Transcript From Empire to Independence - AP United States History

Out of Many
Chapter 6
FROM EMPIRE TO INDEPENDENCE
The Seven Years’ War in America
 1754, first attempt at cooperation among leaders of
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the Colonies (N.England, NY, PA, MD)
War would put Britain & Prussia against France,
Austria, & Spain
Known as the French & Indian War in the Americas
Decided the future of the vast region between the
Appalachian Mtns & MS River
Laid the groundwork for the conflict between the
British
Beginning of the War
 From the Brits P.O.V, the French provoked the war
 Built a chain of forts in the OH River Valley
 Halted the westward growth of the British colonies
 Hoping to stop the building of Fort Duquesne
(Pittsburgh), the governor of VA sent a militia
 Under control of colonel George Washington
 Washington surrendered on July 3, 1754
 More attacks from the British
 1755, General Edward Braddock, near Ft. Duquesne, lost
2,000 troops
 Invaded French Canada in 1756 & 1757 unsuccessfully
Albany Conference of 1754
 Attempted to create an alliance with
the Iroquois Confederacy
 Had strategic place between the French &
British colonies
 Could not afford to have discontent with such
a large power
 Iroquois Confederacy walked out of the
conference
 Plan of Union
 Developed by Ben Franklin
 Provided for an intercolonial gov’t & a system for recruiting troops &
collecting taxes from the various colonies for their common defense
 Each colony was too jealous of its own taxation powers to accept the plan –
never took effect
 Importance – set a precedent for more revolutionary congresses in the
1770s
 Absence of cooperation among the colonies would be the greatest
weakness of the British empire
British Victory & the Conquest
of Canada
 In London, William Pitt, the new
British prime minister,
concentrated the gov’ts military
strategy on conquering Canada
 Subsidized the Prussian forces to
fight the war in Europe & sent the
British forces to the colonies
 The objective accomplished:
 1758, retook Louisbourg
 1759, surrender of Quebec to
General James Wolfe
 1760, taking of Montreal
 In the final 2 years, the British
swept French ships from the seas,
invaded Havana & conquered Cuba
Treaty of Paris
 Also called the Peace of Paris
 Signed in 1763
 France lost all of its possessions on the N.American
mainland
 Great Britain acquired French Canada
 Ceded (gave up) to Spain its huge western territory (LA) as
compensation for their loss of FL
 Only maintained its port in New Orleans
 Spain lost territory as well
 Great Britain acquired Spanish Florida
 Given back their Caribbean & Pacific colonies by the British
Immediate Effects of the War
 Great Britain had unchallenged supremacy in
North America
 Great Britain established as dominant naval
power
 Colonies no longer faced the threat of
concerted attacks from the French, Spanish,
or their Native American allies
 Fundamental change in the relationship
between the home gov’t & the colonies
Viewpoints of the War
British View
Colonial View
 Generally low opinion of
 Proud of their record in all
the colonial military effort
 Poorly trained, disorderly
 Some colonies refused to
contribute either troops or
money to the war effort
 Convinced colonists were
unable & unwilling to
defend the new frontiers of
the vastly expanded
empire
four of the wars (the fourth
being the French & Indian
War)
 Developed confidence that
they could successfully
provide for their own
defense
 Not impressed with British
troops or their leadership
 Methods seemed badly
suited for densely wooded
terrain
Struggle for the West
 Indians shocked by French
cession
 “had no right to give away [our]
country”
 British did not continue the
custom of winning over the
Indians with gifts
 Stopped supplying them with
ammunition
 Many Indians required that for
hunting – many starved
Royal Proclamation of 1763
 Before the Indian uprising in the
West, the British had been at work
on a policy they hoped would help
to resolve frontier tensions
 Royal proclamation setting the
boundary known as the
Proclamation Line
 Set the region west of the crest of the
Appalachian Mtns. as “Indian Country”
 Colonist did not understand how
the British would just give territory
to the Indians
 Defying the prohibition, thousands
streamed westward beyond the
imaginary boundary line drawn by the
British
Emergence of American
Nationalism
 During the war, many had begun to note important
contrasts between themselves & the mother country
 Those who witnessed the treatment of the British
soldiers by their officers found it easy to believe in the
threat of Britain enslaving colonists
 Strengthened a sense of identity among the colonies
 Many had travelled far distances to fight & saw new
lands
 Reinforced a developing nationalist perspective
 1735-1775, trade among the colonies increased by a
factor of 4
The Press, Politics,
Republicanism
 Zenger trial
 Although freedom of the press was still illegal, the case set a
precedent for newspapers to take more risks with their writings
 Press began to focus more on intercolonial affairs
 Papers often reprinted the writings of the radical Whigs
 Name used by advocates of colonial resistance to British measures
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during the 1760s & 1770s
John Trenchard & Thomas Gordon – pamphleteers
John Locke – political theorist
Alexander Pope & Jonathan Swift – essayists
Views came to define the political consensus of the British colonies
– “republicanism”
 A complex, changing body of ideas, values, and assumptions, closely
related to country ideology, that influenced American political behavior
during the 18th & 19th centuries
“Your Sugary Quarter Stamp will
Declare your Townshend Tea to be
Intolerable.”
 Sugar Act
 AKA the Revenue Act of 1764
 Placed duties on foreign sugar & luxuries
 Chief purpose was to raise money for the crown
 Quartering Act
 Required colonist to provided food & living quarters to British
soldiers
 Stamp Act
 Purpose was to raise funds for the British military forces
 1765, required that revenue stamps be laced on most printed paper
in the colonies
 Included legal document, newspapers, pamphlets & advertisements
 First direct tax – collected from those who used the goods – paid by
the people in the colonies, instead of the merchants
“Your Sugary Quarter Stamp will
Declare your Townshend Tea to be
Intolerable.”
 Protests to the Stamp Act
 Reacted with fury & indignations
 Patrick Henry (VA), stood in the House of Burgesses &
declared that the king’s gov’t recognize the rights of all
citizens – including no taxation w/out representation
 British parliament argued that they could “virtually represent” the
colonies because it was for the best interest of the empire
 James Otis (MA) called for a cooperative protest
 Formation of the Sons & Daughters of Liberty
 secret society who imitated tax agents
 Members sometimes tarred & feathered officials & destroyed
revenue stamps
 Boycotts against British imports became the most effective
form of protest
“Your Sugary Quarter Stamp will
Declare your Townshend Tea to be
Intolerable.”
 Declaratory Act
 1766, Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act
 Widespread rejoicing in the colonies
 Declaratory Act was designed as a face-saving act
 Asserted that Parliament had the right to tax & make laws for the
colonies “in all cases whatsoever”
 Townshend Revenue Acts
 Charles Townshend – newly appointed chancellor of the exchequer
 Britain still needed more tax revenues
 1767, enacted new duties to be collected on colonial imports of tea,
glass, & paper
 Required that the revenues raised be used to pay crown officials in the
colonies
 Provided for the search of private homes for smuggled goods
 All an official needed was a writ of assistance (a general license to search
anywhere) rather than an official warrant from the courts
“Your Sugary Quarter Stamp will
Declare your Townshend Tea to be
Intolerable.”
 Colonial Reactions to the Townshend Act
 Did not strongly protest at first
 Taxes were still being paid by merchants
 After many pamphlets & circulars protesting the act, the
colonists once again began to boycott British goods
 Repeal of the Townshend Acts
 Lord Frederick North became the new prime minister
 Urged Parliament to repeal because their effect was damaging
trade & generated a small amount of revenue
 Repealed in 1770
 A small tax on tea was retained as a symbol of Parliament’s
right to tax the colonies
 For the most part, ended the colonial boycott
The Boston Massacre
 The people of Boston typically resented the British
troops who had been quartered in their city to protect
customs officials from being attacked
 March 1770, a crowd of colonists harassed the guards
near the customs house
 Guards fired into the crowd, killed 5 people
 Included 1 African American named Crispus Attucks
 Went to trial, but was acquitted
 John Adams was their colonial lawyer
 Samuel Adams denounced it as a “massacre”
 Episode often used by colonial leaders to inflame antiBritish feeling
PART 1 STOP
“Your Sugary Quarter Stamp will
Declare your Townshend Tea to be
Intolerable.”
 Tea Act
 The colonists were still boycotting
British tea
 Hoped to help out the British East India
Company
 Passed in 1773
 Made the price of the company’s tea –
even with tax included – cheaper than
that of smuggled Dutch tea.
 Boston Pamphlet
 Written by Samuel Adams
 Concluded that British encroachments
on colonial rights pointed to a plot to
enslave Americans
Renewal of Conflict
 Correspondence
 Samuel Adams & a few others were trying to keep alive the
idea that British officials were conspiring against the colonies
 Committees of Correspondence, 1772
 In Boston & other MA towns
 Practice of regularly exchanging
letters about suspicious or potentially
threatening British activities
 The Gaspee
 British custom ship that had been
catching smugglers
 1772, the ship ran ashore
 Colonists disguised as Native Americans ordered the ship’s
crew on shore & destroyed the ship by setting it on fire
The Boston Tea Party
 Many Americans refused to buy
the cheaper British tea – to do so
would recognize Parliament’s
right to tax the colonists
 December 1773, a shipment
arrived in Boston, but there were
no buyers
 Before the tea could be
unloaded, a group of colonists,
again disguised as Native
Americans, boarded the ship
 Dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor
 Colonial reaction to this was mixed
 Many applauded the Tea Party as a justifiable defense of liberty
 Others thought the destruction of private property was far too radical
“Your Sugary Quarter Stamp will
Declare your Townshend Tea to be
Intolerable.”
 Intolerable Acts
 During the Spring of 1774, an angry Parliament passed a
series of acts called the Coercive Acts
 The Port Act – closed the port of Boston, prohibited trade in
& out of the harbor until the tea was paid for
 The Massachusetts Governor Act – reduced the power of the
MA legislature while increasing power of their royal governor
 The Administration of Justice Act – allowed royal officials
accused of crimes to be tried in England rather than the
colonies
 Quartering Act – expansion of the previous act; enable
British troops to be quartered in private homes; applied to all
colonists
“Your Sugary Quarter Stamp will
Declare your Townshend Tea to be
Intolerable.”
 Intolerable Acts
 Quebec Act
 Passed at the same time as the Coercive Acts
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This law organized the lands in Canada gained from France
Established Roman Catholicism as the official religion of Quebec
Set up a non-representative gov’t assembly
Extended Quebec’s boundary to the Ohio River
 Accepted by most French Canadians, but rejected by many in the
colonies
 viewed it as a direct attack because it took away lands
 Afraid that Britain would begin to take away their representative
gov’ts
 Protestant Americans also resented the recognition of Catholicism
 Confirmed the prediction of the Committees of Correspondence that
there was a British plot to destroy American liberty
Overview
 Pg. 185 in your textbook has an excellent
chart regarding all of the acts that were
passed by the British Parliament from 1764 1774
The First Continental Congress
 The nature of the Intolerable Acts drove all the
colonies, except GA, to send delegates to a
convention in Philadelphia in Sept. 1774
 Purpose of the convention was to determine how
the colonies should react to what
 At this time, most Americans had no desire for
independence
 Wanted to protest parliamentary intrusions
 Restore the relationship with the crown
The First Continental Congress:
The Delegates
 Diverse group whose views about the crisis ranged from
radical to conservative
 Radicals
 Patrick Henry (VA), Samuel Adams (MA), John Adams (MA)
 Moderates
 George Washington (VA), John Dickson (PA)
 Conservatives
 John Jay (NY), Joseph Galloway (PA)
 The only group unrepresented was that of the loyalists
who would not challenge the king’s gov’t in any way
The First Continental Congress:
Actions
 Joseph Galloway proposed a plan similar to that of the Albany
Union Plan – but it failed to passed
 Following measures were adopted:
 The Suffolk Resolves
 rejected the Intolerable Acts & called for their immediate repeal
 urged colonies to resist the Intolerable Acts by making military preparations
& boycotting
 Declaration of Rights & Grievances
 Petition to the king urging him to redress (make right) colonial grievances &
restore colonial rights
 Recognized Parliament’s right to regulate commerce
 The Association
 Urged the creation of committees in every town to enforce the economic
sanctions of the Suffolk Resolves
 If these rights were not recognized, they called for the meeting of a
second congress in May 1775
Fighting Begins
 The king’s gov’t dismissed the
petition of the First Continental
Congress
 Sent British troops to MA to
control the disorders
 Lexington
 April 18, 1775
 General Thomas Gage – commander of British troops – sent his
men to seize colonial military supplies
 Paul Revere & William Dawes warned the militia (or
minutemen) of the coming march; assembled on the village
green of Lexington to face the British
 Americans were retreating, but keeping their arms. First shot –
unknown who fired it. No orders were given.
 American’s lost 8 men
Fighting Begins
 Concord
 The British continued their march to
Concord where they burned a small
quantity of supplies & cut down a
liberty pole
 On their return march to Boston, the
British were fired upon by militiamen
who were hidden behind walls
 British lost 250 men – humiliating
that they were so badly mauled by
“amateur” fighters
Fighting Begins
 Bunker Hill
 Two months after Concord, a true
battle was fought between the
opposing armies in Boston
 Militia farmers fortified Breed’s
Hill, next to Bunker Hill, for which
the ensuing battle was wrongly
named
 British attacked & managed to
take the hill, suffering over a
thousand casualties
 Americans claimed a victory of
sorts – succeed in inflicting heavy
losses on the British army
The Second Continental Congress
 May 1775, Soon after the fighting broke out in MA,
delegates met in Philadelphia
 Divided on two fronts:
 New Englanders – wanted independence
 Middle Colonists – hoped the conflict could still be resolved by
negotiating a new relationship with Britain
 Declaration of the Causes & Necessities for Taking Up
Arms
 Called on the colonies to provide troops
 George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the
colonial army
 Authorized a force under Benedict Arnold to raid Quebec in
order to draw Canada away from Britain
The Second Continental Congress
 Peace Efforts
 Adopted a policy of raging war
while simultaneously seeking peace
 July 1775, delegates sent an “Olive
Branch Petition” to King George III
which pledged their loyalty & asked
the king to intercede with
Parliament
 King dismissed the plea & agreed to
Parliament’s Prohibitionary Act
(Aug.1775) which declared the
colonies in rebellion
Thomas Paine’s Argument for
Independence
 January 1776, pamphlet was
published
 Common Sense
 Argued in clear & forceful language
for the colonies becoming
independent states & breaking all ties
with the British monarchy
 Argued that it was contrary to
common sense for a large continent
to be ruled by a small & distant land
 Argued it was contrary to common
sense for people to pledge allegiance
to a king whose gov’t was corrupt &
laws that were unreasonable
No Turning Back
 The Second Continental Congress was rapidly assuming the
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role of a new gov’t for all the provinces
Reconvened in Sept. 1775 & rec’d news of the king’s
proclamation
On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee (VA) introduced a
resolution declaring the colonies to be independent
Show
Video:
Five delegates (including
Tomas
Jefferson) formed a
committee
to
writeLate
a statement
inapoLogIze
support of Lee’s
It’s
too
to
resolution
Declaration listed specific grievances against King George
III’s gov’t & also expressed the basic principles that justified
revolution
The Congress adopted Lee’s resolution calling for
independence on July 2; the Declaration of Independence
was adopted on July 4, 1776