British currency, not in colonial paper money.[3] From Wikipedia. Yes. Wikipedia.

28. “No taxation without representation.” • Virtual representation – Members of Parliament represent “everyone” not just their districts. • Actual representation – Actually chose and send your own representatives to Parliament

29. Colonial Opposition • Patrick Henry • Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions • Loyall Nine – workers’ club led by Samuel Adams destructive protest • Sons of Liberty – moderate forms of protest • Stamp Act Congress Patrick Henry

30. Stamp Act Congress • Delegations from 9 colonies met and agreed to stop all importations from Britain until they appealed the Stamp Act.

31. Repeal • British merchants also opposed it because their businesses were being hurt by the nonimportation movement. • The Stamp Act was repealed in March 1766.  • Passed the Declaration Act which said that Parliament had “absolute supremacy” over the colonies. 

32. How did political and economics problems in Britain contribute to unrest in the colonies?

33. Debt from the Seven Years’ War • Unemployment • Inflation (High Prices) • Tax Protests • Changing Leadership – Charles Townshend replaced the popular William Pitt as Prime Minister.

34. Townshend Revenue Acts • To pay the debt – new taxes. • Import duties to colonies • Lead • Glass • Paint • Paper • Tea

35. Colonial Response - Objection • John Dickinson – Parliament had no power to tax goods to raise revenues in America. • Royal revenues would pay salaries of royal officials; colonies would not be able to have some authority over the king’s officials. • Townshend Revenue Act – strictly enforced. • Fears among colonists.

36. Colonial Response - Action • Non-importation: Boycott • Massachusetts letter denouncing the acts. • Mob attacks on custom’s officials in Boston.

37. Boston Massacre 1770 • Crowds taunt British soldiers, threw snowballs & rocks. • Soldiers fired into the crowd, killing 7. • Paul Revere’s propaganda • Importance: Recognition of how the relationship between Britain and its American colonies had deteriorated.

38. From Paul Revere’s publication

39. Most of the Townshend Acts had been repealed the same day as the Massacre. • EXCEPT for the tax on tea.

40. What steps did Britain take to punish Massachusetts for the colonists’ acts of resistance?

41. The Tea Act – cheap tea with a small tax • Intolerable Acts • No load/unload in Boston Harbor • Nullified Massachusetts charter • British governor in control of local gov’t. • Protected British officials in court • Made colonists quarter troops • Quebec Act • Catholic official religion of Quebec • Feudal land laws

42. Response to the Tea Act • Colonies began to unify in resistance against Britain. • Committees of Correspondence • share information • shape public opinion; and • build cooperation among the colonies. • Boston Pamphlet • Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773

43. Lexington & Concord • British decide to take military action • Try to capture colonial munitions • Fighting breaks out

44. British soldiers fire upon Massachusetts militia at Lexington, the first of four hand-colored engravings included in Amos Doolittle’s View of the Battle of Lexington and Concord (1775). It is the only contemporary pictorial record of the events of April 19, 1775, from an American point of view. Doolittle, a Connecticut silversmith, traveled to the site of the conflict in the weeks afterward, and his engravings are based on first-hand observation. Important buildings, individuals, or groups of people are keyed to a legend that explains what is happening. Doolittle intended his prints to be informative in the same sense as a photograph in a modern newspaper.

45. Colonists Unify • First Continental Congress September 1774 • Adamses, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Christopher Gadsden, John Dickinson, Joseph Galloway, John Jay, etc. • Their Committees of Observation took over the duties of local government. • Organized militia companies • People began to refer to the colonies as the American “states.”

46. Who made up the Second Continental Congress and why was it formed?

47. Second Continental Congress • Delegates sent from 12 colonies. • Some from the First Continental Congress • New – Thomas Jefferson

48. Second Continental Congress • The Second Continental Congress aimed to organize the defense of the colonies. • The Congress designated the militia forces besieging Boston as the Continental Army and made George Washington commander-in-chief. • The Olive Branch Petition was written to prevent further hostilities.

49. Reaction from outsiders? • The French Canadians did not support the rebellion. • Several British Caribbean islands did support the Continental Congress, but the British navy stopped any involvement. • Spain adopted a neutral position officially, but secretly sought to help the Americans.

50. War for Independence • Fighting in New England. • Unsuccessful attempt to take Canada -spring of 1776. • British forced out of Boston. • British efforts in the South failed. • King George III rejected the “Olive Branch Petition” and issued a proclamation declaring that the colonists were in open rebellion.