From Empire to Independence 1750 – 1776. The Albany Congress of 1754 Britain wanted the colonies to respond to the continuing conflict with New France.

From Empire to Independence

1750 – 1776

The Albany Congress of 1754

• Britain wanted the colonies to respond to the continuing conflict with New France and the Indians of the Interior and to negotiate with the Iroquois Confederacy (unhappy with all the “land grabbing”)

• The Iroquois left without an agreement• Ben Franklin’s Plan of Union was adopted, but

rejected by the colonial assemblies

Frontier Warfare, Beginnings

• Surrender of Col. George Washington on a scouting mission in the “interior” and the subsequent defeat of British general Braddock in 1755 was followed by all-out war in 1756

• The French and Indian War (or Seven Years’ War) saw early victories for the French in New York, and their Indian allies raiding backcountry settlement

Britain Fights Back

• Britain took their revenge into Acadia and forcibly removed 18,000 French farmers and dispersed them throughout America—most settling in Louisiana as Cajuns

• William Pitt became PM in 1757 promising to win the war, calling for the conquest of Canada: “I know that I can save this country and that I alone can!”

• Britain negotiated with the Iroquois, gaining the alliance of many other Indian tribes, paid/coerced colonials to fight, combined with 30,000 British troops, with naval support, took Canada

The Treaty of Paris 1763

The Treaty of Paris, 1763

• The French lost all of its North American mainland possessions

• Ceded claims of all lands east of the Mississippi River to Britain, except New Orleans which went to Spain

• Spain ceded Florida to Britain to regain their lost Caribbean colonies

Proclamation of 1763

• Removal of the French stimulated an influx of English settlement into the frontier, angering Indians into revolt

• Pontiac’s Rebellion: led by Ottawa chief Pontiac attacked British forts and settlements before ending in a stalemate (Indians sued for peace, and the British new that they could not overwhelm the Indians)

• Proclamation line forbade settlement west of the Appalachians

• Settlers ignored the line, and Britain was unable to enforce it as Indians were forced to make concessions as their lands were seized, or bought…

American Nationalism

• Proud to be members of the British Empire• Yet, contrasts existed between colonists and the

British—colonists were prone to believe that they were merely “slaves” to an empire– Differences between how British commanders and

colonial commanders disciplined troops• Colonists developed a nationalist perspective as

communication and trade between the colonies helped strengthen a sense of identity that was not British, but “American”

Press, Politics, and Republicanism

• Weekly newspapers were an important means of inter-colonial communication

• Newspapers printed Whig commentary by thinkers like Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and John Locke, who wrote on government’s threat to liberty if their powers go unchecked

• American Republicanism: body of ideas comprising a government, dependent on the virtue of its people, rulers elected (not absolute), that protected the rights of its citizens

The Sugar Act

• Cost of French and Indian War, plus the defense of North American empire created an enormous debt

• 1764: Parliament passed the Sugar Act to raise revenue from the colonies– Though the taxes were LOWER than before, Britain now intended

to ENFORCE it, ending salutary neglect• Colonial protests arose in the cities, especially Boston,

which started the non-importation movement, which spread throughout the colonies

• James Otis: “No taxation without representation”• Chancellor George Grenville: It’s only fair…

The Stamp Act• 1765: required a stamp on newspapers, legal documents, licenses,

insurance policies, and even playing cards• Unprecedented crisis in the colonies as colonial concerns included

long-term constitutional implication regarding representation in the British government– Virtual v. Actual Representation– Patrick Henry: Virginia Stamp Act Resolution– Boston emerged as a center of protest (led by Otis and Samuel Adams)– Violence in Boston: burnt down Gov. Hutchinson’s home– Sons of Liberty formed to moderate, organize, and control the protest

movement– Stamp Act Congress: 9 colonies set resolutions denying Parliament’s right

to tax, agreed to stop all imports, yet still declared their loyalty to Britain

Declaratory Act

• British worried about the effects of the nonimportation movement and Parliament listened to their petitions and repealed the Stamp Act

• But, they passed the Declaratory Act in 1766 stating Parliament had the authority to legislate for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”

The Townshend Acts

• Passed in 1767: tea, lead, paint, paper, and glass at the behest of new PM Charles Townshend

• Enforcement in colonies led to suspension of colonial assemblies– Association of nonimportation and non-consumption reformed

to protest these acts– Appeals to stimulate local industry had strong appeal in small

towns and rural areas—self-sufficiency and independence: “Buy American”

– Colonial newspapers focused on women supporting the boycott (Daughters of Liberty)

– British exports reduced by 41%

The Massachusetts Circular Letter

• Samuel Adams drafted a circular letter that denounced the Acts and urged the colonies to come together

• Fearing mob rule and riots in Boston, the British army occupied the city

Revolt and “Massacre”

• British troops stationed in the colonies were the source of scorn and hostility; British troops were also competing with colonists over jobs

• Sons of Liberty enticed conflicts in New York and Boston between soldiers and colonists

• March 5, 1770: The Boston Massacre– 5 dead, 6 wounded colonists in Boston, shot by British

troops in another mob scene– John Adams, cousin of Sam, defended the British troops,

unpopularly– Parliament repealed most of the Revenue Acts

Intercolonial Cooperation

• Committees of Correspondence were formed to keep Americans informed about British measures that affected the colonies– Shared information– Shaped public opinion– Built cooperation among the colonies

The Tea Tax, and the Boston Tea Party

• Tea Act 1773: to save the East India Company from failing, sold their tea in America without duties

• The Boston Tea Party (Dec. 16, 1773)• New York Tea Party• Annapolis, MD: tea ship burned• New Jersey warehouse storing tea was burned

The Intolerable Acts

• Coercive (Intolerable) Acts 1774 were calculated efforts to punish Massachusetts:– Closed Boston Harbor until the colonists paid for the destroyed

tea– Annulled the colonial charter of Massachusetts– Terminated self-rule by colonial communities– Quartering Act: legalized housing of troops in private homes at

public expense– Gen. Thomas Gage replaced Mass. Gov. Hutchinson– Quebec Act: authorized permanent royal government in

Canadian territory, upheld feudal land tenure, and made Catholicism the official religion of territory

First Continental Congress

• Included: John and Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Jay…

• Declaration and Resolves:• Formed Committees of Observation and Safety

to assume the functions of local government• Organized militias, extralegal courts, and began

to form colony-wide congressional conventions

Lexington and Concord

• April 18, 1775: Gen. Gage sent troops from Boston to capture an American ammunition depot in Concord

• Alerted by William Dawes and Paul Revere, minutemen (militia men) armed and met the British at Concord, then Lexington.

• Though little damage done (73 British dead, 202 wounded to 95 American casualties) it left Britain with the notion that it would have to fight a determined population defending their land

The Second Continental Congress

• Opened on May 10, 1775, aimed to organize the defense of the colonies

• Designated the militia forces at Boston the “Continental Army” and made George Washington commander-in-chief, nominated by Thomas Jefferson and John Adams

• Olive Branch Petition: July 5, 1775, professed the loyalty of the colonies to George III, but it was rejected: “Bring these traitors to justice!”

Colonial America at the onset of Revolution

• French Canadians were not in favor of rebellion

• The Caribbean favored rebellion but the British navy blocked them from becoming involved

• Spain remained officially neutral, but sought to help the Americans (hopefully regaining Florida)

Early Fighting in the North and South

• Ethan Allen seized Fort Ticonderoga in upstate NY (used the arms to lay siege to Boston)

• June 17, 1775: Battle of Bunker Hill (on Breed’s Hill) 140 Americans killed, but British casualties were over 1000, 226 dead

• Failed attempt at invading Canada• British forced out of Boston in March, 1776• British shelled Norfolk, VA, but victories in NC and

at Charleston, SC forced the British from the South

No Turning Back

• Spain and France opened up trade with the colonies

• Thomas Paine published Common Sense: the single most important writing of the Revolution (other than the Declaration of Independence)– Two ancient tyrannies of aristocracy and monarchy

were not appropriate for America.– “We have it in our power to begin the world over

again.”

The Declaration of Independence

• Written by Thomas Jefferson, aided by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.

• Approved July 4, 1776• Asserted the great principle of equality and the

right to revolution, which appealed to both rich and poor, men, women, of all races

• Signing the document was a death sentence if it were to fail, challenging the most powerful empire in history