1763 - 1776. Sources: Classical authors (Plato, Cicero, Cato, Plutarch) Enlightenment philosophes (Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu) Country (Real) Whigs.

1763 - 1776

Sources:Classical authors (Plato, Cicero, Cato, Plutarch)Enlightenment philosophes (Locke, Voltaire,

Montesquieu)Country (Real) Whigs (Milton, Harrington,

Priestly, Molesworth, Trenchard & Gordon) Americans saw a conspiracy in British

actionsOne of the 3 estates (Commons) had gained too

much powerThe other 2 estates (Lords & Crown) went alongStanding armies enforced usurpation

Understood a constitution to be a written document defining & limiting the powers of government

Demanded actual representation, not virtualBelieved rights are inherent in people, not

granted by KingBelieved the people are sovereign, not

government

Each side’s view of the other souredBritish viewed Americans as

cowards unfit for battleAmericans viewed British as

immoral snobs – resented being treated as inferiors

Withdrawal of French removed reason for working together

Enormous expense of war left Britain in debt – needed to raise taxes

King George III determined to administer empire more effectively

King George III(1760-1820)

1763 – French & Indian War ended Proclamation Line set new western

boundary to colonies, violating charters

Troops remained after the French left1764 - Revenue (Sugar) Act

lowered duty but increased enforcement

1765 – Stamp ActSons of Liberty staged mob

actions in cities to protest act and threaten collectors

Stamp Act Congress met in October & drew up petition to protest the act

Patrick Henry’s Speech Against theStamp Act, by Peter Rothermel

I. That his Majesty’s subjects in these colonies, owe the same allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, that is owing from his subjects born within the realm, and all due subordination to that august body, the Parliament of Great Britain.

II. That his Majesty’s liege subjects in these colonies are entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain.

III. That it is inseparably essential to the freedoms of a people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes should be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives.

IV. That the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances, cannot be represented in the House of Commons in Great Britain.

V. That the only representatives of the people of these colonies, are persons chosen therein, by themselves; and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective legislatures.

1766 – Stamp Act repealedDeclaratory Act asserts

Parliament’s right to legislate for the colonies “in all matters whatsoever”

1767 – Townshend Act sets new duties on all goods imported from England John Dickinson’s Letters

from a Farmer states colonists’ case

1768 – Nonimportation Agreement; troops occupy Boston after Liberty incident.

1770 – Boston Massacre led to removal of troops to island John Dickinson

5 dead, 6 woundedSamuel Adams seized on

incident for propagandaJohn Adams and Josiah

Quincy defended soldiers

Paul Revere’s engraving of the Boston Massacre

Paul Revere,Samuel Adams,

&Joseph Warren

1770 – most Townshend duties repealed

1771 – S.C. legislature prorogued after voting to send money to Wilkesites

1772 – Gaspee incident in Rhode Island; Committees of Correspondence formed

The Burning of the Gaspee,Charles DeWolfe Brownell

1773 – Tea Act was bailout for the British East India Company

Standoff between Mass. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson & Sons of Liberty, Nov. – Dec.

Boston Tea Party destroyed 342 chests of tea

Tea Chest

The Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (1774): Port of Boston closed until tea paid

for King would appoint Council, and

town meetings allowed only for elections

Any official indicted for a capital offense could be tried in Nova Scotia or England

Soldiers quartered in private homesQuebec Act kept French system

& expanded borders to include Ohio Country

1st Continental Congress Sent petition & organized boycott Galloway’s Plan of Union rejected Adjourned until May 1775

Boston, then & now

1775 – war began April 19th at Lexington and Concord, Mass. Siege of Boston by militia

ensued Battle of Bunker Hill (June

17th) was pyrrhic victory for British

2nd Continental Congress met in May 1775 created Continental Army &

made George Washington commander-in-chief

Sent Olive Branch Petition to London

Bunker Hill MonumentConcord Minute Man

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense attacked notion of monarchy

Richard Henry Lee introduced motion for independence, backed by John Adams – passed July 2, 1776

Thomas Jefferson drafted Declaration of Independence – approved July 4, 1776

Thomas Paine

Signing the Declarationof Independence