Chapter 6: The Road to Revolution
Section 1: Tighter British Control
A: Colonies & Britain Grow Apart
During the F&IW Britain and the colonies fought side by side.
When the war ended Britain wanted to control all the colonies land uniformly. so Parliament imposed new laws.
Before, the colonies had been allowed to develop on his own (salutary neglect), but now they felt their freedom was being limited.
First of the laws was the Proclamation of 1763.
B: Britain Troops & Taxes:
King George III – wanted to enforce the proclamation and keep peace with the Native Americans.
Quartering Act – was a cost saving measure that required the colonies to quarter, or house, British soldiers and provide them supplies.
Revenue – Income
Britain attempted to have the colonies pay some of the war debt, and contribute to the frontier defense and colonial government.
Parliament voted to tax the colonies directly now.
Sugar Act (1764) – Parliament passed this law to tax sugar, molasses, and other products shipped to the colonies.
The Sugar Act also called for strict enforcement upon smuggling.
Colonists such as James Otis claimed that parliament had no right to tax the colonists, b/c they were not represented in Parliament.
TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS TYRRANY
C: Britain Passes the Stamp Act:
Stamp Act (1765) – required all legal and commercial documents to carry an official stamp showing that a tax had been paid.
The Stamp Act was done within the colonies.
Colonists had to pay for stamps w/ a silver coin, that was scarce in the colonies.
Patrick Henry called for resistance to the tax and was spoke against b/c it was treason. When he heard this he replied, that if it were treason, then make the most of it.
D: Colonies Protest the Stamp Act:
No Taxation Without Representation
9 colonies sent reps to the Stamp Act Congress in NY.
This was the 1st time the colonies met in “protest”
A petition was drawn up protesting the Stamp Act.
The colonists then BOYCOTTED British goods.
Sons of Liberty – secret society to oppose the British.
These groups protested the Stamp Act and were not always peaceful. The protests made many custom officials quit their job in fear of safety.
This then affected the British and made them repeal the Stamp Act.
But they passed the Declaratory Act which said Parliament had supreme authority to govern the colonies.
Section 2: Colonial Resistance Grows
A: Townshend Acts are Passed
after the Stamp Act, Britain wanted to avoid further conflict, but still wanted to raise money in America.
Townshend Acts - the king's finance minister, Charles Townshend, said he had a way to raise money – so in 1767 the acts were passed.
i. 1st Act suspended NY's assembly until they agreed to provide housing for the troops.
ii. The other acts placed duties, or import taxes, on various goods brought into the colonies.
To enforce the ACTS British officers would use writs of assistance, or search warrants, to enter places looking for smuggled goods.
B: Reasons for Protest:
Protests broke out immediately on the news of the Townshend Acts.
James Otis argued that the writs of assistance went against “natural rights”
Locke said that no one should harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.
C: Tools of Protest:
-To protect the Townshend Acts; colonists announced another boycott.
-Samuel Adams – leader of the Sons of Liberty, was the driving force behind the protests.
-As a result, trade with Britain fell sharply.
-Custom officers tried to seize the American merchant ship named Liberty, which was carrying smuggled goods.
-Officers were forced to flee.
D: Boston Massacre
-1768 – 1,000 British soldiers (redcoats) arrived in Boston under Command of General Thomas Gage.
-The soldiers caused a lot of tension among the colonists.
-On March 5, 1770, tensions finally exploded into violence
-A group of youths and dockworkers (Crispus Attucks) started trading insults w/ soldiers. A fight broke out and Attucks, along with 4 others were killed.
-The Sons of Liberty called this the Boston Massacre.
-The redcoats who shot were tried for murder and represented in court by John Adams.
-Adams was criticized for defending then and eventually had the jury agree to his self-defense argument.
E: Tea Act
-On the day of the Boston Massacre, Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts. One month later, all the acts were repealed except the tax on tea.
-This tax was kept so Parliament could show it still had the power to tax the colonists.
-Committees of Correspondence – were formed in various towns in MA by Samuel Adams so people didn’t forget the cause of liberty.
-In 1773 Parliament passed the Tea Act – so now the colonists had to pay taxes on all the tea imported.
-The colonists wondered what parliament would do next.
F: Boston Tea Party
-Protests against the Tea Act took place all over the colonies.
-In Charleston, SC colonists unloaded tea and left it to rot in the docks.
-In NY and Philly they blocked ships from landing.
-In Boston, the Sons of Liberty organized the Boston Tea Party.
-December 16, 1773 – a group of men dressed like NAs went aboard 3 tea ships and destroyed 342 chests of tea.
-They thought that now Parliament would see how strongly the colonists opposed taxation without representation.
Section 3: Road to Lexington and Concord
A: The Intolerable Acts:
-Militia – force of armed civilians pledged to defend their community.
-Minutemen – ½ Lexington militia; ready at a minutes warning.
-King George III said that they must master or totally leave the colonies to themselves. Britain chose to “master” the colonies.
-In 1774 Parliament passed a series of laws to punish the MA. Colony and called them the Coercive Acts. Colonists called them the Intolerable Acts.
-To enforce these acts, Parliament appointed General Thomas Gage to MA.
B: 1st Continental Congress Meets:
-In 1774 the delegates from all colonies except GA met in Philly.
-The meeting was called the 1st Continental Congress
-Delegates voted to ban all trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed – each colony had to start training troops.
-The delegates agreed to meet again in 7 months – but by then the war had already begun.
C: Between War and Peace:
-Colonists thought that the boycott would end up in the repeal of the Intolerable Acts; but Parliament stood firm. It even increased restrictions on colonial trade and sent more troops.
D: Midnight Ride:
-Both sides had spies that were very busy.
-Gage ordered the arrest of Adams and Hancock in Lexington and to destroy supplies in Concord.
-Paul Revere and William Dawes were charged with spreading the news of British troop movement.
-Revere arranged a system to let colonists know how the British troops were coming. 1 of by land and 2 if by sea.
E: Lexington & Concord:
-On April 19th, some 700 British troops and about 70 militiamen reached Lexington.
-When British ordered Americans to drop muskets but they refused.
-No one knows what happened but shots were fired and 8 militiamen were dead.
-Lexington and Concord: were the first battles of the Revolutionary War.
-The “shot heard round the world”
-Loyalists – those who supported the British
-Patriots – those who sided with the rebels (colonists)
Section 4: Declaring Independence
A: Continental Army is Formed:
-After Lexington & Concord, militiamen began gathering around Boston.
-On May 10, 1775 Americans attacked Ticonderoga.
-Ethan Allen led the band of backwoods men known as the Green Mountain Boys.
-Artillery – canon and large guns.
-Also, on May 10th – the 2nd Continental Congress began meeting in Philly.
-At the meeting they agreed to form the Continental Army.
-Washington was chosen as the commanding general.
-Congress also authorized the printing of money.
B: Battle of Bunker Hill:
-Militiamen seized Bunker Hill and Breeds Hill behind Charlestown.
-“Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes”
-British took Bunker Hill, but at a large cost to their troops.
C: Last Attempt at Peace:
-Despite deepening conflict, most colonists still hoped for peace.
-In July 1775, Congress drafted the Olive Branch Petition and sent it to London, to hopefully restore harmony.
-The king rejected the petition and used the navy to block American ports and hired German soldiers to fight in America.
-The Continental Army would now invade Quebec in hope of drawing Canadians into Patriot Camp.
-One leader was Benedict Arnold.
-Under harsh conditions the attack was launched, but failed.
D: British Retreat from Boston:
The Continental Army has the British surrounded in Boston.
Armed with canons, Washington moved his troops into Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston.
This caused British withdraw from Boston.
E: Common Sense is Published:
Pamphlet Common Sense helped convince Americans that a complete break from Britain was necessary.
Was written by Thomas Paine.
The call for independence had now become a roar.
F: Time of Decision:
Continental Congress remained undecided about independence.
May 1776, Congress adopted a resolution authorizing each of the 13 colonies to establish its own government.
June 7, Richard Henry Lee, introduced a resolution that called the colonies “free and independent states” and declared “all political connection between them and Britain was totally dissolved.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE – a committee was formed to draft the Declaration, it included Ben Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson.
The group chose Jefferson to compose the Declaration.
On July 2, 1776, Congress considered lee's resolution again, and despite opposition the measure passed.
From now on, the colonies considered themselves independent.
G: Declaration is Adopted:
July 4, 1776 Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
John Hancock, the President of the Congress, was the 1st to sign.
The core idea of the Declaration was based on philosophy of John Locke.
Women and enslaved persons were left out of the Declaration.
Americans had declared their independence, now they had to win it on the battlefield.