The Road to Independence “let us disappoint the men who are raising themselves upon the ruin of this country”

Samuel Addams, 1776Phase II – A New Republic

Key Topics CoveredInfluence of British political System

Origins of Resistance

British response

Choice of Independence

Military Course

Peace for a New Nation

British Mercantilism 17th century economic policy Mercantilist doctrine Role of the colony English Acts of Trade and Navigation Positive / negative effects

• Wealth measured by amount of gold, silver possessed by nation

• Mercantilists believed there was fixed amount of wealth in world

• For one nation to become wealthier, more powerful—had to take wealth, power away from another nation

• Mercantilism led to intense competition between nations

Intense Competition• Founding of colonies, new goods

in Europe led to significant changes

• 1500s, Europeans developed new economic policy, mercantilism

• Nation’s strength depended on its wealth

• Wealthy nation had power for military and expanded influence

New Economic Policy

Mercantilism

• Mercantilists built wealth two ways—extract gold, silver from mines at home, in colonies; sell more goods than it bought from foreign countries, creating favorable balance of trade

• With favorable balance of trade, country received more gold, silver from other nations than it paid to them

• Increased its power; weakened foreign competitors

• To achieve favorable balance of trade, could reduce amount of imports by placing tariffs on goods

• Importer paid tariff, added cost to price of good

• Imported goods more expensive, discouraged people from buying

Imports • Encourage exports that could sell

for higher prices than raw materials• Countries encouraged

manufacturing and export of manufactured goods

• Governments provided subsidies to help start new industries

Exports

Balance of Trade

Controlling Sources

Third approach for favorable balance of trade, controlling sources

Nation that controlled own sources would not need to import from competing nations

Why important Country did not need to spend own money to obtain raw

materials Foreign countries considered rivals, might become active

enemy, cut off supply of raw materials European nations worked to become more self-sufficient Nations began to establish colonies

Building colonial empires essential to mercantilist system

• European powers wanted to establish colonies

– To control sources of raw materials

– To provide new markets for manufactured goods

• To mercantilist, colonies existed only to benefit home country

Colonies

• Monarchs restricted economic activities in colonies

• Colonists could not sell raw materials to other countries

• Could not buy manufactured goods from other nations

• Strict laws forbade colonies from manufacturing goods

• Forced to buy only from home country

Strict Laws

Colonies

New Ventures• Overseas business ventures

often too expensive for individual investors

• Investors began pooling money in joint-stock companies

Shares• Profit, loss based on number of

shares owned

• If company failed, investors lost only amount invested

Joint-Stock Companies• Investors bought shares of

stock in company

• If company made profit, each shareholder received portion

Financing Colonies• British East India Company, one

of first joint-stock companies • 1600, imported spices from Asia• Others formed to bear cost of

establishing colonies

A New Business Organization

The Economy Increase of trade by 1760’s Agriculture New England Middle Southern Monetary system Transportation

Religion Variety Protestant dominance Anglicans Congregationalists

The Great Awakening 18th C; intellectual discourse Dramatic changes Expressions of religious feeling Jonathan Edwards George Whitefield The impact Political influence

What is an American?“The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles;

he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, and useless labor, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence. This is an American”

J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur

1782

National Character Motivations Political heritage Natural environment American viewpoint Outsider observations

Empires at War End of 17th C. A series of four wars King William’s War Queen Anne’s War King George’s War

French and Indian War The beginning What was at stake / Ft. Duquesne The Virginia Militia A British invasion Albany Plan of Union British Victory effects of war

North America in 1750

North America in 1750

French and Indians

British French

Fort Necessity Fort Duquesne * George Washington * Delaware & Shawnee Indians

The Ohio Valley

1754 The First Clash

1754 The First Clash

"Join or Die"

 This is Benjamin Franklin's 1754 cartoon emphasizing the need for the various colonies and regions to work together. While this became a potent message during the revolutionary period of the 1770s, the cartoon was actually intended to unite colonists against the Indian threat.

Ben Franklin à representatives from New England, NY, MD, PA

Albany Congress failed Iroquois broke off relations with Britain & threatened to trade with the French.

Gen. Edward Braddock evict the French from the OH Valley & Canada (Newfoundland & Nova Scotia)

A Attacks OH Valley, Mohawk Valley, & Acadia.A Killed 10 mi. from Ft. Duquesne by 1500 French and Indian forces.

Only Br. Success expelled France

from Louisiana.

1755 Br. Decides to Eliminate Fr.

Presence in No. Amer.

1755 Br. Decides to Eliminate Fr.

Presence in No. Amer.

The French & Indian War (the next slides…)

1756 British reaction - full scale assault against Fr. in Canada and in the world 1757 William Pitt - The Great Organizer 1758 Louisbourg victory 1758 Quebec 1760 Montreal

Lord Loudouin

Marquis de Montcalm

Native American tribes exploited both sides!

British

• March in formation or bayonet charge.

• Br. officers wanted to take charge of colonials.

• Prima Donna Br. officers with servants & tea settings.

• Drills & tough discipline.

• Colonists should pay for their own defense.

• Indian-style guerilla tactics.

• Col. militias served under own captains.

• No mil. deference or protocols observed.

• Resistance to rising taxes.

• Casual, non-professionals.

Methods ofFighting:

MilitaryOrganization:

MilitaryDiscipline:

Finances:

Demeanor:

British-American Colonial TensionsBritish-American Colonial Tensions

Colonials

A He understood colonial concerns.

A He offered them a compromise:

- col. loyalty & mil. cooperation-->Br. would reimburse col. assemblies for their costs. - Lord Loudoun would be removed.

RESULTS? Colonial morale increased by 1758.

1757 William Pitt Becomes Foreign

Minister

1757 William Pitt Becomes Foreign

Minister

* By 1761, Sp. has become an ally of Fr.

1758-1761 The Tide Turns for England

1758-1761 The Tide Turns for England

The French & Indian War

Battle of Quebec Sept. 1759Wolfe’s strategy - hit the roots not the branchesMontcalm’s mistakeTreaty of Paris 1763

France --> lost her Canadian possessions, most of her empire in India, and claims to lands east of the Mississippi River.

Spain --> got all French lands west of the Mississippi River, New Orleans, but lost Florida to England.England --> got all French lands in Canada, exclusive rights to Caribbean slave trade, and commercial dominance in India.

1763 Treaty of Paris

1763 Treaty of Paris

North America in 1763

North America in 1763

Fr. & Ind. War Transforms Colonial Relations in N. America

The first four years saw nothing but severe reverses for the British regulars and American colonials, primarily because of superior French land forces in the New World. Lack of colonial assistance to the war effort compounded British problems. By the end of 1757, however, the course of the war began to be altered by three major influences.

1. One was the dynamic leadership of the British prime minister, William Pitt the Elder, who saw that victory in North America was the supreme task in the worldwide struggle and who has been truly called the organizer of victory in the Great War for the Empire.

2. The second was the increasing superiority of British financial and industrial resources, food supplies, and naval equipment, as opposed to growing national bankruptcy and economic paralysis faced by France.

3. Finally, both the British and Americans were becoming seasoned wilderness fighters.

http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9035340/French-and-Indian-War

1. English-French rivalry worldwide

2. World War b/w two powerful empires

3. English, w/ colonial help, fight Fr. And their Native American allies

4. Fr. Finally lose war & are expelled from N. America

5. Eng. Inherit vast new land holdings in N. America

1. It doubled the size of Britain’s North American territory and it must be governed

2. It greatly enlarged England’s debt. They will have to pay to maintain and control this vast empire. To make matters worse, citizens in Great Britain were already heavily taxed.

3. Britain’s contempt for the colonials created bitter feelings. Intractable American colonists were not about to accept restrictions on their activities. Some colonists, in fact, were beginning to compete effectively with British capitalists and refused to subordinate their economic interests to those of British manufacturers.

4. Hostile NA in the Appalachian region, who felt threatened by American westward expansion into the Ohio River Valley, needed to be controlled. - Pontiac’s Rebellion

Therefore, England felt that a major reorganization of her American Empire was necessary!

Effects of the War on Britain?Effects of the War on Britain?

1. It united them against a common enemy for the first time.

2. It created a socializing experience for all the colonials who participated.

3. It created bitter feelings

towards the British that would only intensify.

Effects of the War on the American

Colonials

Effects of the War on the American

Colonials

Mercantilism Was the period from 1650 to end of Fr. Ind. War 1763 a period of

“salutary neglect?” Some historians question this view especially given that

mercantilism was the prevailing economic system It emphasizes that a nation’s economic power expands by

maintaining a favorable balance of trade and controlling hard currency-specie. The American colonies were Britain’s reliable source of raw materials and a viable market for British goods. Ex: lg swaths of British deforested and for its massive navy it needed N. America for lumber supply.

British mercantilist policies were not generally challenged by the colonists, in part b/c they were difficult to implement and often infrequently enforced

As long as competition from the Americans wasn’t significant and Britain wasn’t experiencing an economic or fiscal crisis, there was little need or incentive to abandon the policy of salutary neglect.

Major British mercantilist policies in the pre-1760 period

Navigation laws 1660, 1663, 1673, 1696- designed to promote English shipping and control colonial trade in regard to important crops

The Wool (1699), Hat (1732), and Iron (1750) Acts- designed to thwart American business men from turning raw material into finished commodities - obviously the merchant class will disdain these laws

The Molasses Act (1733) - rum Overseeing all: British Board of Trade OK until post 1763

King George III put George Grenville as Prime Minister - his solution: fundamentally change British economic, trade, political relationship with Americans

Abandoned salutory neglect as a policy Begin: Proclamation of 1763

1763 Pontiac’s Rebellion

Fort Detroit

British “gifts” of smallpox-infected blankets from Fort Pitt.

The Aftermath: Tensions Along the

Frontier

The Aftermath: Tensions Along the

Frontier

Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)

Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)

British Proclamation Line of 1763.

Colonials Paxton Boys (PA)

BACKLASH!BACKLASH! Paxton Boys descended on Philadelphia where NA (Pontiac’s men?) sought refuge. Paxton Boys wanted funding to support safety on frontier. Ben Franklin negotiated for funding. What happened @100 years earlier that echoed this armed insurrection?Colonial perception: colonial gov’ts favored the aristocracy over the needs of the masses?Carolinas in 1771 - Regulators- asserted taxation w/out representation = tyranny

Br. Gvt. measures to prevent smuggling:

James Otis’ case

Protection of a citizen’s private property must be held in higher regard than a parliamentary statute.

A 1761 writs of assistance

He lost parliamentary law and custom had equalweight.

Rethinking Their Empire

Rethinking Their Empire

British Actions and Colonial Reaction Issue of revenue Sugar Act Quartering Act Stamp Act Protest Declaratory Act

1. Sugar Act - 1764

2. Currency Act - 1764

4. Stamp Act - 1765

3. Quartering Act - 1765

George Grenville’s Program, 1763-1765George Grenville’s

Program, 1763-1765

Real Whigs

Q-> What was the extent of Parliament’s authority over the colonies??

Absolute? OR Limited?

Q-> How could the colonies give or withhold consent for parliamentary legislation when they did not have representation in that body??

Theories of Representation

Theories of Representation

Loyal Nine - 1765

Sons of Liberty – began in NYC:Samuel Adams

Stamp Act Congress – 1765 * Stamp Act Resolves

Declaratory Act – 1766

Stamp Act CrisisStamp Act Crisis

1767 William Pitt, P. M. & Charles Townshend, Secretary of the Exchequer.

A Shift from paying taxes for Br. war debts & quartering of troops paying col. govt. salaries.A He diverted revenue collection from internal to external trade.A Tax these imports paper, paint, lead, glass, tea.

A Increase custom officials at American ports established a Board of Customs in Boston.

Townshend Duties Crisis: 1767-1770Townshend Duties Crisis: 1767-1770

1. John Dickinson 1768 * Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania.

2. 1768 2nd non-importation movement: * “Daughters of Liberty” * spinning bees

3. Riots against customs agents: * John Hancock’s ship, the

Liberty. * 4000 British troops sent to Boston.

Colonial Response to the Townshend

Duties

Colonial Response to the Townshend

Duties

Second Phase Charles Townshend Reaction Repeal Boston Massacre

Tar and Feathering

The Boston Massacre

For enlisted men, serving in the British army was often an act of desperation; subsistence wages

They often took spare jobs - contributed to tensions

Crispus Attucks John Adams defended British

soldiers; winning acquittals for most

Calm afterwards as Lord North - new prime minister - withdrew all of Townshend Acts except Tea Tax

Sam Adams kept everyone informed through committees of correspondence

http://ns.netmcr.com/~ambro/bm2.jpg

The Boston Massacre (March 5,1770)

Renewal of the Conflict The Gaspee Boston Tea Party Intolerable Acts Coercive Acts Quebec Act

The Gaspee Incident (1772)

Providence, RI coast

Committees of Correspondence

Purpose warn neighboring colonies about incidents with Br.

broaden the resistance movement.

Tea Act (1773)8 British East India Co.:

Monopoly on Br. tea imports.

Many members of Parl. held shares.

Permitted the Co. to sell tea directly to cols. without col. middlemen (cheaper tea!)

8 North expected the cols. to eagerly choose the cheaper tea.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts 1774)

What will the British response be? Boston Port Bill Administration of Justice Act Massachusetts Gov’t Act

Quebec Act 1774 Facilitate incorporation of Fr Canadians and their land into

British empire Quebec’s boundary extended to Ohio River Catholicism recognized as Quebec’s official religion *nonrepresentative gov’t estb. for its citizens This wasn’t just Mass. but larger range Dissolved jury trials and popular assemblies Alarmed land speculators that this lg. swath removed

First Continental Congress (1774)55 delegates from 12

coloniesAgenda How to

respond to the Coercive Acts & the Quebec Act?

1 vote per colony represented.

First Continental Congress Purpose and intent Delegates Actions Adopted measures

Suffolk Resolves Declaration of Rights and Grievances The Association Second congress

First Continental Congress

Radicals - Va’s Patrick Henry, Ma’s Sam & John Adams, Pa’s Charles Thomson - colonies relationship w/ Br. Has passed point of no return. For them there are only 2 alternatives: force Britain to accede to their demands or declare independence

Moderates - Pa’s John Dickinson and Va’s George Washington - relationship b/w the colonies and Gr. Britain can be repaired

Conservatives - NY’s John Jay and Pa’s Joseph Galloway - mild rebuke of Britain is ok but nothing aggressive - quasi-Albany Plan would be best. A colonial “grand council” would have power to veto British acts. The Galloway plan was narrowly defeated.

http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/visit/images/congress.jpg

• Sept 1774 - delegates from colonies meet to discuss response to Intolerable Acts• an advisory board not legislative body

First Continental Congress

Parliament possessed no inherent authority to tax colonists

The British Empire was a compact (or loose union) between the center (the mother country) and its colonies, not one unit dominated by Britain

Each colony possessed its own legislature independent of Britain’s legislative authority

Holding together this loose-knit union was a collective allegiance to the king

http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/visit/images/congress.jpg

The more radical delegates used Thomas Jefferson’s A Summary View of the Rights of British America to post the following ideas

They took the following actions:• they declared the Intolerable Acts null & void•They recommended colonists arm themselves•Militias should be formed (Mass. Minute Men)•They recommended a boycott of British goods - A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BOYCOTT •*note: not calling for independence yet

The British Are Coming . . .

Paul Revere & William Dawes make their midnight ride to warn the

Minutemen of approaching British soldiers.

The Shot Heard ’Round the World!

Lexington & Concord – April 18,1775

Fighting Begins Lexington and Concord Bunker Hill The Second Continental Congress

Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms Peace Efforts

Thomas Paine: Common Sense

Declaration of Independence

(1776)

Independence Hall

New National Symbols

Arguments for Independence Thomas Paine Committee of Five Treason

“Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for separation “

“Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an

intolerable one. For when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country

without a government

Why not declare independence?

F E A R Factions within the colonies Everyone was scared of British military power A mob-run state Reduction in revenues

Why not declare independence?

Loyalty to the empirePoor unity within the coloniesUpper class feared mob ruleMiddle class feared decline in businessAll feared the British army & navy

Irish rebels had been hanged, drawn, & quarteredJust a small minority of rebel-rousers?

SOMEWHAT – Brits mistakenly thought by capturing leaders in the colonies, the militia would disband. Many were on the fence.

Up to 16% were loyalists, mostly in the lower southern colonies.

Catalysts for Independence

Harsh British actions Burning of Falmouth and Norfolk Hiring of Hessians

Common SenseExperience running their own governmentsAcceptable “umbrella of language” to shield colonists

against criticism that they were rebelling against God.June 1776 Richard Henry Lee moves that the United

Colonies be free and independent states. The motion is passed July 1776.

Declaration of Independence

An eloquent appeal of why secession is needed must be created – a formal explanation.

Would be used to help enlist foreign aid

Task falls to Thomas Jefferson

The War Patriots African-Americans Loyalists Native Americans Initial losses and hardships Alliance

A War Fought on Many Levels

Inter-colonial: Loyalists vs. Patriots

Military: American rebels vs. British redcoats Role of the Militia

Ideologically: Hearts and minds of the undecided and indifferent African Americans mostly side with the British

Who did the Indians side with?

Mostly with the English – believed to be a sure bet to win. Mohawk chief Joseph Brant and other key chiefs convince

thousands of Iroquois, Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, and other warriors to join forces the British

Conducted independent raids on American arsenals and settlements along the western frontier.

After the war the Americans felt justified in taking land from natives.

Britain Americans

Advantages ? ?

Disadvantages ? ?

On the Eve of the Revolution ?

Loyalist

Strongholds

Washington’s Headaches

Only 1/3 of the colonists were in favor of a war for independence [the other third were Loyalists, and the final third were neutral].

State/colony loyalties.

Congress couldn’t tax to raise money for the Continental Army.

Poor training [until the arrival of Baron von Steuben.

Exports & Imports: 1768-1783

Military Strategies

Attrition [the Brits had a long supply line].

Guerilla tactics [fight an insurgent war you don’t have to win a battle, just wear the British down]

Make an alliance with one of Britain’s enemies.

The Americans The British

Break the colonies in half by getting between the No. & the So.

Blockade the ports to prevent the flow of goods and supplies from an ally.

“Divide and Conquer” use the Loyalists.

Phase I: The Northern Campaign[1775-1776]

Bunker Hill (June, 1775)

The British suffered over 40% casualties.

Phase II:

NY & PA[1777-1778]

New York City in Flames(1776)

Washington Crossing the Delaware

Painted by Emanuel Leutze, 1851

Saratoga: “Turning Point” of the War?

Significance of Saratoga Swings momentum to the American side. Convinces France to join the Patriot cause.

Phase III: The Southern Strategy [1780-1781]

Britain’s “Southern Strategy”

Britain thought that there were more Loyalists in the South.

Southern resources were more valuable/worth preserving.

The British win a number of small victories, but cannot pacify the countryside [similar to U. S. failures in Vietnam!]

Good US General:Nathanial Greene

The Battle of Yorktown (1781)

Count de Rochambeau

AdmiralDe Grasse

Cornwallis’ Surrender at Yorktown:

Painted by John Trumbull, 1797

“The World Turned Upside Down!”

The road towards peace Fighting continued for over a year after Yorktown. World War become overwhelming to the British. A Whig ministry A chance to thwart the French & bring the Americans

back to English trade

Treaty of Paris of 1783

Britain recognized the independence of the USBorders from Atlanta, to Mississippi, to the

Great Lakes, to Florida.Americans must stop persecuting Loyalists

and recommend their property be restored.British creditors could still collect payment.France agrees to all parts – end to conflict

Slips towards bankruptcy and bloody revolution

North America After theTreaty of Paris, 1783

Victory Yorktown Treaty of Paris Strengths and weaknesses

Social Change Ending of aristocracy Church and State Women Slavery

Historical Perspectives Radical or Conservative