Guide to Lecture 10 (The Imperial Crisis)
The Situation after the French & Indian War
In aftermath of French & Indian War, tension rising against the mother
country
Imperial regulation of American affairs, regulation which had started
much earlier
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the opposite of free trade—right to regulate colonial
commerce and trade for mother country’s benefit
Navigation Act of 1660—tried to close the empire to foreign trade—
“enumerated products” to England exclusively (e.g. tobacco)
Though on the books, seldom enforced—“salutary neglect”—leniency
and laxity
In 18th century, under these conditions, House of Burgesses and other
assemblies began to expand their power in relative vacuum
“Little Parliaments”
Self legislation, especially in local taxes
Salutary neglect ends with the conclusion of French & Indian War
New Restrictive Measures
Proclamation of 1763
No settlement west of the Appalachians w/o royal approval
Cost-consciousness of British due to huge war debt—concern about
Indian wars
Sugar Act of 1764
Revenue-raising act—reasonable (English point of view)—English
taxed to the limit—imperial protection at a cost
Tax of 3 pence per gallon on molasses from West Indies—New
England rum manufacture. Actually tax cut (Molasses Act of 1733—
6 pence) but would be enforced
Admiralty courts, non-jury trials
Stamp Act of 1765—much wider protest—legal and commercial
documents—licenses, customs papers, wills, playing cards, newspapers,
etc.—“no taxation without representation.”
Stamp Act Crisis: Stamp Act Congress
Delegates from 9 colonies in NYC—a first “shared experience”
Petition the King (still assumed to be reasonable)
Boycott British imports—pressure on mercantile elite in England
Mob violence—in ports like Boston and NYC—Sons of Liberty
trying to maintain order
Mobs were working men from maritime trades—jobs
threatened
Tough characters capable of violence—“persuade” stamp
officials not to collect tax—none around to sell stamps on
November 1, 1765
Declaratory Act of 1766--Parliament repealed the Stamp Act but
authority to legislate for Americans in all areas, including taxation— more
measures to follow
Virtual representation—British never conceded point about
representation—every MP represented not a district but the whole
empire
The Townshend Duties of 1767
More taxes on imports—paper, paint, lead, glass and tea.
1768—4,000 redcoats to Boston, town of 15,000—soldiers taking
part-time jobs in time off—resented—depressed local economy
Boston Massacre—March 5, 1770—mob taunting redcoats,
panic—fire into mob, killing 5 Americans, including black
seaman, Crispus Attucks
Trial—acquitted all but 2, John Adams defending (self-defense)
“Massacre” term used by super-patriots like Samuel Adams
1770—Townshend Duties repealed except for tea
1773—Tea Act—help out the British East India Company—verge of
bankruptcy—sell in colonies without paying English duty, threatened
colonial tea merchants like John Hancock
1773, December--Boston Tea Party—Sons of Liberty dressed as
Indians—342 chests, 45 tons of tea in the harbor (£10,000 of cargo)
1774--Intolerable or Coercive Acts—British reply
Boston Port Bill—closed entirely until restitution made
Quartering Act—house and provision troops
1774—September—First Continental Congress in Philadelphia (all
colonies except Georgia)—boycott till acts repealed, meet again May 1775
1775—April 19—Lexington and Concord
General Thomas Gage—militia (Minute Men) stockpiling weapons
Troops out to confiscate—confrontations at two villages—troops fired
on all way back to Boston—hundreds of casualties
Second Continental Congress—first central government of the
colonies
Formed Continental Army—George Washington Commander-inChief—tied Virginians more closely to the cause
Other early battles were fought at Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, at
Crown Point, further north, Then at Bunker Hill outside Boston.
Technically, British won, but with casualties of over 1,000 men killed or
wounded, to 400 on the American side
1776—January—Thomas Paine’s Common Sense cried in passionate
terms for independence from England, gave focus to the American public.
But victory not at all certain, and defeat would mean death for those who
signed any document claiming independence from the Crown.
But on July 4, 1776 finally the Declaration of Independence was signed,
and thus began the United States of America.
Summary
Rising tension after French & Indian War
Mercantilism, war debt
Local governments had arisen in colonies
Proclamation of 1763—controlled settlement in new lands won from
French and Spanish
Sugar Act of 1764—3 pence per gallon, plus admiralty courts
Stamp Act of 1765
Stamp Act Congress—boycott
Violence of mobs
Declaratory Act of 1766—concept of “virtual” vs. actual representation
Townshend Duties of 1767
1768—4,000 redcoats to Boston
1770—“Boston Massacre”
Tea Act of 1773
Boston Tea Party
Intolerable & Coercive Acts of 1774
Boston Port Bill
Quartering Act
First Continental Congress, 1774
April 1775--Battles at Lexington & Concord
1775—Second Continental Congress
Continental Army—George Washington
July 4, 1776—Declaration of Independence