Chapter 7
The Road to Revolution,
1763–1775
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Historiography
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Progressive
Consensus
Neo-progressive
Gordon Wood
Proclamation of 1763
• Passed after Pontiac’s Rebellion
• Attempt to stabilize frontier and prevent
further hostilities between Indians and
colonists
• Prevented colonial expansion west of the
Appalachians
• Colonists were angered and basically ignored
it
Mercantilism
• 17th and 18th centuries
• Trade, colonies and the accumulation of
wealth as the basis for a country’s power
• During 17th century, Navigation Acts were only
loosely enforces (period of salutary neglect)
• This changes after the French and Indian War
Action and Reaction
• Britain wanted colonies to contribute to costs
of protecting the empire
• 1764 Sugar Act
• Quartering Act (1765)
– (more British soldiers are stationed in the colonies
after the French and Indian War)
Stamp Act
• 1765
• Revenue stamps required to be place on most printed
paper
• To be paid directly by the people who used the goods
• Colonists believed their rights (including the right not
to be taxed without representation) were being
threatened
• Nine colonies sent delegates to Stamp Act Congress
• Sons and Daughters of Liberty formed
• Boycotts were used effectively
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• 1766 Stamp Act repealed but Parliament
passed the Declaratory Act which asserted its
right to tax and make laws for the colonies “in
all cases whatsoever.”
• 1767 Townshend Acts
– Duties on tea, glass, and paper
– Paid to crown officials (so they would no longer be
dependent upon colonial assemblies)
– NY’s assembly suspended for defiance of the
Quartering Act
• Repealed 1770
Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania
John Dickinson
• But whoever seriously considers the matter, must
perceive that a dreadful stroke is aimed at the
liberty of these colonies. I say, of these colonies;
for the cause of one is the cause of all. If the
parliament may lawfully deprive New York of any
of her rights, it may deprive any, or all the other
colonies of their rights; and nothing can possibly
so much encourage such attempts, as a mutual
inattention to the interests of each other. To
divide, and thus to destroy, is the first political
maxim in attacking those, who are powerful by
their union.
Boston Massacre
• March 1770
• British soldiers in Boston to protect customs
officials
• 5 killed
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Boston Tea Party
• England maintained a small tax on tea
• 1773 British East India Company given a
monopoly (tea was still cheaper)
• December- dumped tea into the Boston
harbor
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Intolerable Acts
• 1774
• Response to the Boston Tea Party
• Coercive Acts
– Port of Boston closed
– Massachusetts legislature limited
– Royal officials accuse of crimes could be tried in Great
Britain
– Quartering Act expanded to all colonies
• Quebec Act (made Catholicism the official
religion in Canada and extended its borders to
the Ohio River)
Map 7-1 p123
Rights and Liberties
What are the rights and liberties that the
colonists feel are being infringed upon?
• Review Declaration and Resolves