The Road to Revolution

I. The Deep Roots of Revolution

Two ideas in particular had taken root in the minds of the American colonists by the mid-18^th century:

a. Republicanism

i. Looking to the models of the ancient Greek and Roman republics, advocates of republicanism defined a just society as one in which all citizens willingly subordinated their private, selfish interests to the common good. The stability and authority of government depended on the virtue of the citizenry – its capacity for selflessness and its desire for civic involvement

ii. By its very nature, republicanism was opposed to hierarchical and authoritarian institutions such as aristocracy and monarchy

b. Radical Whigs

i. These British political commentators were widely read by the colonists

ii. The Whigs feared the threat to liberty posed by the arbitrary power of the monarch and representatives in Parliament

iii. The Whigs warned citizens to be on guard against corruption and to be eternally vigilant (always on alert) against possible conspiracies to denude (to strip) them of their hard-won liberties

c. Republican and Whig Ideas

i. They predisposed (to make someone feel) the American colonists to be on alert against any threat to their rights

ii. The colonists were unfamiliar with dukes, princes, barons, and bishops. There were none in America

iii. The colonists were accustomed to participating in politics and running their own affairs. The crown had left them alone for many years

iv. It came as an especially jolting shock when Britain after 1763 tried to enclose its American colonists more snugly in its grip

II. Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances

a. The Founding of the Colonies Wasn’t By the British

i. Not one of the original 13 colonies except Georgia was formally planted by the British government

ii. All the others were haphazardly founded by trading companies, religious groups, or land speculators

b. Mercantilism

i. British authorities embraced a theory, called mercantilism, that justified their control over the colonies

ii. Mercantilism believed that wealth was power and that a country’s economic wealth could be measured by the amount of gold or silver in its treasury. To amass gold or silver, a country needed to export more than it imported

iii. Possessing colonies was an advantage, since the colonies could both supply raw materials to the mother country (thereby reducing the need for foreign imports) and provide a guaranteed market for exports

iv. The British expected the Americans to:

1. Furnish products needed by Britain

2. Export goods exclusively with Britain

3. Buy goods exclusively from Britain

v. The British crown also reserved the right to nullify any legislation passed by the colonial assemblies if such laws worked against the mercantilist system. The royal veto was used only 469 out of 8,563 laws. However, the colonists fiercely resented its very existence

c. Navigation Laws

i. Passed since 1650, these laws restricted American trade

1. All commerce flowing to and from the colonies could be transported only in British vessels

2. European goods destined for America first had to be landed in Britain, where tariff duties could be collected and British middlemen could take a slice of the profits

3. American merchants must shop certain products, notably tobacco, exclusively to Britain, even though prices might be better elsewhere

d. Currency Issues

i. Since the colonists regularly bought more from Britain than they sold there, the difference had to be made up in gold and silver

ii. Every year, gold and silver coins, mostly earned in illicit trade with the Spanish and French West Indies, drained out of the colonies, creating an acute money shortage

iii. To facilitate everyday purchases, the colonists resorted to butter, nails, pitch, and feathers for purposes of exchange

iv. Dire financial need forced many of the colonies to issue paper money, which swiftly depreciated in value

III. The Merits and Menace of Mercantilism

a. Navigation Laws

i. Until 1763, they were loosely enforced, so they placed no intolerable burden on the colonists

ii. Many of the first American fortunes, like that of John Hancock, were amassed by smuggling

b. Advantages of the Mercantile System

i. If the colonies existed for the benefit of the mother country, it was true that Britain existed for the benefit of the colonies

1. Trade

a. London paid a lot of money to colonial producers of ship parts, even over British competitors

b. Tobacco planters enjoyed a monopoly in the British market, snuffing out the tiny British tobacco industry

2. Protection

a. The colonists also benefited from the protection of the world’s mightiest navy and a strong, seasoned army of redcoats – all without paying any money

c. Disadvantages of the Mercantile System

i. It stifled economic initiative

ii. It imposed dependency on British agents and creditors

iii. Americans found it to be debasing (lowering the status of something). They felt used and kept in a state of economic adolescence, and never allowed to come of age

IV. The Stamp Tax Uproar

a. Debt

i. Britain emerged from the Seven Years’ War holding one of the biggest empires in the world

ii. They also held the biggest debt, about 140 million pounds (1/2 of which had been incurred defending the American colonies)

iii. British officials now moved to redefine their relationship with their North American colonies

b. Prime Minister George Grenville

i. Had parliament pass the Proclamation of 1763

ii. Began to strictly enforce the Navigation Laws

iii. Had parliament pass the Sugar Act of 1764

1. First law ever passed for raising tax revenue in the colonies for the crown

2. It increased the duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies

3. After bitter protests from the colonists, the duties were lowered substantially, and the agitation died down

iv. Quartering Act of 1765

1. This measure required certain colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops

c. Stamp Tax of 1765

i. Purpose was to raise revenues to support the new military force

ii. It mandated the use of stamped paper or the affixing of stamps, certifying payment of the tax

iii. Stamps were required on bills of sale for about 50 trade items, as well as on certain types of commercial and legal documents, including:

1. Playing cards

2. Pamphlets

3. Newspapers

4. Diplomas

5. Bills of lading (putting goods on board a ship)

6. Marriage licenses

d. Grenville’s Reasoning Behind the Taxes

i. Regarded all these measures as reasonable and just. He was simply asking the Americans to pay a fair share of the costs for their own defense through taxes that were already familiar in Britain

e. American Reaction to the Taxes

i. Liberties –

1. Americans were angrily aroused at what they regarded as Grenville’s fiscal aggression. Grenville wasn’t just hurting them economically, he was hurting their liberties

2. Some colonial assemblies defiantly refused to comply with the Quartering Act, or voted only a fraction of the supplies that it called for

ii. Admiralty Courts –

1. Any offenders of the Sugar and Stamp Acts had to be tried in these courts

2. The burden of proof was on the defendants, who were assumed to be guilty unless they could prove themselves innocent

iii. No British Army Needed –

1. The colonists’ thought was that the British army wasn’t needed at all in the colonies now that the French were expelled from the continent and Pontiacs warriors were crushed

2. Americans began to suspect a conspiracy to strip them of their historic liberties

iv. Taxation Without Representation –

1. The irony of this statement was that the towns, who were the most wrathful against the Stamp Act, had long denied full representation to their own backcountry pioneers

2. Colonists conceded that Parliament had the right to legislate about matters that affected the entire empire, including the regulation of trade. However, they steadfastly denied the right of Parliament, in which no Americans were seated, to impose taxes on Americans. It was alright to legislate, but not tax

f. Virtual Representation

i. Grenville dismissed the American protests as absurdities

ii. He believed that the power of Parliament was supreme

iii. He also believed that Americans were represented in Parliament under the theory of “virtual representation” - every member of Parliament represented all British subjects, even those Americans in Boston or Charleston who had never voted for a member of Parliament

iv. Americans scoffed at the notion of virtual representation. However, they didn’t want direct representation either – a few colonists in Parliament would still allow them to be taxed

v. London believed that government could not be divided between “legislative” authority in London and “taxing” authority in the colonies, forcing the Americans to deny the authority of Parliament altogether and to begin to consider their own political independence

V. Parliament Forced to Repeal the Stamp Act (1766)

a. Stamp Act Congress

i. This meeting brought together in New York City 27 distinguished delegates from 9 colonies

ii. After debate, the members drew up a statement of their rights and grievances and asked the king and Parliament to repeal the legislation. This was the first time the colonies mounted formal opposition to the Crown

iii. The Congress was largely ignored in England and had little effect on the colonists as a whole in America

iv. However, the significance of the Congress was that it again broke down sectional suspicions. It was a step toward intercolonial unity

b. Nonimportation Agreements

i. More effective than the congress was the wide-spread adoption of nonimportation agreements against British

ii. Many people who has previously stood on the sidelines now signed petitions swearing to uphold the terms of the consumer boycotts

iii. Groups of women assembled in public to hold spinning bees and make homespun cloth as a replacement for British textiles. Woolen garments of homespun became fashionable, and the eating of lam chops was discouraged

iv. Nonimportation agreements were a promising stride toward union; they spontaneously united the American people for the first time in common action

c. Violence

i. Since the nonimportation agreements gave Americans a chance to protest, sometimes that protest turned violent

ii. Groups, like the Sons of Liberty and Daughter of Liberty, took the law into their own hands. They enforced the nonimportant agreements against violators, often with a coat of tar and feathers

iii. Patriotic mobs ransacked the houses of unpopular officials, confiscated their money, and hanged effigies of stamp agents on liberty poles

d. Repealing of the Stamp Act

i. On the day in 1765 when the new act was to go into effect:

1. The stamp agents had all been forced to resign, so there was no one to sell the stamps

2. Flags dropped to half-mast, which openly defied the law

ii. America bought about ¼ of all British exports and about ½ of British shipping was devoted to the American trade

1. Because of the nonimportation agreements, hundreds of laborers were thrown out of work

iii. British citizens urged Parliament for repeal of the Stamp Act

iv. 7.5 million Britons had to pay heavy taxes to protect the colonies, whereas some 2 million colonists refused to pay for only 1/3 of the cost of their own defense

v. In 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act

e. Declaratory Act

i. After the failure of the Stamp Act, Parliament passed this act

ii. It asserted the British government’s power to have absolute sovereignty over its North American colonies. With this, the stage was set for a continuing confrontation, as the American colonists wanted a measure of sovereignty

VI. The Townshend Acts (1767) and the Boston Massacre (1770)

a. Charley Townshend and the Townshend Acts

i. In 1767, the new prime minister was Charley Townshend

ii. He persuaded parliament to pass the Townshend Acts, which put a light import duty on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea

iii. Townshend made this tax, unlike the Stamp Act, an indirect customs duty payable at American ports. It wasn’t a tax paid directly to the British

iv. To the colonies, this was a phantom distinction and for them. The real difficulty was taxation without representation in any form

v. The Townshend’s revenues were to be paid to the salaries of the royal governors and judges in America

vi. The London government also suspended the legislature of New York in 1767 for failure to comply with the Quartering Act

b. Nonimportation Agreements Again

i. Since the nonimportation agreements had worked against the Stamp Act, they were put in place again

ii. However, they proved to be less effective because the colonists took the new tax less seriously because it was light and indirect

iii. The tax on tea was especially irksome, for an estimated 1 million people drank it twice a day. The colonists found that they could secure smuggled tea at a cheap price and consequently smugglers increased their activities, especially in Massachusetts

c. Boston Massacre

i. British officials, faced with a breakdown of law and order, landed two regiments of troops in Boston in 1768. Many of the soldiers were drunken and profane characters

ii. Liberty-loving colonists, resenting the presence of the redcoats, taunted them unmercifully

iii. On March 5, 1770, a crowd of some 60 townspeople began taunting and throwing snowballs at a squad of 10 redcoats. The Bostonians were still angry over the death of an 11-year old boy, shot 10 days earlier during a protest against a merchant who had defied the colonial boycott of British goods

iv. Possibly acting without orders, the nervous and provoked soldiers opened fire and killed or wounded 11 citizens. One of the first to die was Crispus Attucks, a powerfully built runaway “mulatto” and a leader of the mob

v. Both sides were in some degree to blame, and in the subsequent trial (in which future president John Adams served as defense attorney for the soldiers), only two of the redcoats were found guilty of manslaughter. The soldiers were released after being branded on the hand

VII. The Seditious Committees of Correspondence

a. King George III

i. By 1770, King George III attempted to assert the power of the British monarchy

ii. He was a good man, but a bad ruler. He was earnest, industrious, stubborn, and lustful for power

iii. He surrounded himself with cooperative “yes men,” notably his prime minister Lord North

b. Results of the Townshend Acts

i. Net proceeds from the tax in one year were a paltry 295 pounds. During that time, the annual military costs to Britain in the colonies had mounted to 170,000 pounds

ii. Nonimportation agreements, though feebly enforced, were pinching British manufacturers

iii. Parliament bowed to various pressures and repealed the Townshend Act. However, the 3 pence toll on tea, the tax the colonists found most offensive, was retained to keep alive the principle of parliamentary taxation

c. Discontent Spreads

i. Flames of discontent in America continued to be fanned by numerous incidents, including:

1. British officials trying to enforce the Navigation Laws more strictly

2. Resistance was further kindled by a master propagandist and engineer of rebellion, Samuel Adams of Boston, a cousin of John Adams. Zealous, tenacious, and courageous, he was ultra-sensitive to infractions of colonial rights

d. Committees of Correspondence

i. Samuel Adam’s main contribution was to organize in Massachusetts the local committees of correspondence in 1772. Its chief function was to spread the spirit of resistance by exchanging letters, ideas, and information, thus keeping alive opposition to British policy

ii. Subsequently, 80 towns in the colony set up similar organizations

iii. By 1773, every colony had established a committee of correspondence

iv. These intercolonial groups were supremely significant in stimulating and disseminating sentiment in favor of united action. They evolved directly into the first American congresses

VIII. Tea Parties at Boston and Elsewhere (1773)

a. British East India Company

i. Nonimportation was weakening and an increasing number of colonists were paying the tea tax because the legal tea was now cheaper than the smuggled tea

ii. In 1773, the British East India Company had 17 million pounds of unsold tea and were facing bankruptcy. If it collapsed, the London government would lose heavily in tax revenue

iii. Consequently, the ministry decided to assist the company by awarding it a complete monopoly of the American tea business. The giant corporation would now be able to sell tea more cheaply than ever before, even with the 3 pence tax tacked on

iv. However, many American tea drinkers cried foul. They saw this British move as a shabby attempt to trick the Americans, with the bait of cheaper tea, into swallowing the principle of the detested tax. For the Americans, principle remained far more important than price

b. Protesting the Tax On Tea

i. The British colonial authorities decided to enforce the law and the colonists rose up to defy it

1. Philadelphia and New York – Mass demonstration forced the tea-bearing ships to return to England

2. Annapolis – Burned both cargo and vessel

3. Charleston – Officials seized the tea for nonpayment of duties after intimidated local merchants refused to accept delivery

ii. Not a single one of the several thousand chests of tea shipped by the East India Company ever reached the hands of the buyers

c. The Boston Tea Party

i. Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson was determined to enforce the law. Ironically, he thought that the tea tax was unjust, but he believed even more strongly that the colonists had no right to flout the law

ii. Hutchinson infuriated Boston’s radicals when he ordered the tea ships not to clear Boston harbor until they had unloaded their cargoes

iii. On December 16, 1773, roughly 100 Bostonians who were a part of the Sons of Liberty loosely disguised themselves as Indians. They boarded the docked ships, smashed open 342 chests of tea, and dumped their contents into the Atlantic

iv. Tea was the perfect symbol to rally around as almost every colonist, rich or poor, consumed this imported beverage

d. Reaction to the Boston Tea Party

i. All up and down the eastern seaboard, sympathetic colonists applauded

ii. Conservatives complained that the destruction of private property violated the law and threatened anarchy and the breakdown of civil decorum

iii. The granting of some measure of home rule to the Americans might at this stage still have prevented rebellion, but few British politicians were willing to swallow their pride and take the high road

IX. Parliament Passes the “Intolerable Acts” (1774)

a. Punishing Boston

i. Parliament responded speedily to the Boston Tea Party with measures that punished Boston specifically and Massachusetts in general

ii. The acts were named Intolerable Acts and the Coercive Acts by the colonists

b. Boston Port Act

i. Closed the harbor until damages were paid and order could be ensured

ii. Town meetings were also closed

iii. British officials trying who were trying to enforce the act who killed colonists could now be sent to Britain for trial. There, suspicious Americans assumed they would get off scot-free

c. New Quartering Act

i. Gave local authorities the power to lodge British soldiers anywhere, even in private homes

d. Quebec Act

i. Although it was passed at the same time the other acts were passed to punish Boston, this act was not intended to do so. However, it was erroneously regarded as part of the British reaction to the turbulence in Boston

ii. Under the act:

1. The French in Canada were guaranteed their Catholic religion

2. They were also permitted to retain many of their old customs and institutions, which did not include a representative assembly or trial by jury

3. The old boundaries of the province of Quebec were now extended southward all the way to the Ohio River

e. Colonial Reaction to the Quebec Act

i. By sustaining unrepresentative assemblies and denials of jury trials, it seemed to set a dangerous precedent in America

ii. Land speculators – were distressed to see the huge area taken from their grasp (about the size of the 13 original colonies)

iii. Anti-Catholics – were shocked by the extension of Roman Catholic jurisdiction southward into a huge region that had once been earmarked for Protestantism

X. The Continental Congress and Bloodshed

a. Colonial Response to the Intolerable Acts

i. American dissenters responded sympathetically to the plight of Massachusetts. They believed that the punishment was far too brutal for the crime

ii. Flags were flown at half-mast throughout the colonies on the day the Boston Port Act went into effect

iii. Nearby colonies sent food to the stricken city

iv. The most memorable of the responses to the Intolerable Acts was the summoning of a Continental Congress

b. 1^st Continental Congress (1774)

i. The purpose was to consider ways of redressing colonial grievances

ii. 12 of the 13 colonies, all but GA, sent at least one delegate to the meeting in Philadelphia

iii. All intercolonial rivalries melted away

iv. Many well-respected men met there, including Samuel Adams, John Adams, George Washington, and Patrick Henry

v. It deliberated for 7 weeks, from September to October 1774

vi. John Adams helped narrowly defeat a proposal by the moderates that would have given America partial home rule

c. Significance of the 1^st Continental Congress

i. The Declaration of Rights was drawn up and sent to the king. It protested Britain’s colonial policies

ii. The most significant action of the Congress was the creation of The (Continental) Association. Unlike previous nonimportation agreements, The Association called for a complete boycott of British goods:

1. Nonimportation

2. Nonexportation

3. Nonconsumption

iii. The delegates did not call for independence, just to repeal the offensive legislation

iv. Parliament rejected the Congress’s petitions

1. Violators of The Association were tarred and feathered

2. Men began to drill openly

v. The members of the Congress agreed to convene a 2^nd Continental Congress in May 1775

d. Lexington and Concord (April 1775)

i. In 1775, General Gage, the British commander in Boston, suspected the colonists of housing a stockpile of weaponry in Concord. He sent troops through Lexington to Concord to seize the stockpile and to capture the rebel ringleaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock

ii. Paul Revere and another colonist detected movement of British troops toward Concord and warned the militia

iii. At Lexington, the colonial “Minute Men” refused to disperse rapidly enough, and shots were fired that killed 8 Americans and wounded several more

iv. The redcoats were pushed on to Concord where they were forced to retreat by the American militia who were guarding a bridge that led to Concord

v. The British retreated to Boston. They had 300 casualties and about 70 killed

vi. The war had officially begun

XI. Imperial Advantages and Disadvantages

a. Advantages

i. There were 7.5 million Britons to 2.5 million colonists

ii. Britain had a professional army of 50,000 men, while the colonists were numerous, but not well trained

iii. George III had the money to hire foreign soldiers

1. 30,000 Germans, called Hessians, were ultimately employed

iv. The British enrolled about 50,000 American Loyalists and enlisted the service of many Indians

b. Disadvantages

i. Oppressed Ireland was diverting British troops to watch it

ii. France, bitter from its recent defeat, was awaiting an opportunity to stab Britain in the back

iii. The London government was confused and inept. There was no William Pitt, only the stubborn George III and his pliant (readily yielding to influence) prime minister, Tory Lord North

iv. Many earnest and God-fearing Britons had no desire whatsoever to kill their American cousins. In fact, William Pitt withdrew a son from the army rather than see him thrust his sword into a fellow Anglo-Saxon

v. Many Whigs believed that the battle for British freedom was being fought in America. If George III triumphed, his rule at home might become tyrannical. This sympathy in Britain, though plainly a minority voice, greatly encouraged the Americans. If they continued their resistance long enough, the Whigs might come into power and deal generously with them

vi. Britain’s army in America had to operate under endless difficulties

1. The generals were second-rate

2. Soldiers were treated brutally

3. Provisions were often scarce or rancid

vii. Britain was operating 3,000 miles from its home base. This added greatly to the delays and uncertainties

viii. America’s geographical expanse was enormous. The united colonies had no urban nerve center, like France’s Paris, whose capture would cripple the country as a whole

ix. Americans traded space for time

XII. American Advantages and Disadvantages

a. Advantages

i. Leadership

1. The Americans were blessed with great leaders

a. George Washington

b. Benjamin Franklin

ii. Money

1. Foreign aid came from France

2. Many officers volunteered their services

iii. Marquis de Lafayette

1. A wealthy young French nobleman who was fleeing from boredom

2. He loved glory and liberty

3. The services of Lafayette were valuable in securing further aid from France

iv. Fighting usually favors the defender

v. The colonies could sustain themselves with food

vi. Americans believed that what they were fighting in was just

vii. Other peoples had triumphed in the face of greater obstacles

1. Greeks against the Persians

2. Swiss against Austrians

3. Dutch against Spaniards

b. Disadvantages

i. Colonies were badly organized and lacked unity from the earliest days

1. Individual states, proudly regarding themselves as sovereign, resented the attempts of Congress to exercise its flimsy powers

2. Sectional jealousy boiled up over the appointment of military leaders; some distrustful New Englanders almost preferred British officers to Americans from other sections

ii. Economic difficulties were nearly insuperable (that cannot be overcome)

1. With metallic money already been heavily drained away, the Continental Congress printed paper money in great amounts. It depreciated very quickly and inflation skyrocketed prices

2. The confusion got worse when the individual states were compelled to issue depreciated paper money of their own

a. Debtors easily acquired handfuls of the worthless money and gleefully paid their debts

b. Families of the soldiers at the fighting front were hard hit and hundreds of anxious husbands and father deserted

iii. Basic military supplies in the colonies were dangerously low

1. While many families and towns did own firearms – widespread militia service meant men needed weapons for training

2. The colonists had long relied heavily on Britain for troops, armaments, and military subsidies during expensive wars

3. War supplies, such as gunpowder, cannon, and even ships could not be found

a. This was one of the reasons for an alliance with France

iv. Food and clothing shortages occurred

1. Food became scarce at the front

a. At Valley Forge, PA, Ameican soldiers went without bread for 3 successive days in the cruel winter of 1777-78

2. Manufactured goods were in short supply in agricultural America

a. At frigid Valley Forge, 2,800 men were barefooted or nearly naked. Woolens were desperately needed

v. American militiamen were highly unreliable

1. Many had only received rudimentary training

2. Poorly trained plowboys could not stand up in the open field against professional British troops

3. Many would retreat at almost anything. Washington said they would “fly from their own shadows”

4. By the end of the war, 7 to 8 thousand men were finally whipped into shape by stern drillmasters

vi. Low morale in the American army

1. American profiteers put profits before patriotism by selling to the British because they could pay in gold. These people made profits of 50 to 200% on army clothing, while the American army was freezing at Valley Forge

vii. Only a select minority of the American colonists attached themselves to the cause of independence with a spirit of selfless devotion

1. Washington never had as many as 20,000 troops in one place at one time, despite bounties of land and other inducements

XIII. African Americans in the War

a. Although many states initially barred them from militia service, by war’s end more than 5,000 blacks had enlisted in the American armed forces. The largest number of them came from the northern states, who had mostly all the free blacks

b. Blacks fought at important battles, such as:

i. Trenton

ii. Brandywine

iii. Saratoga

c. Others served as cooks, guides, spies, drivers, and road builders

d. African Americans also served on the British side. The British issued a proclamation promising freedom for any enslaved black who joined the British army. Thousands of blacks fled plantations for British promises of emancipation. The British kept their word, to some at least, and evacuated as many as 14,000 “Black Loyalists” to Nova Scotia, Jamaica, and England