The Road To Revolution
1763-1775
The French & Indian War Ends
The war was extremely costly for Great
Britain.
American colonists were content as English
citizens in the New World.
They only sought the “rights of an
Englishman.”
Deep Roots of Revolution
Republicanism
In true republicanism spirit, all citizens
willingly give up their private, selfish
interests.
They devote themselves to the “common
good,” or the “good of the whole.”
Radical Whigs
Colonists who feared that their liberties
would be taken away by the monarch and
his ministers.
Always on guard against corruption in
government.
Mother England
Distance weakens
authority.
Great distance
weakens authority
greatly!
The American Colonies
There were no titled nobility in the colonies.
Property ownership and political
participation was common.
Mercantilism
Wealth is power and a country’s economic
wealth can be measured in the amount of
gold and silver in its treasury.
EXPORT MORE THAN YOU IMPORT
Colonies - Raw materials
England - reduced need for foreign imports
Navigation Law of 1650
All commerce in and
out of the colonies
must be transported by
British ships.
This included colonial
vessels.
European goods
heading to colonies
must first pass through
England for tariffs
No Hard Money
Gold and Silver were
scarce in the American
Colonies
Gold and Silver are
called hard money
No Hard Money
Colonists used butter, nails, pitch, feathers,
etc. for exchange
Colonies issued paper notes, which quickly
depreciated in value
Currency Act
English Parliament prohibited colonial
legislatures from printing money.
This angered the colonists because there
was a shortage of necessary cash.
Parliament’s Hand In America
The British Crown
could nullify any law
passed by a colonial
legislature
Only used 469/8,563
colonial laws
Colonists fiercely
resented this right of
Parliament
Colonial Rebellion
Colonists would disregard or ignore
restrictions placed on them by Parliament.
1st American fortunes came from smuggling
John Hancock
Colonial Advantages
Colonists made a large profit from
producing ship parts.
Virginia had a monopoly on the tobacco
market in colonies and in Britain.
Colonies were protected by the world’s
strongest Navy and Army of Redcoats.
Feeling Used…
Colonists felt used in the mercantilism
system.
Colonists were dependent on British agents
and creditors.
ENGLAND
After The Seven Years’ War, England had
the largest empire in the world.
They also owed a tremendous debt for
protecting its empire.
England’s debt was over L 140,000,000
Half of which was spent defending the
American Colonies.
George Grenville
Grenville became
Head of the Treasury
Introduced several
taxes on the American
colonies.
Felt America should
shoulder some of the
costs of the 7 Years’
War
Sugar Act of 1764
Increased tax on foreign sugar imported
from the West Indies
Quartering Act of 1765
Required certain colonies to provide food
and quarters for British troops.
Stamp Act of 1765
Stamped paper that certified the payment of
an appropriate tax
ex. Playing cards, pamphlets, newspapers,
diplomas, bills of laden, marriage licenses.
Grenville
Colonists saw Grenville as an aggressive
tax collector.
Some colonies refused to comply with the
new laws.
Colonists wondered why the British Army
was still needed in the colonies after the
French and Indian War.
“No taxation without
representation.”
This becomes the rallying cry of the
colonists who disliked Grenville’s taxes.
Irony – Not all the colonies allowed
representation.
Colonies didn’t want members of the House
of Commons – they would be the minority
and the taxes would be passed anyway.
Actual Stamp on Newspapers
The colonists hated the
Stamp Act
Stamp Act Congress of 1765
The Stamp Act Congress met in New York
City with 27 delegates representing 9
colonies.
Drew up a statement of rights and
grievances.
Asked King and Parliament to repeal Stamp
Act
Their pleas were ignored in England
Non-Importation Agreement
The Stamp Act Congress agreed voluntarily
not to purchase imported goods from Great
Britain to show disapproval of the tax.
Widespread success
Taxation without Representation
The Sons of Liberty
The Daughters of Liberty
Took law into their own hands and violently
enforced the non-importation agreement.
Mobs destroyed homes of unpopular
officials
TAX COLLECTION BROKE DOWN
Stamp Act Mobs
Mobs forced tax collectors to resign from
their posts.
There were no agents left on the day the
Stamp Act went into effect.
Law was openly defied!
England Hit Hard
Colonies bought ¼ of British exports
½ British shipping devoted to colonial trade
Non-importation hurt British economy
Many laborers lost jobs in England
Repeal of Stamp Act
The British Parliament repealed the Stamp
Act in 1766
BUT passed the Declaratory Act of 1766 –
declared its “absolute” sovereignty over its
North American colonies.
Charles Townshend
“Champagne” Charley
British Prime Minister
Could give great
orations in Parliament
while completely
drunk!
Townshend Acts of 1767
Light taxes on glass, white lead, paper,
paint, and tea.
These were indirect customs taxes at the
ports, unlike the Stamp Tax.
However, colonists did not overlook the tax,
and they were rebellious after the Stamp
Act victory
Colonists & Teas
1,000,000 colonists
drank tea twice a day
Townshend Acts –
revenue went to pay
royal governors and
judges
Colonists were again
angered
London
Parliament shut down the New York
colonial legislature for failure to follow the
Quartering Act
Colonists found that smuggled tea was
cheaper
Smuggling was high in Massachusetts
John Hancock
Boston
Because of rebellious
actions of colonies,
Britain sent 2
regiments of troops to
Boston to face the
breakdown of law and
order - 1768
Boston Massacre
March 5, 1770
60 Bostonians attacked 10 British soldiers
with clubs
Troops opened fire and killed 11 “innocent”
citizens
1st to die – Crispus Attucks – “mullato”
African American leader of the mob
King George III
In 1770, King George
III was 32 years old
Good man in private
morals
Bad ruler
Stubborn and lustful
for power
Townshend Acts Fail
The Townshend Acts failed to generate any
sort of revenue
However, they did produce near rebellion
from the colonists
Lord North – King’s “yes man” repealed the
Townshend Acts but kept a 3 pence tax on
tea…angered colonists
Samuel Adams
From Boston
Cousin of John Adams
His hands trembled
Lived and breathed
politics
Zealous, courageous,
tenacious, faith in
common people
Adams cont…
Samuel Adams organized local committees
of correspondence to spread resistance to
British laws
Virginia followed Adams’ idea in 1773
Soon, every colony had a central exchange
system
Tea
By 1773, colonists
were paying the tax on
tea
Legal tea was cheaper
than smuggled tea
Even cheaper than tea
in England
Problems with Tea
The government in London awarded the
British East India Company a monopoly on
American colonial tea trade – 1773
This principle of monopoly outraged the
colonists
Colonists protested and forced all ships with
BEIC tea to return to England with a full
cargo (Philadelphia and New York City)
Gov. Thomas Hutchinson
Governor of Mass.
Hated by colonists
Ordered tea ships not
to clear Boston Harbor
until tea was unloaded
Colonists refused the
ship to unload its
cargo
Boston Tea Party
Band of Bostonians
load the ship dressed
as Indians
They smash 342
chests of tea and
dumped it into Boston
Harbor
Hutchinson left MA
for England
Intolerable Acts
Parliament passed a series of acts to punish
Boston and Massachusetts for the acts of the
Boston Tea Party and other defiant actions
of the colonists.
Many colonial charter rights were taken
away from MA – restrictions on town
meetings
Boston Port Act of 1774
Closed Boston Harbor until damages were
paid and order was restored.
Quebec Act of 1774
Boundaries of Quebec
were extended South
to the Ohio River –
trans-Allegheny area
was snatched away
from the colonists.
Continental Congress of 1774
A congress was called to meet in
Philadelphia from Sept. 5 – Oct. 26, 1774
Met to consider ways to address their
concerns to the King
12/13 colonies – 55 delegates (GA)
Sam Adams, John Adams, George
Washington, Patrick Henry
Continental Congress of 1774
This was more of a convention than a Congress
that makes laws.
Congress created The Association – called for a
complete boycott of British goods; nonimportation, non-exportation, and nonconsumption
DELGATES DID NOT CALL FOR
INDEPENDENCE !!!!!
Congress would meet again May 1775
April 1775
British troops were sent to
Lexington and Concord to
seize stores of gunpowder
They were to capture Sam
Adams and John Hancock
8 Americans killed @
Lexington
Redcoats were forced to
retreat from Concord
300 dead British soldiers
The Revolutionary War
Begins
The fight for America’s
Independence
War Against A Mighty Empire
7.5 million British citizens
2.5 million American colonists
British Army of 50,000 men
30,000 Hessian mercenaries
50,000 American Loyalists
Indians
130,000 + British troops for the war…
British Parliament
Parliament was
confused and inept
No more William Pitt
Brits didn’t want to
kill American cousins
Some Brits openly
cheered the colonists
British Army In America
British Generals in America were 2nd rate
and untrained
Provisions for troops were scarce, rancid
and wormy
One load of biscuits for the troops had been
confiscated from French – 15 year old
biscuits – a cannon ball dropped on them to
soften them up…
Britain
3,000 miles away from home
Delays
Uncertainty
Obvious communications problems
American was HUGE – 1,000 miles X 600
miles
Parliament’s Reaction
Parliament and the King rejected all of the
Continental Congress’ petitions
Colonists began to drill openly in the streets
with their militias
A clash seemed certain
Lexington and Concord
April 1775 – British troops were sent to
Lexington and Concord to seize stores of
gunpowder and capture Sam Adams and
John Adams to be hanged
8 Americans killed and several wounded at
Lexington
Redcoats forced to retreat from Concord
300 dead British Redcoats
The American Revolution
War Begins
Great American Leaders
George Washington
Benjamin Franklin
Marquis de Lafayette
Fled from France
because of boredom
Loved glory
Ultimately loved
liberty
19 years old when he
became Major General
in American Army
Moral Advantage
They believed the war was a just cause
BUT, they were badly organized for war
Lacked unity, states saw themselves as
sovereign
“Continentals” – paper money printed in
great quantity – became worthless