Toward Independence:AP US History Chapter 5 Part 1

By Neil Hammond, Millbrook High School

Introduction• In 1763, colonists celebrated a resounding

victory over the French and celebrated being British. Within 13 years, colonists were declaring their independence. What went wrong?

• Were British actions or colonial reactions more important?

• Were the colonists being radical by rebelling, or were they being conservative?

The Impact of the French and Indian War

• 1) 25,000 British troops– Strategy differences– Brits demanded deference

• 2) War exposed the weakness of royal governors– Colonial legislatures often controlled the

governor’s pay

• 3) End to Salutary Neglect – Revenue Act of 1762 attempted to put an end to

smuggling

• 4) Peacetime deployment of 10,000 troops in North America– To protect colonists from Indians, possible French

Canadian rebellion…could it be used against the colonists?

Impact on Britain• 1) Britain’s national debt soared

– 75 million pounds (1756)….136 million (1763)

• 2) The debt was consuming 60% of GBR’s government expenditures, so the PM made some changes– Taxes raised on lower and middle classes– Ships scoured the British coast intercepting smugglers

• 3) The price of Empire seemed to be higher taxes and bigger government…– Radical Whigs (remember the Glorious Revolution) and the

“Country Party” called for Parliamentary reform (specifically, calls were made to make parliament more representative)

Impact on Britain• As Britain built a

great navy and subsidized the armies of its European allies, the government's military expenditures soared, as did the number of tax collectors. The tax bureaucracy doubled in size between 1700 and 1735, and doubled again between 1750 and 1780.

Early Troubles• Sugar Act (1764)

– “No taxation without Representation”– Vice Admiralty Courts

• Stamp Act (1765)– Stamp Act Congress– Sons of Liberty– Boycott

• Quartering Act (1765)• Declaratory Act (1766)

• Townshend Acts (1767)– Letters from a PA Farmer (Dickinson)– Samuel Adams…boycott– Otis…Writs of Assistance– Daughters of Liberty

Early Troubles

• What does the table above suggest about the British government during the time period 1760 to 1782?

The Implications of Townshend’s Policies• The full implications of Townshend's policies became clear in New

York, where the assembly refused to comply with the Quartering Act of 1765. Fearing an unlimited drain on its treasury, the New York legislature first denied General Gage's requests for barracks and supplies for his troops and then offered limited assistance. In response, Townshend demanded full compliance, and Parliament threatened to impose a special duty on New York's imports and exports. The Earl of Shelburne, the new secretary of state, went even further: He proposed the appointment of a military governor with the authority to seize funds from New York's treasury and “to act with Force or Gentleness as circumstances might make necessary.” Townshend decided on a less provocative but equally coercive measure, the Restraining Act of 1767, which suspended the New York assembly. Faced with the loss of self-government, New Yorkers reluctantly appropriated the funds to quarter the troops.

• The Restraining Act raised the stakes for the colonists. Previously, the British Privy Council had invalidated a small proportion—about 5 percent—of colonial laws, like those establishing land banks. Townshend's Restraining Act went much further, declaring that American representative assemblies were completely dependent on the will of Parliament.

The Implications of Townshend’s Policies

• American resistance to the Townshend Acts was unacceptable to the British. To strengthen the “Hand of Government” in Massachusetts and help the customs commissioners there, Hillsborough dispatched General Thomas Gage and four thousand British troops to Boston.

• In 1765, American resistance to taxation had provoked a parliamentary debate; in 1768, it produced a plan for military coercion.

The Implications of Townshend’s Policies

• As the imperial crisis deepened, British military priorities changed. In 1763, most British battalions were stationed in Canada to deter Indian uprisings and French Canadian revolts. After the Stamp Act riots of 1765, the British established large garrisons in New York and Philadelphia. By 1775, eleven battalions of British regulars occupied Boston, the center of the Patriot movement.

North Changes Course• At a crucial point the Brits backed down…why?

• 1) The radical John Wilkes had been elected to Parliament…he was a critic of the British government

• 2) The colonial non importation movement was hurting the British…

• 3) Colonial indignation at the Boston Masscre

• Early in 1770, Lord North became prime minister. A witty man and a skillful politician, North set out to save the empire by designing a new compromise. Arguing that it was foolish to tax British exports to America (thereby raising their price and decreasing consumption), North persuaded Parliament to repeal most of the Townshend duties. However, he retained the tax on tea as a symbol of Parliament's supremacy. Gratified by North's initiative, colonial merchants called off the boycott.

Boston Massacre• Even an outbreak of violence did not rupture the

compromise. During the boycott, New York artisans and workers had taunted British troops, mostly with words but occasionally with stones and their fists. In retaliation, the soldiers tore down a Liberty Pole (a Patriot flagpole), setting off a week of street fighting. In Boston, friction between residents and British soldiers over constitutional principles and everyday issues, like competition for part-time jobs, triggered a violent conflict. In March 1770, a group of soldiers fired into a crowd of rowdy demonstrators, killing five men, including one of the leaders, Crispus Attucks, an escaped slave who was working as a seaman. Convinced of a ministerial conspiracy against liberty, Radical Whigs labeled the incident a “massacre” and filled the popular press with accusations that the British had planned the killings.

Boston Massacre• Read Boston Massacre Sources and answer

questions

Sovereignty Debated• Difference between 1765 and 1770

• Read this section carefully for your next essay

• The repeal of the Townshend duties in 1770 seemed to restore harmony to the British empire, but below the surface lay strong passions and mutual distrust. In 1773, those emotions erupted, destroying any hope of compromise. Within two years, the Americans and the British clashed in armed conflict, and Patriot legislators were forming provisional governments and building military forces, the two essentials for independence.

Sovereignty Debated• Once aroused, political passions were not

easily quieted. In Boston, radical Patriots continued to warn Americans of the dangers of imperial domination. In November 1772, Samuel Adams persuaded the Boston town meeting to establish a committee of correspondence to urge Patriots “to state the Rights of the Colonists of this Province.” Soon, eighty Massachusetts towns had similar committees.

• Committees of Correspondence soon spread to other colonies

The Gaspee Affair• To intercept smugglers,

Britain sent customs ships to patrol North American waters. One such ship was the Gaspee.

• Many Rhode Islanders hated the commander of the ship because he often searched ships without a warrant, and sent his crew ashore to seize food without paying for it

• In June, 1772, the Gaspee ran aground, and colonists burned it. The attack outraged the British, who sent a commission to investigate. The Commission had the power to send suspects back to Britain for trial

The Boston Tea Party• In May 1773, Britain made a big mistake. They

decided to help a struggling British company (the British East India Company). The company was deeply in debt.

• British taxes on tea had caused colonists to smuggle in cheaper Dutch tea.

• The British East India Company had over 17 million pounds of tea it needed to sell. The British repealed the tax on tea (the BEI tea was now cheaper than the smuggled tea)…colonial merchants were furious; they feared it was an attempt by the British to squeeze them out of business

The Boston Tea Party• In October 1773, the BEI shipped its tea to

Boston, NY, Philadelphia and Charles Town.

• The Committees of Correspondence decided that they must not allow the tea to be unloaded

• IN NY and Philadelphia, colonists forced the BEI Co. to return home with the tea…In Charles Town the colonists seized it and placed it in a warehouse…In Boston they were more radical

The Boston Tea Party• On December 17, 1773 (the night before customs officials

planned on unloading the BEI tea), a group of 150 men secretly gathered at the Boston Dock

• Several hundred men cheered as the “Indians” dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor

The British Respond: The Coercive Acts

• The Boston Tea Party was the last straw for the British.

• Parliament Passed four new laws to punish Massachusetts and end colonial challenges to British legislation:– Boston Port Act – closed Boston’s port until tea paid

for– Massachusetts Government Act – all MA government

officials to be appointed by Britain– Administration of Justice Act – any British officials or

soldiers accused of a crime could have their trial in Britain

– Quartering Act – local officials had to provide lodging for British soldiers

The First Continental Congress

• Colonists called the British acts the Intolerable Acts

• Fiery speeches were given in various legislatures…the most famous being Patrick Henry’s “…give me liberty or give me death!” speech. Many called for a meeting of the colonies

• This took place in September 1774…The First Continental Congress. 12 out of 13 colonies attended (all except Georgia).

The First Continental Congress

• The FIRST Continental Congress did NOT go to war with the British. It did two things:

• 1) It announced a colonies wide boycott of British goods

• 2) It sent a Declaration of Grievances to King George III (basically a letter asking GIII to get rid of the taxes)

Massachusetts Defies Britain

• Britain had dissolved the Massachusetts legislature…In defiance, the colonists organized another government (the Committee of Safety) and put John Hancock in charge of it.

• Citizens around Boston began to arm themselves and began to ready themselves for a fight with the British. They were known as minutemen.

Lexington and Concord• Complete the map activity