Chapter 7 The Road to Revolution 1763-1775

APUSH Part 1 Founding the New Nation c. 33,000 BCE - 1783 CE

How did the SEven Year’s War affect Britian’s economy and how did it become a cause of the American Revolution?

Because it was so costly, the London govt. struggled after 1763 to convince colonists to shoulder some of the financial costs of empire. . They were 140 million dollars in debt, about half of which was due to defending the colonies and looked toward the colonists to help them pay it off. This change in British colonial policy reinforced an emerging sense of American political identity and helped to cause the American Revolution.

Why were Americans reluctant revolutionaries?

They sought only to claim the “rights of Englishmen,” not to separate from the mother country.

What is republicanism?

Looking to the models of the ancient Greek and Roman republics, exponents of republicanism defined a just society as one in which all citizens willingly subordinated their private, selfish interests to the common good. Both the stability of society and the authority of government thus depended on the virtue of the citizenry—its capacity for selflessness, self-sufficiency, and courage, and especially its appetite for civic involvement. By its very nature, republicanism was opposed to hierarchical and authoritarian institutions such as aristocracy and monarchy.

Who were the radical Whigs?

The Whigs were a group of British political commentators who strongly influenced American political thought. They feared that the unchecked power of the king and his ministers threatened individual liberty, especially when it bypassed elected representatives in Parliament. The Whigs criticized the government for using patronage and bribes to maintain control, seeing these practices as signs of deeper corruption in society.

Why was British authority weak in the colonies?

It’s becasue distance weakens authority.

Wahat is mercantilism?

it was an idea that justified British authorities’ control over the colonies. Mercantilists believed that wealth was power and that a country’s economic wealth (and hence its military and political power) 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. Possessing colonies meant that you were at an advantage since they could supply raw materials to the mtoher country and provide a market for exprots.

What wa the Navigation Law of 1650?

It was passed by Parliament to stop rival Dutch shippers trying to elbow their way into the American carrying trade. All commerce flowing to and from the colonies could be transported only in British (including colonial) vessels.

How did British policy inflict a currency shortage on the colonies?

Because the colonists bought more goods from Britain than they sold there, they had to pay for the difference in hard cash. Each year, gold and silver coins, which the colonists mostly earned through illegal trade with the Spanish and French West Indies, flowed out of the colonies. This caused a serious shortage of money. To cope with this lack of cash, colonists began using items like butter, nails, pitch, and feathers as makeshift currency to conduct everyday transactions.

Why did colonies issue paper money and why did it fail?

The currency issues reached a peak and dire financial need made them do it. HOwever, they swiftly depreciated. Parliament prohibited the colonial legislatures from printing paper currency and from passing indulgent bankruptcy laws—practices that might harm British merchants. The Americans grumbled that their welfare was being sacrificed for the well-being of British commercial interests.

What was another colonial greivance?

The royal veto, which allowed the crown to nullify any legistlation passed by the colonial assemblies if they went agisnt the mercantilist system.

What were the Navigation Laws like until 1763?

They imposed no intolerable burden, mainly because they were only loosely enforced. Enterprising colonial merchants learned early to disregard or evade troublesome restrictions. Some of the first American fortunes, like that of John Hancock, were amassed by wholesale smuggling.

How did the mercantile system benefit Americans?

London paid liberal bounties to colonial producers of ship parts. Virginia tobacco planters enjoyed a monopoly in the British market.

What were the liabilities of the mercanitle system on the colonists?

Mercantilism held back economic growth and created a frustrating reliance on British agents and creditors. The American colonists felt exploited, as if they were stuck in a state of constant economic dependency, never allowed to develop their own financial independence or maturity.

What were the causes of the American Revolution?

Growing resentment over British taxation without representation in Parliament, particularly through acts like the Stamp Act and Tea Act, the presence of British troops in the colonies, restrictions on westward expansion following the Proclamation of 1763, the Intolerable Acts as a response to colonial protests, the influence of Enlightenment ideas on natural rights and self-governance, and a growing sense of American identity separate from Britain; all of which contributed to the colonists' desire for independence from British rule.

What did Prime MInister George Grenville do to arouse the resentment of the colonists?

He ordered the British navy to strictly enforce the Navigation acts in 1763. He also secured from Parliament the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Quatering Act and Stamp act in 1765. He believed all of them to be reasonable and just as he was asking them to pay a fair share of the costs for their own defense.

What was the Sugar Act of 1764?

It was the first law ever passed by Parliament for raising tax reventue in the colonies for the crown. it increased the duty (taxes imposed on imported goods) on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. However, after protests from the colonies, the duties were lowered.

What was the Quatering Act of 1765?

It required certian colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops, which caused more resentment by the colonists.

What was the worst tax that Grenville enforced?

It was a stamp tax, which was imposed in 1765. It was used to raise revenues to support the new military force. The Stamp Act required colonists to pay a tax on all printed materials like newspapers, legal documents, playing cards, and pamphlets, by purchasing and affixing a physical "stamp" to them, essentially taxing the paper itself.

Why were the Americans mad at the acts passed by Grenville and how did they act?

Grenville's actions appeared to threaten the local freedoms that the colonists had come to consider their rightful privileges (their rights to self-governance and autonomy). In response, some colonial assemblies boldly resisted the Quartering Act, either refusing to comply with it altogether or approving only a small portion of the supplies it demanded. This defiance reflected the colonists' growing dissatisfaction with British interference in their affairs.

How did Grenville’s legislation jeopardize the basic rights of the colonists as Englishmen?

Both the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act required offenders to be tried in admiralty courts, which were unpopular because they didn’t allow juries. The burden of proof was on the defendants, who were assumed to be guilty unless they could prove themselves innocent. Trial by jury and the precept of “innocent until proved guilty” were ancient privileges that British people everywhere, including the American colonists, held most dear.

Why did the colonists believe that the taxes were threatening their rights?

They believed they were being taxed “without representation” as those acts were passed without any representation for the colonists in Parliament. The Americans made a distinction between “legislation” and “taxation.” They conceded the right of Parliament to legislate about matters that affected the entire empire, including the regulation of trade. But they steadfastly denied the right of Parliament, in which no Americans were seated, to impose taxes on Americans Only their own elected colonial legislatures, the Americans insisted, could legally tax them. Taxes levied by the distant British Parliament amounted to robbery, a piratical assault on the sacred rights of property.

What was the theory of virtual representation?

Grenville claimed that every member of Parliament represented all British subjects, even those Americans in Boston or Charleston who had never voted for a member of Parliament

Why did Americans not want direct representation in Parliament?

If they had obtained it, any member of the House of Commons could have proposed an oppressive tax bill for the colonies, and the American representatives would be outvoted due to being few in number?

What was the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 and what were its effects?

It was an assembly held against the stamp tax. It brought 27 delegates together from 9 colonies to NYC. After debating, they drew up a statement of their rights and grievances and beseeched the king and Parliament to repeal the legislation. Because it brought leaders from different rival colonies, it became a significant step toward intercolonial unity.

What were nonimportation agreements agaisnt British goods like?

Americans would boycott British goods, refusing to import them as a form of economic protest against unfair British taxation policies. Homespun woolen garments became fashionable. It was a promising stride toward union as it united Americans for the first time in common action.

Who were the Sons and Daughters of Liberty?

They were people who took the law into their own hands. Crying “Liberty, Proeprty, and No Stamps,” they enforced the nonimportation agreements against violators, often by tar and feathering them.

What were the effects of the protesting by the colonists?

IN 1766 Parliament repealed the STamp Act as the boycotting of English goods caused merchants, manufacturers, and shippers to suffer serious losses.

What did Parliament pass right after repealing the Stamp Act?

It was the Declaratory Act, which reaffirmed Parliment’s right “to bind” the colonies “in all cases whatsover.” It basically defined that Britain had absolute and unqualified sovereigned over the clonies.

Who was Charles Townshend and what did he do?

He was in control of the British minstry and in 1767 persuaded Parliament to pass the Twonshend ACts.

What were the Townshend Acts?

Theywere regulations that put a light import duty on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea. Unlike the Stamp Act, Townshend made this tax an indirect customs duty (An indirect customs duty is a tax imposed on goods imported into a country, but instead of being directly paid by the importer to the government, the cost of the tax is often passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices) payable at American ports

What did colonists react to the Townshend Acts?

They saw it as another attempt to enchain them. Their worst fears took on greater reality when the London government, after passing the Townshend taxes, suspended the legislature of New York in 1767 for failure to comply with the Quartering Act. Additionally, nonimportation agreements were enacted against the Townshend Acts but were less effective. They also smuggled tea at a cheap price, and consequently smugglers increased their activities, especially in Massachusetts.

How did British officials react to colonists not following the Townshend Acts?

They sent 2 regiments of troops in Boston in 1768. However, colonists hated the red coats.

What was the Boston Massacre and what was the aftermath?

On the evening of March 5, 1770, a crowd of some sixty townspeople began taunting and throwing snowballs at a squad of ten redcoats. The Bostonians were still angry over the death of an eleven-year-old boy, shot ten days earlier during a protest. Acting apparently without orders, but nervous and provoked by the jeering crowd, the troops opened fire and killed or wounded eleven citizens. One of the first to die was Crispus Attucks, a leader of the mob. Both sides were to blame, and in the subsequent trial (where John Adams served as defense attorney for the soldiers), 2 of the redcoats were guilty of manslaughter and the rest were released after being branded on the hand.

Who was King George II and what did he do in 1770?

He was king of England and by 1770 he was trying to assert the power of the British monarchy. Howeve,r he was a bad ruler. Lustful for power and stubborn, he surrounded himself with “yes men,” including the the PM (prime minister) Lord North.

What happened to the Townshend Acts?

THe government of lord North persuaded Parliament to repeal the Townshend revenue duties. However, the 3-pence toll on tea, the tax the colonists found most offensive, was retained to keep alive the principle of Parliament’s right to tax the colonies.

Who was Samuel Adams and what did he do?

He was a cousin of John adams and a master propagandist and engineer of rebellion. He appealed to what was called his “trained mob”. He also organized in Massachusetts the local committees of correspondence.Their chief function was to spread the spirit of resistance by exchanging letters and thus keep alive opposition to British policy

What were committees of correspondance?

They were first organized by Samuel Adams in Boston during 1772 and soon spread thorughout all the colonies as they becme intercolonial commitees of correspondence. It allowed the colonies to exchange ideas and info. They stimulated sentiment in favor of united action and evolved directly into the first American congresses.

What did the British East India Company do in 1773?

The company wsa overburdened with 17 million pounds of unsold tea and was facing bankruptcy. If it collapsed, the London government would lose heavily in tax revenue. The ministry therefore decided to assist the company by awarding it a complete monopoly of the American tea business. They would now be able to sell the leaves more cheaply than ever before, even with the three-pence tax tacked on.

How did American tea drinkers react to the British East India Company being awarded a monopoly over the tea business in America?

They saw this as a attempt by teh British to trick them, with teh bait of cheaper tea, into swallowing the princple of teh tea tax. For them, principle reminaed more important than price.

Who was Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson and what did he do?

The colonists began to protest against the tea shipped by the East India Company and Hutchinson refused to comply to their demands in Boston. He ordered the tea ships not to clear Boston harbor until they had unloaded their cargoes.

What happend on December 16, 1773?

roughly a hundred Bostonians, loosely disguised as Indians, boarded the docked ships that were ordered by Hutchinson to not leave until they had unloaded, and smashed open 342 chests of tea and dumped them into the sea. This became known as the Boston Tea Party.

How did Parliament react to the Boston Tea Party?

In 1774, it passed a series of acts designed to chastise Boston in particular, and Massachusetts in general. They were basically punishing the colony for what they did and took away many of the chartered rights of colonial Massachusetts. These laws became known as the “Intolerable Acts.”

What was the Boston Port Act and what did it do?

It was one of the acts passed by Parliament as a punishment for the Boston Tea Party. It closed the tea-stained harbor until damages were paid and order could be ensured.

What was the new Quatering Act?

It gave local authorities the power to lodge British soldiers anywhere, even in private homes.

What was the Quebec Act of 1774?

It was passed right after the Intolerable Acts. People in English-speaking America thought it as part of the British reaction to the turbulence in Boston. However, it was actually a good law in bad company. The British government had debated how it should administer the sixty thousand French subjects in Canada, and had passed this act as the solution: the French were guaranteed their Catholic religion. They were also permitted to retain many of their old customs and institutions, which did not include a representative assembly or trial by jury in civil cases. In addition, the old boundaries of the province of Québec were now extended southward all the way to the Ohio River.

How did the American colonists view the Quebec ACt?

The act sustained unrepresentative assemblies and denied jury trials so it seemed to set a dangerous precedent. It alarmed land speculators as the trans-Allegheny area was snatched from them. Anti-Catholics were shocked by the extension of Roman Catholic jurisdiction southward into a region that had once been marked for Protestantism.

What was the First Continetal Congress in 1774?

It was a meeting to talk about the Intolerable Acts. They met in Philadelphia and considered was of redressing colonial grievances. no delegates from Georgia went and so the meeting consisted of 55 men, among them Samuel Adams, John Adams, George Washington, and Patrick Henry. They deliberated from Se[t.5 to Oct. 26, 1774. It was not a legislative but a consultative body—a convention rather than a congress. However, their goal wasn’t to call for independence, they just wanted to repeal the offensive legislation and return to the days before parliamentary taxation.

What were the effects of the First Continental Congress?

The Congress drafted several papers, including a Declaration of Rights, as well as appeals to other British American colonies, the king, and the British people. However, Parliament rejected their petitions.

What was The Associaton?

It was created during the First Continental Congress. Unlike previous nonimportation agreements, The Association called for a complete boycott of British goods: nonimportation, nonexportation, and nonconsumption.

What happened on April 1775 and how did it cause/become the start of the American Revolution.

the British commander in Boston sent a detachment of troops to nearby Lexington and Concord. They were to seize stores of colonial gunpowder and also to bag the “rebel” ringleaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock. At Lexington the colonial “Minute Men” refused to disperse rapidly enough, and shots were fired that killed eight Americans and wounded several more. redcoats pushed on to Concord, whence they were forced to retreat by the Americans. Britiain now had war on its hands.

What advantages did Britain have compared to the clonists?

Although there were less men in the colonies, they had more money and an enormously strong naval power. Additionally, they had a proffessional army whereas the colonists had a terribly trained American militia.

Who were the Hessians?

They were soldiers-for-hire mercanaries from Germany. They were hired by King George III to fight for Britain during the American Revolution.

What weaknesses did Britain have?

They were opressing Ireland, and so British troops had to be detached to watch it in case rebellion broke. France, bitter from its recent defeat, was awaiting an opportunity to stab Britain in the back. The London government was confused and inept. Additionally, many Britons didn’t want to kill their American cousins. Britain’s army in America had second-rate generals.

What advantages did the Americans have?

Geographically, they were enormous. Additionally, there was no urban nerve center. Additionally, the revolutionaries were blessed with outstanding leadership including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, a master diplomat. Additionally, they were fighting defensively, so the odds were in their favor. The colonies were mainly self-sustaining.

How did France react to the revolution?

France gave foreign aid to America.

Who was Marquis de Lafayett and what did he do?

He was a young, wealthy French nobleman who sought glory. He became a major general in the colonial army, though his position was mostly due to his family's influence and political connections. Despite his youth, his efforts were crucial in securing additional help from France during the American Revolution.

What were the weaknesses of the rebels?

They wree badly organized for war and were not united. They also faced economic difficulties as metallic money had already been heavily drained away.

What were Continentals?

Because the rebels had a depleted supply of gold and the Continental Congress didn’t want to raise the issue of taxation, they were fordced to print Continentals, which were paper money in great amounts. However, it greatly depreciated. Inflation of the currency inevitably skyrocketed prices.

Why did the rebels ally with France?

They were in need of a reliable source of essential military supplies.

What were American militiamen like?

Although able-bodied, they recieved rudimentary trinaing. They couldn’t stand a chance agaisnt the professional British troops.

What did women contribute to the revolution?

Many maintained farms and businesses while their fathers and husbands fought. Large numbers of female camp followers accompanied the American army, cooking and sewing for the troops in return for money and rations.

WHo was the German Baron von Steuben?

He trained the American regulars into shape.

How did blacks contribute to the American Revolution?

Although many states initially barred them from militia service, by war’s end more than five thousand blacks had enlisted in the American armed forces. The largest contingents came from the northern states with substantial numbers of free blacks. African Americans also served on the British side, one reason being Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, promised freedom for any enslaved black in Virginia who joined the British army.