Chapter 3
Breaking with the Past (1773 to July 1776)
Tea makes me ANGRY!

 At the beginning of 1773 the British East India
Company – the world’s largest corporation at the
time – was suffering due to an oversupply of and
a lack of demand for tea in Europe.
 So, they encouraged the British government to
pass a Tea Act in May 1773. The Tea Act would
give them easy access to the colonial markets by
avoiding local merchants and selling to the cities
at a lower price than the French and Dutch
could. It was not a tax, they already had the
Townshend Duties for that.
 With tea costs lowered Lord North didn’t expect
the protest that resulted. However tea traders,
whose profits were threatened, were supported
by citizens who participated in an anti-British
boycott both in households and at the ports (e.g.
in New York).
Edenton Ladies

The Edenton Tea Ladies get a bit crazy
The Tea Party

 The arrival of three tea-bearing ships in
Boston Harbour in late-November 1773
prompted a standoff between local
gangs, the shipping companies and the
royal governor Thomas Hutchinson.
 When the Dartmouth arrived Samuel
Adams and the Boston Son’s of Liberty
called several well-attended meetings
and ordered that the tea not be
unloaded.
 Gangs watched over the ships, while
Hutchinson worked to ensure that the
tea made it to shore. The ship waited
there for 20 days, being joined by the
Eleanor and Beaver ships.
Rumour has it, Samuel Adams started
the boycotts because he was jealous
that tea was outselling his own ale.*
*Rumour fabricated by Mr Elliott*
Eleanor and Beaver
The Forgotten Ships

Eleanor the Ship
Beaver the Ship
Eleanor Roosevelt
A Beaver
The Tea Party

 Under the terms of the Tea Act the
Dartmouth was required to arrive
within 20 days. With the deadline
approaching on 16th of December,
Samuel Adams called a town meeting
with 6000 people attending.
 After dark a band of men – perhaps as
many as 50 – dressed up (poorly) as
native American’s, boarded the ship and
threw 342 chests of tea overboard.
 This tea was worth, in modern terms,
approximately $1 million dollars so it
was no laughing matter. Unless you feel
like laughing, in which case, do so.
*False, fabricated by Mr Elliott, beer not made until 1984*
They wish their costumes
were this good.
Rumour has it that the men
involved had several mugs of
Samuel Adams’ finest ale
before going nuts*
Tealapalooza!

 The Boston Tea Party inspired a
similar incident at Hubbards Wharf,
Boston in March, 1774 and protests
in New York, Philadelphia and
Charleston.
 However, no other colony responded
as strongly or destructively as
Massachusetts. Many criticised the
vandalism, with Benjamin Franklin
calling it ‘an act of violent injustice’
and John Dickinson urging them to
pay for the lost tea.
A tremendous cartoon about
the new, even stupider Tea Party
‘This happened and we all let it
happen’ – Peter Griffin

We take a moment away from our studies to explore just how stupid Sarah Palin is and how funny Tina Fey is.
The Coercive Acts

 The British Parliament was very angry about all this and
responded by introducing several ‘coercive acts’.
 Lord North told MPs ‘the Americans have tarred and
feathered your subjects, plundered your merchants, burnt
your ships, denied all obedience to your laws and
authority… we must risk something; if we do not, all is
over’ Change – the British will fight back!
Step upwards ye bitches
The Coercive Acts

 North started with the Boston Port Act on 30th
of March 1774, closing the docks to all private
shipping and using warships to block the
entrance to the harbour.
 Then on the 20th of May, the Massachusetts
Government Act was passed, revoking the
colony’s charter and replacing Thomas
Hutchinson with a military commander in
General Thomas Gage. Boston was now under
military rule until they had paid their debt.
 Then came the Administration of Justice Act on
the same day, which allowed the governor to
send persons charged with murder to trial in
England away from the hostile juries and judges
of New England.
 By this stage the British had interfered with the
Economic, Political and Legal rights of
Bostonians. The conflict would only increase.
Lord North:
He ain’t messin’ aboot
The Coercive Acts

The Coercive Acts

 The fourth and final act of coercive legislation
was an adjustment to the 1765 Mutiny
(Quartering) Act with governors now
allowed to forcibly take possession of halls,
barns and vacant buildings.
 The Quebec Act was not a part of the
Coercive Acts but it was still very unpopular.
The legislation expanded Quebec (in British
Canada) while restricting American
expansion westwards. This effectively
‘boxed’ the American’s in like they were prior
to the French-Indian War. It also brought
those nasty French Catholics back in contact
with the Americans and the British
accommodated this.
The Quebec Act

 Protestant New Englanders were worried about
the influence of French Catholicism resulting in
‘lands plundered of thithes for the support of a
Popish clergy’ (that’s not even French).
 Game of Thrones est vraiment juste un rip-off du
traditionnel jeu de passe-temps Québec Scones
(this is).
 The other concern was that, like George III’s
Proclamation Act, the Quebec Act would prevent
the American’s from ever expanding west past the
Appalachian mountains.
 The true motives of the revolution start to be
questioned here as we find the famous leaders like
George Mason, Richard Henry Lee, George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry
fear for the loss of lands they had claimed.
To help New Englanders
assimilate with their northern
neighbours, this magazine
replaced National Geographic
in all doctors waiting rooms.*
*Rumour fabricated by Mr Elliott*
Dunmore’s Private War

 As the British Parliament was
discussing the Quebec Act, trouble
was brewing on the Virginia frontier.
 War had broken out between colonists
and the areas native tribes, sparked by
settlers moving into newly-claimed
lands in the west.
 In October 1773, a war party of
Delaware, Cherokee and Shawnee
natives, fed up with these intrusions,
tortured and murdered a group of
young men and boys. This led to a
rise in conflict between settlers and
‘Indian Hunters’.
This is where it all happened
He could have Dun-more to
harbour good relations with
the natives.
Dunmore’s Private War

 The worst incident came in April
1774 when 20 Mingo natives were
scalped and murdered by Virginia
farmer, including the daughter of
Logan (who had been peaceful). This
led to a war along the VirginiaKentucky frontier.
 In May, the Virginian governor gave
orders for an all-out war on hostile
tribes in the west.
 This was a change as they were
actively disobeying the Proclamation
Act of 1763.
We know this happened
because there is a plaque.
And a book
British rule in Boston

 At the start of 1775 Boston was under the
control of the British military governor,
General Thomas Gage, and his regiment.
He was initially greeted warmly.
 However, Gage began issuing arrest
warrants for leading radicals and closed
the port and continued the ban on the
colonial assembly.
 This was seen as a British attempt to
seize back control of the colonies.
 As a result, preparations began for a
colonial military response. This is a
change as it was a move towards a
united American force against the
British. However, at that time, the
‘Minutemen’ was not strong enough to
fight the British.
There is nothing funny
about Thomas Gage
The Powder Alarms

 One of General Gage’s first priorities was
to destroy gunpowder stores around
Massachusetts. He did this in secret to
prevent revolutionary activists from
seizing the powder first.
 The Minutemen responded by
strengthening their forces and Committees
of Safety were established to warn people
of the British troop movements.
 Paul Revere’s ride is a famous though
factually dubious account of anti-British
coordination in the colonies.
It would be inappropriate
for me to joke about this
(see Austin Powers)
Paul Revere’s ride

http://poetry.eserver.org/paul-revere.html
Committees of Correspondence

 While some American colonists were making
military and logistical preparations, others were
considering how they could build support against the
British.
 The Committees of Correspondence had been active
since the mid-1760s and were reactivated by Samuel
Adams, reaching a peak in 1774.
 These committees started letter writing campaigns
aimed at resisting the Coercive Acts and other
aspects of British rule.
 The activities were mostly confined to the urban
middle and upper classes. People in rural towns still
looked to their own assemblies and leaders for news
and guidance.
 The Churches also played a role in discussing the
‘evils’ of ‘unrepresented taxation’.
 This period included change because now people
were talking about separation and revolution.
A letter from Samuel
Adams in 1772
Towards a Congress

 There was also revolutionary activity in the
tows, villages, rural outposts and on the
frontier.
 This occurred through the traditional town
meetings, where radical ideas were
expressed.
 Meetings drafted documents about nonimportation agreements and started to draft
local milita and supplies such as weapons,
tools and food.
 In addition to these organised activities there
was an open-defiance, a continuation of
revolutionary activity, by mobs who forced
the closure of several county court, especially
in Massachusetts.
Worcester County Court
http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/02/the-true-start-of-the-american-revolution/
Inter-Continental Congress

 Samuel Adam’s push for an inter-colonial
meeting was achieved at the First Continental
Congress in Philadelphia in September, 1774.
 The congress consisted of 55 men from 12
colonies (Georgia chose not to attend) with
many of the revolutionary figures including
the Adams cousins, George Washington,
Patrick Henry Lee and John Jay.
 The congress argued the Coercive Acts. Some,
particularly the southern states, were critical of
the Bostonians behaviour.
 However, they agreed on a number of key
principles, including a new outline of
grievances and passed the Articles of
Association.
http://www.masshist.org/revolution/congress1.php
Lexington-Concord

 History and folklore agree that the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired in
Lexington, Massachusetts in April, 1775.
 The conflict arose when General Gage ordered 700 British troops to march on Concord to
find a large gunpowder store.
 The soldiers met a colonial militia armed with sticks and scythes (crop blades). The British
soldiers were ordered not to fire but one soldier did. This became known as the ‘shot heard
around the world’.
 The British advanced and killed eight colonial militiamen.
 The warning systems of the local Committee of Safety were alerted and the battle continued
with a church being set on fire and more fighting. At the end of forty-eight hours of fighting
more than 130 men were dead, most of them British.
 This was a change as the Americans were actively engaged in armed conflict with the British.
Second Continental Congress

 The Continental Congress met again in Philadelphia in
May 1775 with two newcomers being Benjamin
Franklin and John Hancock.
 While this was going on military conflict was
happening in Massachusetts and also in New York.
 Congress resolved to take control of the war effort,
declaring the formation of a Continental Army and
nominating George Washington as commander-inchief.
 The appointment was made due to Washington’s
military experience but also because he was from a
southern colony, Virginia, and they wanted their
support.
 In July 1775 the Congress drafted and released a
justification for its military action, the Declaration of
Causes and Necessities for Taking up Arms.
 Back in England, King George III considered the
congress an illegal body and refused to read their
petitions and declarations, accusing the members of
treason.
George
The Olive Branch Petition

 Even after the war had started many in the
second Continental Congress wanted to
reconcile with Britain.
 Men like Pennsylvania’s John Dickinson
did not believe that the Continental Army
could win against the powerful British
military.
 The Olive Branch Petition affirmed
colonial rights while criticising the king’s
ministry for mishandling the colonies. It
was signed by revolutionaries like Sam
Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, John
Jay and Patrick Henry.
 Privately, most held little hope that the
conflict would be resolved.
A last gasp attempt
at peace
Towards Independence

 Until late 1775 most Americans were reluctant
to abandon their hopes of reconciliation.
 The conversion to independence came
gradually in the first half of 1776 with historian
Pauline Maier tracing this to a wide range (90)
different resolves from different towns,
counties and assemblies throughout America.
 The New Hampshire motion, passed on 5th of
January 1776, several days before the first
edition of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
included a declaration of independence and the
first written constitution in the new nation
(change).
 Key statement ‘… the delegates for this colony
in the Continental Congress be empowered to
concur with the delegates in the other Colonies
in declaring independence’.
Towards Independence

 In May 1776 the Continental Congress moved that all
colonies should establish state governments (change).
 Delaware, New Jersey, North and South Carolina,
Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland all did by the end
of the year. Georgia, New York and Vermont followed in
1777.
 Their draft constitutions included many liberal
innovations but also property qualifications and
exclusions of women, slaves, natives and indentured
servants from elections. All states except New York and
Virginia allowed only Protestants to hold public office.
Common Sense

 Town meetings and colonial assemblies were the
engines of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense was its manual.
 The fifty-page booklet sold cheap (two shillings) and
appealed to the masses, gaining support for the
ideological justification for revolution, liberty.
 Paine was well versed in the
enlightenment ideas of the time
and played a major role in the
French revolution soon after.
Common Sense

 Common Sense addressed three broad themes: the flawed
monarchy, the situation in the colonies and the future of
America.
 It was radical but not original, the ideas were being
discussed across Europe as well. What Paine did best was
to use language, rhetoric and analogies that appealed to
ordinary Americans.
 Not everyone was a fan with John
Adams calling him a ‘a poor,
ignorant, malicious, short-sighted
crapulous mass’ (a bit mean?).
Declaration of Independence

 The ideas of Common Sense, along with all of the
revolutionary activity, led to an increased call for
independence during the spring of 1776.
 A group within the Continental Congress, with
Samuel and John Adams and Richard Henry Lee the
leaders, began to push actively for separation.
 Lee introduced a motion (from his home colony of
Virginia) to declare the ‘United Colonies free and
independent States’ on 7th of June but no vote could
proceed because a number of delegates had not been
authorised by their assemblies to vote for or against.
Declaration of Independence

 Anticipating the probably success of Lee’s
motion, congress decided to prepare a
suitable declaration of independence.
 They asked Virginian Thomas Jefferson to
write the first draft, as he had a good
knowledge of political
philosophy (e.g. enlightenment ideas) and
the situation in America.
 On 28 June the committee presented the
draft to Congress, which heavily edited
Jefferson’s draft, particularly his
condemnation of the slave trade.
 The Declaration of Independence was
passed by Congress on July 4, 1776.