The Duel for North America

The Duel for North America 1608-1773

I. France Finds a Foothold in Canada • Latecomer to colonizing New World • Louis XIV took interest in colonial expansion • First successful colony Quebec 1609 • Samuel de Champlain explore, solider, leader early French colonial efforts • Colony known as New France • Problems with Iroquois hampered French conquest of Ohio River Valley • French colonies autocratic, no representative assemblies, no right to fair trail • Favored Caribbean colonies because of sugar trade

II. New France Fans Out • Most valuable resource in New France- beaver fur • Fur trappers (voyageurs) trapped beaver, recruited Indians into fur business • Traveled deep into wilderness, created ecological disaster by eliminating most of beaver population • French Missionaries attempted to “Christianize” Indians • Voyageurs, missionaries vital role as explorers, geographers

II. New France Fans Out • French try to block British and Spanish expansion • Detroit (1701), keep out British • LaSalle claims Mississippi River Valley for France (Louisiana) • French fortify posts along river to keep out Spanish, protect beaver trade • Establish New Orleans (1718) to keep fur and grain flowing to mother country, keep MS River from Spanish

French, Spanish and English Settlers • Each country had different motives and settlement patterns • French- friendly relations with Indians (comparatively), tried to convert Natives to Christianity, came in small numbers, extractive economic activity (fur trade), explored deep into continent, Catholic, had economic motives • Spanish- came to conquer (conquistador), looked for and found precious minerals, tried to convert Indians, blended their culture with Native culture, explored deep into continent to look for wealth, Catholic • English- came in larger groups (especially NE), settled and “improved” land, more religiously tolerant, wiped out Indian culture, established their own “footprint”, did not explore deep into continent, mostly Protestant

III. Clash of Empires • Four wars in the 17th and 18th century for economic control of Americas • King Williams War 1688-1697, Queen Anne’s War 1701-1713 • Did not involve large numbers of troops, America not seen as worthy of commitment from European powers • Usually involved French and Indian allies attacking English colonial settlements • Deerfield, MA; Schenectady, NY scenes of most violence

III. Clash of Empires • Treaty of Utrecht 1713 British defeat French • England controlled most of Canada except land along St. Lawrence River • End of war begins period of “salutary neglect” • War of Jenkins Ear 1739 between British and Spanish, mostly in Caribbean, some fighting in GA • King Georges War 1744-1748 Colonists and British capture fort at entrance to St. Lawrence River • Peace treaty 1748 gives it back to France, enrages colonists • As a result of wars British military more involved in colonies

IV. George Washington Inaugurates War with France • Ohio River Valley becomes source of problems between British, French • Key to continent for French, linked colonial holdings • Region key to economic security for French • Land hungry British colonists attempt to secure “rights” to region • French building forts to secure region

IV. George Washington Inaugurates War with France • 1754 Governor of VA sends group of militia to secure claims, led by George Washington • Encounter small group of French soldiers near Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) • French initially defeated, return with reinforcements • Washington forced to surrender • 1755 British authorities uproot 4,000 French from Nova Scotia, deportees end up in LA (Cajuns) • Beginning of French and Indian War • War began in America, others began in Europe • England and Prussia vs. France, Spain, Austria, and Russia • Bloodiest battles in Germany • “America conquered in Germany” British statesman William Pitt

V. Global War and Colonial Disunity • French and Indian War beginning of colonial unity • Before certain colonies had enjoyed advantage of remoteness, now needed to come together to fight French • 1754 Colonists meet Albany, NY • Plan to keep Indians in check, achieve colonial unity, common defense against French • 7 of 13 colonies show up • Ben Franklin “Join or Die” slogan, presents Albany Plan for colonial home rule (rejected by British), colonists could not agree on details • First sign of colonial unity

VI. Braddock’s Blundering and Its Aftermath • Indians allied with French, worried about British settlement • First part of war went badly for British • Slow moving, heavy artillery • Poorly supplied, poorly disciplined colonial militia • Smaller French force defeated them at Ft. Duquesne (Pittsburg) • Opened up frontier from NC to PA to Indian attack • Losses began to pile up for British

VII. Pitt’s Palms of Victory • 1757- William Pitt becomes leader of London gov’t • Stopped concentrating on West Indies, focused on Canada • Understood colonial concerns • Offered colonists a compromise: • col. loyalty & mil. cooperation-->Br. would reimburse col. assemblies for their costs. • Remove oppressive gov’t. officials • Result was improved colonial morale by 1758 • 1758Louisbourg defeated • 32 year old James Wolfe (BR) commanded troops that attacked and defeated Quebec (1759) • 1760 Montreal falls, last French stronghold • 1763Treaty of Paris French give up all claims in NA • Spain received all land west of MS River and New Orleans • British emerged as dominant regional power, worlds most powerful navy

VIII. Restless Colonials Effects of the war on the colonies • Colonists came out of war confident, shattered myth of British invincibility • Colonists began to feel part of British Empire • Barriers of disunity began to dissolve • Colonists found unity in language, tradition, ideals • Friction between colonials and British officers • Colonials felt they deserved credit for war effort • British said they did not support cause • Smuggling by colonists helped FR and SP • British position – colonists demand rights, without paying dues, war increased British debt

IX. War’s Fateful Aftermath • With Fr. gone colonists could roam freely across Appalachian Mts. • Spanish, Indian threat reduced • Indians could not play Br and Fr against each other • 1763 Ottawa chief Pontiac (Pontiac’s Rebellion) led attacks on settlers • British retaliated (gave Indians smallpox infected blankets) • British saw need to stabilize frontier now that it was open to settlement

IX. War’s Fateful Aftermath Proclamation of 1763 • Prohibited settlement west of Appalachian Mts. • Designed not to oppress colonists but to solve Indian problem • Colonists viewed it as form of oppression • Settlers went west anyway in defiance of royal authority

The Road to Revolution 1763-1775

I. Deep Roots of Revolution • Victory in Seven Years War costly • After 1763 British wanted colonists to take on financial burden • Crown began to exercise more authority (end of salutary neglect) • Change in policy reinforced sense of American identity • American experience caused colonists to question ways of the Old World, colonists felt fundamentally different from British • Americans had grown accustomed to running own affairs, shock when British try to crack down • Two new political ideas emerged during colonial experience- republicanism, ideas of Whigs

Republicanism Society where citizens subordinate selfish interests to common good Stability of government depended on authority of “good” government Opposed to authoritarian institutions (monarchy, aristocracy) Whig Political Thought Result of more royal authority Threat to liberty by monarch Warned citizens to be on guard against corruption People should be represented by elected officials, not monarchs I. Deep Roots of Revolution

II. Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances • British authorities embraced policy of mercantilism (countries wealth measured by gold and silver, needed to export more than import, colonies needed to supply mother country with raw materials) • Colonists felt British policies handcuffed American trade • Colonies provided raw materials, acted a market for finished products • Enumerated goods, certain products could only be shipped to England • To the British the Americans were tenants, not built for economic self sufficiency or self government

II. Merits and Menace of Mercantilism Merits of Mercantilism British tried to regulate colonial trade (Navigation Acts 1660, 1663, 1673, 1696) • Before 1763 Navigation Laws (with some exceptions) not a burden, lack of enforcement called “salutary neglect” • Tobacco planters had a monopoly in Britain • Americans had some form self-government. • British mightiest army in the world, colonists didn’t have to pay for it. • Repressive laws weren’t enforced much, average American benefited much more than the average Englishman. • Mistakes that occurred didn’t occur out of malice, at least until revolution. • France and Spain embraced mercantilism, enforced it heavily.

II. Merits and Menace of Mercantilism Menace of Mercantilism • After enforcement of mercantilist policies fuse of revolution was lit • Stifled economic initiative • Dependent on British agents and creditors • State of perpetual economic adolescence • The South, which produced crops that weren’t grown in England, was preferred over the North • Colonists felt British were taking advantage of them

III. Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances Currency shortage in colonies • Regularly bought more than they sold to Britain, trade with West Indies drained cash • Colonies needed hard currency • Parliament prohibited colonies to print money, they did anyway • Colonists saw interests being sacrificed for British commercial interests • British also could nullify any colonial legislation (did not happen often) • Principle weighed more heavily than practice

IV. The Stamp Tax Uproar • Half of British debt came from Seven Years War, wanted colonists to pay for own defense • Britain began to redefine relationship with colonies • 1763- Prime Minister George Greenville began to enforce Navigation Acts • 1764- Parliament passed Sugar Act- duty on imported sugar • 1765- Quartering Act, required certain colonies to provide food and lodging troops

IV. The Stamp Tax Uproar • 1765 worst of all the Stamp Act • Mandated the use of stamps, certifying payment of tax. • Required on bills of sale for about 50 trade items and on certain types of commercial and legal documents. • Both the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act offenders tried in the admiralty courts, where defenders were guilty until proven innocent • Greenville felt taxes were justified, British paid much heavier tax

IV. The Stamp Tax Uproar • Colonists angry at fiscal aggression • Colonial assemblies refused to provide supplies for troops • Felt unfairly taxed for unnecessaryarmy, lashed out against the stamp tax. • Americans formed the battle cry, “No taxation without representation!” • Angered, to the principle of the matter • Americans denied the right of Parliament to tax Americans, since none were in Parliament. • British idea of “virtual representation,” every Parliament member represented all British subjects (so Americans were represented). • Americans rejected “virtual representation”, began to consider political independence

V. Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act • 1765- Stamp Act Congress drew up statement of rights and grievances, asked king and Parliament to repeal tax • Congress made colonies feel unified against common cause • Colonists began to boycott imported British goods, more effective than congress • Ordinary people began to participate in colonial protests, opportunity for women “spinning bees”

V. Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act • Sons and Daughters of Liberty took the law into their own hands • Punished people who purchased British goods, stormed the houses of important officials • Machinery to collect tax broke down, no officials to collect taxes • Hit England hard (25% of exports purchased by colonies) • Parliament confused, Britons had to pay much heavier taxes • 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, passed the Declaratory Act, defined British had unqualified sovereignty over the colonies

VII. The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston Massacre Americans in rebellious mood after victory over Stamp Act 1767 Charles “Champagne Charley” Townshend persuaded Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts Revenue to pay salaries of royal officials in America Taxes on lead, paper, paint, and tea, later repealed, except tea. 1767- New York’s legislature suspended for failure to comply with the Quartering Act. Tea became smuggled, to enforce the law, Brits had to send troops to America

VII. The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston Massacre • March 5, 1770, a crowd of about 60 townspeople in Boston were harassing some ten Redcoats. • One fellow got hit in the head, another got hit by a club. • Without orders but heavily provoked, the troops opened fire, wounding or killing eleven “innocent” citizens, including Crispus Attucks, a black former-slave and the “leader” of the mob in the Boston Massacre. Attucks became a symbol of freedom (from slave, to freeman, to martyr who stood up to Britain for liberty). • Only two Redcoats were prosecuted, represented by John Adams

VIII. The Seditious Committees of Correspondence • 1770- King George III good person, but a poor ruler who surrounded himself with “yes men”, like Lord North. • Townshend Taxes repealed, except for the tea tax, kept alive idea of parliamentary taxation • 1772- Resistance kept alive through Committees of Correspondence, organized by Samuel Adams • 1773- Inter-colonial committees established, exchanged letters, ideas and information, kept alive opposition across all colonies

IX. Tea Brewing in Boston • 1773- British East India Company, overburdened with unsold tea, was facing bankruptcy. • The British decided to sell it to the Americans, • Seen as an attempt to trick the Americans with the bait of cheaper tea to pay tax. • December 16, 1773, some whites, led by patriot Samuel Adams, disguised themselves as Indians, opened 342 chests and dumped the teainto the ocean in this “Boston Tea Party.” • People in Annapolis did the same and burnt the ships to water level. • Reaction was varied, from approval to outrage to disapproval. • British felt they had no alternative but to whip colonists into shape

X. Parliament Passes the Intolerable Acts • 1774- Parliament passed a series of repressive acts to punish the colonies, namely Massachusetts. • Called the Intolerable Acts by Americans. • The Boston Port Act closed the harbor in Boston. • Self-government limited by forbidding town hall meetings without approval. • The charter to Massachusetts was revoked • The Quebec Act • Intended by British to administer conquered territory • Guaranteed Catholicism to the French-Canadians, retain their old customs, extended the old boundaries of Quebec all the way to the Ohio River (areas off limits by Proclamation of 1763) • Americans saw their territory threatened, aroused anti-Catholics, lack of representative assemblies or trial by jury seen as a dangerous precedent, land speculators see huge area taken away

XI. Bloodshed • Philadelphia 1774- First Continental Congress met to discuss problems. • Not wanting independence yet, came up with a list of grievances, ignored in Parliament. • 12 of 13 colonies met, only Georgia didn’t have a representative there. • Came up with a Declaration of Rights. • Boycott of British goods • Began to arm colonists • Split into three groups- moderates (wanted relationship with GB repaired) radicals (wanted complete split, minority) and conservatives (wanted to restore pre-1763 relationship)

XI. Bloodshed • The “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” • April 1775, the British commander in Boston sent troops to nearby Lexington and Concord, seize supplies, capture Sam Adams and John Hancock. • Minutemen, after having eight of their own killed at Lexington,fought back at Concord, British retreat to Boston • Beginning of American Revolution

XII. Imperial Strength and Weakness • Britain had the heavy advantage: • 7.5 million people to America’s 2 million • superior naval power • great wealth, could hire mercenaries (German Hessians) • Little popular support in Britain • Whigs wanted American victory, feared George III arbitrary rule • Generals poor, soldiers well trained • Provisions scarce • Fighting far from home • American geography, lack of population centers gave Americans time, British fits

XII. American Pluses and Minuses • Advantages • Great leaders -George Washington (giant general), and Ben Franklin (smooth diplomat). • French aid (indirect and secretly), provided the Americans with guns, supplies, gunpowder, etc… • Marquis de Lafayette a great asset. • Fighting in a defensive manner, and they were self-sustaining. • They were better marksmen. A competent American rifleman could hit a man’s head at 200 yards. • Americans enjoyed the moral advantage in fighting for a justcause

XII. American Pluses and Minuses Disadvantages • Lacking in unity • Colonies resented the Continental Congress’ attempt at exercising power • Sectional jealousy over the appointment of military leaders • Americans had little money. Inflation also hit families of soldiers hard, and made many people poor. • Colonial money worthless, inflation of prices for basic goods • Americans had no navy.

XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes • American army was desperately in need of clothing, wool, wagons to ship food, and other supplies. • Many soldiers had also only received rudimentary training. • German Baron von Steuben, who spoke no English, whipped the soldiers into shape • African Americans fought in the beginning, many colonies barred them from service. • By war’s end, more than 5,000 blacks had enlisted in the American armed forces. • African-Americans served on the British side. • 1775, Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, issueda proclamation declaring freedom for any enslaved black in Virginia whojoined the British Army. • End of war more than 1,400 Blacks were evacuated to Nova Scotia, Jamaica, and England. • Many people also sold items to the British, because they paid in gold. • Many people just didn’t care about the revolution, raising a large number of troops was difficult • Select few threw themselves into the cause with passion

The Duel for North America