Chapter 4: Frontiers of Empire: Eighteenth Century America, 1680-1763 (#4)

Chapter 4: Frontiers of Empire: Eighteenth Century America, 1680-1763 (#4)

Clash of Political Cultures

-desire to replicate British political institutions

Parliament – they claimed, provided a model for the American assemblies
also revered the English constitution

-the more they attempted to become British – the more aware they became of major differences

unwittingly discovered something about being American

-The English Constitution

the British constitution was not a formal written document
in theory, the English constitution contained three distinct parts
monarch was at the top – advised by handpicked court favorites
House of Lords – body of 180 aristocrats who served with 26 Anglican bishops as the upper house of Parliament
House of Commons – composed of 558 members elected by various constituencies scattered throughout the realm
each of the three parts represented a separate socioeconomic interest: king, nobility, and common people
all parts forma mutual check upon each other (checks and balances)

-The Reality of British Politics

House of Commons and House of Lords – both represented the interests of Britain’s landed elite - no attempt to maintain strict constitutional separation
parliamentary associations – also existed that were organized by the king and supported his policies in exchange for patronage or pension
1715 – no more than 20% of Britain’s adult males had the right to vote
Commonwealthmen – writers who decried the corruption of political life, nothing that a nation that compromised civic virtue, that failed to stand against courtiers and would-be despots, deserved to lose its liberty and property
if England’s rulers were corrupt, they warned, then the people could not expect the balanced constitution to save them from tyranny
most 18th century Englishmen admitted there was truth in the commonwealth beliefs, but they were not willing to tamper with a system of government that had so recently survived a civil war and a Glorious Revolution

-Governing the Colonies: The American Experience

colonists assumed – perhaps naively – that their own governments were modeled on the balanced constitution of Great Britain
governor – corresponded to the king and the governors council – the House of Lords
colonial assemblies – perceived as American reproductions of the House of Commons – were expected to preserve the interests of the people against those of the monarch and aristocracy
royal governors appointed by the crown
most governors decided simply not to “consider any Thing further than how to sit easy”
a means to get out of England more than a sign of respect (George Clinton / New York)
royal governors in America possessed enormous power – could do things in America that a king could not do in 18th century Britain
right to veto legislation and dismiss judges
also served as military commanders in each province
were advised by a council, usually a body of about 12 wealthy colonists selected by the Board of Trade in London upon the recommendation of the governor
adult white males who owned a small amount of land could vote in colony wide elections
excluded women and nonwhites from voting
“middle-class democracies” – societies run by moderately prosperous yeomen farmers who exercised independent judgment
too many of them to bribe, no “rotten” boroughs, and when they moved west, colonial assemblies usually created new electoral districts
possessing the right to vote was one thing, using it another
most of the time they were content to let members of the rural and urban gentry represent them in assemblies
the power to expel legislative rascals was always present in America
kept autocratic gentlemen from straying too far from the will of the people

-Colonial Assemblies

elected members of the colonial assemblies believed that they had a special obligation to preserve colonial liberties
colonists – really believed in the purity of the balanced constitution
insisted on complete separation of executive and legislative authority
when Americans suspected a governor (or some of their own representatives) of employing patronage to influence government decisions, their protests seem to have been lifted directly from the pages of Cato’s Letters
weekly journal – became after 1765, America’s normal form of political discourse
colonial legal system by 1750 “was substantially that of the mother country”
commitment to the preservation of English common law
as 18th century political developments drew the colonists closer to the mother country, they also brought Americans a greater awareness of each other
colonial legislators laid the foundation for a larger cultural identity

Century of Imperial War

-intense local conflicts with the Indians – King Philip’s War (New England)

-colonists were increasingly involved in hostilities that originated on the other side of the Atlantic, in rivalries between Great Britain and France over political and cultural ambitions

colonists devised unprecedented measures of military and political cooperation

-Louis XIV – left the defense of Canada & the Mississippi Valley to the companies in the fur trade

-British settlements – possessed a larger and more prosperous population, they were divided into separate governments that sometimes seemed more suspicious of each other than of the French

small French population - could easily mass the forces needed to defend Montreal and Quebec

-King William’s and Queen Anne’s Wars

William III – declared war on Louis XIV, Europeans call this struggle the War of the League of Augsburg, or simply King William’s War
war ended with the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) – the colonists were drawn almost immediately into a new conflict
Queen Anne’s War – known in Europe as the War of the Spanish Succession
ended in 1713 when Great Britain and France signed the Treaty of Utrecht
European negotiators major concern was preserving a balance of power among the European states
on the American frontier – the hostilities continued with raids and reprisals
were fighting for control over the entire West – including the Mississippi Valley
colonists believed the French planned to “encircle” the English settlements – to confine the English to a narrow strip of land along the Atlantic coast
1682 La Salle – claimed Louisiana and all the people and resources located on “streams and Rivers” flowing into the Mississippi River
French constructed forts on the Chicago and Illinois rivers
“it is impossible that we and the French can both inhabit this Continent in peace, but that one nation must at last give way to the other”
the Native Americans were swept up in this undeclared war
Iroquois favored the British
Algonquin peoples generally supported the French

-King George’s War and its Aftermath

King George’s War – known in Europe as the War of the Austrian Succession
an army of New England troops under the command of William Pepperrell captured Louisbourg in June 1745
war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) – British government handed Louisbourg back to the French in exchange for concessions elsewhere
deep and continuing ambivalence the colonists felt about participation in imperial wars
the Americans seldom fully understood why the wars were being fought, why certain tactics had been adopted, and why the British accepted treaty terms that so blatantly ignored colonial interests
French – decided in the early 1750s, to seize the Ohio Valley before the Virginians could do so
established forts throughout the region – most formidable being Fort Duquesne
militia companies under the command of a promising young officer – George Washington
sent to construct Fort Necessity, not far from Fort Duquesne
French and Indian troops – overran the badly exposed outpost
a single colony could not defeat the French

-Albany Congress and Braddock’s Defeat

bold blueprint for colonial union – the so-called Albany Plan – formation of a Grand Council, made up of elected delegates from the various colonies, to oversee matters of common defense, western expansion, and Indian affairs
included a President General – appointed by the king who would preside
insisted the council be authorized to collect taxes to cover military expenditures
required the support of the separate colonial assemblies as well as Parliament
it received neither
British – resolved to destroy Fort Duquesne and dispatched units of the regular army to America
Major General Edward Braddock – suffered a humiliating defeat
nearly 70% of Braddock’s troops were killed or wounded in western Pennsylvania
the general himself died in battle
British thought their allies the Iroquois might desert them after the embarrassing defeat
the Indians, however, took the news in stride