APUSH Lecture 1D
(c0vers Ch. 4)
Ms. Kray
some slides taken from Susan Pojer
 What were some of the reasons for the
differences between colonial Americans and
the British government?
 What effects did the French and Indian War
have on the American colonists and on the
status of the colonies within Britain?
 Explain the importance of the series of crises
from the Sugar Act through the Coercive
Acts, and how each crisis changed colonial
attitudes toward Britain.
Salutary
Neglect
Administrative
weakness in
London
Corrupt royal
officials
Weakened
imperial
control over
the
colonies
• Glorious Revolution of 1688
– Parliament became the real ruler of Britain
– Less interested in keeping tight control over colonies than
kings were
• Decentralized and Inefficient Colonial Administrations
– No one in Britain was clearly in charge of handling day-today operations in the colonies
– Corrupt and incompetent royal officials sent to the colonies
– Royal governor’s salary paid by colonial legislatures (power of
the purse)
• A Tradition of Self-Government
– b/c of salutary neglect, the colonies had developed powerful
colonial legislatures
• Claimed many of the same rights as the British Parliament (right to
tax, pass laws, etc.)
• Became centers of colonial resistance to imperial control
• Britain and France competing
on a global scale for colonial
possessions and control of
world commerce
– Fought a series of wars during
the 18th c
• 1754: The First Clash
– French building a chain of forts
in the Ohio Valley (disputed
territory)
– British send colonial militia
under command of George
Washington to investigate
• Militia attacked French fort
• Plan developed by Ben Franklin
• Designed to protect colonists from Indian attacks
– Indians had sided w/French
– Provided for an inter-colonial government and system for
recruiting troops and collecting taxes
• Never took effect
– But set a precedent for later revolutionary Congresses
• War goes badly for British
• 1755: Gen. Braddock routed by French at Ft.
Duquesne
– France’s Algonquin allies ravaged the western frontier
– British invasion of Canada fails
• Growing tensions between Americans colonists and
British
.
Method of
Fighting
Military
Organization
Military
Discipline
Finances
Demeanor
Colonials
British
Indian-style guerilla
tactics
March in formation
(bayonet charge)
Militias served
under own captains
Br. officers wanted
to take charge
No mil. deference or
protocols observed
Drills and tough
discipline
Resistance to rising Colonists should pay
taxes
for their defense
Casual/Not
professional
Formal – officers
w/servants & tea
sets
►1760 – Parliament
granted writs of assistance
to prevent smuggling (a writ
is a search warrant).
►writ of assistance cases
(1761) Colonists challenge writs
►James Otis was lead attorney.
Argued a citizen’s property must
be held in higher regard than a
Parliamentary statue. He lost.
►Understood colonial concerns
 impressments, seizure of colonial
supplies & equipment, quartering
troops w/o compensations
 1757 riot in NYC
►Offered colonists a compromise
 Col. Loyalty + Mil. Cooperation =
Br. reimbursement to colonial
assemblies for their costs
►Results: Colonial morale increased by 1758
* By 1761, Spain
has become an
ally of France
FRANCE
SPAIN
Lost . . .
 Got all French
lands west of the
 Her Canadian
Mississippi River,
possessions
including New
 Most of her lands
Orleans
in India
 Lost Florida to
 And claims to
England
lands east of the
Mississippi
ENGLAND
 Got all French
lands in Canada
 Exclusive rights
to Caribbean
slave trade
 Commercial
dominance in
India
Br. victory = disaster for Native Americans.
Even our Iroquois allies suffered – passivity during war seen as
evidence of duplicity.
COLONIES
 United them against a
common enemy for the
first time
 Created a socializing
experience for all who
participated
 British contempt
created bitter feelings
towards the British that
would only intensify
ENGLAND
 Increased her colonial
Empire in the Americas
 Greatly enlarged debt
 Britain did not trust
colonists to take care of
their own affairs
 Reorganization of the
American Empire was
needed (commerical vs. territorial imperialists)
 Salutary Neglect is over!
1st major test of
new Br. Policy
Western forts &
settlements from
NY to VA attacked
Br. sent regulars
instead of colonial
militia
 Designed to stabilize the
frontier & prevent
future hostilities
w/natives
 Prohibited colonists
from settling west of the
Appalachians
 Colonists react w/anger
and defiance!
BRITISH
COLONISTS
 Salutary Neglect is over  Met regulations with
anger, resentment, &
 Passed new acts to
sometimes open
force colonists to help
resistance.
pay war debt
 Don’t trust colonists  See British actions as a
plot to subvert their
to take care of
liberties and long
themselves – means
established practice of
more Br. regulars
representative gov’t.
needed in colonies
►Sugar Act – 1764
 Designed to eliminated illegal sugar
trade between colonies & West Indies
►Currency Act – 1764
 Required colonies to stop issuing paper
money
►Quartering Act (Mutiny Act) - 1765
 Colonists required to assist in provisioning and
maintaining the army
 Ships of the Br. navy were assigned to patrol American
waters and search for smugglers
►Stamp Act – 1765
 Imposed a tax on most printed documents
• Grenville’s program violated colonial tradition of selfgovernment
• At first, colonists diverted by tensions between
internal divisions: eastern elites vs. western farmers
– 1763: Paxton Boys in Pennsylvania
• Western farmers wanted relief from colonial taxation and money
to fight Indians. Gov’t made concessions
– 1771: Regulator Movement in N. Carolina
• Mini-civil war. Western farmers under-represented in colonial
assemblies, angered by colonial taxation. Resisted with force
• Over time, these new British policies began to create
common grievances that outweighed these internal
divisions
► Stamp Act raised 2 issues:
 Does Parliament have the right to tax
colonies?
 Can Parliament truly reflect colonial
interests?
 Parliament says yes  virtual representation
 Colonists say no  Patrick Henry’s Virginia
Resolves (American possess same rights as
Englishmen thus no taxation without
representation)
► Stamp Act Congress 1765
 Organized by James Otis
 Only elected representatives had authority
to approve taxes
 It wasn’t the tax the colonists disliked, it
was the precedent the tax set
► Boycotts**
Sons of Liberty – secret society
organized to intimidate tax agents.
During protest they burn &
sack the home of MA Lt. Gov.
Thomas Hutchinson
►Stamp Act repealed but Parliament also issued
face-saving Declaratory Act in 1766.
►1767 – British gov’t still needed revenue,
new chancellor of the exchequer,
Charles Townshend has an idea . . .
►Townshend Acts
 Indirect tax on tea, glass, & paper
 Money raised not used to pay war debt
 Instead used to pay crown officials in the colonies to
make them independent of the colonial assemblies
 To enforce acts, officials could use writs of assistance
to search homes
 Suspended NY’s assembly for defying Quartering Act
►At first the colonists do not react strongly
►1768 – John Dickinson wrote
Letters from a Pennsylvania
Farmer (no taxation without rep.)
►1768 – James Otis
& Samuel Adams
wrote the
Massachusetts Circular Letter
(urged repeal of acts)
For the first time, many
of the colonists who
participated in the nonimportation activities
began referring to
themselves as. . .
►1768 – 2nd Non-Importation
Movement
 More boycotts
 Daughters of
Liberty
 Spinning Bees
►Riots against customs agents
John Hancock’s ship, The Liberty
Colonial merchants leading the
protests
4,000 British troops in Boston. . .
► 5 people were killed,
including Crispus Attucks
► Soldiers were acquitted
 John Adams was their
defense attorney
► Later used to inflame antiBritish feeling
► Townshend Acts finally
repealed April 2, 1770
 Small tax on tea was kept
• 1770-1772 - years of relative
peace
• 1772 – Samuel Adams formed
Committees of Correspondence
– kept colonials informed about
suspicious or potentially
threatening British activities
– Gaspee Incident much discussed
• Example of colonial hatred of British
anti-smuggling measures
• 1773 - VA House of Burgesses
made the committees intercolonial in 1773
• Puritan influence
– “city upon the hill”
– Great Awakening’s
challenging of authority
• Whig Ideology from
England
– Whig Party = opposition party
in England
– Framed powerful arguments
against their government
which the colonists adopted
• Argued men inherently evil,
gov’t there to protect
individuals, feared
concentration of power in gov’t
led to abuse
• Enlightenment philosophies
– New concept of what gov’t
should be (social contract)
– Believed England’s balanced
constitution was the best
system ever devised
• Some feared Constitution was
in danger b/c king & ministers
becoming too powerful
• Political experiences of the
colonists
– Salutary neglect, tradition of
self-government
– Believed these things had
become rights
Q-> What was the extent of Parliament’s
authority over the colonies?
Absolute?
OR
Limited?
Q-> How could the colonies give or
withhold consent for parliamentary
legislation when they did not have
representation in that body?
Virtual Representation?
►British East India Co.
 Had monopoly on British tea
imports
 Many members of Parliament held
shares
 On verge of bankruptcy
►Parliament permitted company
to sell tea directly to colonies
(no middle men)
 Meant their tea, even w/tax, was
cheaper than smuggled Dutch tea
►Lord North expected colonists
to choose the cheaper tea
►Also known as the
Intolerable Acts
 Designed to punish
Boston & MA
 Bring dissidents under
control
►Port Act
►Massachusetts
Government Act
►Administration of
Justice Act
►Quartering Act
►Passed at same time as
Intolerable Acts
►Colonists viewed as a
direct attack because
 Took away American
claims along the Ohio
River
 Colonists feared similar
law would take away
their representative
assemblies
 Also like anything that
seemed to favor
Catholics
Historical Dilemma: Was our
break with the British evolution
or revolution?
55 delegates from 12 colonies
Agenda How to
respond to the
Coercive Acts &
the Quebec Act?
1 vote per colony
represented
No desire for
independence
Radicals
 Demanded British concessions
 Members: Patrick Henry, Samuel
Adams, John Adams
Moderates
 Members: George Washington & John
Dickinson
Conservatives
 Favored a mild statement of protest
 Members: John Jay & Joseph Galloway
 Galloway Plan missed passage by 1 vote
1) Rejected the Galloway Plan
2) Issued Declaration of Rights & Grievances


petition to king urging redress of grievances
backed by moderates
3) Approved Suffolk Resolves


Called for repeal of Intolerable Acts
Urged resistance through boycotts & military preparation
4) Continental Association formed to enforce
the boycotts.
5) Agreed to meet again the following spring

2nd Continental Congress
• King George III dismissed
the colonial petition
– Declared MA to be in a state
of rebellion
• Gen. Thomas Gage sent a
large force to seize
colonial military supplies
in a nearby town
Gage was commander of
British troops in Boston
Paul Revere and William Dawes make their
midnight ride to warn the Minutemen of approaching
British soldiers.
Lexington and Concord
April 18, 1775
 What were some of the reasons for the
differences between colonial Americans and
the British government?
 What effects did the French and Indian War
have on the American colonists and on the
status of the colonies within Britain?
 Explain the importance of the series of crises
from the Sugar Act through the Coercive
Acts, and how each crisis changed colonial
attitudes toward Britain.