Independence and Beyond

1. Chapter 4 Independence and Beyond

2. Section 1 Road to Revolution

3. Foundations • As debts rose in the colonies the Crown ended salutary neglect • Revenue Act 1762 closed loopholes of tax evasions • French and Indian War left a bitter legacy for both sides • Colonists seeking greater autonomy • Parliament lamenting lack of authority • Under the Hanoverians (Georges) a cabinet system emerged with a strong prime minister • George II consistently changed PMs

4. Tax Reform • Parliament brought a peacetime army to colonies to resolve unrest • To recover revenue a series of 13 Acts were passed • 60% of the British budget in 1763 was interest • Tax bureaucracy was doubled, customs agents patrolled coasts • Taxes raised on standard goods in England (salt, beer, molasses) • By 1763 the English were paying 5 times as much as colonies in taxes

5. Don’t Act Me to Death • Currency Act banned currency in America • Sugar Act raised taxes of Molasses Act • Stamp Act required officially purchased stamps on all printed materials • court documents, land titles, contracts, playing cards, newspapers, etc. • Quartering Act required the housing and feeding of British troops

7. Resisting the Stamp • Stamp Act Congress called 1765 • Stamp Act Resolves written by 9 colonial assemblies • Only colonial reps could tax • Reaffirmed loyalty to King • Asked for repeal • Violence erupted in Boston, NY and CT • Effigies burned, windows smashed • Govs House looted

8. Coalescing • Stamp resistance possibly started with those immediately affected then spread to their lawyers • Pamphlets written in intellectual and legal tradition • Random acts were molded into a coherent movement by Patriots • Adams, Franklin, Henry, Hancock, Jefferson

9. Reaction in Britain • New Prime Minister was appointed • Stamp Act repealed • Sugar Act duties reduced • Declaratory Act reaffirms Parliamentary control over colonies’ law and statutes • New PM Townshend supported increased restrictions on the colonies • Townshend Act created duties on all colonial imports • Paper, glass, paint, tea

10. Townshend Duties • Revenue Act 1767 created trade boards and courts in local seaports • Restraining Act passed to deal with lack of compliance—suspended NY assembly • Colonists circulated letters arguing Townshend measures were unacceptable external rather than internal taxes

11. Cultural Resistance • Resistance to British goods grew • Homespuns became fashionable • Daughters of Liberty produced clothes of local materials • Sons of Liberty posted names of merchants who imported British goods, smashed their windows and harassed them

12. Problems in the Home Country • Parliament planned a military response but internal problems were growing • Agriculture struggled • Scots and Irish fled • Radical Whig elected decrying corruption and was arrested • By 1768 colonial deficit with Britain was £260,000, a year later an £800,000 surplus

14. The Spark • Lord North repealed Townshend duties except tea tax • Boycotts ended but violence continued • 1770 British fired into a crowd of demonstrators killing 5 • Dubbed the Boston Massacre • Sam Adams published Blood Crying to God from the Streets of Boston in local papers • Adams also spread rumors of rape and atrocities

15. Destruction of the Tea • 1773 Tea Act passed • British East India Co. given monopoly on tea importation • Discount was so steep that middlemen and smugglers were cut out • Correspondence Comm. urged resistance • Public bonfires, blocking incoming ships • Sam Adams and Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawks, boarded an incoming ship and dumped the tea

16. The Crown Responds • Crown and Parliament responded against Mass. for the tea incident • Coercive Acts passed 1774 (Intolerable) • Port Bill (Boston Port Act) closed Boston Harbor and removed customs house • Mass. Gov’t Act banned public meetings nullified charter • Quarter Act second round required building of a new barracks • Justice Act allowed accused British soldiers tried at home • Quebec Act enlarged Quebec

17. First Continental Congress • Continental Congress called in Phil. • 56 delegates from 12 colonies • FL, Nova Scotia, Quebec, New Foundland, GA, sugar islands stayed away • Delegates had a variety of regional concerns • Economic boycotts, unity and military • Created a representative council with Crown Appt. head • Drew up Declaration of Grievances

18. Grievances of Congress • Right to life, liberty, property • Right to English laws and privileges • No taxation w/o representation • Parliament can continue to regulate trade • Non-importation if Intolerable Acts not repealed • Cut exports to Britain and West Indies • Standing army must go

19. Unity and Propaganda • Patriot movement largely urban • Patriots played up fears of taxation and land seizures • Farmers’ taxes had doubled at least • Plantation owners feared their slaves would be taken

20. Internal Division • Not all people backed the resistance to Britain • Quakers were pacifists • Regulators looked for Crown-driven order • Tenant farmers backed the King against their landlords • Slaves looked to resist Patriot masters • Royal officials, merchants w/ military contracts, Church of England clergy backed the Crown

21. Shots that Echo • Responding to increased tensions and the standing army, minutemen forces were created • Gen. Gage dispatched troops to Concord to subdue the “rude rabble” April 1775 • Militias met them first at Lexington, then Concord, where skirmishes broke out • After a day of ambushes 73 British dead, 174 wounded, 26 missing—49 American colonists killed, 39 wounded

22. Paul Revere’s Ride • Silver smith, painter, propagandist • His ride warned citizens of impending British regular movement • Likely to warn Sam Adams and Hancock • Captured and other riders continued

23. Section 2 A New Nation at War

24. The War is On! • Next month continentals seized and dug into hills near Boston • British attacked and saw a victory, but bloodbath after 3 charges • 400 dead continentals, 1000 British casualties • “Don’t fire ‘til you see the whites of their eyes!”

25. Sir Thomas Hyde, Battle Map of Bunker (Breeds) Hill, 1775.

26. Extending an Olive Branch • July 1775 Contitnental Congress submitted the Olive Branch Petition • Reminded King of previous loyalty in war • Reiterated unjust laws and taxes • Felt compelled to act in arms • Asked George III to intervene while to stop bloodshed while professing loyalty • Signed by both Adams, Hancock, Sherman, Franklin, Jefferson… among others

27. The Early War • King responded by declaring colonies in full rebellion and purchasing thousands of German mercenaries (Hessians) • By winter continentals attack Canada and captured Montreal but became exhausted • Prohibitory Act passed to close colonies from overseas trade • Resistance broke out in the South as well as VA Gov. fled and slaves raised as regiments against masters • NC Highlanders raised loyalist militias to clash with coastal resisters losing 800 to continentals

28. Just Common Sense • January of 1776 Thomas Paine publishes the pamphlet Common Sense • Blasted monarchy as tyranny • Explained in plain language for all walks of life why it was common sense to support separation • Smaller bodies should not rule larger ones

29. The Declaration • July of 1776 Second Congress issued a formal declaration • Drafted mainly by 33 yr. old Jefferson • Justified the revolution and final split with Britain • Offered a summary of enlightenment ideals and human rights as a basis of the new nation and government • Rights, equality and social contract were “self-evident” • Liberty was connected to popular sovereignty and representative gov’t.

30. Little Chance Britain • 5 times more people • Vast wealth from trade • Most powerful global navy • Large standing army, mercenary army and indian allies Rebels • No central gov’t • Rag tag, untrained army ¼ the size and led by losing General • Inexperienced officers

31. War in the North • Initial gains in Canada petered out • Lord North landed 32,000 troops to take NY and cut off NE • After a series of defeats and retreats Washington surprised Hessian forces on Dec. 26 by crossing the Delaware and capturing many of them during the Battle of Trenton

33. Howe and Washington • Gen. Howe intended to force a surrender and compromise, not to destroy Washington’s forces • Intention was to capture Philly and close NE from rest of colonies • Washington’s army was underpaid, ill equipped and underfed • His army was surrounded by hangers-on and on-lookers • Nurses, prostitutes, gamblers, contraband sellers

34. The War Turns • Sacking of Philly left Gen. Burgoyne exposed moving south from Canada with cut supplies and raging militias in the midst • Oct. 1777 Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga with 5,000 soldiers • This occurred right when diplomats were seeking French support • Over the 77-78 winter Washington’s troops held camp at Valley Forge where mythology has spread about conditions, resolve and morale • 1,000 missing, 3,000 killed by disease or hunger

35. William T. Trego, The March to Valley Forge, December 16, 1777, 1883

36. Realities of War • British occupied Boston, Philly, NY • Naval blockade crushed NE and Chesapeake industry • Women filled void of absent men manufacturing and farming • Goods scarce, prices high • Friendly armies devastated villages and countryside looting harassing and raping • Local assemblies levied taxes and jailed resisters

37. Realities of War • Borrowing exhausted and revenues falling short states over-printed local money w/o backing--$260m • Congress printed $191m • Recruits deserted, merchants accosted

38. Strategy and Alliance • France made loans, offered supplies and training while Congress recognized French domination of West Indies • 1788 France and Spain were attacking British global possessions • Britain shifted focus south to turn citizens against patriots • Sav. Fell Dec. 78, by 1780 GA coast taken and Charleston under seige

40. Showdown • Dutch enter the war • France dispatched Lafayette and 5,500 fresh troops • During guerilla campaign British ceded Carolinas to control VA • 1781 Benedict Arnold changed sides for cash and a promotion to deliver West Point—supported Cornwallis in VA • With great French naval and infantry support Washington marched to VA • Oct. 1781 Cornwallis cornered at Yorktown and surrenders

41. What Kind of Peace? • Peace talks began April 82 and ended Sept. 83 signing the Treaty of Paris • Britain formally recognized the independent rebel colonies • Retained Canada, gave up Great Lakes and land east of Miss. • Promised to dismantle garrisons in Appalachia

42. Section 3 Revolution and the Rest