CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
*Describe the imperial logic behind the renewed English efforts to control the American colonies in the wake
of the 1763 Peace of Paris, and explain why increasing conflict between England and its American colonies
focused on colonial taxation.
*Characterize the intent of the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend duties, and describe the
American reaction to each of them.
*Explain the process through which a "transfer of authority" from England to America unfolded in the wake of
the Intolerable Acts of 1774.
*Discuss how the rebellion of America against England during 1775 gradually gave way to calls for
revolution and independence during 1776.
*Contrast the military strategies that the Americans and the English adopted during the War for
Independence, and assess their strengths and weaknesses.
CHRONOLOGY
1763 Peace of Paris ends French and Indian War.
Proclamation of 1763 restricts westward settlement.
1764 Sugar Act (Revenue Act) increases colonial taxation and steps up enforcement.
1765 Stamp Act imposes direct sales tax in colonies. Colonists respond with Virginia Resolves, Stamp Act
Congress, and boycotts.
1766 Parliament repeals Stamp Act.
1767 Townshend Revenue Act imposes new duties on imports into the American colonies.
1770 British troops fire on civilians in Boston Massacre.
1773 Colonists launch Boston Tea Party to protest British monopoly on tea.
1774 Parliament responds with the Coercive, or Intolerable, Acts.
The First Continental Congress meets to coordinate the colonial response.
1775 New England Restraining Act.
Minutemen meet British army in Battles of Lexington and Concord.
British surrender Fort Ticonderoga to colonial troops.
Battle of Bunker Hill tests colonial troops.
Second Continental Congress appoints George Washington to command Continental army.
1776 Thomas Paine's Common Sense moves Americans to demand independence.
Congress approves Declaration of Independence on July 4.
1776–77 Battles of Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey.
Washington spends the winter at Morristown, New Jersey.
1777–78 British invade New York from Canada.
French recognize American independence.
Spain enters the war on the American side.
Washington spends the winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
1779–81 British strategy focuses on the southern colonies.
1781 Facing American and French forces, Lord Cornwallis surrenders at the Battle of Yorktown.
1783 British sign Treaty of Paris, granting U.S. independence and western lands.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I.
"No Taxation Without Representation," 1764–1774
A.
Securing the Western Frontier
1.
Proclamation of 1763
2.
General Jeffrey Amherst
3.
The Ottawas and Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)
B.
War Debt
1.
130-million-pound revolutionary war debt
2.
George Grenville, first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer
3.
Debts, revenues, and taxes
C.
Sugar Act (1764)
1.
Customs duties
2.
Revenue Act of 1764 (Sugar Act)
3.
Customs service reform and stepped-up enforcement of British trade laws
4.
Colonial reaction
a.
rights of Englishmen
b.
no parliamentary power to raise revenue in America
c.
"no taxation without representation"
D.
Stamp Act (1765)
1.
Direct sales tax
a.
pamphlets, almanacs, newspapers, newspaper advertisements, cards,
dice
b.
payment in gold and silver
c.
admiralty courts
2.
Colonial reaction
a.
rejection of virtual representation
1.
Daniel Dulany of Maryland
2.
Richard Bland of Virginia
b.
"real" or "attorneyship" representation
c.
Virginia Resolves
d.
Stamp Act Congress (New York)
e.
boycotts
3.
Repeal of the Stamp Act (1766)
E.
The Townshend Crisis (1767–70)
1.
Townshend Revenue Acts
a.
Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer
b.
new duties on colonial imports of glass, lead, paint, paper, tea
2.
3.
4.
II.
III.
IV.
Quartering Act
New York Suspending Act
Colonial response
a.
Pennsylvania Chronicle
b.
John Dickinson’s "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania"
c.
nonimportation associations
5.
Frederick, Lord North, king’s first minister (1770–82)
6.
Repeal of Townshend duties except for tea tax
F.
Pause and Resumption (1770–73)
1.
East India Company
2.
Boston Massacre (1770)
3.
Boston Tea Party (1773)
G.
Coercive, or Intolerable, Acts (1774)
1.
Boston Port Act
2.
Massachusetts Government Act
3.
Administration of Justice Act
4.
Quartering Act
5.
Quebec Act
The Transfer of Authority
A.
Sons of Liberty
B.
Nonimportation Associations
C.
First Continental Congress (1774)
1.
Representatives from all colonies but Georgia
2.
Meeting in Philadelphia
3.
Endorsement of Suffolk (Massachusetts) Resolves
4.
Rejection of Plan of Union
5.
Adoption of colonial bill of rights
6.
Creation of Continental Association
a.
plan of economic coercion
b.
network of extra-legal committees
Toward War and Independence
A.
New England Restraining Act (1775)
B.
King George III and General Thomas Gage
1.
Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 1775)
2.
Surrender of Fort Ticonderoga to Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen (May 1775)
3.
Battle of Bunker Hill (June 1775)
C.
Second Continental Congress (1775)
1.
American invasion of Canada
2.
Creation of Continental army
3.
Appointment of George Washington as commander in chief
4.
Economic functions, including borrowing funds and issuing paper money
D.
Prohibitory Act (December 1775)
E.
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (January 1776)
F.
Committee to Draft a Declaration of Independence
1.
Thomas Jefferson, chair (Virginia)
2.
John Adams (Massachusetts)
3.
Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania)
4.
Robert Livingston (New York)
5.
Roger Sherman (Connecticut)
G.
Loyalists
H.
The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)
A War for Independence
A.
Continental Army
B.
Continental Navy and Privateers
C.
Washington’s Winter Campaign (1776–77)
1.
Retreat from New York City
2.
Battle of Trenton, New Jersey
3.
Battle of Princeton, New Jersey
4.
Winter camp at Morristown, New Jersey (1776–77)
5.
Strategy
a.
regular, standing army
b.
conservative military model
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
Arms
1.
Rifles vs. muskets
2.
Pennsylvania rifle
3.
Gunpowder mills
4.
Iron production
5.
Ascendancy of the musketmen
Reversal of Fortune (1777–78)
1.
British invasion from Canada
2.
Battle of Brandywine Creek
3.
Fall of Philadelphia
4.
Battle of Saratoga
5.
French recognition of American independence
6.
British Carlisle Commission
7.
Spanish entry into the war
Britain’s Southern Strategy
1.
Washington’s winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (1777–78)
2.
Battle of Monmouth Court House, New Jersey (1779)
3.
Battle of the Cowpens, South Carolina (1781)
4.
Battle of Yorktown, Virginia (1781)
a.
French naval support
b.
Cornwallis’s surrender (September 18, 1781)
c.
"The World Turned Upside Down"
British Recognition of American Independence
Treaty of Paris (1783)