Chapter 6
From Empire to Independence
AP United States History
Mr. Logan Greene
West Blocton High School
Chapter Objectives
• How did Great Britain deal with its growing
empire at the conclusion of the French and
Indian War?
• How did conflicts such as the Cherokee War and
Pontiac’s Rebellion affect relations between
Native Americans and colonists?
• What effect did the Sugar and Stamp Acts have
on colonists’ views of Great Britain?
• Who were the Regulators, and what were the
Regulator movements?
• Who made up the first Continental Congress,
and what was its purpose?
The “New” British Empire
• The victory in the French and Indian War
brought England large amounts of land
and expanded the Empire
• However, this caused several problems
such as how to administer the new
territories, disloyalty among former
French subjects, and many new Natives to
govern
• As well the Empire had a large debt of
over 130 million pounds
New Territories
• After the French and Indian War the British kept
a substantial military presence in the colonies
• To help maintain peaceful relations with the
Natives the British enacted the Proclamation
Line of 1763
• This set a boundary of white settlement West of
the Appalachian Mountains
• Not only was this designed to keep peaceful
relations with the Natives but also to keep the
Colonists closer to the coast and therefore
easier to control
• As well, the British passed the Quartering Act
requiring colonists to house troops
• All of these actions unnerved the colonists
Natives
• Two Native conflicts strained relations in the
1750’s and 1760’s
• The Cherokee War:
– Fought in Southern Appalachian Highlands
– Treaty in 1761 surrendered land to colonists
in Carolinas and Virginia
• Pontiac’s Rebellion:
– Native leader Neolin who wished to revitalize
traditional Native culture
– Eight major tribes attacked from the Great
Lakes to Virginia
– Defined by horrible tactics including germ
warfare giving natives smallpox blankets
Curbing Assemblies
• By the 1750’s the British wanted to
curb the Colonial Assemblies
• Whenever an opportunity arose the
crown took power from the
assemblies
• Parsons Cause:
– Issue from 1758 – 1763 when Anglican
clergyman sued over reduction of their
salaries. The crown responded by
taking powers away from the Virginia
legislature
ACTS
• Currency Act (1764)
– Act passed disallowing the printing of paper
money in the colonies
• Sugar Act (1764)
– “To improve revenue of the kingdom” Imposed
new duties on imports and also increased
enumerated products. Navy and royal agents
enforced
• Stamp Act (1765)
– Required a stamp and tax on all printed
documents in the colonies, first internal tax
on the colonies
Legal or Not to be Legal?
• Colonists felt the taxes were
unfair; however, they could not
prove that the British did not have
the legal right to impose them
• Writs of Assistance increased the
legal issues of the colonies
– Legal papers which allowed customs
officials to search virtually any
building they “suspected” of holding
smuggled goods
The Tax Culture
• Taxation was the fundamental issue
between Britain and the Colonists
• British subjects had grown
accustomed to Parliamentary taxes
• Colonists, emboldened by the
Enlightenment and John Locke,
believed only their own
representatives could tax them
Protests
• Overall, protests of the Sugar Act were mild
because it affected few people
– Legislatures declared it unconstitutional and
New York merchants began a non-importation
movement
• The Stamp Act caused MASS resistance as the tax
effected virtually all colonists
• Newspapers wrote editorials and fiery speakers
such as Patrick Henry railed about the evil tax
• The Sons of Liberty (loosely organized groups of
protesters) harassed stamp distributors
• However, colonial leaders preached patience
and tried to quell riotous behavior
The Stamp Act Congress
• Colonial leaders met in October of
1765 to discuss the growing unrest
in what would be known as the Stamp
Act Congress
• The Congress published the
Declaration of Rights and
Grievances petitioning the Crown to
remove the Stamp and Sugar Acts
• The Stamp Act was revoked in March
1766 after continued protest
Continued Problems
• Included with the repeal of the
Stamp Act was the Declaratory Act
which reaffirmed Parliaments right
to tax the colonies
• Unfortunately the colonies took
this the wrong way and continued to
protest and distrust the crown
Regulators
• In the aftermath of the Stamp Act crisis a group
of vigilante colonists sprang up known as the
Regulators
• Regulators tried to put down lawlessness and
corruption in the Carolinas, particularly in the
backcountry
• Regulators wanted assemblies in these frontier
areas but the crown refused and violence
erupted
• This showed that Colonial leaders wanted to
respond to issues in the colonies but the British
were inflexible to growing concerns
The Townshend Acts
• The Townshend Acts were external
taxes passed in 1767 on regularly
imported items like tea, paper, paint,
lead and glass
• In addition, the crown installed
several new customs officials in
Boston to control smugglers like
John Hancock
Boycott
• The Crown kept anything like the
Stamp Act from occurring
• However, mass boycotts ensued as
colonists refused to buy the
imported and newly taxed goods
instead pushing for people to buy
colonial goods
• By 1770 the crown repealed the
Townshend Acts, EXCPET the tax on
tea
The Boston Massacre
• On the same day the repeal of the
Townshend Acts was brought before
Parliament, March 5, 1770, the Boston
Massacre occurred
• Popularly seen as a Massacre the
incident was actually a tragic conclusion
to scared and angry British soldiers fired
upon colonists who had hit them, thrown
rocks, and insulted them
• 5 colonists died, including Crispus
Attucks
The “Quiet Period” & The
Gaspee Incident
• After the Massacre overall the
colonies were quiet
• The Gaspee was a British antismuggling ship patrolling the Rhode
Island coast
• When it ran aground the colonists
got even by shooting the captain and
burning the ship
• The British were not amused
Committees of
Correspondence
• In response to the Gaspee Incident
and the obvious chances of issues
colonial leaders created
Committees of Correspondence
• These were groups of colonists with
the sole purpose of keeping each
other informed about British
movements and issues
The Boston tea Party
• During the “Quiet Period” colonists drank
smuggled tea
• The Tea Act of 1773 helped the Dutch East India
Company sell their oversupply of tea by cutting
the price of the duty
• This angered the colonists as they did not
appreciate the trick to try and make them pay the
tax
• Eventually, this broke out in the Boston Tea
Party on December 16, 1773 in which the Sons of
Liberty snuck onto DEIC ships and threw the tea
into the harbor
Intolerable Acts
• The destruction of the Tea Party alarmed both
the colonists and the British
• In response Parliament passed the Coercive Acts
– Closed the Port of Boston
– Any British official who broke the law would be tried in
England
– Closed colonial legislatures in Massachusetts
• As well they passed the Quebec Act which
expanded the boundaries of Quebec removing
trials by jury and expanding the Catholic
Church’s influence
• Collectively these were known as the
Intolerable Acts
First Continental Congress
• Delegates from all colonies, except Georgia, met
at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia from
September 5 – October 26, 1774
• Approved the Suffolk Resolves which were
militant documents attacking the Coercive Acts
• Continental Association was passed with
organized the colonies to help enforce
sanctions against the British
• Sectional stubbornness prevented a singular
outcome as each colony and region protected its
own interest
Divisions
• As the crisis depended the colonists
were forced to take sides
• Whigs: Colonists who favored
breaking with Britain and fought for
colonial rights
• Tories: Colonists who believed what
the British were doing was legal and
did not want to break
Chapter Objectives
• How did Great Britain deal with its growing
empire at the conclusion of the French and
Indian War?
• How did conflicts such as the Cherokee War and
Pontiac’s Rebellion affect relations between
Native Americans and colonists?
• What effect did the Sugar and Stamp Acts have
on colonists’ views of Great Britain?
• Who were the Regulators, and what were the
Regulator movements?
• Who made up the first Continental Congress,
and what was its purpose?