Chapter 5 Toward Independence
Paul
Revere’s
Midnight
Ride as
depicted
by
Grant
Woods
• At the end of the French and Indian War, in 1763 the British treasury was
depleted, and as English citizens were already taxed so high that to increase their
taxes could lead to a rebellion in England, British Parliament determined that since
protecting the colonies was such a high cost, the colonist should start paying their
own way. This meant enforcing the Navigation acts. In addition to enforcement,
new taxes would be created
Including import duties on sugar and
tobacco and excise levies on salt,
beer and distilled spirits.
(Hard Liquor)
• Radical Whigs & conservative party
landlords interpreted the results of
the great war for Empire to mean
that the “monied Interest” i.e. the
Bankers who paid for the war- were
now in control of the government.
• In protesting the Sugar Act in 1764, the
Members of the Massachusetts House of
Representatives shifted the terms of debate
from a revenue squabble to a confrontation
over the “constitutional requirement of “no
taxation without representation.” Protest
subsided and the Sugar Act stayed, but the
organizations of protest and the cry of “no
taxation without Representation remained.
• The Sugar act did not bring enough revenue to
the British, but it did encourage them to
introduce more taxes. The next tax was the
Stamp Act in 1765. Prime Minister George
Grenville Imposed the Stamp act as a way for
Colonists to pay for their own military support.
• It was a tax on all official documents
(marriage, Property, wills, etc.) and
you knew you paid the tax because
there was a seal (stamp) placed on
the document . would be out voted
by the body of parliament.
At the same time they passed the
QUARTERING ACT… which compelled
the Colonial governments to provide
barracks and food for the additional
British soldiers.
Once again the Colonists Protested. Ben
Franklin Proposed that American colonists be
given representatives in Parliament to settle
the issue, but Parliament, With the exception
of William Pitt, Parliament rejected the idea,
and said that the Colonies had “VIRTUAL”
Representation because all citizens were
represented by Parliament…. Most colonists
did not like Franklin’s Idea either, because
the few representatives they would be given
would be out voted by the body of
parliament.
• The Colonist had a more concerted effort to end
the Stamp Act. They tarred and feathered tax
collectors and the organized a boycott of British
products, So that British Merchants demanded
Parliament repeal the Stamp act. Lord
Rockingham’s Ministry replaced Grenville’s and
crafted a compromise in 1766 where they
Repealed The Stamp act and sent a stern
“Declaratory act” to the colonies asserting
Parliament’s supreme authority to rule the
colonies as they pleased. The Rockingham
ministry fell apart shortly there after, and the
King appointed William Pitt to be the Prime
Minister.
• William Pitt was frequently, chronically ill,
and so the Exchequer Charles Townsend,
ran the government in his place.
Townsend thought he could Tax the
Colonists Indirectly (or impose an external
tax) through import taxes levied before
the paper, glass, paint, and tea products
made it to the colonies, and the colonists
would not notice it…. The tax would also
pay the salaries of the Governors and
other officials, so they would not be
restrained by the power of colonial
legislative purses.
• The Colonists noticed and they Boycotted,
Tarred and feathered and protested again.
• British Merchants convinced parliament
for the need to repeal. But The British sent
an additional number of troops to Boston
to confront the protestors.
• Townsend Also Imposed the Revenue Act of 1767, which reorganized the
Customs service and created four vice-admiralty courts in colonial cities
which threatened American autonomy.
• Then he imposed the Restraining Act, which suspended the New York
assembly until the Port of New York obeyed the Quartering act and paid
for the housing of soldiers..
• Parliament was in a constant tug-ofwar between the Whigs, who believed
the colonies were more valuable as a
supplier of resources and a market for
finished products, then it was a source
of tax revenue…. And the
conservatives who wanted to take a
hard line against the colonies and
enforce the supremacy of British rule,
as well as compel taxes. When Lord
North became Prime Minister, in
1770, He tried to Compromise by
repealing all of the Townshend taxes
except the Tea Tax.
• In April of 1770, a crowd of angry citizens converged on British soldiers at their
guard post. The Soldiers in panic, fired into the crowd killing five civilians, one
was an escaped Mulatto slave named Crispus Attucks, an unemployed dock
worker. A Patriot, James Bowdoin wrote “ A Short Narrative of the Horrid
Massacre In Boston” which accused the British of deliberately planning the
killing. Others like publisher Samuel Adams perpetuated the story of the
“Massacre” John Adams,
cousin of Sam Adams, stood up
to defend the soldiers and got
them all off except one. There
was Much resentment of the
Soldiers’ presence in Boston
In addition to other reasons
Soldiers were taking jobs away
from civilians, so not all of the
hostility was political.
• In 1773, It appeared that the Navigation Acts was actually hurting the British East India
Tea Company, and since the biggest stockholder was the King, Parliament stepped in to
help.
• Because of the navigation acts, tea from India had to be brought to England to be sold
to a middleman (a British Merchant) before it could go on to the American colonies, this
increased prices severely and made black market tea from the Dutch East India Tea
Company so much cheaper that 90% of the tea sold in the colonies was Dutch. The Tea
Act allowed British Tea to go directly to the colonies, cutting out the Middle man, so
that now British tea was more competitive (cheaper) …. Even though there was a three
cent tax on it. The Colonists still protested, “no taxation without representation. The
Sons of liberty dressed up like Indians, boarded a ship, The Dartmouth, and Dumped
the tea, valued at 10,000 pounds, into the harbor.
• The Kings tea, in todays terms would have been worth $1,000,000.00, So
Parliament determined to punish all of Boston for this affront, passed the Coercive
Acts, (also Known as the Intolerable Acts) which amongst other things, Closed
Boston harbor until the tea was paid for. In response to the Coercive acts, the
Patriot leaders called for a meeting of the First Continental Congress.
Representatives from New England advocated both political Union and defensive
military preparations. Others were not ready to prepare for war and a middle
course was taken.
The 1st congress passed a
Declaration of Rights and
Grievances, which demanded
the repeal of the Coercive Acts.
The “Patriot Movement” was strongest in the
port cities where trade issues had greater
impact on citizens, but for the movement to
grow and be successful it would have to
extend into the rural areas. Farmers Generally
stayed out of politics. Their loyalties were at
home with their families and their
communities. The British demand that the
sons of farmers should be drafted into the
British military service, would push farmers
into the patriot side of the conflict.
Chesapeake Slave Owners rallied to the Patrio
cause because they were concerned The
British would seize control of the courts and
especially the assemblies in the South, if they
succeeded in doing so in Massachusetts .
The Patriot movement was a minority
movement, many Americans chose, at least
at first, to be left out, and some determined
to stay loyal to the King. The Loyalists were
Businessmen with military contracts, well to
do lawyers, royal officials, and Ministers of
the church of England. Their greatest fear
was that this would unleash Mob Rule in the
Colonies. as one Loyalist stated: “ No man
can be in more abject state of bondage than
he whose Reputation, Property, and Life are
exposed to the discretionary violence… of
the community.”
End of Chapter 5