Road to War
Wars for Empire
 British
and French would wage a
series of conflicts over global
influence and expansion.
 America was one of the many fronts
in these conflicts
– King William’s
– Queen Anne’s
– King George’s
– French and Indian
French and Indian War
 Proved
to be the decisive conflict
 Bitter conflict on the frontier
– French and Indian allies were effective
guerilla fighters
 Tension
between British and colonists
– British viewed colonial troops as
undisciplined rabble
William Pitt

Takes over British war effort
– Puts maximum effort into Americas
– Puts money into colonies
– Revives colonial morale
Indian forces start to abandon French
allies
 Decisive Battle—Quebec 1759
 French forced to abandon North America
 Appears that British North America is
stable and secure

Changing British Perspective
 Massive
wars
debt as a result of colonial
– British already heavily taxed
 Victory
meant more land to police.
– Left 7,000 troops in America
 British
leadership felt that since
colonials benefited, should pay for
protection
– Never asked for colonials to pay off
national debt
British view
 British
had won the war despite
colonial obstruction.
 Needed to centralize control over
colonies
– Fear that rapidly slipping out of control
 Unfortunately,
every step
undermined colonial support
Proclamation of 1763
 Sought
to regulate western
settlement
 Wanted to keep Indians pacified
– Established line in the Appalachians
 No
settlement west without British
permission
 Indian
conflict still occurred
 Colonists greatly resented the British
control over western development
Sugar Act(1764)
First in a number of revenue generating
action by British government.
 Placed duty on wine, coffee and molasses

– Hoped to great big money from molasses
Most molasses was illegally imported
French molasses—cheap
 British launch war against smugglers and
bribery
 Severe penalties
 Hated by colonies—prompted protest

Stamp Act
 Required
printed documents to bear
a revenue stamp
– Newspapers
– Legal contracts
– Playing cards
 1st
direct tax applied to the colonies.
 Anticipated trouble, but not level of
reaction
Stamp Act
 Had
the affect of unifying the
colonies like nothing else
– Discover they had more in common
than with London
– Impacted most articulate elements of
community
Colonial Reaction
 First,
voice protests through colonials
legislatures and newspaper editorials
 Colonies sent petitions protesting
tax-illegal
 Realize written and spoken word not
enough, need new direction
Stamp Act Resistance
 Boston
took lead in physical
resistance
– Sons of Liberty
 Initial
target—Andrew Oliver
– Burned in effigy
– Demolished “Stamp Office”
– Oliver resigns
– Move on to Lt. Gov Thomas Hutchinson
 No
one punished for riot
Colonial Action
 Others,
except Georgia, follow
Boston’s lead
 Force stamp masters to resign before
law goes into effect
 With nobody to distribute stamps—
dead issue
British reaction
 1766
Repeal Stamp Act
 Pass the Declaratory Act
– Full power of Parliament to make laws
for colonies
– No specific mention of taxes
– “Face-saving” gesture
– Ignored by colonies
Impact of Crisis
 Prior
to 1765, Parliament generally
ignored Americas
– Strong anti-American feeling growing
 Many
convinced Americans would
only settle for independence
– Reach conclusion long before Americans
Townshend Acts
 Charles
Townshend, chancellor of the
exchequer
 Revenue Act of 1767, new duties on
tea, glass, lead, paper
 Assumed that external taxes would
be more acceptable than internal
taxes
 Portion of revenue used to pay
colonial governors
– Eliminates power of assembly
Reaction
A
boycott of British products was
established
 John Dickenson’s Letters From a
Farmer in Pennsylvania
– Questions the rights of Parliament to tax
the colonies
 Eventually
repealed by British,
except for tax on tea.
“Boston Massacre”
 British
troops stationed in Boston to
keep peace
 Townspeople taunted British soldiers
at the Customs House
– Attacked with snowballs and rocks
 “green”
soldiers respond with five
 Kill 5 Boston citizens
 Propagandists call it a massacre
– Play up the event
Boston Massacre
 Cooler
heads prevail
 John Adams volunteered to represent
soldiers on trial
 Most acquitted—rest treated leniently
Rise of Sam Adams
 Keep
protest alive in quiet period
– Publicity
 Was
a genuine revolutionary
 Initially viewed by most as too
radical, British actions give him an
audience
Tea Act of 1773
 Attempt
by British government to
help British East India Company
 Proposes to sell tea at a very low
price with a duty
 Colonists believe it is a plot to get
them to pay the tea tax.
 Pressured special tea agents to
resign
 Only in Boston was tea imported.
Boston Tea Party
 Battle
between royal government
and sons of liberty
 Colonists take action
– Group of colonists dressed as Indians
destroy the tea while a crowd watched.
– Took 3 hours, a crowd of 2,000
watched.
Coercive Acts
 British
response was swift and direct
– Series of laws passed to punish Boston
for destroying tea.
 Closed
Boston Harbor until tea paid for
 Government brought under direct British
control
 British officials would be tried in England
 British troops could be quartered in private
homes
 Quebec Act
1st Continental Congress
(Sept 1774)
 All
colonies but Georgia send
representatives to Philadelphia
 Group generally wished to avoid war
 Favored economic coercion
 Demanded that British repeal all acts
passed since 1763
Enforce Sanctions
 Establish
local committees
– Organize militia companies
 Took
over many of the functions of
local government
Lexington and Concord
 General
Gage sent troops from
Boston to seize stores of cannon and
ammunition stored in town of
Concord
 Becomes extended skirmish between
colonial militia and British Army