Political Enforcement

1. Political Enforcement British Political Enforcement in the 1770’s

2. As we begin to look at the events that led the colonists to declare their independence from England, we must first examine the setting from which events took place. • Prior to 1750, the American Economy had been built into a prosperous economy. The British mercantile economic practice had the colonies well under control. The American colonies saw tremendous growth in terms of population as well as the economy. There was no issues or thought given towards a split between England and their colonial offspring. • However, by the 1760’s the American nationalistic perception was well underway in establishing the split with England • With the tremendous population growth and economic stability came questions with regards to the financial obligations of the colonies and the desire by England to maintain control. • The population grew from 250k in the early 1770’s to over 3 million by 1775. Many European countries began to worry about depopulation. The English Proclamation of 1763 was an attempt to control the depopulation. • It was during this time that the motivation towards self-determination began to become apparent. Introduction

3. URBAN LIFE • The main cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and played unique pre-Revolutionary roles as the center of communications, political transformation, and nation building. • More than anything else, urban economies also reflected the radicalism of angry longshoremen, the rise of labor, and the increasing polarization within America. • By 1765, the French and Indian War had brought tens of thousands of British soldiers, large payrolls, and new building. • Immigration from Europe also increased in the cities. British trade was booming in North America. • Between 1700 and 1774, exports from the colonies to Britain increased while exports from Britain to North America also soared.This economic growth reflected Britain’s Atlantic empire. • Meanwhile, the emergence of British and American cities as the focal point of political, economic, and legal reform were also increasing.

4. Seaport Mobs • On both sides of the Atlantic, the main cities rode a cultural and economic wave that concentrated its rewards to the wealthy. • Tensions rose accordingly. As the overall wealth increased for the rich, the farmers, laborers, longshoremen, and artisans’ wealth declined, sometimes sharply. This resulted in the more waterfront mobs than had its impact on everyday life. • The creation of seaport mobs deserves mention. Well-liked privateer captains could call on old crews for their support. Tavern owners were also influential, because their waterfront premises were both maritime information centers and popular venues where illegally obtained goods changed hands. • Next to the Sons of Liberty is the Sons of Neptune which was barely known. This was a group of angry longshoremen. In 1765, a letter signed by “The Sons of Neptune” threatened an attack on lower Manhattan’s Fort George if the Stamp Act was enforced locally.

5. Impressment • New York City thrived during the French and Indian War. • The economic growth was based on British war expenditures, smuggling, and lucrative privateering. • The city’s merchant fleet had tripled between 1749 and 1762. • Yet, several thousand longshoremen were discharged as the war with France ended in the early 1760s, and joblessness remained high. • Mob violence of 1768–1770 came easily. • During the years between 1760 and 1774, several issues, led by the abuses of British naval impressment, converged to rile American longshoremen. • Impressment into the Royal Navy as carrying a fate of death or slavery was only a slight exaggeration. • Three out of four men who were pressed died within two years, and one in five was killed in battle. • Under the so-called Sixth of Anne statute enacted in 1708, American longshoremen were not to be impressed. However, British warships frequently ignored that constraint, especially around Boston.

6. Artisans • The rise of city artisans, mechanics, and advocates of new manufactures, coincided with the emergence of a radical militia. • These developments soon impacted the middle-class people, including other prosperous skilled workers. • This economic and military radicalization contributed to the transformation of Pennsylvania politics. • This made it possible for the colony and the newly established Continental Congress to look to begin to establishing a declaration of independence from England. • Urban radicalism played a significant role in influencing the people towards seeking independence.

7. The Militia • It was the Militia’s importance that helped take control of local government across the thirteen colonies in 1774–1775. • These insurgents established the framework that eventually brought success in the War for Independence. • The American rebels of 1775, enjoyed the rare benefit of beginning their war in control of the local armed forces and the colonial militias. • The colonial militia did not simply slide into the Revolution, military officers, even where they were elected, held royal commissions, and a significant number of them were not enthusiastic about rebellion. • Restructuring the militia was an important step toward revolution, one that deserves more attention than it has received.

8. Continental Congress • The First Continental Congress specified that local committees were to be set up to enforce its provisions. • This new Associationof colonieswas a vital link in transforming the colonial militia into a revolutionary organization. It effectively dissolved the old military structure and created a new one based on cooperation, by force if necessary. • The new Revolutionary militia was similar to a draft board and a reserve training rather than a police force. • This First Continental Congress endorsed the local Militias which forced Americans to commit themselves politically.

9. The Navigation acts • Navigation Acts 1651-1696 • The Navigation Acts were efforts to put mercantilism into practice. • Under the provisions of this legislation, trade with the colonies was to be conducted only in English or colonial ships. Certain goods (such as sugar, tobacco and indigo) were to be shipped only to England. • The most significant result of the Navigation Acts upon American history was the stifling of colonial manufacturing and increased resentment against the mother country • Woolens Act 1699 and the Hat Act 1732 • Through the Hat Act of 1732, the Woolens Act of 1699, and the Iron Act of 1750 placed limits on what the colonies could produce. • With each boycott, Americans devoted more rhetoric to the need to produce or manufacture locally more of what was being imported.

10. The Proclamation of 1763 • Proclamation of 1763 • The Proclamation line extended from the Atlantic coast to West Florida. Establishing and manning posts along the length of this boundary was a very expensive. The British argued that these outposts were for colonial defense, and should be paid for by the colonies. • From the American perspective this amounted to another tax on the colonies to pay for an Imperial regulation that was opposed to the interests of the colonies • Sugar Act 1764 • The Sugar Act of 1764 that put a tax on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine. It banned importation of rum and French wines. • These taxes affected only a certain part of the population, but the affected merchants were very vocal. Besides, the taxes were enacted without the consent of the colonists. • This was one of the first instances in which colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed.

11. oTherActs Stamp Act 1765 First direct British tax on American colonists. Instituted in November, 1765. Every newspaper, pamphlet, and other public and legal document had to have a Stamp, or British seal, on it. The Stamp, of course, cost money. The colonists didn't think they should have to pay for something they had been doing for free for many years, and they responded in force, with demonstrations and even with a diplomatic body called the Stamp Act Congress. Seeing the hostile reaction in the colonies, the British government repealed the Stamp Act in March 1766 but at the same time passed the Declaratory Act, which said that Great Britain was in charge of the American colonies "in all cases whatsoever." The Stamp Act gave the colonists a target for their rage. Indeed, the Sons of Liberty was formed in response to this Act. The Stamp Act Congress also gave the colonists a model for the Continental Congress. Townshend Acts 1767 Series of 1767 laws named for Charles Townshend, British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasurer). These laws placed new taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. Colonial reaction to these taxes was the same as to the Sugar Act and Stamp Act, and Britain eventually repealed all the taxes except the one on tea. In response to the sometimes violent protests by the American colonists, Great Britain sent more troops to the colonies. Tea Act 1773 1773 Act that gave a monopoly on tea sales to the East India Company. In other words, American colonists could buy no tea unless it came from that company. Why? Well, the East Indian Company wasn't doing so well, and the British wanted to give it some more business. The Tea Act lowered the price on this East India tea so much that it was way below tea from other suppliers. But the American colonists saw this law as yet another means of "taxation without representation" because it meant that they couldn't buy tea from anyone else (including other colonial merchants) without spending a lot more money. Their response was to refuse to unload the tea from the ships. This was the situation in Boston that led to the Boston Tea Party.

12. Intolerable acts • Intolerable Acts 1774 • These were a Series of laws sponsored by British Prime Minister Lord North and enacted in 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party. The laws were these: • Impartial Administration of Justice Act, which allowed the royal governor of a colony to move trials to other colonies or even to England if he feared that juries in those colonies wouldn't judge a case fairly. • Massachusetts Bay Regulating Act made all law officers subject to appointment by the royal governor and banned all town meetings that didn't have approval of the royal governor • Boston Port Act, which closed the port of Boston until the price of the dumped tea was recovered, moved the capital of Massachusetts to Salem, and made Marblehead the official port of entry for the Massachusetts colony. • Quebec Act, which granted civil government and religious freedom to Catholics living in Quebec.

13. Summary • Britain wanted colonies as a source of revenue to Britain through taxation that helped it finance its operations back home. • As a result, the British decided to keep a standing army in America. This decision would lead to a variety of problems with the colonists. In addition, an Indian uprising on the Ohio frontier--Pontiac's Rebellion--led to the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade colonial settlement west of the Allegany Mountains. This, too, would lead to conflicts with land-hungry settlers and land speculators like George Washington. • British leaders also felt the need to tighten control over their empire. From the British point of view, it was only right that American colonists should pay their fair share of the costs for their own defense. If additional revenue could also be realized through stricter control of navigation and trade, so much the better. Thus the British began their attempts to control the colonies.