Events Leading to the American Revolution

Events Leading to the American Revolution AP US History m. Carter

French and Indian War Seven Years War in Europe Determined which imperial power would control the region between the Appalachian Mtns and the Mississippi River Laid the groundwork for the conflict between the British and colonists

Albany Conference • Included a delegation from the Iroquois Confederacy • Convened by British officials who wanted a collective colonial response to the ongoing conflict with New France and Natives • Negotiations w/ natives go poorly • Angry about colonial encroachment of land • Believed they were being taken advantage of • Franklin’s Plan of Union was adopted by the delegates but the colonies were not yet ready to commit to a single congress

B Franklin DID become the postmaster general of the colonies • Worked to improve communication and commerce between the colonies • Recognized the need to unite for a common cause

Treaty of Paris (1763) France lost all possessions in North America France ceded all land claims east of the Mississippi to Britain (except New Orleans) New Orleans- transferred to Spain- Roman Catholic Spain ceded Florida to Britain in exchange for the return of all their colonies in the Caribbean and Pacific End of imperial rivalry in N America- Britain is the only country left

Native Response Angry that French gave away their land- no right to do so Starvation resulted from the British policy of not “gifting”- said they needed to live without “charity” The Delaware Prophet (Neolin)- taught Indians had been corrupted by Europeans, need to purify and to reclaim what was rightfully theirs “Drive them out!” Attack was planned on the British

Pontiac’s Uprising • Pontiac- chief, political and religious leader • Indian confederacy simultaneously attacked all British forts in the West • Failed to take key forts • Battle ended as a stalemate • First case of germ warfare- General Amherst @ Fort Pitt delivered blankets to Indians that were infected with smallpox • Indians feared the destruction of their villages

Proclamation of 1763 British government set terms for continuing British policy toward Indians “Indian country” was the land west of the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains Purchase of Indian land required authorization from the crown Indians were pleased Backcountry farmers were outraged- claimed it was unfair

Speculators upset • Colonists thought the removal of France opened the land for migration • Angry that land was given away to “savages” • Paxton Boys • British were UNABLE to prevent westward expansion • Indians were weakened and were no longer able to play colonial powers against each other • Chose compliance- signed away their land

Contrasts between the Colonists & British British Colonists Colonial volunteers were “riff raff” Had a poor opinion of colonial army Never recognized the impact the war had on the colonists Called colonists Yankees Shocked at the lewd behavior and language of the British soldiers Upset by cruel punishments doled out by the British soldiers Called British Lobsterbacks

American Nationalism • Colonists began to see themselves as separate • Beginning of an American identity • Intercolonial cooperation • Developing a nationalist perspective (rather than sectionalist) • Trade within the colonies increases • Improved roads • Weekly newspapers focusing on intercolonial affairs • “continental perspective” and “American”

Republicanism Fear of a conspiracy to end liberty and institute tyranny Fight this with constant vigilance A truly “just” society provided the greatest possible liberty to individuals Government power must be limited to avoid encroaching on freedoms Best government- broad distribution of power to the people

John Locke The power of the leaders should be conditional, not absolute The people have the right to choose their government and to severe those ties if necessary ***Important ideas later written into the Declaration of Independence

Economic Pressures • British troops stayed in the colonies following the F&I War- help with Indian uprisings and malcontent settlers from France and Spain • Britain’s war debt (FI and 7 yrs Wars) is huge!! • Raise taxes within England • Raise money to pay the debt from the colonists • Sugar Act- placed a tax on sugar imported into the colonies, strengthened laws for ships, added more customs officials, increased the jurisdiction and power of Vice-admiralty courts

Colonial Response- Sugar Act Boston town meeting- protested and planned a boycott of certain English imports Movement for nonimportation began and spread throughout the colonies James Otis, Jr- “no taxation without representation”

Stamp Act Followed the Sugar Act Required the purchase of specially embossed paper for all newspapers, legal documents, licenses, insurance policies, ships’ papers, dice and playing cards Affected ALL colonists Led to an economic depression

Colonial Response to the Stamp Act • “No taxation without representation” • All males could elect their own assemblies but they could not vote in British elections • “virtual representation”- members of Parliament represent all British subjects • Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions • Patrick Henry • Supported “no taxation” • Similar resolutions passed by other colonies

Loyall Nine • Massachusetts • Upper and middle class men • Led protests in Boston • Included Samuel Adams • Liberty Tree • Tied effigies of stamp distributors and other British officials • Destroyed Lt. Governor Hutchinson’s home

Sons of Liberty • Encouraged moderate forms of protest • Circulated petitions, published pamphlets, and encouraged crowd action only as a last resort • Most colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in NYC

Stamp Act Congress • Met in NYC • Passed resolutions denying Parliament’s right to tax the colonists • Based upon the theory of no representation • Agreed Parliament had the right to pass laws regarding colonial commerce • Helped to defuse radical protest

Stamp Act Repealed British merchants were being affected by nonimportation- petitioned to Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act Repealed in March 1766 Led to celebrations throughout the colonies Non-importation ended Colonial resistance to the Stamp Act was stronger in urban areas than in rural communities. Stronger among craftsmen, merchants and planters, than farmers and frontiersmen.

Declaratory Act • Parliament passed the Declaratory Act • Parliament has the full authority to make laws binding the colonies “in all cases whatsoever” • Absolute Parliamentary supremacy over colonials matters • Conflict was not resolved, only postponed

Townshend Acts • Charles Townshend became PM • faced with national debt, unemployment, rioting over high prices and tax protests • Proposed a new tax for the colonies • Tax on lead, glass, paint, paper and tea • 1767 • Taxes were imposed at the colonial ports before entering the colonial market (external vs. internal tax) • Believed an external tax would curb colonial protest

Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania John Dickinson Articles printed in newspapers throughout the colonies Actually a wealthy Philadelphia lawyer- posed as a poor farmer Conceded that Parliament had the right to regulate trade with duties, but it had no constitutional authority to tax goods in order to raise revenue in the colonies

Believed taxes would be used to pay the salaries of royal officials in America • Independent of colonial assemblies • Not answerable to anyone within the colonies

Townshend Acts Many believed these were created as part of a British conspiracy to suppress American liberties Heavily enforced by new vice-admiralty courts in Boston, Charleston and Philadelphia Suspended the NY assembly because they refused to use public funds for British troops in the colonies Some colonists wanted to use violent resistance

**At this point colonists were NOT looking for independence from Britain, but were protesting what they considered to be unconstitutional.

Colonial Response to T.Acts • Revival of non-importation • Associations cropped up in NY, Boston, Newport & Providence • List of boycotted goods • Resistance movement • Conflict between artisans and merchants • Merchants did NOT want to comply with nonimportation because they were making money. • Artisans saw nonimportation as a way to increase personal sales • Printed lists of merchants who continued to import British goods. • Merchants became the target or protest and violence • Coercion was a part of the resistance movement

Colonial Response continued • Women’s Involvement • Daughters of Liberty supported the boycott • Organized spinning and weaving bees to produce homespun goods for local consumption • Renounced luxury fabrics such as silk & satin • Stopped serving tea • Sang songs supporting the movement

Rural movement • Supported the idea of self-sufficiency • Supported the reduction in use of luxury items (religious connection) • Supported frugality • Virginia- House of Burgesses • Banned importation of goods enumerated in Townshend Acts, slaves and luxury commodities • All colonies except New Hampshire followed suit

Impact of Colonial REsponse • Import of British goods declined • Dramatically dropped in large port cities • English merchants began protesting to Parliament (in England)

Massachusetts Circular Letter • Written by Samuel Adams (Boston) and approved by the Massachusetts House of Representatives • Propaganda • Denounced the Townshend Acts • Attacked the British plan to make royal officials independent of colonial assemblies • Urged colonies to cooperate with each other • Mass. Governor condemned the document for trying to cause a rebellion and dissolved the legislature • British Secr of State demanded each royal gov in America dissolve their legislatures (endorsement)

Massachusetts House of Reps was ordered to rescind the letter • Voted 92-17 to ignore the order • Immediately dissolved • “Glorious Ninety-Two” were celebrated • Increased resistance to the T. Acts and to British handling of colonial affairs • Boston town meeting- called everyone to arm themselves but resisted armed resistance • Boston was occupied by British infantry

British occupation of Boston • Growing hostility between colonists and Britain • Conflict over competition for jobs • Boston Massacre • March 5, 1770 • First bloodshed- a few dead, several wounded • British were armed • Paul Revere- the “Bloody Massacre”- propaganda • Inflamed colonists • Townshend Acts repealed on March 5- all except tax on tea

Committees of Correspondence • Boston appointed to communicated with other towns regarding British actions • Boston Pamphlet- written by Sam Adams and other radicals • British encroachments on colonial rights were a sign of a plot to enslave America- strip colonists of their rights • Virginia appointed an intercolonial correspondence to obtain early and authentic intelligence about British actions; also to maintain correspondence with other colonies • Included Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee

All colonies except Pennsylvania created their own committees

Leaked letters • Franklin gained access to private letters between Mass. Gov Hutchinson and the Parliament • Hutchinson called for further infringement of colonial rights • “smoking gun” of a conspiracy theory • Franklin damaged his reputation in London by publishing the letters • Lost his post as Postmaster General

Tea Act • Colonists had already curbed intake of tea • Nearly destroyed the East India Company • In an effort to increase tea consumption in the colonies • British offered tea at a very low price to make the tax more palatable and to save the EIC • Mass mtg in Pennsylvania denounced the importation of tea (“an enemy of his country”)- Boston followed • Committee for Tarring and Feathering • 1st tea ships arrived in Boston

Boston Tea Party • Tea ships arrive • Colonists would not allow tea to be unloaded • Hutchinson would not allow the ship to leave the port • 50+ men disguised as Indians boarded the ship and dumped it into the Boston Harbor • Other tea incidents followed in other ports • British declared something had to be done about Boston- rebellious • King George- “we are now to dispute whether we have, or have not, any authority in that country.”

Intolerable Acts 1774 Laws to punish Massachusetts and strengthen Britian Boston Port Bill- prohibited the loading or unloading of ships in any part of the Boston Harbor until the town had fully compensated the EIC and customs officials for the dumped tea

Massachusetts Government Act- • annulled the colonial charter • Assemblies appointed by the King, rather than elected • Town meetings were prohibited more than once a year • End of self-rule in the colonies • Quartering Act- legalized the housing of troops at the public expense, including occupied dwellings and private homes

Administration of Justice Act- • Sought to protect British officials from colonial courts • Those accused of capital crimes were sent to England for trial • Quebec Act- • Britain authorized a permanent government for the territory taken from France • Established an authoritarian, anti-republic administration for Quebec with a royal governor and appointed council • Roman Catholic Church was granted religious toleration

June 1st • Bells tolled, flags flew at half mast and people flocked to churches • A day of fasting and prayer for Boston • Enduring a “hostile invastion”

First Continental Congress Philadelphia- September 1774 Radicals: Sam and John Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington and Christopher Gadsen Conservatives: John Dickinson, Joseph Galloway, John Jay and James Duane Delegates wanted to avoid war and favored a policy of economic coercion Declaration and Resolves

Declaration and Resolves Asserted that all colonists sprang from a common tradition and enjoyed the rights guaranteed by laws of nature and the English Bill of Rights Declared several acts of Parliament in violation of these rights Until acts were repealed they would impose economic sanctions against Britain Nonimportation and nonconsumption of British goods Prohibited export of colonial commodities to Britain or its other colonies

Committees of Observation and Safety Took over functions of local government throughout the colonies Organized militia, combined and worked with other colonial committees Suppressed opinion so Loyalists Scrutinized activities of other citizens Practiced forms of coercion Bridge between old colonial admin and revolutionary government Began to refer to the colonies as “states”

Lexington and Concord • “minutemen” • April 18,1775- British troops ordered to capture a store of American ammunition in Corcord, MA • Boston committee sent Paul Revere and William Dawes to alert the militia • 70 armed minutemen met the advancing British troops at Lexington (1/2 way point) • Unorganized and outnumbered • Some British fired without a signal, killing a few colonists

British continued to Concord. Burned the store of ammunitions. Attacked by militia in Concord- 1st British casualties- and several more times along the trip back to Boston British- 73 dead, 202 missing or wounded Forecast: British would be fighting an armed population who were defending their homes and communities from outsiders. Surrounding colonies sent their militias to Boston, forcing the British to leave by sea

Events Leading to the American Revolution