Chapter 7

The Road to Revolution, 1763 – 1775

The Deep Roots of Revolution

• Two ideas had taken root in the minds of the American colonists • Republicanism

• “Radical Whigs” • Argued against patronage and corruption of the

monarchy and aristocracy

Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances

• The original thirteen, except Georgia, were not formally founded by the British crown

• Mercantilism – the British theory that justified their control over the colonies • Raw materials and a

guaranteed market

• The Navigation Law of 1650

• Regulation for the colonies

The Merits and Menace of Mercantilism

• Benefits to the colonies• Liberal bounties to

colonial producers of ship parts

• Virginia tobacco monopoly

• Protection of the English navy and army

• Burden to the colonies • Dependency on British creditors• Trade limitations• American colonists felt used

The Stamp Tax Uproar

• Prime Minister George Grenville • 1763 – Ordered the

British navy to enforce the Navigation Laws

• The Sugar Act of 1764• Increased duty on

foreign sugar

• The Quartering Act of 1765• Colonies provide food

and quarters for British troops

• The Stamp Act of 1765• Stamps were on

certain types of commercial and legal documents

• “No taxation without representation’’

Parliament Forced to Repeal the Stamp Act

• The Stamp Act Congress, 1765• Step towards inter-

colonial unity• Nonimportation

Agreements

• Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty

The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston “Massacre”

• “Champagne Charley’’ Townshend passes the Townshend Acts in 1767

• Import duty on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea

• British troops sent to the colonies in 1768

• March 5, 1770 –

the Boston Massacre• Crispus Attucks

The Seditious Committees of Correspondence

• Lord North persuaded Parliament to repeal the Townshend revenue duties

• Samuel Adams organizes the local committees of correspondence• Formed to spread the

spirit of resistance

Tea Parties at Boston and Elsewhere

• 1773 – the British East India Company faced bankruptcy• The royal ministry

awarded the company a complete monopoly of the American tea business

• December 16, 1773 – the Boston Tea Party

Parliament Passes the “Intolerable Acts”

• 1774 – the Boston Port Act• Closed the harbor until

damages were paid • Restrictions on town

meetings

• 1774 – the Quebec Act• The French-Canadians

were guaranteed their Catholic religion their old customs and institutions

The Continental Congress and Bloodshed

• The First Continental Congress in 1774• 55 representatives from

12 colonies meet in Philadelphia

• Deliberated for seven weeks

• The Association• Called for a complete

boycott of British goods

• April 1775 – the British commander in Boston sends to Lexington and Concord

• The “Minute Men’’ and the “Lexington Massacre’’

• Concord and the retreat to Boston

Imperial Strength and Weakness

• Strength• Larger population

• Professional military

• Monetary wealth

• Weakness• British troops needed around the globe

• Britons had no desire to kill their American cousins

• Lack of capable leaders

• Large distance from home

• Lack of food