6: The roots of evolution
In the 1700s, Britain and France were at war in Europe, Asia and North
America. France claimed to own Canada and Louisiana. Around 1750, most of
the forests and plains in Canada and Louisiana were still unexplored by
Europeans. The French claim to own them was based upon journeys in the 1600s
by two famous explorers:
-Samuel the Champlain. From 1603 onwards, he explored lands on both
sides of the St. Lawrence river. He set up trading posts (Quebec and Montreal).
-René La Salle was a fur trader, explorer and empire builder. In the 1670s
he explored the Mississippi Valley. After paddling for thousands of miles he
reached the Gulf of New Mexico. A trading post was set up there, which later
became New Orleans.
It worried both the British government and American colonies that France
claimed Louisiana was theirs, because they could stop the colonists from moving
westwards.
1756 - 1763: Seven Years War (French and Indian War). The British won
and the war ended (Peace of Paris). France gave up their claims.
1763: The English king forbade colonists to settle west of the Appalachians
until proper treaties had been made with the Amerindians. This angered the
colonists. They got angrier when they were ordered to pay higher taxes on imports
of sugar, coffee etc. They also had to feed and provide shelter for the British
soldiers. The colonists objected. They believed the new taxes would make it
harder to make a profit and it would raise their cost of living. They feared that if
British troops stayed in America they might be used to force them to obey to the
British government.
1765: The Stamp Act. This was also to raise money to pay for the defense
of the colonies. Colonists had to buy special tax stamps and attach them to
newspapers, licenses and legal papers.
However, Americans claimed they could only be taxed by their own colonial
assemblies. So in 1765, during the Stamp Act Congress, representatives from the
9 colonies met in New York and organized opposition to the Stamp Act. They
refused to sell British goods until it was withdrawn. Government officials were
attacked and colonists refused to listen to them. All of this made that the act was
withdrawn. But the British government still wanted the colonists to know they
had to pay taxes. It had full power and authority over the colonies and all people
of America in all cases.
In 1767 the British placed new taxes on tea, paper, paint etc. that was
imported. But the colonists refused to pay. Riots broke out in Boston and Britain
sent soldiers. In 1770 the government removed everything except for taxes on tea.
This calmed the colonists down. But some colonists in Massachusetts kept going.
In December 1773, they disguised themselves as Amerindians, boarded British
merchant ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 cases of tea into the sea:
Boston Tea Party. Britain created Intolerable Acts (laws to punish
Massachusetts):
- The Boston harbor was closed until all the tea was paid for.
- The powers of Massachusetts were greatly reduced.
June 1, 1774: British warships were sent to make sure the Boston harbor was
still closed.
September 1774: the first Continental Congress.
Trade laws and ‘sleeping dogs’
’
Until the 1670s most Americans found that they needed the British, mainly
to protect them from France. The British government also rarely interfered with
colonial affairs. In the 17th century the British Parliament had passed Navigation
Acts, which named some goods the colonies could only send to England and no
other countries. But they often smuggled it to other countries. The colonists didn’t
care about taxes, because they weren’t very high. Many didn’t pay them. Britain
didn’t do anything about this to avoid trouble. Later, the trouble did start.
Samuel Adams and the Boston Massacre:
Samuel Adams was a politician and writer who took part in organizing
opposition against British tax laws. According to him, Britain didn’t have the right
to tax the colonies if they didn’t give anything back to them.
On March 5, 1770, a Boston mob began insulting British soldiers. A fight
turned into a massacre; the Boston Massacre. Samuel Adams used this Massacre
to stir up American opinion against the British. He wrote a letter in which he lied
and said that the soldiers attacked innocent people. He sent this letter to every
colony. This strengthened the feeling of opposition to British rule.
7: Fighting for independence
April 18, 1775: British soldiers marched out of Boston to seize weapons and
ammunition from rebellious colonists in Concord, but they were warned. They
put the minutemen to work (farmers etc. who became soldiers in a minute). The
minutemen were ordered to go home by the British, but they refused. Then
someone fired a shot and more followed. This killed 8 minutemen. It was the
beginning of the War of Independence.
The British soldiers arrived in Concord and destroyed some weapons and
gunpowder. But when they wanted to return to Boston, hundreds of minutemen
had gathered. They shot 273 British soldiers.
May 1775: a second Continental Congress began to act as an American
National Government. It set up an army of 17000 men under the command of
George Washington; a Virginia landowner and surveyor with war experience.
In 1776 the fighting had spread and it had turned into a war.
July 4th, 1776: The Declaration of Independence was signed. America no
longer depended on Britain.
- All men had the right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’
- ‘The consent of the governed’: Governments can only rule if the governed
people agree.
The new definition of Democratic government was that governments should
consist of representatives elected by the people. The main reason that
governments existed was to protect the rights of individual citizens.
America did badly in the war against England, so Washington trained them
into disciplined soldiers. But this took time and meanwhile the soldiers had
captured New York City.
In 1777 success came to the Americans. They trapped 6000 British soldiers
in Saratoga, New York. They cut off their supplies so they risked starvation and
the British soldiers there surrendered. They were sent back to England.
Benjamin Franklin (American ambassador to France) used the news to
persuade the French to join in the struggle against Britain. In 1778 they joined.
From then onwards, the fighting mostly occurred in southern states. There, it also
came to an end.
September 1781: Washington and his American/French army surrounded
6000 British troops in Virginia. October 1781: General Cornwallis of the British
troops surrendered.
In 1783, Britain officially recognized her former colonies as an independent
nation.
Thomas Paine, the voice of revolution
Thomas Paine was an English republican who emigrated to America in 1774
and was an influential voice who called for American independence. In 1776 he
wrote a pamphlet called ‘Common Sense’, in which he persuaded Americans to
break with Britain. Common Sense was famous and read everywhere. Later in
1776 he wrote a pamphlet called ‘The Crisis’. It inspired, motivated and gave
hope.
The Marquis de Lafayette
The Marquis de Lafayette landed in America in 1777, to fight for a new and
free society and to avenge his father, who died in the French-Indian war whilst
fighting against the British. He didn’t get paid and he became mayor-general. He
fought in many battles. When the war ended he returned to France, but he
continued to support American interests. When the French Revolution broke out
in 1789, de Lafayette was imprisoned. But he got bailed outby the Americans.
He returned to visit America in 1824, where he was greeted as a hero