Chapter 5 The American Revolution

Chapter 5: The American Revolution The Crisis Begins What were the roots and significance of the Stamp Act controversy? Consolidating the Empire   Great Britain and colonies were allies during 7 Years War o After war (mid 1760s) colonies were viewed as subordinate again—to enrich mother country and:  Rule more efficiently and systematically  Raise funds to pay for war  Finance the empire British political leaders supported new laws in America o Be grateful to empire for fighting 7 Years’ War o o   Help pay back war expenses (150 million borrowed = tens of trillions today) Pay for continued British protection o Stop cheating treasury by violating Navigation Act Virtual Representation: The idea that the American colonies, although they had no actual representative in Parliament, were “virtually” represented by all members of Parliament o Each member or Parliament represented the whole empire, not just their district o Americans insisted they were unrepresented in Parliament—therefore, could not be taxed Colonists were outraged by: o Writs of assistance: allowed unlimited search warrants without cause to look for evidence of smuggling o Proclamation of 1763: barred further settlement on lands west of Appalachian Mountains (entire reason for the Seven Years’ War) Taxing the Colonies  Sugar Act: 1764 decision by Parliament to tax refined sugar and many other colonial products o Introduced by Prime Minister George Grenville o Reduced taxes on molasses imported to North American from 6 pence to 3 pence per gallon o Strengthened admiralty courts (courts with jurisdiction over the sea) o  Reduce colonial jury acquittals of those violating Navigation act  Smugglers subjected to trial with no jury Currency Act: reaffirmed ban on paper as legal tender o   Colonists saw act not as a reduction in taxes but as an attempt to get them to pay a levy they would have otherwise evaded. Sugar Act was an effort to strengthen the Navigation Act o New type of policy  Parliament attempted to raise money from direct taxes in colonies, rather than regulation of trade o Act required that all printed material produced in colonies (newspapers, books, court documents, commercial papers, land deeds, almanac) have a stamp purchases from authorities  Finance empire operations (ex. Stationing troops in North America) Act offensive to colonists o Resented by publishers, writers, readers, those who followed political affairs o o Aspect of British army permanently stationed in America was alarming Challenged colonial elites who through the assemblies they controlled, already established power over the raising and spending of money 1  First major split between colonists and Great Britain o Colonists invoked the rights of the freeborn Englishman  Drew on established British principle that community should not be taxed except by elected reps.  Liberty could not be secure where property was taken away without consent Taxation and Representation   Liberty = right to govern own affairs o Believed by colonists in North America and British outposts in India, West Indies, Canada British government + appointed reps. in America saw empire as a system of unequal parts o Different principles for different areas o All subjected to authority of Parliament o Surrendering the right to tax colonists = danger “No taxation without representation”: The rallying cry of opponents to the 1765 Stamp Act; the slogan decried the colonists lack of representation in Parliament o No rep. in House of Commons [elected body of Parliament, not the House of Lords (inherited elite seat)]  Virginia House of Burgesses approved resolutions offered by public speaker Patrick Henry o 1. Colonists enjoyed the same “liberties, privileges, franchises, and immunities” as mother county residents o 2. “British freedom” = right to consent to taxation  1765, Stamp Act Congress: 27 delegates from the 9 colonies met in New York and endorsed Virginia’s position o Affirmed “allegiance” to crown and “due subordination” to Parliament o Insisted the right to consent to taxation was “essential to the freedom of people”  o  Merchants agreed to boycott British goods until Parliament repealed Stamp Act By seeking to impose uniformity on the colonies rather than dealing with them individually, Parliament had inadvertently united America Liberty and Resistance  Liberty Tree: large elm tree in Boston that protestors hanged an effigy (sculpture of a person) of stamp distributor Andrew Oliver to persuade him to resign his post  Committee of Correspondence: Boston group organized by Samuel Adams in retaliation for the Gaspee incident to address American grievances, assert American rights, and form a network of rebellion o Communicated with other colonies to encourage opposition of Sugar and Currency Acts o Similar committees rose in response to the Stamp Act Opponents to Stamp Act didn’t rely solely on debate o Forced stamp administers to resign o Destroyed shipments of stamps  Sons of Liberty: Organization of New York city residents; formed by Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and other radicals in response to the Stamp Act o Led in protest processions o Posted notices reading “Liberty, Property, and No Stamps” o Took lead in enforcing the boycott of British imports   1766, Parliament repealed Stamp Act o London merchants and manufacturers did not want to lose American markets o Established Declaratory Act: Rejection of American’s claims that only their elected reps. could levy taxes  Power to pass laws for “the colonies and people of America . . . in all cases whatsoever” The Regulators   Liberty = secure possession of land Regulators: groups of wealthy backcountry South Carolina settlers who protested colonial policies o Protested underrepresentation of western settlements in colony assembly 2 o  Protested legislature’s failure to establish local governments that could regularize land titles and suppress bands outlaws North Carolina complaints: corrupt county authorities (not lack of government like South Carolina) o Mobilized (armed / prepared for battle) small farmers o Refused to pay taxes o Kidnapped local officials o o o Assaulted homes of land speculators, merchants, and lawyers Disrupted court proceedings Demanded democratization of local government o   Condemned the “rich and powerful” (colony elite) who used political authority to prosper at the expense of “poor industrious” farmers 1771, Regulators were suppressed by colon’s militia in the “Battle of Alamance” Colonial elite feared opposition of British measures might unleash turmoil at home o more reluctant to challenge British authority in next imperial crisis The Road To Revolution What key events sharpened the divisions between Britain and the colonists? The Townshend Crisis  Townshend Acts: 1767 parliamentary measures (named for the Chancellor of the Exchequer) that taxed tea and other commodities, and established a Board of Customs Commissioners and colonial vice-admiralty courts  Britain assumed colonists wouldn’t object to revenue raised by trade regulations o Imposed new taxes on goods imported into the colonies   o Created board of customs commissioners to collect taxes and suppress smuggling 1768, colonial leaders re-banned on British goods o Boycott began in Boston—spread south o Colonists relied on American goods  Homespun clothing vs. Imported finery  Symbol of American resistance: virtuous spirit of self-sacrifice compared with self-indulgence and luxury associated with Britain  Women who spun = Daughters of Liberty Nonimportation o Urban artisans—ended competition from imported goods o Chesapeake: gave “the extravagant man” an opportunity to “retrench his expenses” by reducing purchase of British luxuries without letting neighbors know there were in financial distress (pride thing) o Philadelphia and New York merchants hesitant at first  Threatened their livelihoods and could increase lower-class turmoil The Boston Massacre  Royal troops stationed to Boston in 1768 o Seized ship (“Liberty”) for violating trade regulations o Competed for jobs with city’s laborers  March 5, 1770 Bostonians throwing snowballs at troops escalated o 5 Bostonians killed  Commanding officer and 8 soldiers were put on trial o Defended by John Adams o  Viewed lower-class crowd actions as a dangerous method of opposing British policies 7 not guilty, 2 manslaughter 3    Paul Revere, member of Boston Sons of Liberty produced picture of Boston Massacre o Depicted line of soldiers firing at unarmed crowd o Widely circulated By 1770 nonimportation movement collapsing o Merchant profits shrank o Elite couldn’t do without British goods British merchants pressed for Townshend Act repeal o Ministry agreed o  Removed troops from Boston  Tax remained on tea only Boycott abandoned Wilkes and Liberty  Americans concluded Britain was corrupt and liberty was declining o Overlap of Townshend crisis and controversy in Britain over treatment of John Wilkes  John Wilkes—radical journalist known for scandalous writings about King and ministry o Elected to Parliament but expelled from his seat  o “Wilkes and Liberty” became rallying cry Rumors that Britain was going to send Bishops to America o Colonists feared bishops would establish religious courts again The Tea Act  East India Company (monopoly), effectively governed British India o British merchants, bankers, and individuals invested in stock o Speculative bubble (price rose sharply above what it was worth and then collapsed) o Government bailed out Company with rebates and tax exemptions  o o Dumped low priced tea on American market  Undercut merchants and smugglers Colonists believed paying taxes on this large new body of imports acknowledged Britain’s right to tax them  Would not pay for tea December 16, 1773—group of colonists disguised as Indians boarded 3 ships and dumped 300 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor  Company lost $4,000,000 The Intolerable Acts  Intolerable Acts: 4 Parliamentary measures in reaction to the Boston Tea Party o 1. Closed ports in Boston until tea was paid for o o 2. Disallowed colonial trials of British soldiers 3. Forced their quartering in private homes o   4. Reduced the number of elected officials in Massachusetts  Governor now appointed members of council Colonists saw these as a direct threat to their personal freedom Quebec Act: Extended southern boundary of that Canadian province to Ohio River o Granted legal toleration to Roman Catholic Church in Canada  Colonists believed London was conspiring the strengthen Catholicism 4 The Coming of Independence What key events marked the move toward American independence? The Continental Congress   Opposition to the Intolerable acts spread to small towns and rural areas September 1774, a convention of delegates from Massachusetts towns approved a series of resolutions (Suffolk Resolves) that urged Americans to o Refuse obedience to new laws o Withhold taxes o Prepare for war  Continental Congress: First meeting of representatives of the colonies, held in Philadelphia in 1774 to formulate actions against British policies o Most prominent political leaders of 12 mainland colonies (Georgia did not take part) o  From Massachusetts came the “Brace of Adamses”—John and more radical cousin Samuel  Virginia’s 7 delegates included George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, and orator Patrick Henry Patrick Henry:  “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more”  “Give me liberty or give me death!” The Continental Association  Before Continental Congress meeting adjourned o Congress endorsed the Suffolk Resolves o Adopted Continental Association o Called for a complete halt to trade with Great Britain and West Indies  South Carolina’s rice exports were exempt o Authorized local Committees of Safety to oversee its mandates and act against “enemies of liberty”  Included businessmen who tried to profit from sudden scarcity of goods  Committees of Safety began process of transferring political power from established governments whose authority derived from Great Britain to grassroot bodies reflecting the will of the people o Became training grounds where small farmers, artisans, property less laborers, and others who had little role in government discussed political issues and exercised political power The Sweets of Liberty  Americans based their claims not simply on the historical rights of Englishman but on the more abstract language of natural rights and universal freedom  Continental Congress defended its actions by appealing to the o Principles of the English Constitution o o Liberties of free and natural born subjects within the realm of England Immutable law of nature The Outbreak of War  Battles of Lexington and Concord: The first shots fired in the Revolutionary War, on April 19, 1775, near Boston; approximately 100 minutemen and 250 British soldiers were killed o British soldiers marched from Boston to Concord to seize arms stockpiled there o Riders from Boston (including Paul Revere) warned local leaders of troops approach o Militiaman took up arms and tried to resist British advance   “The shot heard ‘round the world”—philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson May 1775, Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys from Vermont + Connecticut men led by Benedict Arnold 5 o o   Forced Fort Ticonderoga in New York to surrender Henry Know (Washington’s commander of artillery) demanded Ticonderoga’s cannons be dragged to Boston Battle of Bunker Hill: First major battle of the Revolutionary War; took place at Breed’s Hill, Massachusetts on June 17, 1775 o Cannons made British position in Boston impossible o Sir William Howe forced to retreat  Cut down Liberty Tree Continental Army: Army authorized by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to fight British; commanded by George Washington o Printed money to pay for it o Britain declared colonies in state of rebellion o o Britain sent thousands of troops Britain closed all colonial ports Independence?  Many colonists shied away from independence o Pride in membership o Political leaders feared break with England would create more conflict  Massachusetts and Virginia supported independence o Confident they could retain authority at home  Southern leaders o Protective of their political liberty o  Outraged by Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation (British governor and military commander in Virginia)  Offered freedom to any slave who escaped to his lines and bore arms for the king New York and Pennsylvania o Diverse population made it difficult to work out a consensus on how far British resistance would go  Pennsylvania leader and delegate to Second Continental Congress, Joseph Galloway, warned that independence would be accompanied by constant disputes within America  Predicted a war between north and south Paine’s Common Sense   Thomas Paine—new emigrant from England Common Sense: A pamphlet anonymously written by Thomas Paine in January 1776 hat attacked the English principles of hereditary rule and monarchical government o Did not recite colonial grievances o Attacked the Constitution of England and principles of hereditary rule     o Not the most perfect form of government in the world Monarchy was headed by “the Royal brutes of England” “The base (of Constitution) remains of two ancient tyrannies . . . monarchical tyranny in the person of the king [and] aristocratical tyranny in the persons of the peers” Drew on colonists experiences to make his case o  It was absurd that a continent be governed by an island  Could trade with the world freely  Insulate themselves from involvement in endless imperial wars in Europe Membership in British empire was a burden, not a benefit o “The cause of America is in great measure, the cause of all mankind” Different from other writings at the time because they were directed at everybody, not just the elite o Avoided complex language and phrases, straight to the point o 150,000 copies sold 6   Profits were given to the buy supplies for the Continental Army Spring 1776, Americans wanted separation from Britain o 6 months later, tied were severed The Declaration of Independence       July 2, 1776 Congress formally declared United States an independent nation July 4, 1776, Approved Declaration of Independence o Written by Thomas Jefferson o Approved by Congress o Lengthy list of grievances against King George III o Condemnation of slavery was scratched out by South Carolina and Georgia Declaration’s preamble held the most impact o “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”  “Unalienable rights”: rights so rooted in human nature itself, no government could take them Government derives it rights from the consent of the governed o Declaration was assertion to the right of revolution Shift of independence from a right of Englishman to the rights of mankind Substituted pursuit of happiness for property in “Life, liberty and _____” o Open ended democratic process whereby individuals develop their own potential and seek o realize their own o life goals Individual self-fulfillment, unimpeded by government, would become a central element of American freedom An Asylum for Mankind  “American exceptionalism”—the belief that the United States has a special mission to be o a refuge from tyranny o a symbol of freedom o a model for the rest of the world The Global Declaration of Independence   Declaration inspired those globally Many civilizations have declarations modeled after the Declaration o Few actually have a list of rights government can abridge  Legitimate political authority rests in the will of “the people” Securing Independence How were American forces able to prevail in the Revolutionary War? The Balance of Power  Britain wanted to crush rebellion o Had well-trained army (supplemented by hired Germans) o World most powerful navy o Experienced military commanders  Americans relied on local militias and unequipped Continental army o Fought on their own soil for an inspiring cause  o 1/20 died during the war on Independence (equivalent to 3 million today) Britain’s fight would be enormous and expensive o Citizens would have to pay increased taxes 7 o France welcomed British defeat—alliance between Americans and France could hurt Britain Blacks in the Revolution    George Washington refused black recruitment to armed forces Changed mind after Lord Dunmore’s 1775 Proclamation (freedom to blacks that joined British cause) 5,000 blacks enlisted in state militias, Continental army, and navy o Blacks were substituted in place of owner or owner’s son and could gain freedom o o  1778, Rhode Island gave freedom to blacks who enlisted and compensated owners for loss Many southern colonies (except South Carolina and Georgia) enrolled (free blacks and slaves)  Slaves freedom was not explicitly given but most got it Some blacks joined Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment before he was expelled o Served as spies, guided troops through swamps, cooks, laundresses, construction workers The First Years of the War  Sir William Howe attacked New York City in the summer of 1776 o Washington’s army moved from Boston to New York to defend city o Americans forced to retreat o o Howe perused Americans but never managed to defeat Washington’s 28,000 man militia dwindled to 3,000 after they gave up and went home  To restore morale, Washington launched a successful surprise attack on  Hessian (paid German soldiers) soldiers at Trenton, New Jersey on Dec. 26, 1776  British soldiers at Princeton, January 3, 1777 The Battle of Saratoga     1777, second British army led by General John Burgoyne o Advanced south from Canada  Hoped to link with Howe and isolate New England  Instead How moved to attack Philadelphia, unintentionally abandoning Burgoyne American forces blocked and surrounded Burgoyne o October 17, 1777 forced him to surrender at the Battle of Saratoga Winter of 1777-1778, war halted o British army quartered in Philadelphia o Washington’s army encamped at Valley Forge (suffered from winter) 1778, American diplomats led by Benjamin Franklin concluded a Treaty of Amity and Commerce in which o France recognized the United States o Agreed to supply military assistance The War in the South   1778 focus of war moved south o British hoped to exploit social tensions between backcountry farmers and wealthy planters (surfaced during regulator movement) to  enlist colonists still supportive of the crown  disrupt economy by encouraging slaves to esacpe o May 1780, Clinton captured Charlestown, South Carolina and 5,000 men 1780 was the low point of struggle for independence o Congress was essentially bankrupt o Army went months without being paid o British seemed successful on playing on social conflicts   Thousands of loyalists joined British forces Tens of thousands of slaves fled to British seeking freedom 8  o o Benedict Arnold (one of Washington’s commanders) almost turned West Point fort on the Husdon River to the British British failed to turn advantages into victories  Unable to consolidate hold on south  Harassed by American militias  Hit-and-run attacks by under Francis Marion (“swamp fox”) eroded British position in South Carolina Bloody civil war between southern loyalists and patriots  Cruel treatment of civilians by British forces under Colonel Banastre Tarleton persuaded many Americans to join patriot cause Victory at Last   January 1781—Daniel Morgan dealt crushing defeat to Tarleton at Cowpens, South Carolina March 1781—Guildford Courthouse, North Carolina, General Nathanael Greene o British commander in south, Cornwallis, moved into Virginia and encamped at Yorktown  Located on peninsula that huts the Chesapeake Bay o Greene recognized opportunity to surround Cornwallis o Washington rushed forces, French troops blocked escape by land o French controlled mouth of Chesapeake, preventing supplies and reinforcements from Cornwallis’s army o  Battle of Yorktown:  October 19, 1781 Cornwallis surrenders his army of 8,000 men  British support for war ended and peace negotiations began Treaty of Paris: Signed on September 3, 1783, the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War o Recognized American independence from Britain o o Established border between Canada and the United State Fixed western border at the Mississippi River o o o Ceded Florida to Spain Loyalist who remained would not be persecuted and seized land returned Signed by American delegation—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay 9