APUSH

Chapter 7

Roots of Revolution• Republicanism– Citizens willingly subordinate their private interests to

the common good– Virtue of the citizens is key

• Selflessness, self-sufficiency, courage, and civic involvement• Radical Whigs– Feared the threat of liberty posed by the arbitrary

power of the king– Criticized patronage and bribes as symptoms of

“corruption”- a moral failure in society– Citizens should be on guard for people trying to steal

their liberties

Mercantilism

• Mercantilist Economy Theory– Wealth=Power– Wealth=Amount of gold and silver in the treasury– To get gold and silver, you must export more than you

import– Colonies supply raw material to the home country

and are a market for exports at the same time• Colonies were meant to provide tobacco, sugar,

timber, and to buy manufactured goods only from England

Laws that supported mercantilism

• Navigation Law of 1650– All commerce coming to and from the colonies

could only be on British ships

• All European goods going to America must first dock in England

• Certain American products must be shipped only to England

British Measures “Against” the colonies

• Currency shortage in the colonies because they buy more from England than they sell to them

• When colonies tried to print paper money, it quickly depreciated and Parliament prohibited colonies from printing paper currency

• Parliament has the right to nullify laws passed by colonial assemblies. 469 out of 8,563

The End of Salutary Neglect

• Huge debt for England after French and Indian War

• Prime Minister Grenville orders the navy to begin strictly enforcing Navigation Laws in 1763

• Sugar Act of 1764- first law passed to raise tax revenues in the colony for the British gov’t– Colonists protest and the tax was lowered

More Laws…that the colonists hate

• Quartering Act of 1765- certain colonies required to provide food and shelter for British troops

• Stamp Tax (Stamp Act of 1765)– Must use paper that was stamped to show the tax

had been paid– First DIRECT tax on the colonists– Grenville viewed this as fair—tax was less than in

England and Americans should share in the cost of defense of their colonies

Americans React• People who violated the Sugar Act and Stamp Act tried

in admiralty courts• Why was an army even needed?– French are gone, Pontiac’s warriors crushed– Is there a more sinister purpose?

• Colonial assemblies begin defying the Quartering Act• “No taxation without representation” became the

rallying cry• Colonists conceded that Parliament could legislate in

matters such as trade, but denied that Parliament could tax Americans when no Americans sat in Parliament

How does Grenville reply?

• Power of Parliament is supreme over all colonies• “Virtual representation”– Every member of Parliament represents all British

subjects, so the Americans are represented

• When the British said Parliament’s power could not be divided between legislative authority and taxing authority, the colonists began to deny Parliament’s authority entirely and began to consider independence for the first time

Repeal of the Stamp Act

• Stamp Act Congress- 1765– 27 delegates from 9 colonies meet in NYC– Statement of rights and grievances– Asks king and Parliament to repeal the law

• Ignored in England, but one more step toward unity in the colonies

Repeal of the Stamp Act

• Nonimportation agreements– Refusal to import certain British goods (Wool)– First time the American people united in common

ACTION• Petitions signed, spinning bees held—all acts of

public defiance by those who had previously stayed out of protests

• Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty emerge– Tar and feather those who do not follow

nonimportation agreements

Repeal of the Stamp Act

• When the Stamp Act was to go in effect in 1765, all of the stamp agents had been forced to resign—Americans were openly nullifying the law

• England suffered from the nonimportation agreements– Parliament asks why should 7.5 million British pay for

the protection of the colonies while the 2 million colonists refuse 1/3 of the cost

• Parliament repeals the Stamp Act in 1766

Declaratory Act

• Parliament has the right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever

• Absolute and unqualified sovereignty over the colonies

• Both sides have drawn their line in the sand

Townshend Acts

• Parliament passes a law to put a light import tax on glass, paper, paint, and TEA

• Money to be used to pay the salaries of royal judges and governors in the colonies

• Suspicions of the colonists aroused again—power of the purse to control governors is disappearing

• Suspicions deepen when the NY legislature is suspended for ignoring the Quartering Act

Boston “Massacre”

• Colonists begin smuggling tea, especially in Massachusetts

• The British government sends troops to Boston in 1768 to restore order

• March 5, 1770—11 colonists are killed or wounded when they were harassing British troops

More British action

• Lord North, under the direction of King George III, convinces Parliament to repeal the Townshend taxes, except for the three-pence tax on tea—keeps alive the principle of parliamentary taxation

• Redoubled the efforts to enforce Navigation Laws

Committees of Correspondence

• Effort led by Samuel Adams• Formed the first committee in Boston in 1772, and

80 more towns in Massachusetts followed• Goal is to spread resistance by exchanging letters to

keep opposition to British policy going• These committees would grow in other colonies as

well. The House of Burgesses in Virginia even formed a standing committee

• Evolves into the first American congresses

Trouble with Tea is Brewing

• By 1773, revolution was far from inevitable• British East India Company has 17 million

pounds of unsold tea• British award the company a monopoly in the

American tea business• Americans saw this as a trick to ignore the tax

by giving them cheaper tea

Colonial Response

• The British colonial authorities enforced the tea tax over colonial protests

• In Philly and New York, tea ships were forced to return to England

• In Annapolis, Maryland, the ship and cargo of tea were burned

• Boston becomes the flash point as the Massachusetts governor, Thomas Hutchinson refuses to budge on the tax

Boston Tea Party

• Hutchinson believed the tea tax was wrong, but even more so believed the colonists couldn’t ignore the law

• December 16, 1773—colonists disguised as Indians board the ships docked in Boston harbor and dump 342 chests of tea into the Atlantic

• The British probably could still have responded by granting some home rule to the colonists, but this wasn’t going to happen

Intolerable Acts

• Response to the Boston Tea Party• Acts were designed to punish Boston, in particular• Boston Port Act– Most drastic of the acts– Closed the harbor until damages are paid by the

colonists• Officials that killed colonists while enforcing British

laws sent to England for trial• New Quartering Act gave local authorities the power to

quarter British soldiers anywhere

Quebec Act

• Passed at the same time as the Intolerable Acts– Guarantees the French their Catholic religion– Can retain many old customs and institutions

(does not include rep. assembly or trial by jury)– Boundary of Quebec extended south to Ohio River

• Even though the French accepted the act, the colonists were outraged

First Continental Congress

• Continental Congress summoned in 1774 to meet in Philadelphia– Goal is to come up with ways to express colonial

grievances to the crown– 12 of 13 colonies present– Declaration of Rights drawn up as well as appeals to the

king, British people, and other British colonies• Most importantly, the creation of The Association– Calls for a complete boycott of British goods

• Not a call for independence, but for a repeal of legislation and return to days before taxation

Revolution Begins

• If colonial grievances are redressed then everything will be fine; if not, meet again in May 1775

• Parliament rejected the Congress’ petitions• Men began to drill openly for militias and guns

were gathered• Violators of The Association tarred and

feathered

Lexington and Concord

• April 1775—British commander sends troops to Lexington and Concord to seize stores of colonial gunpowder and capture ringleaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock

• The colonists at Lexington refused to disperse quickly enough, and eight were killed and several more wounded

• The British pushed on to Concord and were forced to retreat• 70 British killed and over 200 more wounded in the retreat

to Boston.• War had begun