Chapter 6: Toward the
War for American
Independence
NATION OF NATIONS, SIXTH EDITION
DAVIDSON • DELAY • HEYRMAN • LYTLE • STOFF
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
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Preview

“Parliament passed the Sugar Act, Stamp Act,
and other measures of the early 1760s in hopes
of binding the American colonies more closely to
the empire. Instead, once-loyal Americans
became convinced that their constitutional rights
were being violated...”
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
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The Highlights
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The Seven Years’ War
The Imperial Crisis
Toward the Revolution
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The Seven Years’ War
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The Years of Defeat
– 1754: Seven years’ War started with George
Washington’s surrender to the French at Fort
Necessity
– 1755: disastrous defeat of British regiments, led by
General Braddock, at Fort Duquesne
– Most Indian tribes allied with France
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The Years of Victory
– 1756-57: British fortunes worsened, but William Pitt
began to take personal control over the war
– By 1758, the tide began to shift in Britain’s favor
– 1759-60: British capture Quebec and Montreal
– Treaty of Paris (1763) ended the war, as well as the
French presence in North America
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Postwar Expectations
– Britain’s victory stoked colonial pride and optimism
among Americans
– English resented American tightfistedness in
supplying the armies
– Very different expectations for postwar American
colonies by both the English and the colonists
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The Imperial Crisis
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New Troubles on the Frontier
– Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763) west of Pittsburgh
highlighted the problem of Britain’s large western
frontier
– Proclamation of 1763 prohibited settlement west of
the Appalachians
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George Grenville’s New Measures
– Britain’s national debt doubled, 1754-64
– Colonial merchants had been evading the Molasses
Act of 1733
– Grenville, the first lord of the treasury, advocated four
policies to raise revenue from the colonies:
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1. Sugar Act (1764)
2. Currency Act (1764)
3. Quartering Act (1765)
4. Stamp Act (1765)
– Grenville’s policies prompted an incrementally
negative reaction by colonials
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The Beginnings of Colonial Resistance
– Significance of John Locke’s beliefs that property
ownership and liberty were intertwined
– Opposition thinkers, while ignored in England, were
revered by colonial leaders
– Postwar recession aggravated political tensions
caused by Grenville’s measures
“The concern for protecting individual liberties was
only one of the convictions shaping the colonies’
response to Britain’s new policies. Equally important
was their deep suspicion of power itself…”
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Riots and Resolves
– 1765: colonial assemblies passed resolves
challenging Parliament’s power to tax the colonies for
the sole purpose of raising revenue
– Patrick Henry’s resolves in Virginia
– Resistance groups, most notably the Sons of Liberty,
sprang up in individual colonies
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Repeal of the Stamp Act
– Policy repealed by Parliament in 1766
– Continued angst over virtual versus actual
representation
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The Townshend Acts
– In 1767, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer,
William Townshend, wanted to limit the power of
colonial assemblies
– Instituted new tariffs
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The Resistance Organizes
– Efforts by colonial leaders such as John Dickinson
and John Adams helped colonies gradually to
increase coordination of their resistance to Parliament
– 1768: Liberty riot in Boston whipped up antigovernment fervor
– Widespread boycott of British-made goods
– All of the Townshend duties eventually repealed
except the tax on tea
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© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
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The International Sons of Liberty
– Colonials follow struggle of Pascal Paoli in fighting for
Corsican independence from Genoa
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The Boston Massacre
– Increasing tensions between colonists and British
troops
– March 5, 1770: troops fire upon protesters in Boston,
killing five
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Resistance Revived
– Gaspee incident provoked renewed tensions in 1772
– Samuel Adams engineered mode of communication:
committees of correspondence
– 1773: Boston Tea Party
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The Empire Strikes Back
– Coercive, or “Intolerable,” Acts passed by Parliament
in response to Tea Party, 1774; port of Boston closed
until debt for tea repaid
– Colonists began to believe in a conspiracy theory that
the British government wanted to reduce their liberties
– Quebec Act (1774)
– Call for First Continental Congress
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“The Boston Tea Party proved to British satisfaction that
the colonies aimed at independence. Lord North’s
assessment was grim: ‘We are now to dispute whether
we have, or have not, any authority in that country.’”
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Toward the Revolution
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The First Continental Congress
– Delegates, while affirming natural rights, tried to stake
out a moderate position
– Joseph Galloway’s plan for cooperation with
Parliament rejected
– Decision to cease all trade with Britain until the
Coercive Acts were repealed
– Began to arm colonial militias
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The Last Days of the British Empire in America
– Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Gage, tried to
fortify Boston against the growing number of rebels
– Royal authority collapsed, 1774-75
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The Fighting Begins
– April 1775: first battles of the American Revolution,
Lexington and Concord, Mass.
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Common Sense
– Thomas Paine: Americans’ destiny was to be
republicans, not monarchists
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.