Chapter 4 Notes
Brinkley, Chapter 4 Notes
The Empire in Transition
The Great War for Empire
Since 1700, Britain reaped huge profits from overseas trade. The biggest
threat, France, and others began to threaten Britain's control of int'l trade.
Britain vowed to crush the French in North America.
In the early to mid-1700s, Britain's political administration of the colonies
was coined "salutary neglect." The colonists enjoyed this political freedom
and formed their own assemblies in which they created their own laws and
systems of taxation.
The French and Indian War
The French and Indian War
English with their more advanced commercial economy could usually offer
the Indians better and more plentiful goods
To mend relations, the British met with the
Iroquois in Albany, 1754. Yet the Albany plan
was more of an attempt to unify the colonies
than it was to mend relations with the Indians.
The French offered tolerance. Nearly all Indian tribes except the
Iroquois aligned with the French.
For the most part, the Iroquois maintained autonomy and traded
successfully with both the English and the French and played them
against each other.
1749 - Governor Robert Dinwiddie
of VA petitioned the King for
200,000 acres of land in the Ohio
Valley which was controlled by
the Shawnee and Delaware Indians
through an alliance with the
Iroquois.
France, concerned with these
efforts built a series of forts to
stop the settlement. One of the
most important forts was Fort
Duquesne.
Ben Franklin, who
led the Congress,
proposed
establishing a
"general
government" to
manage relations
with the Indians,
defend the West,
and counter French
expansion.
The British Ministry feared
a union would spark
demands for independence.
Colonial leaders feared a
consolidated government
would undermine the
The plan was agreed upon by the delegates,
authority of their
but no colonial assemblies adopted it.
assemblies.
Nonetheless, it demonstrated an attempt by
the colonies to become unified.
The French and Indian War
The clash between the British and
the French at Fort Necessity
sparked the start of the war in
the colonies.
In the summer of 1754, the
Dinwiddie sent a militia to the Ohio
Valley to challenge French
expansion. Colonel Washington built
Fort Necessity (near Fort Duquesne)
and staged an unsuccessful attack
on a French detachment. The French
countered an assault on Fort
Necessity. Washington and his troops
were trapped. Almost 1/2 died.
Washington was forced to retreat
back to VA, prompting Virginian and
British expansionists to demand war.
William Pitt
3 Phases of War:
1. 1754-1756: Primarily a North American conflict. English
colonies fought alone to defend themselves against Indian raids.
2. 1756 - 1758: The fighting went global but primarily fought in North
America. William Pitt brought the war fully under British control. Pitt
planned military strategy, appointed commanders and issued orders to
colonists.
Americans grew angry with the British for:
Seizing supplies from local farmers and tradesmen and
compelled colonists to offer shelter to British troops.
Impressment – forced service in the British military
3. 1758-1763: Relaxed many policies Americans resented. Returned control
over recruitment to colonial assemblies. The tide of battle began to turn
in England's favor.
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Chapter 4 Notes
Beginning of the end of the war
French
Surrendered
to Britain
War was ended by the Peace of Paris
France ceded to Great
Britain some of their
West Indian islands,
most of their colonies in
India and Canada, and
all other French
territory in North
America east of the
Mississippi.
The French ceded New Orleans and their claims west of the Mississippi to
Spain, thus surrendering all title to the mainland of North America.
Turning Point for British
British Resentment of Americans increased
The New Imperialism
1. American military ineptitude
England was at peace with Europe, but in debt and eager
to have more dominance over the colonies.
2. Americans made few
financial contributions for
American benefit (British
perspective only)
Many British officials believed the only way to pay the debt was to
tax the Americans.
3. Colonial merchants sold food
and other goods to the French
in the West Indies throughout
the war
The ascension of George III did not alleviate matters:
* Serious intellectual and mental illness
* Immature and Insecure
Effects on the colonists
* Appointed George Grenville to Prime Minister
First time the colonists fought
together against a common foe
Effects on the Indians
In 1758, the return of colonial
assembly authority, seemed to
many Americans to confirm the
illegitimacy of English
interference in local affairs.
Indians fared disastrously. Those
allied with the French earned
hostility of the English. Only
the Iroquois fared slightly
better.
Believed the colonists were not fully
participating in the British Empire and
should obey British laws and pay a part of
the cost of defending and administering the
empire.
The British and the Tribes
After the defeat of the French, colonists immediately moved into
tribal lands into the upper Ohio Valley.
Ottawa Indian Chief, Pontiac began to fight back
British were concerned an escalation of fighting might threaten western
trade. Issued the Proclamation Line of 1763
Many Indians agreed with Proclamation as the best bargain available to
them. British and Indian relations improved.
Proclamation was ineffective. Settlers moved across Appalachian
mountains anyway
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Chapter 4 Notes
Battles over Trade and Taxes
Paxton Boys
1763 - Socts-Irish frontiersmen in PA
demanded tax relief & money to defend
against the Delaware and Shawnee
Indians who were destroying land.
Grenville posted British troops permanently and under the Mutiny Act of
1765 the colonists were required to help provision and maintain the army.
Colonial manufacturing was restricted so that it would not compete
with rapidly expanding industries in Great Britain.
Quaker leaders refused, so the ScotsIrish massacred 20 members of the
peaceful Conestoga Indian tried.
Governor John Penn tried to bring the
murderers to justice, they marched on
Philadelphia.
Sugar Act (1764) - Tax on sugar but lowered tax on molasses
Currency Act (1764) - Colonies had to stop issuing paper money
** Stamp Act (1765) - Tax on every printed document including
newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, deeds, wills, licenses.
British were collecting 10X more in taxes than in 1763
Adding to the fury was the Quartering Act, 1765 - required colonial
assemblies to provide housing, food and drink to British troops stationed
in their towns. Act was implemented by General Tomas Gage, the
commander in chief of North America. Soldiers were to be housed in
barracks or empty public buildings and not in private residences. It was
the duty of local legislatures to fund the expenses.
The SC Regulators
Another uprising occurred in
North Carolina with the
Regulators.
Ben Franklin intercepted the mob in
Lancaster and arranged a truce,
averting a battle with the militia.
Prosecution of the Paxton Boys failed
for lack of witnesses, and the ScotsIrish dropped their demands that the
Indians be expelled; but the episode left
a legacy of racial hatred and political
resentment.
The NC Regulators
Violence also broke out in the backcountry of SC where land hungry
Scottish and Anglo settlers clashed repeatedly with the Cherokees.
In 1766, a more radical Regulator movement arose in North Carolina. When the
economic recession of the early 1760s caused a sharp fall in tobacco prices,
many farmers could not pay their debts.
A group of landowning vigilantes known as the Regulators tried to suppress
outlaw bands of whites that were stealing cattle.
When creditors sued these farmers for payment, judges directed sheriffs to seize
the debtors' property and sell it to pay debts and court costs.
The Regulators also had political demands: that eastern controlled gov't
provide western districts with more courts, fairer taxation, and greater
representation in the assembly.
"We are Free Men - British Subjects - Not Born Slaves" Fearing slave
revolts, the lowland rice planters who ran the South Carolina assembly
compromised with the vigilantes rather than fighting them.
In 1767, the assembly created western courts and reduced the fees for
legal documents; but it refused to reapportion the legislature or lower
western taxes.
Like the Paxton Boys, the SC Regulators won attention to the backcountry
needs but failed to wrest power from the eastern elite.
The SC Regulators
Significantly, the Regulators proposed a coherent set of reforms, including lower
legal fees and tax payments in the "produce of the country" rather than in cash.
In addition, they demanded greater
representation in the assembly and a
just revenue system that would tax
each person "in proportion to the
profits arising from his estate."
All to no avail. In May 1771, royal
governor William Tyron moved to
suppress the Regulators. Mobilizing
British troops and the eastern militia,
Tyron defeated a large Regulator
force at the Alamance River.
Many backcountry farmers denounced the
merchants' lawsuits, both because they
generated high fees for lawyers and court
officials and because they violated rural
customs, which allowed loans to remain
unpaid in hard times. Others ended up in
jail for resisting court orders.
To save their farms from grasping creditors and tax hungry officials, North
Carolina's debtors defied the government's authority. Disciplined mobs of farmers
intimidated judges, closed courts, and freed their comrades from jail.
Colonists United in Grievances
Northern merchants suffered from restraints on commerce, from closing
the West to land speculation & fur trading. Also faced manufacturing
restrictions .
Southern planters, in debt to English merchants, were unable to ease
their debts. Small farmers suffered from the abolition of paper
money, which was the source of their loans.
Urban workers faced narrowing opportunities, particularly because of
the restraints on manufacturing and currency.
Everyone suffered from increased taxes
30 died and Tyron summarily
executed 7 insurgent leaders.
Not since Bacon's Rebellion had a
domestic dispute caused so much
blood shed and political agitation.
Americans were accustomed to a wide latitude in self-government.
They believed that colonial assemblies had the sole right to control
appropriations for the costs of government within the colonies.
By attempting to raise extensive revenues directly from the public, the
British government was challenging the basis of colonial political power.
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Chapter 4 Notes
Stamp Act Crisis
The Stamp Act most antagonized the colonists because it affected
everyone.
Stamp Act Repealed
1765 - mobs rose in Boston to protest the Stamp Act
Most notable - Sons of Liberty
An attempt to raise revenue from the colonies without the consent of
the colonial assemblies.
Patrick Henry circulated the
"Virginia Resolves." Declared
Americans had the same rights as
the English, especially regarding
taxation. Virginians should pay no
taxes unless Virginia voted for
taxes. Anyone advocating otherwise,
was an enemy of Virginia.
"Give me Liberty, or Give me Death!"
Terrorized stamp agents and
burned stamps, attacked proBritish aristocrats
Colonists boycotted British goods taxed under
the Sugar & Stamp Acts
Crisis subsided
because English
backed down because
of economic pressure
- NOT the protests.
Much of Pitt's leadership fell on Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the
exchequer (Secretary of the Treasury)
Townshend, upset with "unwarranted" colonial grievances, tried to single
out one colony hoping not to antagonize all colonies - New York.
Suspended the New York Assembly, believing it to be a threat to
every colonial government. This upset colonists from all colonies.
Townshend imposed new duties - Townshend Duties:
Imported goods from England: lead, paint, paper, and tea
Townshend believed it was an external transaction, not internal like
the Stamp Act - Townshend hoped the colonists would not object.
Colonists rejected the distinction.
Established a board of customs commissioners in America. Virtually ended
smuggling in Boston. Boston merchants were angry that the lucrative
smuggling trade was diverted elsewhere for someone else to profit.
Organized a boycott of British goods subject to the Townshend duties.
Boston Scuffle
Before news of the repeal reached America, Bostonians were continuing
to harass customs officials. It got so bad, regiments of British troops
were placed in Boston to keep the peace.
March 5, 1770 - dockworkers pelted the
customs HQ with rocks and snowballs.
British Captain Thomas Preston lined up
several of his men in front of the building
to protect it. There was some scuffling; one
British soldiers was knocked down; and in
the midst of it all, British soldiers fired
into the crowd killing 5 people
Enacted the Declaratory
Act - confirmed the
Parliament's authority
over the colonies "in
all cases whatsoever."
Americans celebrated the repeal of the Stamp Act and ignored the
Declaratory Act
Townshend Program
The king saw Rockingham's policy as appeasement and replaced him with
William Pitt as Prime Minister.
New British Prime
Minister - Marquis
de Rockingham repealed the Stamp
Act in March 1766
From Townshend to Lord North
Merchants in Philadelphia, New York City, and southern cities joined
those in Boston and created the Nonimportation Agreement 1768.
The Daughters of
Liberty rose to
the challenge
again of
boycotting British
goods. As a
result of their
efforts, homespun
and other
domestic products
became suddenly
fashionable.
Colonists
boycotted
Townshend Duties
The Daughters of Liberty also
celebrated American products
such as drinking coffee.
Late in 1767, Charles Townshend died.
The new Prime Minister, Lord North
hoped to end the American boycott and
repealed all of the Townshend Duties
except the Tea tax.
Boston Massacre
The term "Boston Massacre" was coined after the scuffle designed to
invoke feelings of resentment and hatred toward the British.
Inaccurate accounts of the scuffle were given in widely circulated
pamphlets. Innocent Blood Crying to God from the Streets of Boston
was one such pamphlet.
Paul Revere's engraving
Propaganda!
of the "Massacre"
British soldiers were tried in court with
a jury of Bostonians. John Adams
served as the defense attorney. Found
guilty of manslaughter and given a
small punishment.
But, colonial newspapers convinced many
Americans that the soldiers were guilty
of official murder.
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Chapter 4 Notes
Committee of Correspondence
The leading figure in public outrage was
Samuel Adams (cousin to John Adams)
England was troubled with sin. America
was still filled with virtue.
Proposed the formation of the Committee of Correspondence to publicize
the grievances against England. Kept the spirit of dissent alive.
"No Taxation Without Representation"
One basic principle, Americans believed, was the right of people to be
taxed only with their own consent.
"Representation" made little sense to the English. Members of
Parliament did not represent individuals or particular geographical
areas. They represented the interests of the whole empire.
Colonists believed they had the right to "actual representation" - every
community was entitled to its own representative, elected by the people
of that community. The colonists had no "actual representation in
Parliament."
The English believed the colonists were representation via "virtual
representation"
Taverns
Educated and uneducated
male colonists met at
taverns to discuss
politics.
Men felt at ease to talk freely
Male camaraderie and political
discourse evolved
Pamphlets and leaflets were
distributed
Taverns were meetings for the planning of protests occurred.
The Enlightenment
John Locke - Two Treatises of Government
Political authority was not
given by God to monarchs.
Power was derived from social
contracts that people made
with government to preserve
their "natural rights" to life,
liberty, and property.
These arguments found little sympathy in
England. The English Constitution was a general
sense of the "way things are done," and most
people accepted it for what it was.
Sovereignty
These ideas illustrated a fundamental
difference of opinion between England and
America over the question of where ultimate
power lay.
In arguing that the colonies were
entitled to actual representation, they
were, in effect, arguing for sovereignty.
This was absurd to the British. They believed the success of the empire
and the power of the empire rested in the hands of the English
representatives in Parliament
Tea Act
Revolutionary fervor revived in 1773 with the Tea Act
Britain's East India Tea Company was on
the verge of bankruptcy and had an excess
supply of Tea it could not sell in England.
To save the Tea Company, Parliament passed
the Tea Act of 1773 which gave the
company the right to export its merchandise
directly to the colonies without paying any
of the regular taxes that were imposed on
colonial merchants.
The company could now undersell American merchants, and,
monopolize the trade.
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Chapter 4 Notes
Effects of the Tea Act
Daughters of Liberty
Tea boycott mobilized large segments of the population.
Act angered influential colonial merchants and revived passions about the
issue of "no taxation without representation!"
Law did not impose a new tax on tea, but the Townshend Act remained,
excluding the British East India Tea Company.
Lord North assumed Americans would embrace the act because it
reduced the price of tea.
American revolutionary leaders argued that the law, in effect,
represented an unconstitutional tax o American merchants. The colonists
responded by boycotting tea.
The Daughters of Liberty AGAIN answered the call of mass protest.
Helped link together in a
common experience of mass
popular protest.
Daughters of Liberty formed
and proclaimed, "Rather
than freedom, we'll part
with our tea."
Abigail Adams & Deborah Sampson
Coercive Acts
Boston Tea Party
Parliament Responded with the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts):
Some colonial leaders made plans
to prevent the East India Company
from landing its cargoes.
1. Closed the port of Boston
2. Drastically reduced the powers of self-government in Massachusetts
3. Allowed British officers in
America to be tried of
crimes in British courts
In Boston, local patriots
masqueraded as Mohawk Indians,
went aboard three ships, broke
open the tea chests, and threw
them into the harbor.
First Continental Congress
Delegates from all colonies except Georgia attended the First Continental
Congress in September 1774. They made 5 major decisions:
1. Rejected a plan for a colonial union under British authority.
2. Endorsed a relatively moderate statement of grievances, but with a
demand for the repeal of all oppressive legislation passed since 1763
3. Approved a series of resolutions recommending that military
preparations be made for defense against possible attack by the British
troops in Boston.
4. Agreed to a series of boycotts they hoped would stop all trade with
Great Britain, and they formed a "Continental Association" to see that
these agreements were enforced.
4. Forced quartering of
British troops
Lexington and Concord
Farmers and townspeople of Massachusetts gathered arms & ammunition
and preparing "minutemen" to fight on a minute's notice.
Continental Congress approved preparations for a defensive war, and
the citizen-soldiers waited only for an aggressive move by the British
regulars in Boston.
British General Thomas Gage moved cautiously for fear of antagonizing
the colonists. But the colonists seemed to continue to prepare for a more
"offensive" war.
After a series of murky events in Lexington and Concord, the first shots
of the American Revolution were fired. The "shots heard 'round the
world."
5. Agreed to meet in the following Spring
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