Chapter 2
The Birth of a Nation
From An Outline of American Literature
by Peter B. High
Lack of Government Representation
While continuing to enforce their control of the
colonies, the British refused to allow the colonies
government representation in England. The
British believed that their own appointed
government officials adequately represented the
colonies. The colonies resented British control.
The colonies created their own laws, and ignored
the British laws they did not like. This created
considerable tension between Britain and the
colonies.
Taxation
When England colonized America, it had no master plan
on how the colonies would be governed. Some colonies
governed themselves. Other colonies were governed by
the King's officials. The King insisted on his right to
create laws governing the colonies. British parliament
also created laws that governed the colonies. The British
passed laws that were in the best interest of England, not
the colonies. For example, They prevented colonists
from selling their goods to countries other than Britain,
even if the country was willing to pay a higher price
than the British. Britain made it difficult for the colonies
to trade with the French and the Spanish.
The Boston Massacre Monument
George III, King of
Great Britain before
and during the
American Revolution
The Boston Tea Party
British Stamp Act (1767)
In 1767, the British passed new taxes on glass, paper, teas,
paints and other goods shipped to the colonies from Britain.
Prime Minister Charles Townsend wanted to raise money
to cover the cost for defending the colonies, and pay the
salaries of governors and judges in the colonies. These
were known as the Townsend Acts. The colonists reacted
by refusing to buy British goods. The colonists argued that
they shouldn't be taxed since they had no representation in
the British government. The colonists rallied behind the
phrase, "No Taxation without Representation." Again
Britain was forced to remove the taxes, all except for the
tax on tea.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
On the evening of March 5, 1770, Private Hugh
White was on guard in front of the Customs
House on King Street in Boston. A crowd of
people had gathered and began harassing the
soldier. His calls for help brought nine soldiers led
by Captain Thomas Preston. The crowd continued
to harass the soldiers with insults, and were
throwing snowballs at them. In the commotion,
someone yelled, "Fire!" and soldiers began
shooting. Three townspeople were killed and eight
more were wounded, two of which died later. No
one knew who gave the order to fire.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
After the shooting, the people of Boston were
demanding the soldiers be tried and executed
for the shootings. The governor ordered
Captain Preston and eight soldiers be put in
prison pending a trial. As a result of the trial,
Captain Preston and six soldiers were set free.
Two of the soldiers were found guilty of
manslaughter. They were branded as convicts
and then released.
Customs House on
King Street in Boston
The Boston Massacre
The Tea Act (1773)
The British East India Company had controlled all tea
trading between India and the British colonies. As a
result of the tea tax, the colonies refused to buy the
British tea. Instead, they smuggled tea in from Holland.
This left the British East India Company with
warehouses full of unsold tea, and the company was in
danger of going out of business. The British
government was determined to prevent the British East
India Company from going out of business. It was going
to force the colonists to buy their tea.
The Tea Act (1773)
In May 1773, Prime Minister North and the British parliament
passed the Tea Act. The Tea Act allowed the British East
India Company to sell tea directly to the colonists,
bypassing the colonial wholesale merchants. This allowed
the company to sell their tea cheaper than the colonial
merchants who were selling smuggled tea from Holland.
This act revived the colonial issue of taxation without
representation. The colonies once again demanded that the
British government remove the tax on tea. In addition, the
dockworkers began refusing to unload the tea from ships.
The Governor of Massachusetts demanded that the tea be
unloaded. He also demanded that the people pay the taxes
and duty on tea.
The Boston Tea Party
On the evening of December 16, 1773, a group of
men calling themselves the "Sons of Liberty"
went to the Boston Harbor. The men were
dressed as Mohawk Indians. They boarded three
British ships, the Beaver, the Eleanor and the
Dartmouth, and dumped forty-five tons of tea
into the Boston Harbor.
Colonists dressed as Indians throw tea into the water to
protest the tax on tea during what came to be known as
"the Boston Tea Party"
Quest for Independence
By 1776, the population of the colonies had reached 2.5
million people. This was about one third the population of
Britain. There were now many roads connecting the
individual colonies, and newspapers kept them informed
about each other. The colonies were beginning to think of
themselves as Americans, not as separate colonies. Many
colonists were split over the issue of independence. There
were both rich and poor colonists on both sides of the
independence issue.
Quest for Independence

Large landowners like George Washington, and wealthy
businessmen like John Hancock were in favor of
independence. There resented British control over their
lives, and British interference in their business. On the
other hand, some rich colonists were afraid they would
lose their wealth if the revolution succeeded. Their wealth
was heavily connected to British trade and the British
government. Some poor colonists didn't want to be
controlled by the wealthy colonists. They either believed
the King of England treated them well, or just didn't want
to cause trouble. Over time, support for independence
grew as issues like taxation without representation angered
the local population.
Founding Fathers
Men who led the Revolution of 1775-1783 and wrote
constitution of 1789 (p.15)
1. influenced by the European “Age of Reason” or
“Enlightenment” – human intelligence could
understand both nature and man
2. man could improve himself, no longer consider
man as a sinful failure
3. wanted to create a society/nation based on
justice and freedom
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790)
1. a non-fiction writer, printer of books and
newspapers, inventor
2. felt that writing should always have a practical
purpose
3. Poor Richard’s Almanac (1732-1757) – contains
useful info for farmers and sailors, the reading
material besides the Bible and the newspaper
4. stories about “Poor Richard” as well as his
family
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
5. invented many sayings about “saving money” and
“working hard” (p.16-17)
6. invented one type of short prose, “hoax” or the
“tall tale” (a funny lie) which greatly influenced
the development of a story-telling form in
America
7. Autobiography (1771, 1784), his only real book,
the first part is an entertaining description of his
life up to early manhood, the second part was
written in more serious style
8. write about himself for the improvement of others
Thomas Paine
(1737-1809)
The greatest pamphlet-writer of the American Revolution
1. Common Sense (1776) – helped unite the feelings
against England, “There is something absurd in
supposing a continent (America) to be perpetually
governed by an island (Britain)” – p.18
2. The Rights of Man (1791-92) – a famous defense of
French Revolution
Thomas Paine
On January 10, 1776, Thomas
Paine published a pamphlet
called Common Sense.
In the pamphlet, he spoke
openly of independence
from Britain and urged a
government in which the
people ruled through their
elected representatives.
The booklet was widely
circulated and was very
influential
Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826)
1. Declaration of Independence – the most important
document of the United States (p.19)
2. Style – free from emotional appeals, a clear and
logical statement of why America wanted its
independence
3. It was signed on July 4, 1776.
4. Notes on the State of Virginia (1784-85) – attacked
the slavery system, “Nothing is more certainly
written in the book of fate than that these people are
to be free”
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
5. an Enlightenment thinker, believed all humanity is
naturally good and men can do the improving by
themselves
6. afraid that the commercial pressure of city life
could destroy this goodness
7. another threat to American democracy was in the
thinking of the Federalists who wanted a strong
central government for the new American republic;
Jefferson felt that people should be able to change
the form of their society whenever they thought it
necessary
J. Hector ST. John de Crevecoeur
(1735-1813)
1. “Letters from an American Farmer”
(1782) – p.24
2. “What is this American, this new man?”
3. “individuals of all nations are melted
into a new race of men”
4. Sketches of Eighteenth Century America
(not published until 1925)
5. His ideal American – a social man who
cooperates with his neighbors while
earning his own living from farming