Triumph and Tensions: The British Empire in America, 1750-1776

1. Chapter 5 Roads to Revolution, 1750-1776

2. Introduction • 4 questions addressed in Ch. 5 • How did Britain and its colonies view their joint victory over France in the Seven Years’ War? • How did colonial resistance to the Stamp Act differ from earlier opposition to British imperial measure? • In what ways did colonists’ views of parliamentary authority change after 1770? • What led most colonists in 1776 to abandon their loyalty to Britain and choose national independence?

3. Triumph and Tensions: The British Empire, 1750-1763 • A Fragile Peace, 1750-1754 • Since neither France or Britain gained dominance in North America, the skirmishing in the Ohio Valley continued • 1753=French began building a series of forts between the Ohio River and LA • Drive out colonial traders from the Valley • George Washington led an expedition to block the French and it failed. • This left the Anglo-American frontier in danger

4. Triumph and Tensions: The British Empire (cont.) • Albany Congress • The attempt of the 7 colonies north of VA to forge an effective defensive union with the help of the Iroquois • 1754 • Albany Plan • Colonial legislatures refused to relinquish any of their authority over taxation • No Colonies approved it • http://www.constitution.org/bcp/albany.htm

5. The Seven Years’ War in America • 1754-1760 • A.k.a. French and Indian War • After the Anglo-French clash in 1754 led by George Washington, war broke out in America • 1756, full scale hostilities between Britain and France resumed throughout the globe (Seven Years’ War)

6. The Seven Years’ War in America (cont.) • At first British colonist fared poorly • France’s Indian allies raided western settlements • French seized key forts and threatened central NY and western New England • British did very little actual fighting in North America • Offered $$$ to colonist to fight for the British

7. The Seven Years’ War in America (cont.) • Colonist flocked to the War and drove the French from NY and much of the western frontier • Their success was aided by the decision of the Iroquois and other Ohio tribes to stop helping the French • After the fall of Quebec and Montreal, French resistance crumbled

8. Seven Years’ War in America 1754-1760 (cont.)

9. The End of French North America, 1760-1763 • Treaty of Paris (1763) officially ended Seven Years’ War • France ceded all of its North American territories east of the Mississippi River to Britain • And all of its territories west of the Mississippi River as well as New Orleans to Spain

10. The End of French North America, 1760-1763 (cont.)

11. The End of French North America, 1760-1763 (cont.) • During the Seven Years’ War, the British expelled many French Canadians from Acadia (Nova Scotia) because the English feared the Acadians were still loyal to France • Some of the Acadians migrated to LA, where their descendents became known as Cajuns

12. The End of French North America, 1760-1763 (cont.) • The British triumph in the Seven Years’ War initially bond the colonists to the mother country • Soon though the sowed discord between the them

13. The Writs of Assistance, 1760-1761 • Writs of assistance=blanket search warrants • Permitted officials to enter any ship or building to search for smuggled goods and seize them • British customs officers used the writs of assistance to crack down on smuggling (mostly of French goods) • Very effective

14. The Writs of Assistance, 1760-1761 (cont.) • Colonists protested • Writs violated traditional English guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure • And that Parliament had violated their rights as Englishmen

15. Anglo-American Friction • After the Seven Years’ War, GB tried to tighten control over its expanded colonial empire • Imposed new taxes on Englishmen at home and overseas to finance the administration of the colonies • This aroused opposition on both economic and constitutional grounds

16. Anglo-American Friction (cont.) • George III became King in 1760 • Wanted to govern more actively • His policies and frequent ministerial changes further upset British-American relations

17. Anglo-American Friction (cont.) • British supremacy in eastern North America opened the door to conflict between the mother country and the colonists • The Seven Years’ War left the British people with a hug debt and heavy taxes • The British wondered why should the colonists be repaid for their war efforts, while they were left to suffer under their financial burdens?

18. Frontier Tensions • The British were upset that they now had expand more $$$$ and military effort to put down Indian uprisings caused by the western surge of colonists beyond the Appalachians

19. Frontier Tensions (cont.) • Proclamation of 1763 • Issued by GB to pacify Chief Pontiac • Forbidding whites to settle beyond the crest of mountains until the British King had negotiated treaties with the Indians under which they agreed to cede their lands • http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/proc63.htm

20. Frontier Tensions (cont.) • The colonists were angered by this interference with their western land claims • Continuing to protect the frontier and consolidate control over the newly acquired territories would cost around 6% of the peacetime budget • British govt. officials saw no reason that the colonials should not be taxed to help defray the expense

21. Imperial Authority, Colonial Opposition, 1763-1766 • Introduction • British tried to finance its empire through a series of revenue measures (Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Declaratory Act) • Enforce these and other measures directly rather than relying on local authorities • Colonists protested in reaction • Successful • Growing division between British and colonial perceptions about the nature of their relationship

22. The Sugar Act, 1764 • Import duties on sugar and other items to raise $$$$ for the British treasury • Taxes and restrictions burdened Mass., NY, and Penn. Merchants in particularly • Mostly affected merchants that imported or exported goods • Accused smugglers were to be tried in vice-admiralty courts • No juries • Judges who had a financial stake in finding the defendants guilty • Violated long-standing guarantee to a fair trial

23. The Stamp Act Crisis, 1765-1766 • 1765=Stamp Act was proposed by Prime Minister George Grenville • Needed $$$because Sugar was not bringing in enough • Parliament passed it in 1765

24. The Stamp Act Crisis, 1765-1766 (cont.) • Required colonists to purchase from government revenue agents special stamped paper • Periodicals, customs documents, licenses, diplomas, deeds, other legal forms • Violators would be tried in vice-admiralty courts • Internal tax • Affected more colonials than the Sugar Act • http://www.history.org/history/teaching/tchcrsta.cfm

25. The Stamp Act Crisis, 1765-1766 (cont.) • Colonists objected to Parliament’s ability to impose on them internal or external taxes designed to raise revenue because they elected no representatives to Parliament • Colonists said only their own colonial legislatures had the authority to tax them • Colonists conceded that Parliament might regulate trade within the empire, but there could be “no taxation without representation”

26. Resisting the Stamp Act, 1765-1766 • Patrick Henry proposed resolutions against Parliament • Said Parliament did not have the right to tax the colonies • 1765, VA House of Burgesses passed the resolution

27. Resisting the Stamp Act, 1765-1766 (cont.) • 8 other colonial assemblies passed resolutions against Parliament • Loyal Nine • Boston • Group of artisans, shopkeepers, and businessmen • Fight the Stamp Act • Sons of Liberty • Similar to Loyal Nine • Rose up in other cities

28. Resisting the Stamp Act, 1765-1766 (cont.) • Loyal Nine and Sons of Liberty directed outraged mobs in attacks on the homes and property of stamp distributors • all of the distributors resigned their posts • Oct. 1765=representatives from 9 colonies • Stamp Act Congress in New York • they reiterated the principle of no taxation without representation and no parliamentary denial of trial by jury and other English liberties

29. Resisting the Stamp Act, 1765-1766 (cont.) • American merchants boycotted all English merchants • Most influential action of colonists • Decrease in their sales led British businessmen to plead for repeal of the Stamp Act

30. The Declaratory Act, 1766 • March 1766 • Parliament revoked the Stamp Act • But adopted the Declaratory Act • Restating Parliament’s right to tax and legislate for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”

31. The Declaratory Act, 1766 (cont.) • The colonists rejoiced the repeal of the the Stamp Act • Disbanded the Sons of Liberty • Concluded that the mother country would return to its earlier limited governance

32. Ideology, Religion, and Resistance • Resistance to the Stamp Act had revealed a deep split in thinking between England and its colonists • Many thought Parliament’s actions were a conspiracy of a corrupt government to deny them their natural rights and liberties • John Locke’s ideas, 18th century English radicals, educated colonists, classical philosophers, etc. • It was their duty of the free people to resist

33. Ideology, Religion, and Resistance (cont.) • Protestant clergymen (except Anglicans and pacifist Quakers) preached sermons to all classes of colonists backing the views of resistance to GB • They declared that “solidarity against British tyranny and ‘corruption’ meant rejecting sin and obeying God.”

34. Resistance Resumes, 1766-1770 • Opposing the Quartering Act, 1766-1767 • Charles Townhend • New chancellor of the Exchequer • Looked to the colonies for much-needed revenue

35. Opposing the Quartering Act, 1766-1767 (cont.) • Parliament was angry with New York’s refusal to comply with the Quartering Act • Parliament was ready to crack down on colonial self-government • http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h641.html

36. Crisis over the Townshend Duties, 1767-1770 • Revenue Act of 1767 (Townshend duties) • Imposed taxes on glass, paint, lead, paper, and tea imported into the colonies • Townshend had intended to set aside part of the tax money to pay the salaries of royal governors

37. Crisis over the Townshend Duties, 1767-1770 (cont.) • Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania • John Dickinson • Expressed majority American view • Parliament could use duties to keep trade within the empire but not to raise revenue as the Townshend duties did • Samuel Adam’s “circular letter” made the same point • Mass. Legislature sent it to other colonial assemblies

38. Crisis over the Townshend Duties, 1767-1770 (cont.) • August 1768=Boston merchants adopted a nonimportation agreement that spread to other cities • 1770=Lord North (new British Prime Minister) eliminated most of the duties • Kept the tea duty • Colonial leaders called for a policy of nonconsumption of tea (refused to drink British tea)

39. Women and Colonial Resistance • White women’s participation in public affairs had been widening slowly and unevenly in the colonies for several decades • Daughters of Liberty play a part of defeating the Stamp Act • To protest the Revenue Act’s tax on tea, more than 300 “mistresses of families” in Boston denounced consumption of tea

40. Women and Colonial Resistance (cont.) • Women bolstered the boycott by refusing to serve taxed tea • organized spinning bees to produce homespun apparel rather than buy British-made clothing

41. Customs “Racketeering”, 1767-1768 • Corruption of customs officials • Seized ships and cargoes for technical violations of the Navigation and Sugar Acts • Broke open sailors’ chests to search for small amounts of undeclared merchandise • Contributed to Americans’ growing alienation form the mother country • Violent attacks by seamen and others on customs inspectors happened more frequently • Liberty in Boston

42. “Wilkes and Liberty”, 1768-1770 • Boycotts only reduced imports by about 40% • Hurt British merchants and artisans enough to make them to implore Parliament to rescind its taxes • Part of a larger protest by English citizens against King George III and Parliament • John Wilkes led this protest • Felt the King and Parliament was dominated by a few elite wealthy landowners and not concerned about the “common” person

43. “Wilkes and Liberty”, 1768-1770 • Govt. arrested Wilkes • Denied Wilkes a seat in the House of Commons (he had been elected to it) • The govt.’s actions prompted dissident Englishmen and American colonists to further question the authority of an unpresentative Parliament

44. The Deepening Crisis, 1770-1774 • The way in which British officials enforced Parliament’s trade regulations made more and more colonials broaden their cry from “no taxation without representation” to “no legislation at all without representation.” • The British responded to the violence of the Liberty incident by sending another 4,000 soldiers to Boston, • their presence was hotly resented

45. The Boston Massacre • http://www.bostonmassacre.net/ • British soldiers were trying to enforce the Townshend Act • March 5, 1770 • Group of British soldiers at a guard post in front of the customs office fired into a disorderly crowd that was hurling dares, insults, and objects at them • 5 civilians killed • 6 more wounded

46. The Boston Massacre (cont.)

47. The Boston Massacre (cont.) • Mass. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson promised to try the soldiers, and the British removed their troops to a fortified island in Boston harbor. • John Adams was the lawyer for the redcoats • 4 of the 6 were acquitted • http://www.history.com/media.do?action=clip&id=gahq_kid_jane_seymour_broadband

49. The Committees of Correspondence, 1772-1773 • 1772=Lord North revived trouble when he prepared to implement Townshend’s plan to pay royal governor’s salaries out of customs revenue • Sam Adams and others responded by organizing committees of correspondence in each New England town to exchange information and coordinate activities in defense of colonial rights

50. The Committees of Correspondence (cont.) • March 1773 • Virginians also set up a committee of correspondence • Within a year every colony but Pennsylvania had such committees that linked Americans together in a communications web