Chapter 5

Chapter Questions:
Boyer, pp. 109-114, 125-127. What overall effect did Britain's global commercial wars have on the development of the British American colonies? How was the French and Indian War especially significant?
Boyer, pp. 128-139. How did imperial reorganization and British colonial policy cause colonial resistance? What was the nature of the resistance?
Boyer, pp. 139-149. Why did resistance to British control intensify?
Boyer, pp. 149-155, 159-164, A1-A2 (appendix-The Declaration of Independence). To what extent was the United States a unified country in 1776? What were the justifications used for separation in 1776? DBQ Due.

Book Questions:
How and why did their joint triumph in the Seven Years’ War lead to a rupture between Britain and the American Colonies?
Why did differences between British officials and colonists over revenue-raising measures lead to a more fundamental conflict over political authority within the colonies?
How did the imperial crisis lead non-elite colonists to become politically active?
What were the major factors leading most colonists to abandon their loyalty to Britain and instead choose national independence?

French Indian War
Colonies linked together like Britain wanted
Concerns: raw materials, trade routes/ports, buffering against other territories
Population in colonies booming
Need a place to go
Want to go west
French there
French don’t want English movement into Ohio
Britain and France conflict over who owns the land
Benjamin Franklin sees war coming
He and Thomas Hutchinson propose Albany Plan of Union
Would benefit the British empire and colonies
English interest= Colony interest
Would allow them to collectively pool money
Washington convinces governor to let him go out to Ohio to get land
Embarrassedà sent back failed
General Braddock goes outà gets killed
Believed in fighting in European style
You have to fight differently in America
French Indian War is an extension of Seven Years’ War
Could be called a world war
Need a strategy to fight in many different places
British Prime minister= William Pitt
William Pitt gets success
Lets the colonists do the fighting
Better at fighting Indians than Europeans
British government promises to pay back colonial military expenses
British navy mobilizes the troops but British don’t do very much besides
Colonists are supposed to keep French from coming over the Appalachians
British make a strike at Quebec
British win
Treaty of Paris
French land given to Enland
Florida given to England
French only control louisiana
Spanish and French lands don’t have as many cities as Britain
Pitt is out of office 3 years before war ends (1763)
Change in monarch too year
George III
Choses new Prime minister
Nobody pays the colonies back for war
Start taxing colonies
Ignore pitt’s promises

The Triumph of the British Empire, 1750-176
In King George’s war
Austria moves alliance to France
Britain joins with Prussia
Seven Years’ War ensues

A Fragile Peace, 1750-1754
King George’s War didn’t establish a dominant power : France or Britain
Preparing for another war
Conflict most present in Ohio River Valley
Competed over by Virginai, Pennsylvania, France, the Six Nations Iroquois, and the Native Americans who actually lived there
To get rid of Virginia and Pennsylvania traders, French start making a chain of forts
Retaliation—colonies send 21 year old George Washington
Surveryor/speculator
Supposed to persuade or force French to leave
Fench drive him and his militiamen back home
Colonies try to get on Native American’s good side
Delegates from 7 colonies north of Virginia gather in Albany, New York
Give Iroquois lots of gifts to keep them temporarily neutral
Indians living in Ohio River Valley sided w/ French
Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Hutchinson (Mass.) suggest Albany Plan of Union
Grand Council would represent all colonial assemblies
Work out problems in military defense and Indian affairs
Could demand funds from colonies
Doesn’t get made b/c colonies won’t give up power of taxation

The Seven Years’ War in America
Incident w/ Washington causes virtual state of war
Britain sends General Edward Braddock with troops to seize Fort Duquesne at headwaters of the Ohio
He thought it would be easy
Attacked by French, Indians, and Canadians
Many die
Few casualties on French side
More attacks by French
Shawnee, Delaware, and Mingo Indians attack encroaching settlers from maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania
Prevents them from joining British war against France
Other French and Native American attacks take Fort Oswego and Fort William Henryà now French threaten central NY and New England
Changes that lead to success
Iroquois feel France is getting too decisive an advantage
Agree at treaty conference at Easton, Pennsylvania to abandon support of French
Some even join British side
William Pitt takes control of military affairs in British empire
Reinvigorates colonies with British patriotism
Symbol of what Americans and British can accompish together
Pitt choses not to send additional troops to America
Tells colonist militias to mobilize
They won’t have to pay for the military burden, if they raise enough men
More colonists join army
Capture Fort Duquesne under General Jeffry Amherst and Louisbourg by 1758
Push French out of NY
Quebec falls to General James Wolfe
Fighting ends when Montreal surrenders in 1760

The End of French North America, 1760-1763
After Montreal, fighting continues in Europe
France makes a final attempt to reclaim Newfoundland
Defeat inevitable
Treaty of Paris, 1763, ends war
France gives land east of Mississipi (except New orleans) to Britain
Britain gives Cuba back to Spain and Spain gives them Florida
Louisiana isn’t wanted by France or Britainà given to Spain in Treaty of San Ildefonso
Only French holdings are small fishing towns in Newfoundland and sugar islands in West Indies
Acadians
When Acadia taken by British and named Nova Scotia, Britain made citizens swear loyalty to Britain and not to bear arms for the French
Those who refuse are driven from homes
Deported to British colonies
Maryland and Pennsylvania
They face anti-French and anti-Catholic peopleà move to Louisiana
Known as Cajuns

Imperial Revenues and Reorganization, 1760-1766
After victory, problems arise between colonies and Britain
Britain plans to finance its suddenly enlarged empire through revenue measures
These measures to be enforced directly rather than through local governments
Colnists don’t like it
Dangerous extension of parliament
Plans come w/ George III to the throne
Okay being a constitutional monarch but wants to have a lot of influence in government policy
Isn’t very good at it though
Makes frequent, abrupt changes in governmentà colonies unhappy
Colonies Protest
Elites—Address parliament through logic and by citing British constitution and charters
Middle class—organize street demonstrations
Poor—defy elites and British authorities w/ violence

Friction Among Allies, 1760-1763
George III
· George I and II are from Germany
o Let the cabinet do all the government work for him
· He was English—wanted to run government his way
o Appoints Torie prime minister
o Eventually goes back to whigsà prime minister Grenvile is a whig who acts like a torie
· He gets rid of salutary neglect
o Enforces all the laws
o Wants to take control
§ Wants his cabinet to consult him, not the other way around
o Salutary neglect is a form of laissez-faire
§ Let it be—no rules
§ Like having rules but not enforcing them—virtually no rules
§ 1776- Adam Smith writes Wealth of the Nations
· Trade is under heavy regulation
· Revolution—a fundamental change
o In a sense George is attempting a revolution
o Fundamental change in the way the empire is run
· How does George III do it?
o Proclamation of 1763
§ They had just had a war in which Indians living in Ohio Valley sided w/ French
§ To keep good relations w/ Indians, George prevents colonial expansion across the Apalachian mountains
§ Wealthy elites who won’t let poor expand b/c of commitments to outside sources
· Like Bacon’s rebellion
o Writ of assistance
§ Getting around a search warrant
§ To catch smugglers
§ Way to enforce the Navigation Acts
o Sugar Act
§ Enforcement of the molasses act
§ If caught, you have to go to vice-admiralty courts in Nova Scotia
§ No representation by counsel, no jury, no innocent until proven guilty
o Soldiers in America
o Stamp Act
§ Sugar act only affects Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania
§ First internal tax
· Not on soemthing traded across countries, like sugar
· First time they are taxing things that stay inside the colonies
§ Playing cards, documents, wills, and newspapers have the stamp
§ Representatives of colonies have no say in these taxes
· People don’t know if these measures are going to stop after debt is paid
o Don’t want temporary things to become permanent
o Not thinking about breaking from Britain
· After war is over, problems surface
· Complaints during war
o British generals don’t like how colony soldiers would go home after serving their term or missing a paycheck
§ Soldiers don’t like how british generals treat them like slaves
o British don’t like colonial reluctance to provide food and shelter for British officers
§ Colonists don’t like officer’s arrogance
§ Quakers refuse to vote funds to support war
§ Assemblies in NY and Massaschusetts see quartering of soldiers as an encroachment on their English liberties
§ British authorities saw it as an affront to British efforts to defend the territories
· Financial problems
o Many British don’t like the colonies getting out of the war w/o paying anything
§ Colonies actually benefitted from war
· Military contracts
· British soldiers spend money in the colonies
· Some colonists keep trading w/ French West Indies during war—trading w/ enemy and violating Navigation acts
§ In meantime, Britain in debt
· British landowners have to pay land tax
· Duties imposed on many goods in Britain
o Colonists feel burdened too
§ When war was going on, people who profited spent money on British goods
· “consumer revolution”—colonies purchased goods fuel British economy
· When war ends, many people can’t afford to keep their lifestyle
o Go into debt
o Increasingly indebted to Britainà people accuse British of plotting to “enslave colonies”
o Treaty of Paris settlements give rise to new warsà Britain spends more money
· Indian conflicts
o Indians in Ohio and Great Lakes can’t play Britain and France off each other any more
§ Afraid they will be treated like subjects now
§ General Jeffrey Amherst decides to cut expenses by not distributing food, ammunition (for hunting), and gifts to Indians
§ Colonists moving in on Indian lands, harrasing them
o Neolin
§ Delaware religious prophet
§ Attracts intertribal following
§ Wants Indians to get rid of European culture, goods, and alliances
· Hoping French will come back so they can manipulate balance of power again
o Pontiac, Ottawa Indian
§ Makes anti-British movement--“Pontiac’s Rebellion”
· Take 8 British forts and beseiged some more at Pittsburgh and Detroit
§ food & ammunition shortages + smallpoxà make peace w/ Britain
§ British John Stuart in south keeps these uprisings from reaching the south
o George III issues Proclamation of 1763
§ Direct control of land transactions, settlement, ttrade, and other activities of non-Indians west of Appalatian crest given to him
§ Recognizes Indian land claims in places west of “proclamation line”
§ Colonies see it as a hindrance to expansion
o Indian uprisings make Britain decide to leave 10,000 soldiers in colonies
§ Colonies had to share financial burden of supporting these troops
· Colonies didn’t see it as their responsibility
· Saw it as a “standing army” that, if French were gone, could only threaten their liberty
§ Saw army as hindering westward expansion and prosperity

The Writs of Assistance, 1760-1761
During Seven Years’ War, british authorities had tried to keep people from smuggling in goods from French
Writs of Assistance passed by royal governor of Massachusets
Revenue officers can seize illegally imported goods
Doesn’t require probably cause—general search warrant
Threatens traditional respect for privacy of family recidencies b/c many people conduct business from home
Powerful weapon agaisnt smuggling
Boston= smuggling capital of colonies
Boston merchants employ James Otis to challenge constitutionality of Writ
In Massachusetts supreme court, Otis said that Writ went agaisnt constitution
Thomas Hutchinson, chief justice, pointed out that these writs occurred in Britain tooà jury ruled against Otis
Otis points out something interesting
Americans see constitution as set—there are limits beyond which government cannot change things
British see constitution as a collection of laws and traditions
Parliament’s laws includedà Parliament could change the constitution

The Sugar Act, 1764
Would help get rid of some of British military’s expenses in colonies
Navigation acts hadn’t brought money in, they just stimulated British eocnomy
Costs for importing goods paid by British importers, not American producers
Characteristics
Amends molasses Act of 1733
Since then, colonists had been importing Fench molasses still—bribed customs officials
Cheaper that way
Requires that any shipments land in Britain before being routed to destinations
Required a lot of paperwork and if you had a small technical violation your shipment could be seized
Disregarded traditional protections for a fair trial
Customs officials transferred smuggling charches from colonial courts to vice-admiralty courts
Instead of having jury, only one judge gives verdict
Judges got 5% of confiscated cargoà rule guilty a lot
Vice-admiralty courts in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Instead of innocent until proven guilty, people have to disprove charges
Enforced rigorously
British Prime Minister George Grenville gets navy to enforce ti
Britain lowers tax to make it cheaper than French sugar
Revenue goes up
Hurts Massachusetts, NY, and Pennsylvania the most

The Stamp Act, 1765
Revenue didn’t do much to ease British financial crisis
Colonists were taxed a lot less
Parliament passed Stamp Act to raise revenues à obliged colonists to purchase ad use special watermarked paper for various documents
Violators faced prosecution
Was an internal tax – levied directly on property, goods, and government services in the colonies
Designed to raise revenues for crown and had wide effects
Some (including William Pitt) objected to tax
Emphasized that colonists had never been subject to British revenue bills and noted tat they taxes themselves through their own elected assemblies
British Prime Minister George Grenville and his supporters also denied that colonists were entitled to exemption
Elected assemblies = English town councils
Elected assemblies had as much power as Parliament let them have
Colonists argued elected assembles = House of Commons
Colonists felt that the Act forced them to confront the issue of parliamentary taxation directly or to surrender any claim to rights of self-government
Didn’t feel like Parliament represented them
Denied theory of virtual representation
Enjoyed self-government
James Otis expressed basic argument (at Sugar Act opposition): every man is a free man; no parts of crown’s people can be taxed without consent; everyone has a right to be represented in legislature
Colonists thought empire was loose federation in which their legislatures possessed autonomy, rather than long-distance rule from Britain

Resisting the Stamp Act
Response to the stamp act
For sugar act they smuggled things in
For stamp act they use noncooperation
They don’t buy British product that have stamp act tax
Led by groups
Loyal Nine/ Sons of Liberty
Stamp Act Congress
Stamp act Congress
Different from Loyal Nine and Sons of Liberty in methods
Sons of liberty= violent resistance
Lynching an effegy—“killing” a fake replica of a person
Tar and feather people
Stamp act congresses aren’t violent
Try to get a boycott going
Are people joining the boycott b/c they are fed up with taxes
Not because they are feeling threatened by violence
Know that violence won’t win it for them
Elites are afraid of Sons of Liberty
Organizing the boycott
People w/ stamp act congress ar against Britain but also against “nathanial bacon” types
Still recognize that sons of liberty are helping their cause
Still aren’t discussing revolution/separation yet
Just want to get rid of a law
People afraid that violence against british troops will start war
Sons of liberty don’t let followers bear arms
o Unlike Sugar Act, Stamp Act generated political storm thru all colonies in 1765
§ To colonists, Parliament’s passage of act demonstrated its indifference to their interests and the shallowness of the theory of virtual representation
§ Parliament dismissed all petitions against the passage

o May 1765, Patrick Henry, young VA lawyer/planter/orator urged VA House of Burgesses to adopt resolutions denying Parliament’s power to tax colonies
§ Assembly passed only 4 weakest of 7 resolutions
§ By end of yr, 7 other assembles passed resolutions grounded in constitutional arguments vs. the act
§ Henry’s words resonated more loudly outside elite political circles, esp. in Boston:
· In Boston, group of middle-class artisans/small business owners joined together as the Loyal Nine to fight the Stamp Act
· recognized that stamp distributors (who alone could accept $ for water-marked paper) were the law’s weak link à if public could get them to resign before taxes were due Nov 1, Stamp Act àinoperable
· Boston esp. opposed Parl. b/c many lived by shipbuilding, maritime trade, distilling – and were not living well in 1765 partly b/c of Brit policies:
o suffered from Sugar Act’s trade restrictions
o burdened rum producers w/ heavy tax on molasses, dry up Portuguese wine import trade, prohibit export of many New England products
· However, Bostonians’ problems also rooted in older problems:
o Shipbuilding industry surpassed by NY, Philidelphia
o Rum, sugar producers fallen
o Brit forced recruitment took away fishermen from fishing ind.
o Unemployment led to ^ taxes for poor-relief - (many become poor)
o Others still employed struggled w/ ^ prices, taxes
o Great fire in 1760
· Economic distress produced explosive situation in Boston
o Already resentful of elite, many blamed Brit officials + policies
o Poor + working class Bostonians accustomed to forming large crowds for political expression
§ Nov 5, Pope’s Day: 1000s gather to commemorate failure of Catholic plot in Eng in 1605 to blow up Parl. + kill James I
· Bostonians sometimes burned effigies of pope and pol. leaders
· After Stamp Act, Bostonians focused protest against imperial officials
o Loyal Nine tried to warn likeness of Boston’s stamp distributor, Andrew Oliver
o But several 100 Bostonians led by shoemaker Ebenezer MacIntosh demolished Oliver’s house where “stamped” his effigy to pieces
§ Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson and sheriff tried to disperse crowd w/ barrage of rocks
§ Oliver announced his resignation
· Bitterness against Stamp Act à Violence
o 12 days after 1st Boston riot, demolished luxurious home of Thomas Hutchinson (chief justice, symbol of royal policies, tried to stop destruction of Oliver’s house)
§ Ironically, Hutchinson privately opposed Stamp Act
· Sons of Liberty: groups similar to Loyal 9 forming throughout colonies
o Sought to prevent violent outbreaks (like Hutch., and Newport, RI)
§ Recognized that crowds were ignoring customary deference toward social “superiors” à afraid they’d expand to all elites if not contained
§ Fearful of alienating wealthy opponents of SA, Sons of Lib focused actions against property and left avenues of escape for their victims
§ Also fearful that royal soldier or revenue officer might be shot à forbade followers to carry weapons

o “Stamp Act Congress”
§ Oct. 1765 representatives of 9 colonial assemblies met in NYC
§ Colonies agreed that Parl. lacked authority to levy taxes outside of Great Brit and to deny any person a jury trial
§ (only once before had truly intercolonial meeting taken place –Albany Conference in 1754 which failed)
o Effects of Resistance
§ By late 1765, most stamp distributors had resigned/fled
§ and w/o watermarked paper required by law, most royal officials were refusing to perform their duties àIn response, legislators threatened to withhold their pay
§ Simultaneously, merchants obtained sailing clearances by threatening to sue if cargoes were spoiled à most colony harbors functioning again
§ Colonial elites moved to keep situation from getting out of hand by taking over leadership of local Sons of Liberty groups, by coordinating protest thru the Stamp Act Congress and by having colonial legislature restore normal business
§ Elite feared chaos would break out, esp. if Brit troops came to enforce Stamp Act
§ To force the Stamp Act’s repeal, NY’s merchants agreed on Oct 31, 1765 to boycott all Brit goods – (other cities followed) à put Eng economy in danger of recession
· Colonial boycotts triggered panic in Eng and businessmen warned Parl. that continuation of Stamp Act would stimulate wave of bankruptcies, unemployment, political unrest

The Declaratory Act, 1766
Marquis of Rockingham succeeded Grenville as prime minister – mid-1765
Hesitated to advocate repeal – majority within the House of Commons = outraged at colonial defiance of law.
January 1766 – William Pitt (opponent of Stamp Act) denounced efforts to tax colonies.
Parliamentary support for repeal grew – matter of practicality, not surrender of principle.
March 1766 – Parliament revokes Stamp Act.
Stamp act wasn’t raising the revenue it was supposed to
Only in conjunction with a passage of Declaratory Act – affirmed parliamentary power to legislate for the colonies absolutely.
Is British government doing something new?
Parliament kind of thought they already had this power
No one had raised the question before, so now they put it down in writing
Thought that it was an implied power until now
The practice implies that they have this power
But, if you don’t talk about whether you have the right or not, do you have the right?
If you neglect a policy, does it still exist?
There are people who don’t get to participate in political process, in Britain and colonies
Need to meet land requirement
“virtual representation”
A member of parliament “virtually” represents everyone’s interests—regardless of constituencies or who you got voted by
This is rational for everything that British government does in arguments w/ colonies
Dec. Act – written In general language
American interpreted it to advantage.
Colonial political leaders – saw law as modeled after an early statute concerning Ireland, which was exempt from British taxation
Seemed to be parliament’s way of compensating for repeal of Stamp Act – Americans ignored it.
House of Commons – intended for the Americans to take it literally à could not be exempt form parliamentary statute, incl. tax law.
Fundamental disagreement b/w Brits and Americans over political rights.
However – most colonists put behind them the events of 765 à loyal statements fo gratitude to King and parliament.
Sons of Liberty – disbanded
Continued active resistance to law, but began to ponder British policies more deeply.

Ideology, Religion, and Resistance
Chasm between colonies and Britain
For first time, colonists were critical of imperial relationship with England
Educated colonists à used works of philosophers, historians, and political writers to understand new ideas (also religion)
1760s – widely familiar with political writings of Enlightenment thinkers
John Locke.
Humanity originated in state of nature – “natural rights” à life, liberty, and property.
Groups entered into “social contract” à to form governments to protect rights.
Contract broken by a gov’t encroaching on rights à people can resist gov’t, although rebellion is only good in extreme cases.
To colonists, this idea justified opposition to parliament.
Other Writers
Excessive concentrations of political powers = threats to people’s liberty
Emphasis on political community.
Ancient Greeks and Romans à Republican
Sense of civic duty as motivational
Free people need to avoid moral or political corruption – practice “public virtue”
Subordinate personal interests to policy
One elected leader – command by virtue of people.
Oppositionists
Republican English political writers
John Trenchard, Thomas Gordon
Parliament = foundation of England’s political liberties (protected these liberties).
Since 1720 – argue that prime ministers had exploited treasury for pensions, contracts and offices for politicians, OR had bribed voters.
Parliament no longer has true interests – “conspiracy against liberty”
“Country party” – fear corrupt “court party” of elected officials.
A number of colonists pointed to conspiracy behind British policies.
Pamphlets – denounced British “enslavement” efforts through excessive taxation and the imposition of officials – assaults on natural liberties.
Samuel Adams
Hoped American would become a “Christian Sparta”
Linked piety and republican ideals – combined most potent appeals rallying public protest
All Americans – learned about Protestantism
Educated Americans – Greek and Latin learning + English lit.
Thomas Jefferson
Revered ancient republics of Rome and Greece – stern, virtuous devotion to liberty
Pamphlets of Jefferson and Dickinson = quotations from classics
Reminder of righteous dignity to upper class
Appeals to ordinary Americans had to draw upon wellsprings of beliefs.
Patrick Henry – able to evoke religious fervor of Great Awakening.
Protestant Clergymen – called congregation to stand up for God and Liberty
Enormous influence on public opinion
More listened to sermons than read newspaper, etc.
Invoke divine aid – God sends people woes only to strengthen them until victory.
Protest leaders’ calls for boycotting luxuries tied in with pulpit warnings against frivolity.

Resistance Resumes, 1766-1770

Opposing the Quartering Act, 1766-1767
Colonies have to pay certain expenses incurred by soldiers stationed there
Aug. 1766, George III summoned William Pitt to form a cabinet
Pitt = opposed to taxing colonies
But health collapsed and leadership passed to Charles Townshend
Quartering Act, enacted 1765
Ordered colonial legislatures to pay for certain goods needed by soldiers stationed within their respective borders
Resented b/c indirect tax à clashed with assemblies’ claimed power to initiate all revenue-raising measures
QA also reinforced presence of standing army à tyranny in eyes of col.
New Yorks’s Resistance
Prod. anti-American feeling in House of Commons
Townshend drafted the New York Suspending Act – threatened to nullify all laws passed by colony if assemblies refused to vote the supplies
h/e by time George III had signed NYSA, NY has appropriated necessary funds
conflict over QA demonstrated that Brit leaders wouldn’t hesitate to defend Parl.’s authority – even thru interfering w/ American claims to self-governance

The Townshend Duties, 1767
Have to pay taxes on lead, glass, paper, tea…
Townsend
Farmer who experimented w/ crop rotation, selective breeding
Came up w/ new ways to grow turnips
Feeds starving population
Links him to 2 George’s—King, and farmer in Virginia
English gentry mad at govt’s failure to cut taxes from wartime levels à so gentry slashed own taxes 25% à This cost govt lots of money (deficit) so…
Townshend’s Revenue Act of 1767 (aka Townshend Duties)
Townshend proposed laws to tax imports entering America from Britain
Townshend taxed colonists by exploiting oversight in their argument vs. Stamp Act – never said anything against Parl’s right to tax imports as entered colonies ..(sneaky…) – impose external taxes
From colonial standpoint, T’s Duties were taxes just like Stamp Act b/c did not excessively tax goods (so as to regulate/dissuade foreign trade), but instead just set moderate rates à therefore, clearly trying to just add to treasury
Other motive for T’s Duties: Townshend hoped to establish fund that would pay salaries of governors/other royal officials in America, thus freeing them from assemblies’ control
By stripping assemblies of power of the purse, Revenue Act threatened to tip balance of constitutional power away from elected col. Reps and toward nonelected royal officials
Revenue Act never yielded desired $
Only tea produced significant revenue- but had to keep tea affordable
Therefore, RA worsened British treasury’s deficit
From Parl’s standpoint, conflict w/ America was becoming test of national will over principle of taxation


The Colonists’ Reaction, 1767-1769
Colonists
Resistance to Revenue Act remained weak until Dec 1767 when John Dickinson published 12 essays – Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
Said that Parl. had no right to tax commerce for single purpose of raising revenue
Legality of external tax depended on its intent
Persuaded many that arguments ppl had vs. stamp act also applied to revenue act
James Otis – Boston lawyer famed for arguments in writs-of-assistance case
Chaired Boston town meeting that asked Massachusetts legislature to oppose the Townshend duties
In response, assembly called on Samuel Adams to draft a “circular letter” to every colonial legis in 1768
Letter condemned taxation w/o representation
And threat to self-governance posed by parl’s making governors and other royal officers financially independent of legislatures
But it acknowledge Parl. as “supreme legislative Power over the whole Empire”
Advocated no illegal activities
Virginia’s assembly greatly approved of Adam’s letter and sent out even stronger letter of own urging colonies to oppose imperial policies
h/e most colonial legis responded indifferently
in fact, resistance to Rev Act might have died out if Brit govt hadn’t overreacted to circular letters
Eng’s Response
Parl regarded letters as incentive to rebellion
King’s Privy Council appointed Lord Hillsborough as secretary of state for colonies to express govt’s displeasure
Told Mass to disown letter, forbade other colonies to endorse it
Commanded governors to dissolve any legis that violated instructions
What Colonists did…
To protest Hillsborough, many colonies orig indiff to Mass letter now adopted it enthusiastically
Governors dismissed legislatures
Colonists wonder how they can pressure Parl. to repeal R.A.?
Nonimportation – would distress Brit’s econ
Boston’s merchants adopted nonimportation agreement
Not all colonists supported tho
Effectiveness depended on compliance of merchants
Merchants in some major cities kept buying Brit goods
Boycott more signif. in long run b/c made colonists more active in resisting Brit. Policies

“Wilkes and Liberty,” 1768-1770
Britain is affected by nonimportation policy
Want repeal of Townsend duties
Low wages and high prices
Movement in 1760’s opposing domestic and foreign policies of George III and Parliament dominated by wealthy landowners
John Wilkes
Editor and parliament member
Newspaper expressed opposition to George III’s policies
Government arrests him for libel
He wins his case
But his newspaper is shut down and House of Commons is persuaded to deny him a seat
He offends government more and flees to paris
Comes back in 1768
Townsend acts have people in protests
People rally around Wilkes
Wilkes elected to Parliament
Arrested
“Wilkesites” protest on St. George’s Fields outside prison where Wilkes is kept
Some people start throwing stones
Soldiers and police fire
11 killed
Called “massacre of St. George’s Fields”
Wilkes and an associate elected to Parliament 2 more times and denied seats
Imprisoned Wilkes gets a lot of popular support from colonies
In correspondence w/ Boston Sons of Liberty
People in Britain and colonies pulled into politics
English cities and towns sign petitions protesting Parliament’s refusal to give Wilkes a seat
Think “virtual representation” is a sham
Say refusing seat is affront to electorate’s will
Society of the Supporters of the Bill of Rights
Formed to protect constitutional liberties of subjects
Respectable opponents of government (Endmund Burke, William Pitt…) say Wilkes shouldn’t deal in the “mob”
Wilkes and his following make clear that parliament is a minority w/ too much power that could be legitimately questioned

Women and Colonial Resistance
Key to nonimportation policy is showing Britain and colonies that people can sustain resistance and that their cause rested on moderation, morality, and self sacrifice
White women had been slowly and unevenly getting more influence in politics
In churches they outnumbered men
Seen as examples of piety and morality
Wealthy women make Daughters of Liberty
Play minor role in defeating the stamp act
Also start to express ideas of opposition in discussions and correspondences
During Townsend crisis, women have bigger role
Tea
Take on nonconsumption policy
Women drink most tea of anyone
Hurts ability of Townsend duties to make money
Clothing
Women encouraged to make own clothes for families
Don’t have to buy British ones
Have spinning bees
Forego idleness for liberty
Gives regular household chores, like spinning, a political significance
Feminine virtues prove to expand beyond religious piety
Women participation shows that colonial protest is more widespread

Customs “Racketeering,” 1767-1768
Townshend wanted to increase revenues through strict enforcement of Navigation Acts à submitted Revenue Act of 1767
Introduced legislation – created American Board of Customs Commissioners
Funded various job positions
Fines created more incentive for illegal smuggling
Probability of conviction was high
Wanted to spread this system to colonies
There were protests because of unjust law enforcements (guilty until proven innocent)
No evidence existed but charges were filed
Revenue agents started abusing their powers (i.e. going against traditional sailor’s rights to seize ship)
“Customs racketeering”
Retaliation
Pennsylvania Journal scorned agents as dogs of prey, going after fortune
Agents were despised everywhere
Boston à most hated
Citizens retaliated
John Hancock became chief target of customs commissioners
Was leading opponent of British taxation
Was fined 13x as much as he allegedly evaded on a shipment of wine
Citizens tried to prevent towing of Hancock’s ship – began assault on agents
Mob drove inspectors from Boston
Added to friction between Britain and colonies
The Deepening Crisis, 1770-1774
Colonists argued that acts (i.e. Sugar Act) endangered property rights and civil liberties
Rejection of taxation without representation expanded into rejection of legislation without representation
Later à Parliament had no lawmaking authority over colonies except right to regulate imperial commerce (Navigation Acts)
British reaction to Hancock’s case à dispatched British troops to Boston
Bostonians resented troops – felt that troops threatened liberty and were financial burden

The Boston Massacre, 1770
- Boston was filled with tension à soldiers generated anger
- February 22, 1770 à customs informer shot into a crowd picketing the home of a customs-paying merchant – killed a young boy
o His death unified community – large funeral held
- Army had no part in shooting but it became target
- Cripus Attucks and George Robert Twelves Hewes
o Led crowd against troops to guard post protecting customs office
o Officer tried to disperse citizens – threatened to shoot
o Soldiers fired
- Shock that followed was climax of Townshend crisis
- Royal authorities in Massachusetts tried to settle the problem
o Isolated all British soldiers on an island
o Governor Thomas Hutchinson promised that soldiers who shot would be tried
§ John Adams was their attorney
o Most soldiers were acquitted and those who were guilty suffered light punishment
- Colonists were afraid that British government was going to suppress them through force

Lord North’s Partial Retreat, 1770
New British prime minister: Lord North
Worked to stabilize relations between Britain and colonies
Favored eliminating most of Townshend duties to prevent boycott from widening
Insisted on retaining tax on tea
Parliament agreed – repealed most of T. duties
Parliament’s partial repeal produced problem for American politicians
Considered it intolerable that taxes remained on tea (most profitable item)
Colonists resisted external taxation – didn’t drink tea
Didn’t make a profit to pay salaries of royal governors
British government took steps to control American Board of Customs Commissioners
Dropped charges on Hancock
The Committees of Correspondence, 1772-1773
Lord North’s ministry was preparing to implement Townshend’s goal of paying royal governor’s salaries out of customs revenue
Colonists saw this as threat to representative government
Samuel Adams requested that every Massachusetts community appoint people to various jobs to protect colonial rights
Called Committees of Correspondence
Ideas spread
COCs were colonists’ first attempt to maintain close political cooperation over wide area
Enabled Adams to send out messages easily
Adam publicized certain letters of Hutchinson that Franklin had obtained
Found out that chief executive advocated restriction of natural liberty
Some colonists wanted to destroy basic freedoms
Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Richard Henry Lee proposed that Virginia establish colony-level COCs
Network of leaders was created throughout colonies
Dissatisfaction (caused by i.e. Townshend duties) created more friction between Britain and colonies
Felt that British authority threatened liberty and virtue

Backcountry Tensions
Tensions in the west – contributed to ongoing sense of crisis among Indians, settlers and colonial authorities.
Rapid growth – spurred migration and capitol to Appalachian backcountry
Where colonists and gov’t sought access to Indian land
British gov’t helpless in enforcing Proclamation of 1763 – land pressures and inadequate revenue from colonists.
Speculators (ex. GW) – sought western land to seize opportunity before it is lost.
Settlers, traders, hunters, thieves – trespassed on Indian land
Violence by colonists towards Indians – unpunished
British gov’t = unable to maintain garrisons at many forts
Garrisons à enforce violations of laws and treaties; provide gifts to allies.
Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768)
Britain and Six Nations Iroquois
Grant land along Ohio River that was occupied and claimed by Shawnees, Delawares, and Cherokees to governments of Pennsylvania and VA.
Shawnees = assume leadership of Ohio Indians
Sensed that no policy such as this would stop colonial expansion.
Treaty = heightened western tensions
Ohio country à settlers agitated to establish Kentucky
Violence culminates (1774)
Slaughter of 13 Shawnees and Mingos, including 8 Logans à leading Mingo family
Outraged Logan – leads force that kills 13 white Virginians
VA – campaign against the Indians
Lord Dunmore’s War (1774)
Colony’s governor
Conflict at Point Pleasant (VA side of the Ohio River)
English victory
Peace conference – VA gets rights to lands south of Ohio river and gave up claims on northern side.
Anglo-Indian resentments continue
Some conflicts with Indians led to conflicts within colonists
Colonists moving west in MA were challenged by NY landlords
1766 – 2 landlords threaten to evict tenants
New Englanders aide in armed uprising – Sons of Liberty (after Stamp Act protesters)
1769 00 New Hampshire vs. NY à 4 years of guerilla warfare
NH settlers (“Green Mountain Boys”) – establish independent gov’t.
Eventually became gov’t of Vermont
More NE settlers à settle in PA and clash there.
Backcountry Settlers vs. Colonial Governments
NC – Regulators aimed to redress the grievances of westerners who were under-represented in the colonial assembly and exploited by dishonest eastern officeholders.
May 16, 1771 – Battle of Alamance Creek
NC’s royal governor defeats Regulators – 300 casualties
Movement results in colony’s crippled ability to resist British authority.
Armed Regulator movement in SC – counter government’s unwillingness to prosecute bandits.
Gov’t not want to dispatch militia à fear of slave uprising
Conceded to demands à establish 4 new judicial circuits and allow jury trials
Tea Act, 1773
Colonial smuggling and nonconsumption = heavy toll on British East India Company
Legal monopoly on the sale of tea in Britain’s Empire
1773 – on brink of bankruptcy
Lord North – cannot afford to lose company
Maid substantial duties on shipped tea
Provided indirect savings for government by maintaining British authority in India.
Want to control colonial market – increase profits
1773 – colonies only purchasing ¼ of the million lbs they consume a year from the BEIC.
May 1773 – Tea Act
Lowered selling prices by eliminating import duties on tea entering England.
Permitted the company to sell directly to consumers, rather than to wholesalers
Price now well below that of smuggled competition
Alarmed many Americans:
Menace to liberty and virtue and colonial representative government
Raises revenue, which is used to pay royal governors
Corrupt Americans into accepting parliamentary taxation by exploiting weakness for luxury
Committees of correspondence – peaceful resistance of tea imports
Kept cargoes from landing – persuasion, interception, etc.
Boston – failed

Boston Tea Party
November 28, 1773 – first ship under jurisdiction of the customhouse came.
Duties would have to be paid within 20 days, or cargo would be seized
Sam Adams and John Hancock repeatedly asked the customs office to issue a clearance of the ship’s departure, but they wouldn’t à Thomas Hutchinson’s refusal to compromise
December 16 – 5,000 Bostonians gather in Old South Church
Sam Adams informs citizens of Hutchinson’s insistence on landing the tea
50 young men (including George Robert Twelves Hewes) disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians
Symbolizes a virtuous, proud American identity separate from that of Britain.
Armed with tomahawks
Assaulted no one, only damaged the cargo à heaved 45 tons of tea overboard while thousands looked on.
Quiet the whole time à “never more still or calm”

Toward Independence, 1774-1776

Liberty for Black Americans

The Coercive Acts

The First Continental Congress
(fyi – I didn’t include the ppl there b/c a lot, so see p. 151 if think is necessary)
Sept. 5, 1774- In response to the “Intolerable Acts”, the extralegal committees of correspondence of every colony but Georgia sent delegates to a Continental Congress in Philadelphia
Delegates came together to find way of defending colonies’ rights in common
First Continental Congress opened by endorsing set of statements of principle called the Suffolk Resolves that had recently placed Mass in a state of passive rebellion. Resolves decl that:
Colonies owed no obedience to any of Coercive Acts
Provisional govt should collect taxes until former Mass charter was restored
Defensive measures should be taken in event of attack by royal troops
Continental Association- agreement in which FCC voted to boycott brit goods and to cease exporting almost all goods to Brit + W Indies unless reconciliation accomplished
Bold defiance not liked by all delegates
Moderates feared internal turmoil that would accompany confrontation w/ Britain
These “trimmers” opposed nonimportation and tried to endorse plan for a “Grand Council”- an American legis that would share authority to tax and govern colonies w/ Parl. – didn’t work
Finally, delegates summarized principles/demands in petition to king
Affirmed Parl’s power to regulate imperial commerce, but argued that Parl’s previous efforts to impose taxes, enforce laws thru admiralty courts, suspend assemblies, and revoke charters were unconstitutional
By addressing king rather than Parl, congress was imploring George III to end crisis by dismissing ministers who passed Coercive Acts

From Resistance to Rebellion
Most Americans hoped their resistance would jolt parl. into renouncing all authority over colonies except trade regulation
But tensions between moderates and radicals ran high
To solidify their defiance, colonial resistance leaders coerced waverers and loyalists (Tories) – got merchants to stop importing Brit goods etc.
By 1775, colonial patriots had established provincial “congresses” that paralleled and rivaled the existing colonial assemblies headed by royal governors
Britain answered colonies’ challenge in Mass in April 1775:
In Mass, colonists had organized extralegal milita units (minutemen) prepared vs. possible brit attack
Brit govt ordered Mass’s Governor Gage to arrest principal patriot leaders
Gage sent Brit soldiers to take colonists’ mil. supplies stored at Concord
William Dawes and Paul Revere warned of approaching Brits
Concord- 273 Brit deaths, 92 colonists
Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia
Most delegates still opposed independence and at Dickinson’s urging agreed to send “loyal message” to George III (Olive Branch Petition)
Olive Branch Petition
Politely presented 3 demands:
A cease-fire at Boston
Repeal of Coercive Acts
Negotiations to estab. guarantees of American rights
While pleading for peace, also passed measures brits saw as rebellious
E.g., voted to estab. an “American Continental Army” – appt George Washington as commander
In London,
News of Olive Branch Petition, Continental Army’s Formation, and battles at Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill – great Brit casualties
After Bunker hill, many brits wanted retaliation
Aug, George III proclaimed New England in state of rebellion à Oct, extended to all colonies
Dec, Parl decl. colonies rebellious, outlawing all Brit trade w/ them, subjecting their ships to seizure

Common Sense
Many colonists clung to hopes of reconciliation
Also clung to notion that evil ministers rather than king were forcing unconstitutional measures on them and that saner heads would rise to power in Brit. à wrong!
When George III decl. colonies in rebellion, Anglo-Americans had to either submit or to acknowledge their goal of national independence
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
Monarchy was an institution rooted in superstition, dangerous to liberty, and inappropriate to Americans
America had no econ. need for Brit connection
Events or preceding 6 months had made independence a reality
Linked America’s awakening nationalism with the sense of religious mission felt by many New Englanders
America would be new kind of nation, a model society founded on republican principles and unburdened by the oppressive beliefs/corrupt institutions of European past
Common Sense dissolved lingering allegiance to George III and Great Britain, removing the last psychological barrier to Amer independence

Declaring Independence
Common Sense stimulates local gatherings
Extralegal legislatures declare independence from Britain
July 2,1776- Congress created the United States of America
Committee put together to draft statement of independence
Benjamin Franklin
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson (principal author)
Enlightenment
John Locke’s ideas
Natural rights
Social contract
If government not protecting natural rightsà tyrannical
People have right to overthrow
Pursuit of Happiness—progress
Changes:
Pursuit of happiness—replaces “property”
Happiness determined by an individual basis
Government is there to facilitate each person’s own pursuits
delete statement blaming George III for forcing slavery on colonies
Move focus off of wanting representation—want an outright split
List 27 “injuries and usurpations” committed by George III against colonies
Focus less on individual politicians
Recognize that Parliament and King have become too tyrannical
Say that Britain has violated social contract
Colonies have a right to replace him w/ their own government
Emphasis on equality and natural entitlement to justice, liberty, and self-fulfillment based not on exploitation or legal privilege
Make the statement that George III’s rule as tyrannical
Have to prove it
Charges
Changing locations of legislaturesà move things to Nova Scotia
Dissolve representative governmentsà House of Burgesses is dissolved; dissolve Massachusetts government
Preventing immigration and expansionà Proclamation of 1763
Administration of justiceà vice-admiralty courts
New offices/swarms of officersà Quartering Act
“our constitution”à British constitution, not a written document- evolutionary; say Britain isn’t following it any more
Abolishing free system of English laws in Quebecà Quebec act; no representative government in Quebec; Britain supporting Catholics in Quebec
Whig ideology—government closest to you governs best
Elements of Great Awakening it Declaration
“protection of Divine Providence”
Active presence of God= Great Awakening
“endowed by creator”
God left colonies to themselves= enlightenment
Taking back rights—“ full power to levy war…and do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do”
Not a question of just taking back what Britain took from colonies
Say that the way Britain took back powers from colonies makes Britain a tyrant
b/c Britain is tyrantàsplit
Declaration also addresses people unsure about splitting from Britain
Wants to convince people that social and political progress can’t happen under the British
Also addresses people from other countries
Know they’ll need allies
That’s why their allegations are trying to make a case
Some important things not clarified
Equality of slaves/free blacks
Equality of women
Equality of native Americans
Declaration of Independence by Continental Congress makes it something greater
Moves colonists to political action
Hastens struggle for independence
Challenges people to make equality and perfect justice more of a reality by splitting w/ Britain
Revolution
Revolution: A FUNDAMENTAL change
Is the revolutionary war the American Revolution?
Does the military fighting equal the fundamental change?
Not really a change—they want to keep what they’ve got
In a sense, the British are the revolutionaries, and the colonies are the conservatives
Britain is changing from limited monarchy to unlimited monarchy
George III is changing things
Are the colonies a democracy?
Not really, many people are excluded—women, slaves, non-landowners
Education and property ownership were types of qualifications
People don’t like the idea of democracy
Associated with mob rule—Sons of Liberty, Boston Tea Party
Never mentioned in the constitution
States determine who can vote
Suffrage is not a natural right
States determine the manner of elections
Benjamin Franklin proposed self-governance under the crown
Dominion of North America
Own prime minister etc.
American revolution is about liberty and right to participate
Fundamental change goes with fundamental conservatism in maintaining things the way they were in the colonies
Some people in Parliament are also saying that colonies should be let go
Wilberforce
Burke