• John Locke expanded upon the idea of social contract, stating that people laid down some rights (the non-inalienable rights) for the governmental purpose of protecting such inalienable rights

  • Hobbes noted that people laid down all their rights

  • Locke said that people must give their consent to be governed (popular sovereignty)

French and Indian War (7 Years War)

• 1754 - 1763

• The conflict between Britain and France over the boundaries of the American colonies, specifically the Ohio River Valley

• Colonies did not have a national identity, they saw themselves as loyal to a region or colony

• British won but with massive debt, leading to imposed taxes and an end to salutary neglect

  • Salutary neglect refers to the Navigation Acts which were not very enforced, loose control by Britain and smuggling to other countries

Proclamation of 1763

• Colonists were promised more land

• Any land beyond the Appalachian mountains was prohibited for English colonists

• Meant to create peaceful relations with the Native Americans

Salutary Neglect Ends

• Greater enforcement of Navigation Acts

• Sugar Act of 1764 - Heavier enforcement of Navigation Acts

• Tightening of control on colonial legislatures (House of Burgesses) - Used to possess more control on taxation and laws

Stamp Act

• Taxation without Representation: Colonists claimed they had the same rights as Englishmen

Colonial Resistance

• People did not immediately call for independence, after the French and Indian War or the Stamp Act

• Virginia Resolves: Wrote by Patrick Henry, stated that colonists have the same rights as Englishmen and such taxation without representation must be stopped

• Stamp Act Congress: A gathering of colonial leaders to discuss a joint act against the Stamp Act

  • Wrote Declaration of Rights and Grievances, did not achieve anything

• Sons and Daughters of Liberty: Groups of Americans formed to protest against the Stamp Act

  • Boycotts: Textiles (Daughters of Liberty made small-scale domestic textiles), Tea

  • Sons of Liberty became violent and used threats to stop tax collectors, tarring and feathering was an infamous tactic used

• Committees of Correspondence: A communication line used to send letters about protesting and resistance to the British

British Actions

• Quartering Act of 1765: Colonists need protection in the Americas and such protection requires money

  • Soldiers from the French and Indian War still had not left

  • Prohibited soldiers from staying in private houses

  • Colonists see the army as a controlling force on the people

  • Colonists would push soldiers as far away from cities as they could

• Declaratory Act of 1766: Britain declares that Parliament can make and enforce taxes

• Townshend Act of 1767: Random taxes on various utilities, such as lead, glass and tea

Boston Massacre

• Standing Army remained in Boston, leading to resentment among the people

• Individuals started antagonizing soldiers leading to a shooting into a crowd of colonists

• A famous picture showed the standing army shooting tens of colonists

Tea

• Tea Act of 1774: Further advanced Navigation Acts, stating that only the British East India Company could be the vendor of tea

• Boston Tea Party (1773): Colonists disguised as Native Americans ran aboard British ships and dumped tea into the sea

• Intolerable Acts / Coercive Acts (1774): Boston Harbor will be closed until all the tea is paid back, and quartering has to be done close to their stations, more provisions for soldiers

Colonist Reactions

First Continental Congress

• Met in 1774 in response to the Intolerable Acts

• Our only plan of action is to keep boycotting and protesting

• Restate their loyalty but ask for their rights to be recognized

Battle of Lexington and Concord

• April 19, 1775

• It occurred before the Declaration of Independence in 1775

• Heightened tensions were present in Boston

• British soldiers went to confiscate arms and ammunition

• Continental Army was created in response

The Second Continental Congress

• Congress reconvenes

• Olive Branch Petition - Peace to the Crown

• Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms - Still not asking for independence

Common Sense

• Pamphlet arguing for American independence

  • Rights have not been acknowledged and they refuse to be acknowledged

  • Governance is inefficient due to distance

Declaration of Independence

• Committee of 5