Chapter 6 & 7-
Prelude to War
The Ohio Valley & the French and Indian War
● The Ohio Valley was very important real estate to three major North American powers
● Iroquois
● Wanted to extend their power to this region
● Colonial Americans
● Logical area for expansion as land became scare on the east coast
● French
● Link their Canadian holdings to their holdings west of the Mississippi
● George Washington’s family has a 500,000 acre claim in this region
● Washington marches troops out to a French fort in this region and attacks it (1754)
● He is eventually defested, but the first shots have been fired
Major Effects of the French and Indian War
● France gets booted out of North America
● British rack up a HUGE debt
● Soon the British will look for the colonials to pay for their own defense…
● Colonials start pouring into this newly won territory
● This leads to Pontiac’s Uprising
● Indians attack settlements and forts throughout Ohio Valley
● Several thousand settlers are killed and most of the British forts are burned
● British respond brutally by attacking villages and spreading smallpox on purpose
● Because of this huge debt the British do not want anymore conflict
● Proclamation Act of 1763: prohibited colonial settlement west of the Appalachians
● This angers the colonials
● Proclamation is completely ignored by the colonials
Roots of the Revolution
●
Republicanism
● A just society in which
● Citizens sacrifice their own good for the good of society
● Citizens strived to be virtuous
● Citizens were very involved with gov’t/community
●
Radical Whigs
● This British political party feared the gov’t taking away hard won rights
● Americans were influenced by these individuals and were on alert 24/7 about threats to their liberty
●
Vast distance between Great Britain and the colonies
Mercantilism
●
Mercantilism: an economic system in which a nation strives for self-sufficiency
●
Colonies were basically looked at as way to enrich the Mother Country
● Provide raw materials
● Buy finished products
●
Trading with other nations was frowned upon and usually illegal
● Navigation Laws: an attempt by the British to block out other nations (Dutch) from trading with the colonies
Effects of Mercantilism on Colonies
● Negative Effects
● Currency Shortage
● Trade imbalance meant that gold and silver flowed out of the
colonies
● Colonies were forced to issue paper currency suffered
massive levels of inflation
● Many colonists had to rely on bartering
● Stunted industry
● Nullification of colonial laws that interfered with
mercantilism
● Positive Effects
● Southern tobacco planters had a monopoly
● “Strict Laws” were rarely enforced
● John Hancock
● New England shipbuilding
● Colonies were protected by the strongest navy and army in the world
French & Indian War = Huge Debt = Stamp Act
● Prime Minister George Grenville was forced to take action to respond to this huge debt
● Passes a series of taxes/laws meant to raise revenue to pay for the defense of the colonies
● Enforcement of Navigation Laws
● Stop smuggling and increase tax revenue
● Proclamation Act of 1763
● Avoid expensive conflict with Native Americans
● Sugar Act of 1764
● Taxed sugar coming from the West Indies
● Violators were not allowed trial by jury
● Quartering Act of 1765
● Colonies had to provide food and shelter for British troops in the colonies
● Stamp Act of 1765
● Required use of paper that had stamps on it to certify payment
● British citizens paid a heavier stamp tax
● Violators were not allowed trial by jury (Admiralty courts)
More on the Dreaded Stamp Act
● Stamp Act brought on calls of “No taxation without representation”
● No Americans in Parliament
● British argued that there was “Virtual Representation”
● All British politicians represented all British subjects
● Colonists did not truthfully want to be represented in Parliament, because they would be a minority…. They just didn’t want to pay taxes
Resistance to Stamp Act
● Stamp Act Congress (1765)
● Beseeched the British to repeal
● Non-importation Agreements (Boycotts)
● Colonists stopped buying British goods
● Very effective… actually resulted in rising unemployment back in England
● Colonists bought 25% all British goods
● Major blow to British textile industry
● Colonists actually stopped eating lamb to allow the animals to produce wool and then the colonists began making their own clothes
● Sons of Liberty
● Led by Samuel Adams
● Extreme and often violent (tarred and feathered British officials)
● Tax collectors were intimidated to the point where they stopped collecting
● Success… the British repealed the Stamp Act, but also pass the
Declaratory Act which stated that Parliament still had the right to tax the colonies
Tea Anyone…
● Townshend Acts (1767)
● Taxes on glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea
● Tea was especially annoying
● Taxes were meant to pay for royal governors & judges
● Smuggling of tea in Boston increased to the point that the British sent troops to restore law and order
● Boston Massacre (1770)
● British troops egged on by a mob fired into a crowd
killing/wounding 11 people including Crispus Attucks (an African-American) the leader of the mob
Effects of the Townshend Acts
●
A really bad policy for the British
●
It angered the colonists and didn’t raise any money
● It raised 295 pounds in one year while the British annual costs were 170,000 pounds
● Lord North, the new Prime Minister, got rid of most of the taxes
●
Samuel Adams helped create Committees of Correspondence
● Opened lines of communication between the colonies…
helping to spread grievances
Boston Tea Party (1773)
● British East India Company was
allowed to establish a monopoly on tea in the colonies
● The tea was cheap, but it made many Americans angry… They felt they were being tricked into paying taxes
● Boston Tea Party
● 100ish Bostonians boarded ships and dumped the tea
● Effects
● Intolerable Acts (1774)
● Boston Port Act closed down the port
● Quartering Act forced Bostonians to lodge British troops
● Quebec Act
The Last Straw
● The Intolerable Acts- 1774
● Goal was to punish Massachusetts for challenging Great Britain
● 2000 “Lobsterbacks” are sent to Boston
● British Actions/Demands
● Boston Port Act
● All gov’t officials would be appointed by British, and no longer elected
● Banned town meetings
● British soldiers could not be tried by American juries
● Americans had to provide lodgings for British troops
● Colonial Reactions
● Flags flown at half staff
● Colonies sent food to Boston
● First Continental Congress is summoned
1
stContinental Congress (1774)
●
Not a legislative body, but instead only for consultation
●
John Adams pushes successfully for a revolutionary stance
●
Actions Taken by CC
● Declaration of Rights
● Rejected
● Petition to the King
● Rejected
● The Association
● Complete boycott of British goods (import, export, and consumption)
● At this point independence is not talked about
Bloodshed!!!
●
Law and Order breaks down
● Violators of The Association are tarred and feathered
● Minutemen Militias began forming across the colonies
● Colonies were quickly training and arming colonial militias
● Some even raided British arm depots
●
British officials decided that bold move was needed
● British troops are sent to take rebel munitions and capture rebel ringleaders (Samuel Adams and John Hancock)
Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775)
● Battle of Lexington
● 8 Patriots are killed in the fighting
● Battle of Concord
● 100’s of Minutemen are waiting and force the British to retreat back to Boston
● But along the way Minutemen swarm and begin shooting at the British from behind trees, walls, and buildings
● By the time the British Redcoats make it back to Boston they have lost 99 men and suffered 174 wounded
The Dawn of the Revolution
● Loyalists (Tories)
● Consisted about 1/3 of the population
● New York, Carolinas, & Georgia
● Remained loyal to the King
● Many during the Revolution fled to England or Canada
● Some joined the British Army and fought against the colonials
● Patriots
● Consisted about 2/3 of the population
● Soft 2/3
● New England and Virginia
● Fearlessly independent
● Hated loyalists
● Many in the Colonies had mixed views about the Revolution
● Was not only a War of Independence but a civil war as well
British Strengths and Weaknesses
● Strengths
● Population
● $$$
● Hired Hessian mercenaries to fight in the war
● Professional Army
● Huge Navy
● Largest navy in the world
● Could cut off the colonies
● Thousands of Loyalists supported them
● Weaknesses
● Enemies Everywhere
● Ireland was close to rebellion
● France is looking for payback
● Unwillingness amongst many to fight their “cousins”
● Whig party actually favored the American cause
● Supply problems
● 15 year old biscuts
● Had to conquer a “nation” that had no center
● Taking American cities had no impact on the war
● Distance and Communication issues
American Strengths and Weaknesses
● Strengths
● Leadership
● George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson
● European recruits
● Marquis de Lafayette
● Baron von Steuben
● Defensive war or just survive
● Just Cause
● Willing allies
● Weaknesses
● Lack of unity amongst states
● Many American merchants actually sold to the British
instead of the Continental Army
● Sectional jealousy
● Inflation
● Lack of supplies
● Almost no industry in the colonies
● Little military knowledge or training
● American troops often broke and ran away during battle
● Desertion was a huge problem