Chapter 7
THE ROAD TO
REVOLUTION
LONG TERM TRENDS
BRINGING TENSION
BETWEEN ENGLAND
AND THE COLONIES
BY THE 1760S
Trends Bringing Tension
 I. Increasing power of colonial legislature (5
colonies in particular: New York,
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, S.
Carolina).
 Governor
has significant power, but restrictions
are placed on Governors by British govt., and
most colonial Governors will have only limited
patronage (not many jobs to give to their
supporters).
Trends Bringing Tension
 Colonial legislature has more and more
control over many in the colonies (raising
money and spending money).
 Increasingly
gain control over the Governor’s
salary.
 Legislatures gain increased control over elections
(when held, where, who can vote, etc.)
 Colonial legislature gets to elect officials to go to
England and meet with Parliament about matters
relating to the colonies.
Trends Bringing Tension

Control the release of news to the general public (spin
news how they want in colonies).
 II. Increase in consumerism in the colonies from
England.
Between 1750-1773, the value of imports increases 120%.
 Am increasing number of colonists are going into debt
trying to buy these goods.
 Some religious leaders thought the colonies were morally
superior to England and that mercantilism was not good
for the colonies

Trends Bringing Tension
 III. A series of major religious revivals
between 1720-1770.
 The
Great Awakening beings in the 1720s (New
Jersey) then spreads to New England, the to
South and frontier.
 Membership to churches increases, but people
reject the Puritan ideas (pre-destination) and
emphasize free choice.
 Emphasis on the emotional experience of
conversion, “Heart over Mind”.
Trends Bringing Tension
 This
is significant because the Great Awakening
challenges traditional ideas and leaders and soon
challenges secular leaders.
 IV. Population of colonial America
dramatically increases in 18th Century.
 250,000
colonies in 1700; 1.2 million by 1750;
2.5 million by 1776.
 The increase made it difficult to acquire
abundant cheap land east of the Appalachians
(Georgia to Northern Massachusetts).
Trends Bringing Tension
 Parents
could no longer give land to their
children at 21, and they could no longer use
promise of land as a way to control their
children.
 They were increasingly unable to control
children’s sexual behavior before marriage.
 In Hingham, MA in 1700, 10% of women were
pregnant when they got married.
 In 1750, 30% of women were pregnant when they
got married.
Introduction
 After winning the 7 Year’s War the
British sent 10,000 troops to guard the
American frontier- which was very
costly.
 The London government struggled to
compel the American colonists to
shoulder some of the financial costs of
the empire.
Introduction
 This change in British colonial policy
reinforced an emerging sense of
American political identity and helped
to precipitate the American Revolution.
 Even so, the Americans were reluctant
revolutionaries.
The Deep Roots of Revolution
 Even from day one the New World
nurtured new ideas about the nature of
society, citizen, and government.
 Two main ideas had taken root in the
minds of American colonists by the
mid-eighteenth century.
Republicanism
 A just society was one in which all citizens
willingly subordinated their private, selfish
interests to the common good.
 The stability of society and the authority of
government depended on the virtue of the
citizenry.
 By its nature, republicanism was opposed to
hierarchical and authoritarian institutions
such as aristocracy and monarchy.
Radical Whigs
 The 2nd idea came from the British
commentators known as radical Whigs.
 The Whigs feared that threat to liberty
posed by the arbitrary power of
monarch and his ministers relative to
elected representatives in Parliament.
Radical Whigs
 Whigs warned citizens to be on guard
against corruption and loss of liberties.
 Together, republican and Whig ideas taught
the American colonists to be on high alert
against any threat to their liberty.
 The American colonists had grown
accustomed to running their own affairs.
Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances
 Not one of the original 13 colonies
except GA was formally planted by the
British government.
 The British authorities tried to justify
their colonial control over the colonies
through the theory of mercantilism.
Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances
 Mercantilists believe that wealth was power
and that a country’s economic wealth (and
military and political power) could be measured
by the amount of gold or silver in its treasury.
 Possessing colonies gave England a distinct
advantage; they had somewhere that could
supply raw materials to the mother country and
the colonies could provide a guaranteed market
for exports.
Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances
 From time to time, Parliament passed laws
to regulate the mercantilist system in the
colonies.
 British policy also inflicted a currency
shortage on the colonies.
 To facilitate everyday purchases, the
colonists resorted to using butter, nails,
pitch (resin), and feathers for exchange
purposes.
Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances
 Currency issues came to a boil when dire financial
need forced many of the colonies to issue paper
money, which was swiftly depreciated.
 The British crown also reserved the right to nullify
any legislation passed by the colonial assemblies if
such laws worked mischief with the mercantilist
system.
 Although this veto was rarely used, the colonists
resented its very existence.
The Merits and Menace of Mercantilism
 Even though mercantilism seemed
oppressive, the truth is that the
Navigation Laws were only loosely
enforced.
 Many American fortunes, including
that of John Hancock, were amassed by
smuggling.
The Merits and Menace of Mercantilism
 The colonists reaped the benefits of the mercantile
system;
 London paid liberally for ship parts made in the
colonies, much to the dismay of London builders.
 VA tobacco planters enjoyed a monopoly and ran the
tiny British tobacco industry out of business,.
 The colonists benefitted from protection of the
world’s strongest army and navy- without spending a
penny for it.
The Merits and Menace of Mercantilism
 The problems with mercantilism
 Stifled
economic initiative and imposed
dependency on British
 Kept the colonists in a state of perpetual
economic adolescence.
 According to Theodore Roosevelt years later,
“Revolution broke out because Britain failed
to recognize an emerging nation when it saw
one.”
The Stamp Tax Uproar
 Even though they emerged victorious from
the 7 Year’s War, the British also emerged
with a new debt, half of which was spent
defending the colonies.
 In 1763, British Prime Minister George
Grenville ordered strict enforcement of the
Navigation Laws.
 In 1764, he got Parliament to pass the Sugar
Act.
The Stamp Tax Uproar
 This was the first time tax revenue was ever
sought from colonies for the crown.
 Amid resentment, the tax was lowered and
anger died considerably.
 In 1765, the Quartering Act was passed,
which required certain colonies to provide
food and quarters for British troops.
The Stamp Tax Uproar
 Also in 1765, Grenville passed the Stamp Tax
to raise revenue for a new military force.
 Stamps were required on bills of sale for
about 50 trade items as well, as commercial
and legal documents, playing cards,
pamphlets, newspapers, diplomas, marriage
licenses, etc.
The Stamp Tax Uproar
 Grenville was asking the colonists to pay
their fair share for the cost of their
protection.
 The British people had endured a stamp tax
in England that was much higher than that
levied in the colonies.
 The colonists felt Grenville was striking at
liberties they had assumed as a matter of
right.
The Stamp Tax Uproar
 Because the offenders were tried in
admiralty court, where no juries were
allowed and people were seen as guilty until
proven innocent, the Sugar and Stamp Acts
jeopardized the basic rights of the colonists.
 Also, colonists were skeptical that a new
army was needed in America after the
French had been removed.
The Stamp Tax Uproar
 The cries of “No taxation without
representation” began to ring free.
 They agreed that Parliament had the right to
levy taxes, but they did not feel it had the
right to do so without having any Americans
seated in Parliament.
 Only their own elected colonial legislature,
in their minds, had the right to tax them.
The Stamp Tax Uproar
 Grenville felt that the Americans were
represented in Parliament through the
theory of “virtual representation,” where
every member of Parliament represented all
British subjects, even those in America.
 The colonists scoffed at virtual
representation and truthfully, didn’t want
representation in Parliament either.
The Stamp Tax Uproar
 When the British replied that they could not
split sovereign power between “legislative”
authority in London and “taxing” authority
in the colonies, they forced the Americans to
deny the authority of Parliament altogether.
 This chain of logic eventually led, link by
link, to revolutionary consequences.
Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act
 The Stamp Act Congress was formed in 1765
by 27 delegates from 9 colonies.
 They distinguished members debated and
then drew up a statement of rights and
grievances for the king and Parliament.
 Although it was dismissed in England, it
became important in the colonies because it
first brought together around the same table
leaders from different and rival colonies.
Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act
 More effective was the adoption of
nonimportation agreements against
British goods.
 These agreements spontaneously
united the American people for the
first time in common action.
Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act
 Out of nonimportation agreement protests
grew vigilante groups such as the Sons of
Liberty and the Daughters of Liberty.
 Mobs of Sons and Daughters ransacked the
homes of custom officials, confiscated their
money, tarred and feathered the officials,
and hanged effigies of stamp agents on
liberty poles.
Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act
 Stamp agents were so scared that no one stepped
in to take over the vacant jobs and no stamps were
sold.
 The British economy was hit hard as the colonists
accounted for ½ of all British shipping.
 In 1766, Parliament grudgingly repealed the Stamp
Act as the colonists rejoiced and even built a statue
to King George III in New York.
Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act
 The victory was short lived as, almost within
the same breath, the Declaratory Act was
passed.
 This act reaffirmed Parliament’s right “to
bind” the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.”
 In a few years, the statue of King George was
melted down to make bullets fired at his own
troops.
The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston “Massacre”
 “Champagne Charley” Charles Townshend promised
to pluck the feathers fro the colonial goose with a
minimum of squawking.
 In 1767, he persuaded Parliament to pass the
Townshend Acts, which placed a light import duty on
glass, whit lead, paper, paint, and tea.
 The colonists were even more upset to find out that
the money from these taxes went to pay the salaries
of the royal governors and judges in America.
The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston “Massacre”
 The worst fears of the colonists were realized when
the London government suspended the legislature of
New York in 167 for failure to comply with the
Quartering Act.
 On March 5, 1770, a crowd of 60 townspeople began
taunting and throwing snowballs at a squad of 10
redcoats.
 The colonists were still enraged about the shooting
death of an 11 year old during a protest.
The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston “Massacre”
 Acting without orders, but apparently provoked by
the crowd, the troops opened fire and killed or
wounded eleven citizens.
 One of the first to die was Crispus Attucks, who was
“mulatto” and the leader of the mob.
 Both sides were to blame and the prosecution was
only able to bring a guilty verdict of manslaughter on
2 troops (defended by future U.S. President John
Adams).
The Seditious Committees of Correspondence
 The ill-timed Townshend Acts failed to produce
revenue, but it did produce a near rebellion.
 Net proceeds in one year of tax was 295 pounds
sterling, whereas British military costs in the
colonies was 170,000 pounds sterling.
 The Townshend Acts were repealed, but the threepence toll on tea remained, just to remind the
colonists of Parliament’s right to tax.
The Seditious Committees of Correspondence
 In 1772, Samuel Adams organized the committees of
correspondence in Boston and 28 towns followed
suit.
 The chief function was to spread the spirit of
resistance by exchanging letters and keep alive
opposition to British policy.
 By 1773, each colony had a committee to exchange
ideas and information with other colonies.
 They evolved directly into the first American
congresses
Tea Brewing in Boston
 By 1773, nothing happened that made
rebellion inevitable.
 Nonimportation was weakening.
 People were paying the tea tax, because
taxed tea was cheaper than smuggled tea.
 The British East India Company was
burdened with 17 million pounds of unsold
tea, and was facing bankruptcy.
Tea Brewing in Boston
 The British government granted the BEIC a
monopoly over the tea sold in the colonies.
 This, although making the tea cheaper, was met
with resistance by the colonists.
 In Philadelphia and New York, the ships were
forced to return to England with their holds
full.
 In Annapolis, citizens burned the cargo and
ship.
Tea Brewing in Boston
 Governor Thomas Hutchinson of Boston
(who had his home destroyed by stamp Act
protestors) ordered the ships on to budge
until they unloaded their cargo.
 On December 16, 1773, 100 Bostonians,
loosely disguised as Indians, boarded the
ships, smashed open 342 chests of tea, and
dumped their contents in the Atlantic
Parliament Passes the “Intolerable Acts”
 In 1774, Parliament passed a series of
acts designed to chastise Boston in
particular.
 The most drastic was the Boston Port
Act, which closed Boston Harbor until
damages from the Tea Party were
repaid.
Parliament Passes the “Intolerable Acts”
 Other “Intolerable Acts” swept away the
chartered rights of colonial Massachusetts.
 Officials who killed colonists in the line of
duty could be sent to Britain for trial (where
they would likely be let off scot-free).
 The new Quartering Act allowed British
officials to house soldiers anywhere, even in
private homes.
Parliament Passes the “Intolerable Acts”
 The Quebec Act in 1774 felt like a slap
in the face to many Americans.
 This act allowed the 60,000+ French
still residing in Canada the right to keep
their old customs and institutions.
 It also extended the province of Quebec
southward into the Ohio River Valley.
Bloodshed
 The other colonies rallied around Mass. And
sent food to the colony.
 In 1774, the First Continental Congress met
in Phila. To find ways to redress colonial
grievances.
 12 of the 13 colonies were present (only GA
was not) and represented by 55 wellrespected men (Adams, Adams,
Washington, Henry, etc.).
Bloodshed
 The First CC met for 7 weeks, from September 5 to
October 26, 1774.
 John Adams was the most important man in the
room as he moved his colleagues from a proposal by
the moderates to have American home rule under
direction from the British to a revolutionary course.
 The congress drew up papers such as the Declaration
of Rights, as well as appeals to other British
American colonies, the king, and the British people.
Bloodshed
 Most importantly, The Association was
created.
 The Association called for a complete
boycott of British goods: nonimportation,
nonexportation, and nonconsumption, but
they still were not calling for independence.
 If colonial grievances were redressed, it was
great, but if they were not, the Congress
would meet again in May 1775.
Bloodshed
 The petitions were rejected in Parliament.
 Violators of The Association were tarred and
feathered in the colonies.
 In April 1775, a detachment of English
troops was sent to Lexington and Concord to
seize a store of colonial gunpowder and also
bag the rebel leaders; Samuel Adams and
John Hancock.
Bloodshed
 The colonial “Minute Men” refused to
disperse and shots were fired.
 8 Americans were killed and several more
were wounded.
 The redcoats pushed on to Concord, where
they were forced to retreat.
 70 British were killed and 300 wounded.
 The Revolutionary War was on.
Imperial Strength and Weakness
 English Statistics
 7.5
million people
 More money
 Strongest naval power in the world
 50,000 professional soldiers, 30,000
German “Hessian” soldiers, 50,000
American Loyalists.
Imperial Strength and Weakness
 American Statistics
2.5 million people
 Had help from France
 Problems in Ireland required many British soldiers
 Many Britons didn’t want to fight their American
“cousins”.
 British military orders were sent from 3,000 miles away
and often did not fit the changing situations
 There was no urban nerve center where defeat would
cripple the expansive country.

Imperial Strength and Weakness
 Britain had 2nd rate generals and soldiers who were
treated brutally.
 British armies captured every American city of any
size, but it didn’t really make a dent in American
defenses.
 The Americans were willing to trade space for
time.
 Benjamin Franklin calculated that during Bunker
Hill, in which 150 Patriots were captured and
killed, 60,000 American babies were born.
American Pluses and Minuses
 American Advantages
 George
Washington, Benjamin Franklin,
and Marquis de Lafayette
 The colonies were largely self-sustaining
due to agriculture.
 Colonists had the moral advantage of
believing in a just cause
American Pluses and Minuses
 American Disadvantages
 Poor organization for war.
 States who thought of themselves as
sovereign resented Congress’s flimsy
powers.
 There were sectional disputes over military
leadership.
 Paper money was printed in excess and
depreciated in value quickly.
A Thin Line of Heroes
 When British money stopped flowing into
the colonies, so did British protection of the
colonies.
 Colonists now faced a serious question;
where were weapons and supplies going to
come from?
 When British material support evaporated,
the cost of weapons and supplies in the
colonies mounted.
A Thin Line of Heroes
 At Valley Forge, PA soldiers went
without bread for 3 consecutive days in
the winter of 1777-1778.
 Clothing and shoes were also in short
supply.
 During one period at Valley Forge
2,800 men were barefoot or nearly
naked.
A Thin Line of Heroes
 The militiamen were numerous, but also
highly unreliable.
 These several hundred thousand men were
very unskilled and also woefully
undertrained.
 The regulars in the Continental Army were
also undertrained, but many were highly
skilled by war’s end.
A Thin Line of Heroes
 By war’s end more than 5,000 Blacks enlisted in
the American armed forces.
 Most of these soldiers were free blacks from the
North.
 African Americans also served on the British side
as well.
 Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation promising
freedom for any VA African who fought for the
British.
A Thin Line of Heroes
 At the war’s end 14,000 “Black
Loyalists” were evacuated to Nova
Scotia, Jamaica, and England.
 The rebel cause was undermined by
business owners in the colonies selling
to the British because they could afford
to pay in gold.
A Thin Line of Heroes
 Even though Washington never had any more
than 20,000 soldiers in one place at one time,
could have easily eclipsed that number if
colonists had thrown themselves into the fray.
 Truth be told, only a minority of American
colonists attached themselves to the cause of
independence with a spirit of selfless
devotion.
 Seldom have so few done so much for so
many.