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Ray King
Mr. King's Social Studies
Friday, October 3, 2014
HUS I and US I 10-3-14
New
Tensions Strain
Old Loyalties
Old Loyalties
Unit
3
1763
Great
Britain had won over its rivals
Great
Britain now could claim an empire that circled the globe
Battered
units of the British army and navy were returning home to their families
British
military personnel were being sent to far-flung outposts of the empire
French
statesman Count Vergennes – “The American colonies stand no longer in need of
England’s protecting. She will call on them to help contribute
toward supporting the burden they have helped to bring on her, and they will answer by
striking off all dependence.”
War
Debt
British
had fought four costly wars between 1689 and 1763
The
Seven Years War had seen British troops fighting in America, Europe, Asia, and
Africa
All
of these years had left Great Britain heavily in debt
British
government now needed even more money to maintain the military and naval
defenses of its expanding worldwide empire
British
leaders expected the American colonies, who were also subjects of the king, to
help pay the war debts and the cost of their defense
British
government now had to collect more taxes from their American colonists
Florida
and Canada
Governments
of Florida and Canada had to be reorganized
Spaniards
and Frenchmen, long time enemies, were now British subjects
British
subjects in name only
How
could they be made loyal subjects?
What
kind of government would work best in these newly acquired regions?
Western
Lands
Government
had to be organized for the wilderness beyond the Appalachian Mountains
All
semblance of law and order had vanished since the defeat of the French
1763
– Natives, fearful of British colonists crossing the Appalachians and
destroying their hunting grounds, rose up in revolt under the leadership of
Pontiac
For
nearly a year, settlers fled eastward as flames of their burning cabin and war
whoops range all around them
Claims
to the Western Lands
How
to deal with western lands?
1)
Led by the Hudson Bay Company who was only interested in the fur trade; thus,
urged the government to keep settlers from moving across the mountains
2)
Colonists urged the government to do all it could to develop the western lands
as a farming region
3)
several colonies claim to own the lands beyond the Appalachians; these claims
were based on the original charters with such phrases as “from sea to sea”
Opposing
Views
George
III, surrounded by yes men, viewed the colonies as only dependencies of Great
Britain
British
pointed out that they had saved the colonists from the French and Indians; that
the British army and navy protected the colonies; therefore, the colonists
should help pay part of the cost for protecting them
Colonists
– the war was now over and they simply wanted to be left alone to pursue their
own interests without being bothered with problems of holding the empire
together
George
III
Came
to the throne in 1760 at the death of George II
Died
mentally insane in 1820
Proclamation
of 1763
Announced
by George III
All
lands west of the Appalachian Mountains in the area formerly claimed by France
now belonged to the British Crown
Ordered
all settlers to withdraw temporarily to the east of a line along the crest of
the Appalachian Mountains (Proclamation Line)
This
would reduce tension between the colonists and the Natives
Royal
control was extended over the fur trade of the entire western region, no trader
was permitted to cross the mountains without the permission of British
officials
Average
Englishman saw this as reasonable
Americans,
eager to settle this land, were filled with resentment of this Proclamation
Proclamation
Line of 1763
Sugar
Act of 1764
Parliament
hoped to raise money toward the expenses of “protecting and securing” the
colonies against attack
Duty
placed on molasses, sugar, and other products imported from palaces outside the
British Empire
Naval
patrols began to inspect ships entering harbors
Royal
inspectors started searching warehouse and even private residences for smuggled
goods
Collectors
offered a share of the confiscated goods if they turned in their friends and
neighbors
Interfered
with the business fo colonial merchants, ship owners, and distillers of rum –
all of whom had been earning profits on duty-free molasses from the French,
Dutch, and Spanish islands in the Caribbean
Primarily
affected the New England colonies
Currency
Act of 1764
Forbid
the colonies from issuing paper money
All
taxes must be paid in gold or silver coin
“hard”
money had always been hard to come in the colonies
Quartering
Act of 1765
Parliament
enacted an act requested by General Tomas Gage, commander in chief of the
British forces in America, that required
colonial authorities to provide barracks and supplies for British troops stationed in America
A
10,000 man standing army was to be sent to keep the peace between the colonists
and Natives
Affected
New England – particular Boston area
Other
colonies saw it as not applying to them
Stamp
Act of 1765
Designed
to raise revenue for the defense of the colonies
Named
as such because all documents or materials had to bear a stamp showing the tax
had been paid
College
diplomas, playing cards, newspapers, advertisements, deeds, marriages, wills –
all fell under the Stamp Act
George
Grenville, British prime minster, announced in 1764 that he intended to ask
Parliament to impose a stamp act; however, Parliament did not act until 1765
This
gave the colonists a year to propose an alternative tax that was more agreeable
to them – they did not
Parliament
was amazed at the outcry from the colonies because of the year and the fact
that Parliament argued that the colonists had always paid revenue to support
the empire
Colonists
argued that the revenues raised before had been done by imposing indirect taxes
that were hidden in the price of the goods and only the people who purchased
the goods had to pay the tax
Colonists
argued that this was a direct
tax which
individuals must pay directly to the government
Up
until this time, any direct tax had been levied by the colonial assemblies and
were paid by the colonists because they had elected the assemblies; therefore,
they had a voice/representation
The
colonies did not have representatives in Parliament; therefore, they had no
voice/representation in the Stamp Act
The
watch words became “taxation without representation”
The
British argument was that Parliament represented and spoke for all British
subjects
One
Penny Stamp
showing that the tax had been paid
The Stamp Act was passed in
Parliament
Opposition
to the Stamp Act
Colonial
assemblies produced resolutions condemning the Stamp Act
Colonial
assemblies declared that all taxes were illegal except those levied by
representatives of the people in their own legislatures/assemblies
Stamp
Act Congress, October, 1765
Delegates
from 9 colonies met in New York
They
first asserted their loyalty to the king and promised “all due subordination”
to Parliament
Delegates
vowed resistance to all taxes levied without the consent of their own colonial
legislatures
New
York City’s City Hall is where the Stamp Act Congress meet
Nonimportation
Agreements
Merchants
and leading citizens signed nonimportation agreements where in they promised
not to buy or import British goods
Within
a few months products from Great Britain had almost vanished from store shelves
Patrick
Henry, Virginia
"Caesar,"
said he, "had his Brutus, Charles his Cromwell, and (pausing) George the
third (here a cry of treason, treason was heard, supposed to issue from the
chair, but with admirable presence of mind he proceeded) may profit by their
examples. Sir, if this be treason," continued he, "make the most of
it.“
John
Burk, History of Virginia (1805)
Patrick Henry was a member of the
Virginia House of Burgesses and opposed the Stamp Act
He delivered his famous “Caesar and
Brutus Speech” during these debates
Portrait
of Patrick Henry as Governor of Virginia
Sons
of Liberty
Organized
by townsmen as a secret society to demonstrate their dislike of the Stamp Act
by rioting in large towns, destroyed the offices of stamp tax collectors,
burned stamps in the streets, pillaged the house of royal official, and applied
tar and feather to citizens sympathetic to Great Britain
They
argued they were battling for their rights as Englishmen
Membership
was a guarded secret
During a series of protests linked to the
Sons of Liberty, colonists burn and sack the house of the Massachusetts
lieutenant governor, Thomas Hutchinson.
Protesting
against the Stamp Act
Stamp
Act is Repealed
Parliament
and George III were shocked that the colonies protested the Stamp Act
British
merchants were also shocked, because the nonimportation agreements had brought
British-American trade almost to a standstill
Merchants
faced with financial ruin demanded Parliament repeal the Stamp Act
Influential
men who were sympathetic to the colonists called for a repeal as well
Edmund
Burke , statesman and writer, expressed pride in the men who would thus oppose
an “illegal” measure
William
Pitt, the Younger, future PM, declared, “I rejoice that America has resisted.”
Under
this heavy pressure, Parliament backed down and repealed the Stamp Act in 1766
Rejoicing
Colonists
The
news was received with widespread joy and relief
British
businessmen and American merchants were overjoyed with the news of the repeal
Members
of Parliament turned upon George Grenville, the PM responsible for the Act, and
forced him to resign
Declaratory
Act of 1766
Most
missed this act passed by Parliament in conjunction with the repeal of the
Stamp Act
Parliament
asserted its “full power and authority to make laws to bind the colonies and
people of American…in all cases whatsoever.”
The
basic questions remained unanswered:
Did
the British Parliament have the right to make laws for the colonists and to tax
them when they had no elected representatives in Parliament?
Townshend
Act, 1767
Parliament
once again attempted to collect duties from the American colonies
Charles
Townshend, a member of the House of Commons,
lead Parliament to pass this act which would once again collect
“indirect” taxes
Parliament
hoped that this route would not cause the same issues as the Stamp Act
Townshend
Act levied import duties on articles of everyday use in America –
wine, tea, paper, glass, lead, and painters colors
The
act included Writs of Assistance
Part
of the money was to be used to pay colonial governors and thus prevent the
colonial assemblies from withholding a governor’s salary
Charles
Townshend
Parliament
Writs
of Assistance
In
order to put teeth into the law - they
legalized writs of assistance
Writs
of assistance were written statements giving government officials the legal
right to search a man’s ship, his business, or his home
Writs
allowed these officials to ransack the place with the hope of finding smuggled
goods
American
merchants had been arguing that the use of writs was illegal and an invasion of
their rights
as Englishmen
Opposition
to the Townshend Act
New
Yorkers refused to provide living quarters for British soldiers who enforced
the law – Parliament answered by dissolving the New York Assembly – depriving
New Yorkers of their rights to representative government
Angry
pamphlets, resolutions, and petitions were drafted, published and sent to
Parliament and the king
Massachusetts
legislature drafted a letter to the other colonies, urging them to unite for
resistance
Assemblies
of Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia endorsed the letter – again Parliament
dissolved the legislatures of these colonies
Resolutions
of the Virginia House of Burgesses
Introductory
statement by George Washington in which he referred to “our lordly masters in
Great Britain”
Claimed,
once again, only colonial legislatures had the right to levy taxes on the
colonists
These
resolutions summed up the entire colonial answer to the Townshend Act and the
Writs of Assistance
Direct
Action and Violence
Nonimportation
Agreements were signed again – they had worked with the Stamp Act
Mobs
smashed up revenue cutters (armed ships used to enforce custom laws and to
arrest smugglers), attacked British customs officials, tar and feathered anyone
who dared to inform on smugglers
Bostonians
taunted the soldiers by calling them “lobsters”, “redcoats”, and “bloody backs”
Now
and then patrols were attacked with snow balls containing rocks
Tensions
built, and then an incident finally occurred
The
Boston Massacre – March 5, 1770
a mob
started to gather and taunt a sentry at the Boston Custom House, then they
started throwing rocks and sticks
Captain
Thomas
Preston came to the sentry’s rescue with 8 British soldiers
Now the
mob had a small unit of British to yell at, the crowd grew as they called the
British all kinds of names and started throwing snowballs with rocks in them,
sticks, stones from the street
The crowd
pushed in; the soldiers panicked and fired into the crowd
Propaganda
Five Americans
died and seven were wounded
Sam Adams
and the Sons of Liberty used this as propaganda to advance their cause of
separation from England
Sam Adams
called it the “Boston Massacre” and Paul Revere engraved a picture of the event
so it could be reproduced numerous times and sent to all the colonies
Every
individual is entitled to a fair trial
The soldiers
were tried and John Adams, a patriot, took the case to represent them
Adams
argued
that the soldiers had only defended themselves against an angry mob
The jury
found six of the soldiers not guilty; two were found guilty of manslaughter and
were branded on their thumbs
Repeal
1770
– Lord Frederick North became PM, he urged Parliament to repeal the Townshend
Act
Lord
North pointed out that the nonimportation agreements were once again ruining
British merchants
Parliament
repealed the Townshend Act and allowed the Quartering Act to expire; however,
the tax on tea remained
Calm
Before the Storm
1771 –
1773 was a period of relative peace in the colonies and between the colonies
and Great Britain
Trade
reached
its highest peak at about L4 milli0n per year – all appeared to be going well
1772 –
Massachusetts Assembly established a Committee of Correspondence to discover
the early movements of Parliament and then to spread that information to all
other colonies. Also a way for the
colonies to follow the same tactics in opposing British policy that was deemed
as “against” the colonies and to spread propaganda
These
Committees
of Correspondence became the beginning of the American Union
…and
then the calm was broken….
Tea
Act of 1773
Tea Act
of 1773 – gave a monopoly in the tea trade to the East India Company – thus
making them the only company eligible to sell tea in the Colonies
The
East India Company only had 17 million pounds of unsold tea
The
tea could only be sold to British merchants – who would sale the tea cheaper
than it had been before
Protests
broke
out, especially in the Boston area as the Sons of Liberty, a small, liberal
group of men aggravated the situation
December,
1773 – The Boston Tea Party staged by the Sons of Liberty destroyed
342 chests of tea, which brought condemnation from Parliament and King
Boston Tea Party courtesy of the Sons of
Liberty
Why
Protest????
By
now many colonists were opposed any taxes imposed by Parliament
Granted
a monopoly to the East India Company
If a
monopoly was granted to one British Company, was it not reasonable to expect
that other monopolies would soon be granted to other British companies????????
Intolerable
Acts of 1774
Parliament,
by overwhelming majority, passed four measures designed to discourage further
violence and to strengthen the power of British officials over the colonists
Boston
Port
Bill or Coercive Acts 1774 – stated that Boston Port, the busiest in the
colonies, would be closed from all traffic entering or leaving the Port until
the tea that was destroyed was paid for
Revoked
the Massachusetts Charter of 1691 and forbade the Massachusetts colonist from
holding town meetings
New
Quartering Act – required colonist to provide food and housing for British
soldiers sent to American to enforce the laws
British
officials in Massachusetts charged with crimes committed while enforcing
British laws could have their cased tried, not in that colony, but in England
Quebec
Act of 1774
Enlarged
the province of Quebec – southern boundary of Canada would be the Ohio River
and the western boundary would be the Mississippi River
French
laws would continue and French Canadians who were Roman Catholics were granted
religious
freedom
Colonists
were angered and viewed the Quebec Act as an attempt to punish them by
destroying the claims of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia to the
western lands
Map
after the Quebec Act
Reaction
to the Intolerable Acts
It
became clear that Great Britain intended to enforce the Intolerable Acts
General
Gage, commander of British forces in North America, was named governor of
Massachusetts and sent reinforcements to uphold laws with physical force
George
III declared that, “The New England governments are in a state of
rebellion. Blows must decide whether they are to be subject to this
country or independent.”
“Give
me Liberty or give me Death”
The
Virginia Convention met in Richmond at St. John’s Church to discuss the
blockading of Boston Harbor
Patrick
Henry presented a resolution to arm the Virginia Militia – this could be seen
as treason
Members
spoke against such a move
Henry
decided he would have to defend his resolution with a speech – his most famous
one that ended with the historical phrase
Virginia
Convention voted 60 to 61
Give
me Liberty, or Give me Death!
First
Continental Congress
Peyton
Randolph
of Williamsburg, VA chosen president
Convened
in
Philadelphia – September – October 1774
Wanted
to
make a clear statement of colonial rights
Wanted
to
place economic pressure on Parliament
Wanted
to
develop a stronger colonial union with the term “United Colonies”
Drew up a
Declaration of Rights and Grievances
Petitioned
the
King for his support
Adopted
the
Continental Association which was a complete non-importation, non-exportation,
non-consumption agreement; trade between England and her colonies dropped 97%
within a year
Agrees
to
give a year for the Crown to make changes before they were scheduled to meet again
in the spring of 1775
Peyton
Randolph of Williamsburg
Some believe that had Peyton Randolph
lived, he would have been the first president of the United States instead of
George Washington
Response
from both sides
Parliament
refused to repeal the Intolerable Acts until the colonists paid for the tea
that had been destroyed
Colonial
leaders refused to pay for anything until Great Britain repealed the
Intolerable Acts
Few
were ready for independence, but they viewed their actions as preserving their rights as Englishmen
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