US History - DUE in 4 Hours

Now onto this week's material....the focus of this week's Discussion is the issue of Britain's sudden change in policy toward the North American colonies following the end of what scholars call the Great War for Empire in 1763. There was a change in the two most powerful positions in the Royal Government in London because of that War, with the ascension of George III to the Throne in 1760, and then selection of George Grenville as Prime Minister shortly thereafter. It fell to the new Prime Minster to deal with several crises that arose due to the War, including a youthful King with a temper, and a mental illness that would later incapacitate him for decades, the need to deal with a stressed economy whose national debt had nearly tripled during the War, and the growth of American colonial anger over almost every decision rendered by the Government in London. Grenville, to put it mildly, was not going to have an easy time of it. One other key problem hurt Grenville's attempts to address these troubles, and that was Britain's decision over the previous century to pass laws that were intended to govern colonial economics, but then ignore the enforcement of those very laws. The term for this inaction by the Parliament is Salutary Neglect, and it played a pivotal role in why the American colonists did not accept the sudden enforcement of laws which had actually been on the books for generations.

First came the Parliament's decision to place a restriction against American migration anywhere West of the Appalachian Mountains in 1763. This was not a punitive measure at all, but was intended rather to prevent the colonists from encountering either Indians or French settlers who had not yet left the region. The failure of the Colonial Militias to fight very well during the previous conflict left the British with serious doubts about the ability of those same militias to handle any trouble out on the Trans-Appalachian Frontier, and thus drawing the British into another costly rescue intervention. Remember, the Virginia Militia did not have permission from the Crown to launch the assault on the French at Fort Duquesne in 1754, and the resulting war had led to the deaths of 10,000+ British troopers/sailors in the global conflict that followed. It also led to a huge increase in the Government's debt, which they were now trying to avoid by using the so-called Proclamation Line of 1763. By halting any migration until the nation had recovered, and could create a plan that was coordinated and well-funded, the Crown felt it would benefit everyone in the Empire, including the American colonists themselves. Then came the new King's order that the American colonists must now pay roughly 1/3rd of the cost of Quartering British Troops in North America, and for Governing the vast new territory won at such a high cost. Note that the French withdrawal from the Ohio Valley country almost doubled the size of the territory owned by the British in North America. It seemed to make sense in London, especially because it was not a "tax" designed to reduce the existing debt, but was only ear-marked for paying the future costs of governing and protecting the American colonies themselves. Once the Empire was ready, the the Proclamation Line would be withdrawn and colonists could move into the Ohio Valley sure of their safety and with a functioning government and economy. Unfortunately, the American colonists did not see the events this way, and balked at every measure that was taken.

Stamp Act Resistance

Stamp Act. Publisher William Bradford put this image on the front page of this Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser newspaper on October 24, 1765 as part of the protest against the tax provisions of the Stamp Act. Bradford’s menacing skull-and-crossbones image reinforced the message that some colonists would be willing to resist the tax strenuously, even violently.

In the 1660s, the Parliament had begun passing a series of Economic Laws known collectively as the Navigation Acts. But, as noted, they did not enforce them in any way. By 1763, however, Prime Minister George Grenville needed to start collecting the taxes included in those Navigation Acts. He was concerned about the American colonial response, so he first asked the colonial lobbyists in London, who spoke for their particular colony what they thought would be the best approach. Men such as Benjamin Franklin simply ignored Grenville's pleas for advice, leaving him with no option but to decide on his own. So Grenville began by scanning the existing laws for a money producing tax that would impact as many colonists as possible, thus spreading the burden equally. The 1733 Molasses Act seemed perfect, because molasses was imported to all colonies, and was used to sweeten foods and to make Rum, a very popular colonial drink. So Grenville decided to have Parliament pass a new tax based upon that existing Molasses Act. Now known as the Sugar Act of 1764, it reduced the tax from 6 cents per barrel down to 3 cents per barrel. The real difference, however, was that a new system of collection was now created too. Instead of relying upon a "jury of your peers" for violators, which usually led to acquittal, Grenville also formed a Vice-Admiralty Court at the British Naval Base in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Both the tax itself, and how smugglers would now be punished stirred American colonial outrage. These colonists had essentially made their own laws from Jamestown in 1607 until the end of the Great War for Empire in 1763, but now the British were stepping in and forcing everyone to obey the laws passed by the legal government in London. That long period of Salutary Neglect was coming home to hurt the relationship between the Mother Country and her Colonies in North America. The colonists decided to use a Boycott to resist the Sugar Act, and without the sales of Molasses to produce revenue, the parliament did not get the money it needed, and finally repealed the Act.

Soldiers in Uniform 1781-1784

Soldiers in Uniform, 1781–1784

Painted by a French artist, this image shows the diversity among those serving in the Revolutionary army. To the left stands a soldier of the First Rhode Island Regiment, which included several companies of black soldiers. Beside him is a New England militiaman; then a “frontier” soldier, complete with fringed hide coat and long rifle; at right stands a French officer.

The next crucial decision was to keep regular military forces from the British Army and Navy stationed in the North American Colonies for the first time. The Quartering Act of 1764 required the colonists to provide space for the barracks, including the use of abandoned or unused buildings. The only British troops stationed in the colonies prior to this period were ceremonial or Guards for the Royal Governors. Now however, these would be combat-ready troopers whose real purpose was to protect the colonists from any French come-back effort, or any Indian threat on the Frontier. The colonists simply did not see it this way, and viewed the action as a prelude to some type of punishment by the Government in London. They were unable to use a Boycott, or to mount any military resistance, but right here, at this moment, is the seed of the future US decision to keep only a minimum standing Army/Navy unless at War, and to insist on complete Civilian control of the Military. The United States is one of the few nations on the planet which relies upon a Civilian-controlled military, and one which had, until WWII, a very small standing Army. In fact, when the Japanese attacked the US at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Army only had about 140,000 personnel in total. That included the Army Air Forces, the fore-runner of the US Air Force. Today there are roughly 1.2 million military personnel, and at the height of the Cold War it was 6.5 million, or a huge 16 million by the end of WWII. The key here is to understand why the US of today chose to avoid a large permanent armed force which might later be used against it population just as they thought the King was planning in 1764.

Currency

Among the first designs for Continental currency was this three-dollar bill, which featured the image of an eagle battling a crane

Next came the decision to halt any colonial printing of paper money with the passage of the Currency Act. The purpose was to prevent the rise of Inflation of the money supply which occurs any time there is too much money in circulation. It is true for anything, that the more of something there is, then the less valuable that something is at that moment. You can use anything, such as a great Quarterback in football. The reason that only a handful of players can make multi-million dollar contracts at that position is because only a few possess the skill-set. Or use basketball and Michael Jordan who earned almost unimaginable amounts of money, because he could do unimaginable things with that little round ball. How may baseball pitchers have thrown a "perfect game?" Even Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters is so rare that he earned enough money to buy the Texas Rangers baseball team. So despite the logic behind Grenville's decision to halt printing paper money in the colonies and use only the British currency to bring stability and reduce inflation, the American colonists again opted to Boycott the rule and to continue printing the paper trash. Ironically, the Founding Fathers themselves will soon find that they must use the same ban to stop the same problem and they will face the wrath of the same people.

Finally, after numerous Boycotts and pressure from the business leaders in Parliament who saw that the policies were failing to produce the needed revenue, and were generating increasing tensions, Grenville gave in and repealed or ignored all but the Quartering Act. So he tried to start from scratch and create another type of tax that everyone must accept since it would be so fair. He simply did not understand that it was not about being fair or not, but was really about something entirely new. The last effort by Grenville is known as the Stamp Act. It was based upon his misconception that the previous taxes were hurting one group of colonists more than another, so he crafted one that hit each person equally. The Stamp Act required every colonist to pay a "fee" or tax on each item that was printed in the colonies. This would begin with your Birth Certificate, include your Marriage Certificate, Property Deeds, and Death Certificate. Numerous other items were covered by the law, including pamphlets, newspapers, documents, and so on. This new Stamp Act passed in February 1765, but would not go into effect until late November 1765. This delay allowed the American colonists to protest and to plan a meeting of all colonies to decide on a common course of resistance. This was the first time that such a unified response had been seen in the colonies about anything. The so-called Stamp Act Congress was held and 9 of the 13 colonies sent representatives, who agreed to a Boycott that would be enforced if necessary. Read carefully about the infamous Sons of Liberty. But prior to the meeting, and before the law ever took effect, Parliament voted to nullify the Stamp Act, and it never took effect. Parliament did, however, also pass the Declaratory Act which cautioned every resident of the British Empire that Parliament and the King were the lawful government, and any law they chose to pass, was enforceable, under penalty of death if required. Word of the passage of both of these laws reached the colonies at the same time, and far too many American colonists were celebrating the repeal of the Stamp Act, that they ignored the Declaratory Act and what it portended. The line in the sand had been drawn on both sides of the Atlantic, but it seems that neither side realized it yet, and the slide into a bloody war was now underway in earnest. So when this began in 1763, the Mother Country and her Colonies in North America had gone from 1607-1763 without speaking a harsh word to each other. Now, in just 12 short years, they will be locked in a death struggle that will change the course of human history in ways rarely ever seen. Amazing!