The Road of Revolution1763-1775

AP US HistoryChevalierFall 2011

The New “American”

• Republicanism- subordination of self-interests to the common good. Stability of society and authority of government lay in its citizenry, not authoritarian or aristocratic rule.

• “Radical Whigs”- wrote about corruption and threats to individual rights (against arbitrary power)

• Local control

Revolution In Thought (1607-1763)

• Early settlers disliked England• America’s distance and isolation weakened

England’s control• Produced rugged and independent people• Allowed colonies to control themselves (laws

and taxes)• Produced a new civilization and culture

Revolution in Action (1763-1789)

• Taxation without representation• Colonial bloodshed by British• Battles of Lexington and Concord• Declaration of Independence• War and separation with Britain• Writing of the US Constitution• A new nation

Economic Control of the Colonies

• Theory of Mercantilism to control the colonies– Navigation Laws of 1650

• Currency restrictions• Legislature nullification• Legislation and taxation and how it was

perceived by the colonists– Ultimately, colonists will have to deny both

legislative and taxation authority by Parliament

Economic Control of the Colonies

• Mercantilism was both good and bad, but it was the principal of the matter:– Colonists: Protection, tobacco monopoly, bounties

• Theodore Roosevelt:– “Revolution broke out because Britain failed to

recognize an emerging nation when it saw one.”

King George III

• Despised the colonies for their insubordination.

• Strong supporter of taxing the colonies

• Would not compromise with colonies

• After losing the colonies, he went mentally insane

Sugar Act 1764

• Indirect tax imposed on sugar imported from W. Indies (irksome?)

• Would pad the coffers of Parliament (140 million pound debt from war)

• Enforcement of Navigation Acts• Quartering Act of 1765

Stamp Act (1765)

• Revenue for British troops stationed in America

• Commercial and legal documents

• Reasonable and just?• Admiralty courts for

offenders• Taxation w/o rep.

Stamp Act Protests

• Stamp Act Congress (significance)

• Non-Importation agreements

• Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty– Tarring and feathering– Ransacking homes of

unwanted officials and tax agents

Stamp Act Protests

• The Stamp Act was never put into effect

• Large economic impact on Britain

• Declaratory Act– Maintained ‘absolute’

control– 2 lines in the sand

1767 William Pitt, P. M. & Charles Townshend, Secretary of the Exchequer. Champagne Charley!Shift from paying taxes for Br. war

debts & quartering of troops paying col. govt. salaries.He diverted revenue collection from internal to external tax (indirect).Tax these imports paper, paint, lead, glass, tea.Increase custom officials at American ports established a Board of Customs in Boston.

Townshend Duties Crisis: 1767-1770

Townshend Protests

• Not as ‘loud’ as that of the Stamp Act– Prosperity– Smuggling– Non-importation

1. John Dickinson 1768 * Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania.2. 1768 2nd non-importation movement: * “Daughters of Liberty” * spinning bees3. Riots against customs agents: * John Hancock’s ship, the

Liberty. * 4000 British troops sent to Boston.

Colonial Response to the Townshend

Duties

Boston Massacre Propaganda

The Boston Massacre

• March 5, 1770• 11 colonists killed or

wounded• Details were somewhat

sketchy• John Adams• Manslaughter (branded)

Committees of Correspondence

• Purpose?• Significance?

• In 1772-1773, what was the probability of rebellion against England?

Boston Tea Party: December 1773

• East India Trading Company

• Forced demand• Continued absence of

local control• Coercive Acts passed as

a result.

The Massacre of American Liberty

• The Coercive Acts (1774) AKA the “Intolerable Acts”– Boston Port Act– Restriction of chartered rights (Mass. Gov’t. Act)– Quartering Act of 1774– Administration of Justice Act

Quebec Act (1774)

• Established Roman Catholicism as the official religion on Quebec

• Set up a Govt. without a representative assembly

• Extended Quebec’s boundary to the Ohio River

• American anger