Chapter 7 The Road to Revolution. The Female Combatants, 1776 Britain is symbolized as a lady of fashion; her rebellious daughter, America, as an Indian.

Chapter 7The Road toRevolution

The Female Combatants, 1776Britain is symbolized as a lady of fashion; her rebellious daughter, America, as an Indian princess. Their shields of Obedience and Liberty seem mutually exclusive standards. Compare this cartoon with the one on p.168.

Britain and French & Indian War

•Britain won “Seven Years War,” but who will pay for it??•Republicanism had taken hold in the colonists’ minds—idea that government obtains its power from the governed•Raidcal Whigs—saw british government as corrupt. •Distance weakened authority of English over colonists.---Colonists used to running their own affairs.

Colonial Grievances

•12 out of 13 colonies planted by trading companies, religious groups or land speculators. •Mercantilism—the more gold a country has, the most powerful it is.—Amass gold by selling products (export) to other nations. •Colonies could supply raw materials and could provide a market for exports •Colonists for England = tenants•Britain only wanted—raw materials from colonists and market for British products

Paul Revere, by John Singleton Copley, ca. 1768This painting of the famed silversmith-horseman challenged convention—but reflected the new democratic spirit of the age—by portraying an artisan in working clothes. Note how Copley depicted the serene confidence of the master craftsman and Revere’s quiet pride in his work.

Merit and Menace of Mercantilism

•Mercantilist policies not fully enforced…some colonists made money from smuggling goods to avoid British restrictions •Britain did benefit from the colonies but the colonies benefited from Britain too—Virginia tobacco planters enjoyed a Monopoly in the British market, the colonists also benefited from the protection of Britain’s navy and army •Yet mercantilist system made colonists feel used by Britiain

A Royal StampThe hated Stamp Act of 1765 required stamps, certifying payment of tax, on all sorts of legal and commercial documents. This stamp was to be affixed to insurance policies and probated wills.

The Stamp Act

•After French & Indian War Britain had the largest Empire but also the LARGEST debt to pay for the war. •1764—Sugar Act—tax for sugar imported from West Indies •1765—Quartering Act—required colonies to provide food and quarters (housing) for British troops •1765—Stamp Act—stamp added to paper to prove that tax had been paid. Stamps were required on: Bills of sale, commercial, legal documents, playing cards, pamphlets, newspapers, diplomas, marriage licenses, etc. •Britain simply wanted to pay for the war—British were already paying Stamp Act in Britain.

Colonists Question Britain

•Why was British army there? •The French no longer a threat…They left America •Many Indian tribes are decimated •Could the purpose of the army there be to whip rebellious colonists into line? •Angry colonists: “No taxation without representation” •Challenged Britain’s authority to tax since they had no representation in Britain’s Parliament •Britain: Colonists have “virtual representation,” every person in Parliament represents EVERYONE in the Empire. •They did not truthfully want direct representation

Public Punishment for the Excise Man, 1774This popular rendering of the punishment of Commissioner of Customs John Malcomb shows him tarred and feathered and forcibly “paid” with great quantities of tea. From the Liberty Tree in the background dangles the threat of hanging, all for attempting to collect duties in Boston.

Protesting the Stamp ActEven common household wares in the 1760s testified to the colonists’ mounting rage against the Stamp Act. Many people in Britain sympathized with the Americans—and sought to profit from their anger, as this English-made teapot demonstrates.

Repeal of Stamp Act

•1765—Stamp Act Congress—27 delegates from 9 colonies meet. Drew statement of their rights and grievances, asked King and Parliament to repeal Stamp Act •Britain ignores the Stamp Act Congress •Congress brings together colonists from different colonies---some unity •Non-importation Agreements—agreed not to import British goods—boycott of British goods. •Women hold spinning bees—to make clothes•Public defiance, protests—led to angry resistance •Sons of Liberty/Daughters of Liberty cried: “Liberty, Property and No Stamps” •Tarred an feathered tax collectors/violators of non importation agreements•Britain is forced to repeal Stamp Act—the law was defied by the colonists

Nonimportation Agreements

•British Manufacturers, merchants and shippers suffered greatly. •Parliament finally gives in and repeals Stamp Act •Parliament passes Declaratory Act—reaffirms “right to bind and rule” the colonies—reaffirms Parliament’s authority over the colonies

Townshend Tea Tax and Boston “Massacre”

•1767—Charles Townshend (from Parliament) pushes Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts •Import taxes on glass, white lead, paper, paint and tea. •The tea did it---1 million people drank tea twice a day in colonies •Non importation agreements made a comeback from Stamp Act•Colonists ignored tax—smuggled in tea to avoid the tax •1768—British send more troops to Boston—many were drunken and profane •1770—60 townspeople taunt and throw snowballs at squad of 10 redcoats, troops open fire and kill 11 citizens, becomes known as the Boston Massacre

Both of these prints of the Boston Massacre were art as well as propaganda. Paul Revere’s engraving (left) began circulating within three weeks of the event in March 1770, depicting not a clash of brawlers but armed soldiers taking aim at peaceful citizens. Absent also was any evidence of the mulatto ringleader, Crispus Attucks. Revere wanted his print to convince viewers of the indisputable justice of the colonists’ cause. By the mid-1850s, when the chromolithograph (right) circulated, it served a new political purpose. In the era of the abolitionist movement, freedman Crispus Attucks held center place in the print, which portrayed his death as an American martyr in the revolutionary struggle for freedom.

Committees of Correspondence •1770—King George III (30 years old) tries to assert power over colonies. •Britain spending about 170,000 pounds•Townshend Acts repealed---Tea tax stays in place •Samuel Adams begins organizing Committees of Correspondence •They were set up to exchange letters in order to keep the spirit of resistance •Intercolonial Committees set up—central committees begin communicating with other central committees in other colonies. •Helped unite the colonists

Samuel Adams (1722–1803)A second cousin of John Adams, he contributed a potent pen and tongue to the American Revolution as a political agitator and organizer of rebellion. He was the leading spirit in hosting the Boston Tea Party. A failure in the brewing business, he was sent by Massachusetts to the First Continental Congress of 1774. He signed the Declaration of Independence and served in Congress until1781.

Boston Tea Party

•1773 British East India Company needed to sell its tea—had 17 million pounds of unsold tea, was about to go bankrupt. •It is granted a Monopoly—Only one that could sell tea to America •Tea was cheaper---so easier to pay tax. Colonists did not want to pay on principle •Annapolis Maryland---they burn cargo and vessel full of tea •December 16, 1773—100 Bostonians, disguised as Indians, smashed open 342 chests of tea and dumped it into the Atlantic Ocean. •Tea became a rallying cry---almost every colonist used it.

The Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773Crying “Boston harbor a teapot this night,” Sons of Liberty disguised as Indians hurled chests of tea into the sea to protest the tax on tea and to make sure that its cheap price did not prove an “invincible temptation” to the people.

Intolerable Acts

•1774—Parliament passes measures to punish Boston for the “Tea Party” •Boston Port Act—closed the Boston Harbor until damages were paid. •Quartering Act is passed •Quebec Act is passed---French Canadians allowed to stay Catholic and to take over areas to the South under English rule---angers colonists

Québec Before and After 1774Young Alexander Hamilton voiced the fears of many colonists when he warned that the Quebec Act of 1774 would introduce “priestly tyranny” into Canada, making that country another Spain or Portugal. “Does not your blood run cold,” he asked, “to think that an English Parliament should pass an act for the establishment of arbitrary power and Popery in such a country?”

First Continental Congress

•1774---First Continental Congress is created as a response to the “Intolerable Acts” •12/13 colonies send representatives to Philadelphia’•Samuel Adams, John Adams, George Washington and Patrick Henry among the colonists that met. •Met for seven weeks •Created “The Association”---calling for a COMPLETE boycott of British goods •Not yet open rebellion---just wanted British to back away from oppressive taxes. •They draw up petitions to Parliament---Parliament rejects them •War seemed imminent

Two Views of the Boston Massacre, 1770 and 1856Both of these prints of the Boston Massacre were art as well as propaganda. Paul Revere’s engraving (left) began circulating within three weeks of the event in March 1770, depicting not a clash of brawlers but armed soldiers taking aim at peaceful citizens. Absent also was any evidence of the mulatto ringleader, Crispus Attucks. Revere wanted his print to convince viewers of the indisputable justice of the colonists’ cause. By the mid-1850s, when the chromolithograph (right) circulated, it served a new political purpose. In the era of the abolitionist movement, freedman Crispus Attucks held center place in the print, which portrayed his death as an American martyr in the revolutionary struggle for freedom.

Lexington and Concord

•April 1775—British commander sent troops to Lexington and Concord •There to get Samuel Adams and John Handcock •8 Americans get killed at Lexington (did not disperse fast enough)-Lexington Massacre—on to Concord!! War has begun!!!

A View of the Town of Concord, ca. 1775Redcoats here drill on the Concord Green, near where colonial militiamen would soon repel their advance on stores of rebel gunpowder.

Britain’s Strengths and Weaknesses

•7.5 million Britons vs. 2.5 million colonists •Britain more wealthy and most powerful Navy in the world •50,000 professional British army vs. badly trained American militia •Britain could hire more soldiers (Hessians) •50,000 American Loyalists join Britain as well as Indian allies •France waiting to stab Britain in back in revenge for French/Indian War •King George III was stubborn, inexperienced •Some British soldiers did not want to kill their cousins, other family members who were patriots •The Whigs in Britain supported the American patriots •Second rate British Generals •Provisions were scarce, wormy •Britain 3,000 miles from home base •Military orders took long to get there (Britain could not respond to conditions) •Geographial expanse was too big—No nerve center

America’s Strengths and Weaknesses

•Had outstanding leadership—(Washington, Franklin)

•France begins openly helping colonists---Marquis de LaFayette

•Self sustaining agriculturally

•They knew the territory

•Knew how guerrilla warfare worked

•Had experience with war—French/Indian War

•Badly organized—not unified

•Recruits not trained well

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834), by Joseph Boze, 1790This youthful French officer gave to America not only military service but some $200,000 of his private funds. He returned to France after the American Revolution to play a conspicuous role in the French Revolution.

Tupac Amaru IIA Peruvian national hero, Tupac Amaru II is memorialized to this day with his portrait on the nation’s currency.

Couple with Child by Miguel CaberaThis eighteenth century portrait of a Mexican family illustrates the common intermarriage of Europeans and Indians in the Spanish New World. The ethnic complexity of Spanish America kept colonists there from uniting against imperial authorities as successfully as their northern neighbors.

The Flutist, by Brazilla LewThis portrait is believed to be that of an African American fifer in the Revolutionary War. Lew was a veteran of the Seven Years’ War who had marched to Ticonderoga and served in the army a full seven years as frontline soldier, fifer, and drummer. In 1775, at the age of thirty two, he fought at Bunker Hill as an enlistee in the 27th Massachusetts Regiment. A resident of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, he was said to have taught all twelve of his children to play musical instruments.