CH05.PPTTHE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:
FROM ELITE PROTEST TO POPULAR REVOLT, 1763-1783
America: Past and Present
Chapter 5
Structure of Colonial Society
- 1760s an optimistic post-war period
striking ethnic and racial diversity
60% of population under 21 years old
high level of post-war prosperity
wealth unevenly distributed
- Americans proud to be part of Europe’s most thriving, prosperous empire
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Breakdown of Political Trust
- 1760--George III ascended throne
- Suspicions on both sides of the Atlantic that Crown wished to enlarge its powers
- Conflict over Parliamentary sovereignty
English officials assumed that Parliament must have ultimate authority
colonists tried to reserve internal colonial authority for their own legislatures
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No Taxation Without Representation: the American Perspective
- Colonists assume their legislatures equal in some ways to Parliament
- Americans not represented at all in Parliament
- British officials espoused “virtual representation”
- Colonists insist only colonial assemblies could tax Americans
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Ideas About Power and Virtue
- John Locke, "Commonwealthmen" inform colonial political thought
- All governments believed susceptible to corruption into “tyranny”
“tyranny” understood as any attempt to encroach upon the people's liberty
- “Virtuous” citizens, alert to rights and determined to live free, resist tyranny
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Eroding the Bonds of Empire
- Large, expensive army left in America at the end of the Seven Years’ War
- Colonists doubted the army’s value
- Pontiac’s War
exposed the British army’s weakness
revealed the desperate situation of Native Americans after withdrawal of French
- Colonists determined to settle trans-Appalachian West
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Paying off the National Debt
- First minister George Grenville attempts to reduce England’s war debt
- Revenue Act of 1764 (the Sugar Act)
- Merchants and gentry protest, most colonists ignore
Colonial Products and Trade
Popular Protest
- 1765--Stamp Act requires that colonists purchase stamp to validate documents
- Unites the gentry and the mass of the population in protest
- Stamp Act Congress petitions the King and Parliament for repeal
- Protest includes mob riots, boycotts
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Failed Attempts to Save the Empire
- 1766--New administration in office, favors repeal of Stamp Act
- Repeal tied to Declaratory Act of 1766
Parliament sovereign over America "in all cases whatsoever"
- Controversy estranges colonists from English officials
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Fueling the Crisis: the Townshend Duties
- Charles Townshend: chancellor of the exchequer
- 1767--Townshend Duties tax American imports of paper, lead, glass, and tea
- American Board of Customs Commissioners created to collect duties
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Fueling the Crisis: Response to the Townshend Duties
- Sons of Liberty organize boycott of English goods
- Circular letter from Massachusetts House of Representatives urges protest
- 92 Massachusetts Representatives defy government order to rescind letter
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Fatal Signs of Force
- English government moves troops from frontier to Boston to save money
- Tensions increased
- March 5, 1770--English soldiers fired on Boston mob, killed five Americans
incident labeled the “Boston Massacre”
Paul Revere engraving a best-seller
- Tensions defused by Lord North
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Last Days of the Old Order, 1770-1773
- 1770--New prime minister, Lord North, leads repeal of all duties except tea
- 1770-1773 marked by tranquility
- Customs collectors antagonize colonists
- Radicals protest tea tax as violation of American rights
- Committees of correspondence built up alternative political structure
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The Final Provocation:
The Boston Tea Party
- 1773--Parliament passes Tea Act
designed to help the East India Company by making its sale cheaper in America
- Americans interpret as a subtle ploy to get them to consume taxed tea
- December 1773--Boston protestors dump the tea into the harbor
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The Final Provocation:
The Coercive Acts
- Port of Boston closed until tea paid for
- Massachusetts government restructured
upper house made appointive body
town meetings permitted only once per year
- Accused officials to be tried in England, not America
- Army authorized to quarter troops wherever needed
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The Final Provocation: The Quebec Act
- Quebec Act establishes authoritarian government for Canada
- Colonists interpret Act as final proof of Parliamentary plot to enslave America
- Mainland colonies rally to support Boston, protest the British blockade
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The Final Provocation: The Ultimate Crisis
- Parliament’s insistence on supremacy would make rebellion unavoidable
- Ben Franklin suggests Parliament secure colonial loyalty by renouncing claim to supremacy
- Parliament rejects Franklin’s advice
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Steps Toward Independence
- September 1774--First Continental Congress in response to Coercive Acts
- Congress commends “Suffolk Resolves” urging forcible resistance
- Intercolonial “Association” halts commerce with Britain until Coercive Acts repealed
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Shots Heard Around the World
- April 19, 1775--skirmish breaks out in Lexington, Massachusetts
- Fighting spread along road between Lexington, Concord, Boston
- English retreat to Boston with heavy losses
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Beginning “The World over Again:” Early War Effort
- June 1775--Congress appoints George Washington commander of Boston force
- English government blockades colonial ports, hires German mercenaries
- Royal governors urge slaves to take up arms against their masters
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Beginning “The World over Again:” Decision for Independence
- January 1776--Thomas Paine’s Common Sense urges independence
- July 2, 1776--Independence voted by Congress
- July 4--Declaration of Independence issued
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Fighting for Independence
- The British entered the war confident of a full and complete victory
- English task
meet the challenge of a long supply line
use better-trained army to occupy territory
crush the popular spirit of independence
- They underestimated the Americans’ commitment to their political ideology
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The American Revolution, 1775-1781
Building a Professional Army
- Washington’s task
defend territory as well as possible
keep his army intact
- The Continental Army would be a fighting force and symbol of the republican cause
- Militia’s role: compel support for Revolution
Testing the American Will
- American army routed on Long Island
- New York City captured
- Washington forced to retreat through New Jersey
- British obtain thousands of “Oaths of Allegiance” in wake of retreat
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"Times That Try Men's Souls"
- December 25, 1776--Washington captures Trenton
- January 3, 1777--Washington captures Princeton
- Victories rekindle wartime patriotism
- British consolidate forces, leave territory in patriot control
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Victory in a Year of Defeat
- British campaign for New York under John Burgoyne defeated at Saratoga
- British capture Philadelphia under General William Howe
- Washington's army winters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
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The French Alliance
- Saratoga prompts British suit for peace to prevent Franco-American alliance
- Terms include repeal of all laws since 1763, respect for colonial taxation rights
- February 1778--Americans ally with France to secure full independence
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The Final Campaign
- Spring 1780--English capture Savannah and Charleston
- August 1780--American army routed at Camden, South Carolina
- Nathaniel Greene’s forces deal several defeats to English under Cornwallis
- October 19, 1781--Cornwallis surrenders to Washington’s combined forces
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The Loyalist Dilemma
- Loyalists treated poorly by both sides
- English never fully trusted Loyalists
- Patriots seize property, imprison, execute some
- More than 100,000 Loyalists leave U.S. at war’s end
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Loyalist Strongholds
Winning the Peace
- Peace Treaty of 1783 negotiated by Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay
- Terms secured by playing France against England, include
independence
U.S. gains all territory east of Mississippi River, between Canada and Florida
U.S. secures fishing rights in North Atlantic
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Preserving Independence
- The American Revolution begins construction of new form of government
- Question remains: a government of the elite or a government of the people?
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