THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:FROM GENTRY PROTEST TO POPULAR REVOLT, 1763-1783

America: Past and Present

Chapter 5

Contested Meanings of Empire

1760s an optimistic post-war period– Striking ethnic and racial diversity– 60% of population under 21 years old– High level of post-war prosperity– Wealth unevenly distributed

Americans proud to be part of Europe’s most thriving, prosperous empire

Breakdown of Political Trust

1760--George III ascended throne Suspicions on both sides of the Atlantic

that Crown wished to enlarge its powers Conflict over Parliamentary sovereignty

– English officials assumed that Parliament must have ultimate authority

– Colonists tried to reserve internal colonial authority for their own legislatures

No Taxation Without Representation: the American

Perspective Colonists assume their legislatures

equal in some ways to Parliament Americans not represented at all in

Parliament Only colonial assemblies could tax

Americans

Appeal to Political Virtue

John Locke, "Commonwealthmen" inform colonial political thought

All governments believed susceptible to corruption into “tyranny”– “Tyranny” understood as any attempt to

encroach upon the people's liberty “Virtuous” citizens, alert to rights and

determined to live free, resist tyranny

Challenge and Resistance: Eroding the Bonds of Empire

Large, expensive army left in America at the end of the Seven Years’ War

Colonists doubted the army’s value Pontiac’s War

– Exposed the British army’s weakness– Revealed the desperate situation of Native

Americans after withdrawal of French Colonists determined to settle trans-

Appalachian West

Paying off the National Debt

First minister George Grenville attempts to reduce England’s war debt

Revenue Act of 1764 (the Sugar Act) Merchants and gentry protest, most

colonists ignore

Mobilizing the People

1765--Stamp Act requires that colonists purchase stamp to validate documents

Unites the gentry and the mass of the population in protest

Protest includes mob riots, boycotts Stamp Act Congress petitions the King

and Parliament for repeal

Saving Face

1766--New administration in office, favors repeal of Stamp Act

Repeal tied to Declaratory Act of 1766– Parliament sovereign over America "in all

cases whatsoever" Controversy estranges colonists from

English officials

A Foolish Boast: Tea and Sovereignty

Charles Townshend: chancellor of the exchequer

1767--Townshend Duties tax American imports of paper, lead, glass, and tea

American Board of Customs Commissioners created to collect duties

Response to the Townshend Duties

Sons of Liberty organize boycott of English goods

Circular letter from Massachusetts House of Representatives urges protest

92 Massachusetts Representatives defy government order to rescind letter

Creating Patriotic Martyrs

English government moves troops from frontier to Boston to save money

Tensions increased March 5, 1770--English soldiers fired on

Boston mob, killed five Americans– Incident labeled a “massacre”– Paul Revere engraving a best-seller

Tensions defused by Lord North

Last Days of the Old Order, 1770-1773

1770--New prime minister, Lord North, leads repeal of all duties except tea

1770-1773 marked by tranquility Customs collectors antagonize colonists Radicals protest tea tax as violation of

American rights Committees of correspondence built up

alternative political structure

The Final Provocation: The Boston Tea Party

1773--Parliament passes Tea Act– Designed to help the East India Company

by making its sale cheaper in America Americans interpret as a subtle ploy to

get them to consume taxed tea December 1773--Boston protestors

dump the tea into the harbor

English Reaction:The Coercive Acts

Port of Boston closed until tea paid for Massachusetts government restructured

– Upper house made appointive body– Town meetings permitted only once per year

Accused officials to be tried in England, not America

Army authorized to quarter troops wherever needed

The Quebec Act:An Error in Timing

Quebec Act establishes authoritarian government for Canada

Colonists interpret Act as final proof of Parliamentary plot to enslave America

Mainland colonies rally to support Boston, protest the British blockade

The Ultimate Crisis

Parliament’s insistence on supremacy would make rebellion unavoidable

Ben Franklin suggests Parliament secure colonial loyalty by renouncing claim to supremacy

Parliament rejects Franklin’s advice

Decision for Independence

September 1774--First Continental Congress in response to Coercive Acts

Congress commends “Suffolk Resolves” urging forcible resistance

Intercolonial “Association” halts commerce with Britain until Coercive Acts repealed

Shots Heard Around the World

April 19, 1775--skirmish breaks out in Lexington, Massachusetts

Fighting spread along road between Lexington, Concord, Boston

English retreat to Boston with heavy losses

Beginning “The World over Again:” Early War Effort

June 1775--Congress appoints George Washington commander of Boston force

English government blockades colonial ports, hires German mercenaries

Royal governors urge slaves to take up arms against their masters

Beginning “The World over Again:” Decision for

Independence January 1776--Thomas Paine’s

Common Sense urges independence July 2, 1776--Independence voted by

Congress July 4--Declaration of Independence

issued

Fighting for Independence

English task– Meet challenge of long supply line– Use better-trained army to occupy territory– Crush the popular spirit of independence

Washington’s task– Defend territory as well as possible– Keep his army intact

Militia’s role: compel support for Revolution

Testing the American Will, July-August 1776

American army routed on Long Island New York City captured Washington forced to retreat through

New Jersey British obtain thousands of “Oaths of

Allegiance” in wake of retreat

"Times That Try Men's Souls"

December 25, 1776--Washington captures Trenton

January 3, 1777--Washington captures Princeton

Victories rekindle wartime patriotism British consolidate forces, leave territory

in patriot control

Victory in a Year of Defeat:Campaigns of 1777

British campaign for New York under John Burgoyne defeated at Saratoga

British capture Philadelphia under General William Howe

Washington's army winters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

The French Alliance

Saratoga prompts British suit for peace to prevent Franco-American alliance

Terms include repeal of all laws since 1763, respect for colonial taxation rights

February 1778--Americans ally with France to secure full independence

The Final Campaign

Spring 1780--English capture Savannah and Charleston

August 1780--American army routed at Camden, South Carolina

Nathaniel Greene’s forces deal several defeats to English under Cornwallis

October 19 1781--Cornwallis surrenders to Washington’s combined forces

The Loyalist Dilemma

Loyalists treated poorly by both sides English never fully trusted Loyalists Patriots seize property, imprison,

execute some More than 100,000 Loyalists leave U.S.

at war’s end

Winning the Peace

Peace Treaty of 1783 negotiated by Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay

Terms secured by playing France against England, include– independence – U.S. gains all territory east of Mississippi

River, between Canada and Florida– U.S. secures fishing rights in North Atlantic

Post-Colonial Experience

The American Revolution begins construction of new form of government

Question remains: a government of the elite or a government of the people?