Imperial and Local Origins of the
American Revolution
Events, Ideas, Turning Points, 16891776
Imperial Origins
• Mercantilism
• Self Government
• Imperial Rivalries
Mercantilism
• Imperial Self Sufficiency
• Closed Economic System
• Codified and Enforced through Navigation
Acts
Self Government
• Royal Governors were often absentees
• Lower Houses of Assembly wielded a great
deal of power
• Heritage of Rule of Law (1689 Bill of
Rights, English Rights and Liberties)
• Power of the Purse
Imperial Rivalries
• European Wars for Balance of Power
beginning in 1689 had an imperial
component
• By French and Indian War (1754-1763),
struggle is between England and France for
global imperial hegemony
• England wins, but at a huge cost
Experiential Origins
• Robert Walpole and Salutary Neglect
• New Imperial Policy and George Grenville
• Actions and Perceptions of George III
Robert Walpole
• First Minister , 17211742
• Salutary Neglect—few
Navigation Acts
Enforced
• Ties to crown made
him a symbol of
“corruption”
New Imperial Policy
• George Grenville
• Single Economic System
• Colonies to pay a portion
of their administration and
governance costs
• New Navigation Acts—
lower rates, better
enforcement
• Sugar Act, 1764
• Proclamation of 1763
• Not Well Received in
the Colonies
George III—1760-1820
• Really was trying to
restore balance
between crown and
commons
• Image of tyrant is
creature of colonial
disappointment, not
what he did
• Challenge of finding a
good first minister
Ideological Origins—Why the
Colonies Responded the Way that
They Did
• Habit of Self-Government
• Construction of English History
• Whig Theory (Corruption)—link of Sugar
Act with Act for the Encouragement of
Officers Making Seizures
How They Responded
• Stamp Act Congress—no taxation without
representation; boycott, Sons of Liberty
[1765]
• After Townshend Duties--John Dickenson’s
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania—tax
to regulate trade but not for revenue [1767]
• East India Company Crisis—Boston Tea
Party [1773]
How the Brits Responded—
Coercive Acts
• Boston Port Act
• Act for the Impartial Administration of
Justice
• Quartering Act
• Massachusetts Government Act
• Quebec Act—illustrative of Colonial
Paranoia
First Continental Congress-1774
• Declaration of American Rights—tax to
regulate not to raise revenue.
• Continental Association (enforce boycott)
• Rejected Galloway’s Plan of Union
• Anything new here?
First Continental Congress
Lexington and Concord
• Paul Revere’s Ride
• April 19, 1775—Lexington Green
• Concord, “the Shot heard round the world.”
Timing of Independence
• Ideology didn’t evolve much since 1765
• Colonies lost faith in GIII—why the
declaration is directed against him—he
moved to crush the Wilkites in England and
was no longer the “father of his people”.
Ralph Waldo Emerson—
Revolution and Memory
By this rude bridge that
arched the flood,
Their Flag to April's
breeze unfurled,
Here the embattled
farmers stood
And fired the Shot heard
'round the World.
Independence?
• Battle of Bunker Hill—no doubt that
colonies are at war
• Olive Branch Petition
• Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of
Taking Up Arms
• George III declares colonies in rebellion on
August 22, 1775.
Independence Declared
•
•
•
•
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
Lee Resolution
Jefferson’s Declaration
Independence Declared