“The Colonists Resist Tighter Control”
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Conflict with Native Americans
*By 1763 – Britain controlled almost all land in
North America east of Mississippi River but
Native Americans west of Appalachian Mts. were
trying to keep their lands.
Pontiac’s War
*Pontiac, leader of Ottawa nation, formed an
alliance of western Native Americans
*May 1763 – Pontiac and allies attacked British
forts and settlements. Western British forts were
destroyed and over 2,000 backcountry settlers
were killed. British attacked Native Americans
who had not attacked them
*By fall of 1764, British had defeated Pontiac’s
forces
The Proclamation of 1763
*Britain wanted to avoid further wars with Native
Americans on the frontier so British government
issued the Proclamation of 1763 which banned
colonial settlements west of a line drawn along the
Appalachian Mts.
*Settlers who already lived west of the line were
told they had to move east of the line.
*Proclamation angered many colonists who
believed they had the rights to reside wherever
they wanted.
*Proclamation was widely ignored and impossible
for the British to enforce.
British Rule Leads to Conflict
*Colonists were proud of their contributions in
winning the French and Indian War. Tens of
thousands had served and many had died in the
war.
*Colonists expected Britain to be grateful for their
help in the war and anticipated no more than a
minimum increase in taxes.
*Some ties between colonies had started to grow
before the war; however, people from these
colonies saw themselves as different from each
other and different from people living in Britain.
*1763 – Colonists saw themselves as loyal British
subjects but they identified with each other more
than with Britain
*French and Indian War left Britain in debt
*British government had to keep troops in North
America to ensure France did not try to regain its
lost territory and to protect settlers against Native
American attacks.
*British leaders believed colonists should pay part
of the debt.
The Sugar Act
1764- Sugar Act passed. It put a duty, or import
tax, on several products, including molasses.
*Smugglers would receive harsh punishments;
colonial merchants (who sometimes traded in
smuggled goods) protested
The Quartering Act
*1765 – Quartering Act passed to save money
*Britain kept about 10,000 soldiers in colonies
*Act required colonists to quarter, or allow
soldiers to live in their homes, and provide them
with food and other supplies
*Colonists protested and complained Parliament
was violating their rights
The Stamp Act
*Early 1765 – Stamp Act passed by Parliament
which required all colonists buy special tax stamps
for all kinds of products and activities. Stamps
had to be placed on newspapers, wills, licenses,
insurance policies, land titles, contracts, and other
documents. Colonists protested.
*Virginia’s House of Burgesses passed several
resolutions declaring that only Virginia’s colonial
government had the right to tax the people of VA.
*Patrick Henry from House of Burgesses attacked
the Stamp Act. When he made a comment that
King George III should be killed (like Caesar),
some people accused him of treason.
*Merchants in New York, Boston, and
Philadelphia organized a boycott – an organized
campaign to refuse to buy certain products – of
British goods; protests spread to every colony
*Representatives from nine colonies met in NY for
the Stamp Act Congress to write a petition – a
written request to a government – to the king and
Parliament demanding an end to both the Sugar
and Stamp Acts.
*1766 – Parliament repealed Stamp Act and
passed Declaratory Act at same time.
*Declaratory Act stated that Parliament had total
authority over the colonies
Protests Spread
*Britain tried to find ways of taxing the colonists
without angering them. Townshend Acts of 1767
would not tax products/activities within the
colonies, only those brought into the colonies.
Writs of assistance
*Townshend Acts set up a system to enforce the
new import duties
*Customs officers were allowed to search for
illegal goods by using writs of assistance – court
orders that allowed officials to make searches
without saying for what they were searching.
*Colonists saw this as another violation of their
rights.
*Charles Townshend, official in charge of the
British treasury, also wanted to weaken the
colonial assemblies.
*When NY assembly refused to supply money and
feed soldiers under Quartering Act, Parliament
suspended the assembly. Colonists boycotted
British goods.
The Boston Massacre
*Boycott was successful because it hurt British
merchants and manufacturers who then put
pressure on Parliament.
*March 5, 1770 – Parliament repealed all the
Townshend duties except the tax on tea. This tax
was left to demonstrate Parliament’s right to tax
the colonists
*March 5, 1770 -- Boston “Massacre” occurred:
In Boston, an angry crowd of workers and sailors
surrounded a small group of British soldiers.
They shouted at the soldiers and threw snowballs
and rocks at them. The frightened soldiers fired
into the crowd, killing five people and wounding
six.
*Governor Thomas Hutchinson had the nine
soldiers arrested and tried for murder.
*John Adams (well-known MA lawyer and future
2nd President of US) defended them. Although he
was a leading defender of colonial rights against
recent British policies, he took the case because he
believed that everyone accused of a crime had the
right to a lawyer and a fair trial.
*Two soldiers were convicted of the crime and
had their thumbs branded.
Committees of Correspondence
*Colonial leaders saw the need to keep in closer
contact with people in other colonies
*Samuel Adams (cousin to John) established the
Committee of Correspondence to keep colonists
informed of British actions.
*Committees soon began in other colonies. They
wrote letters and pamphlets to spread the alarm
whenever Britain tried to enforce unpopular acts
of Parliament.
*Committees helped unite colonists against
Britain.