THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION 1763 1775 A P

THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION 1763 - 1775 A. P. US History Chapter 7

I. New Ideas in the New World A. The Deep Roots of Revolution (cont. ) A ‘Republican’ society was defined as one in which citizens willingly put their own interests behind the common good of all – a concept based on the civic involvement, courage, selflessness, and virtue of its citizenry The American concept of ‘corruption’ was borrowed from English political critics known as ‘radical Whigs’ – widely read by colonists, their concepts were then applied to England’s monarchy

King George III “George III inherited more than just the throne. He also had the royal hereditary disease porphyria which had afflicted Mary Queen of Scots. She passed it to her son, King James I of England. Porphyria is caused by the insufficient production of hemoglobin. The symptoms are photosensitivity, strong abdominal pain, port wine colored urine and paralysis in the arms and legs. The interruption of nerve impulses to the brain causes the development of psychiatric symptoms. ” http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/King_George_II I

II. The Sugar & Stamp Acts, 1763 -1765 A. George Grenville’s Sugar Act In 1763, Prime Minister Bute lost power in Parliament – George III named Sir George Grenville to replace him [served from 1763 to 1765] Grenville’s government was immediately faced with the £ 123 million war debt [French & Indian War plus costs of Seven Years’ War] – debt which Parliament believed Americans should help pay

II. The Sugar & Stamp Acts, 1763 -1765 B. The Stamp Act of 1765 In 1765, Grenville pushed the ‘Stamp Act’ through Parliament – placing a tax on all paper used for assorted colonial documents [i. e. licenses, bills of lading, wills, court documents, newspapers, etc. ] The law required a special stamp be affixed to paper proving the tax had been paid

II. The Sugar & Stamp Acts, 1763 -1765 C. Resistance Strategies & Crowd Politics (cont. ) The ‘Stamp Act’ forced everyone whose livelihood depended on the use of official paper to (1) comply with or defy the new law, (2) boycott use of official paper, or (3) destroy the stamped paper before the law took effect – thus preventing its distribution and ensuring noncompliance with the law

II. The Sugar & Stamp Acts, 1763 -1765 D. Liberty & Power The ‘Stamp Act Congress’ drafted a petition to the king and Parliament, asserting, (1) that taxes were “free gifts of the people” that only the people’s representatives could give, (2) the concept of ‘virtual representation’ was unacceptable, and that (3) affirmed the delegates belief they were subordinate to both Parliament and king By late 1765, Lord Rockingham replaced Grenville as Prime Minister – he immediately sought a repeal of the ‘Stamp Act’ and a reaffirmation of Parliamentary authority

II. The Sugar & Stamp Acts, 1763 -1765 D. Liberty & Power (cont. ) The ‘Declaratory Act’ asserted Parliament’s right to legislate for the colonies, “in all cases whatsoever” – upholding its right to tax and to pass laws affecting the colonies

III. The Townshend Acts & Economic Retaliation, 1767 -1770 A. The Townshend Duties By mid-1766, former Prime Minister William Pitt replaced Lord Rockingham - Pitt was admired both in England America as capable and fair-minded Pitt appointed Charles Townshend as ‘Chancellor of the Exchequer’ – essentially the chief financial minister

III. The Townshend Acts & Economic Retaliation, 1767 -1770 A. The Townshend Duties Townshend’s appointment the stage for the first fatalities in a brewing revolution in the American colonies – he quickly proposed the ‘Revenue Act of 1767’ The ‘Revenue Act of 1767’ created new taxes on tea, glass, lead, paper, and paint designed to be paid by the importer up front, but passed on to consumers in the retail price at the time of sale Townshend assumed Americans would find these ‘external taxes’ (duties levied on the transatlantic trade) more acceptable than ‘internal taxes’, such as the Stamp Act

III. The Townshend Acts & Economic Retaliation, 1767 -1770 A. The Townshend Duties (cont. ) Townshend was particularly concerned about the New York legislature because it did not enforce the ‘Quartering Act of 1765’ - the law required New Yorkers to shelter and provision troops stationed there

III. The Townshend Acts & Economic Retaliation, 1767 -1770 C. Violence in Boston In the fall of 1768, 3, 000 British troops arrived to occupy Boston – their presence irritated Bostonians, but no major problems occurred that winter or through most of 1769

III. The Townshend Acts & Economic Retaliation, 1767 -1770 C. Violence in Boston (cont. ) The ‘Boston Massacre’ lasted only minutes, but created debate that continues to this day over who was actually responsible for the killings In the aftermath, Lt. Gov. Hutchinson ordered the removal of British troops from Boston to an island in the harbor – to appease the townspeople and prevent further violence The Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770 Engraving by Paul Revere

III. The Townshend Acts & Economic Retaliation, 1767 -1770 C. Violence in Boston (cont. ) Capt. Preston and the 8 soldiers involved in the ‘Boston Massacre’ were jailed and tried before a Boston court in late 1770 – defended by John Adams and Josiah Quincy, 6 were acquitted; 2 were convicted of manslaughter, branded on the thumbs and released In March 1770, Lord Frederick North became England’s new Prime Minister – he held the office for the next 12 years

III. The Tea Party & the Coercive Acts, 1770 -1774 C. The Coercive Acts Lord North’s response to the ‘Tea Party’ was swift as Parliament issued four ‘Coercive Acts’ in 1774 and 1775, specifically, (1) the ‘Boston Port Act’, (2) the ‘Massachusetts Government Act’, (3) the ‘Administration of Justice Act’, and (4) the ‘Quartering Act of 1775’ The ‘Boston Tea Party’ December 16, 1773

III. The Tea Party & the Coercive Acts, 1770 -1774 C. The Coercive Acts (cont. ) The ‘Massachusetts Government Act’ revoked Massachusetts’ charter – emphasizing Parliament’s claim to supremacy over Massachusetts The ‘Quartering Act of 1765’ authorized military commanders to house soldiers wherever necessary even in private homes The ‘Quebec Act of 1775’ had nothing to do with the ‘Coercive Acts’ – however, Americans referred to all of these laws as the ‘Intolerable Acts’

III. The Tea Party & the Coercive Acts, 1770 -1774 C. The Coercive Acts (cont. ) The ‘Quebec Act’, authorized, (1) the continuance of French civil law and government form, (2) protection and toleration of Roman Catholicism in Quebec, and (4) gave Quebec control of disputed land in the Ohio River valley claimed by Virginia, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania Quebec Before & After 1774

III. The Tea Party & the Coercive Acts, 1770 -1774 D. The First Continental Congress In September, the ‘First Continental Congress’ met to (1) express a consensus on the liberties they claimed as English subjects, (2) express a consensus on Parliament’s legitimate powers over them, and (3) devise a unified response to the ‘Coercive Acts’ Delegates to the Congress included Virginia’s Patrick Henry and George Washington, was well as Samuel and John Adams – they and others were notable leaders of the anti-British cause in their home colonies Meeting over 7 weeks, the Congress produced a declaration of rights stating, “We ask only for peace, liberty, and security. We wish no diminution of royal prerogatives, we demand no new rights. ”

III. The Tea Party & the Coercive Acts, 1770 -1774 D. The First Continental Congress (cont. ) England rejected the Congress’s petition of claims to rights Americans had long assumed to be theirs, specifically, (1) that Americans were not represented in Parliament, and (2) that each colonial government had the sole right to legislate for and tax its own people

V. Domestic Insurrections, 1774 -1775 A. Lexington & Concord (cont. ) On the evening of April 18, 1775, Gage organized a surprise raid on a suspected weapons storage site at Concord - late that night, British regulars crossed Boston harbor, the Charles River, and marched for Concord Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith, and William Dawes, a tanner, observed British movements – riding ahead, they alerted ‘minutemen’ militia units to arms At Lexington, Massachusetts, five miles east of Concord, British troops encountered approximately 70 armed men

V. Domestic Insurrections, 1774 -1775 A. Lexington & Concord (cont. ) British officers ordered the Americans at Lexington to disarm and disperse, at which time someone fired - within two minutes 8 Americans were killed and 10 were wounded Upon entering Concord, British troops encountered more minutemen – who offered no initial resistance as the British searched the town in vain for weapons caches British Troops at Concord Center April 19, 1775

V. Domestic Insurrections, 1774 -1775 A. Lexington & Concord (cont. ) The fighting of April 19, 1775 marked the beginning of the American ‘Revolutionary War’

VI. The Military Balance Sheet A. Imperial Strengths & Weaknesses The odds of American revolutionaries prevailing against England overwhelmingly favored the latter because, (1) population odds of 3 to 1 disfavored Americans, (2) it enjoyed a rich treasury capable of mounting a war and hiring foreign mercenaries, (3) it possessed a professional army of nearly 50, 000 men, (4) it enjoyed naval supremacy on the high seas, and (5) her numerous Indian allies were anxious to prevent expansionist Americans from winning the war