Chapter 5 (1763-1783)
Origins of the Imperial Crisis Post-1763
The Big Question: Eric Foner poses the central question of how colonists who were intensely proud to be British in 1763 declared independence by 1776.
Foner's Core Thesis: British policies aimed at recouping war debt led colonists to view imperial membership as a threat to liberty. The colonists effectively turned the English language of liberty against Britain.
The Cost of Victory: Following the Seven Years' War, Britain faced immense financial pressure: * National Debt: Britain had borrowed over \text{}140\text{ million}. * Interest Payments: Interest alone consumed half of the annual government revenue. * Taxation at Home: Tax burdens in Britain were already at record highs.
Shift in British Policy: London determined the colonies should contribute to: 1. The war debt. 2. Ongoing military protection in North America. 3. The collection of trade duties that had been long-evaded.
End of Neglect: Prior to 1763, trade acts (Wool Act 1699, Hat Act 1732, Iron Act 1750, Molasses Act 1733, and the Navigation Acts) were routinely ignored by colonists. Post-1763, Britain demanded compliance, shifting from treating colonies as allies to subordinates.
Virtual vs. Actual Representation: * Virtual Representation: The British theory that every member of Parliament represented the entire empire, regardless of whether a specific district voted for them. Cities like Manchester and Birmingham had no MPs but were supposedly "virtually represented." * Actual Representation: The colonial argument that they could only be taxed by their own elected colonial assemblies. * Significance: This was the first major split between Britain and the colonies regarding the definition of liberty.
Writs of Assistance: These were general search warrants allowing customs officials to search any location for smuggled goods. * Legal Challenge: James Otis challenged them in a 1761 Boston court case, famously calling them "an instrument of arbitrary power, destructive to English liberty."
The Escalation of the Imperial Crisis
The Early Taxes (1764–1765): * Sugar Act (1764): Reduced the molasses tax from to but increased enforcement to crack down on smuggling and strengthened the admiralty courts (which lacked juries). * Currency Act (1764): Reaffirmed the ban on colonial assemblies issuing paper money as legal tender. * Stamp Act (1765): Required revenue stamps on all printed materials (newspapers, books, court documents, land deeds).
Unique Provocation of the Stamp Act: * It was the first direct tax rather than a trade regulation, setting a new precedent. * It affected every free colonist, regardless of class (merchants, farmers, artisans). * It specifically targeted opinion-makers: publishers, writers, lawyers, and ministers. * It challenged the colonial assemblies' control over taxation, which was the core of their political power. * It coincided with the perceived threat of a permanent British army on American soil.
The Stamp Act Crisis (1765–1766)
Rallying Cry: "No taxation without representation" became the central slogan of the resistance.
Political Resistance: * Virginia House of Burgesses: Patrick Henry pushed four resolutions asserting that colonists held the same liberties as Englishmen and could only be taxed by their representatives. * Stamp Act Congress (October 1765): 27 delegates from 9 colonies met in New York. While affirming loyalty to the King, they insisted the right to consent to taxation was "essential to the freedom of a people."
Economic Resistance: Merchants across colonies initiated a boycott of British goods, marking the first major intercolonial cooperation.
Resistance in the Streets: * Sons of Liberty: An organized group led by Samuel Adams and others. Their followers were often craftsmen, laborers, and sailors outside the elite. * Public Intimidation: They forced stamp distributors to resign through intimidation. * Symbols of Liberty: Protesters used the "Liberty Tree" in Boston (where they hung an effigy of distributor Andrew Oliver) and the "Liberty Pole" in New York City. * Committees of Correspondence: Formed to coordinate resistance strategies between colonies. * Crowd Actions: Sometimes exceeded elite intent, such as the August 1765 destruction of Lt. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson's home, led by shoemaker Ebenezer Mackintosh.
Repeal and Internal Social Turmoil
Repeal (1766): Britain repealed the Stamp Act due to pressure from London merchants losing business, but simultaneously passed the Declaratory Act. * Declaratory Act: Asserted Parliament's power to legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever," ensuring the constitutional conflict remained unresolved.
The Regulators: Social turmoil in the mid-1760s highlighted internal class conflict within the colonies. * South Carolina Regulators: Backcountry wealthy residents demanding more local government and representation to fight outlaws. * North Carolina Regulators: Approximately small farmers protesting corrupt county officials and demanding democratic local government. * Battle of Alamance (1771): The NC colonial militia suppressed the Regulators. This internal conflict made some elites cautious that resisting Britain might unleash lower-class unrest.
The Townshend Crisis and the Boston Massacre
Townshend Acts (1767): Devised by Charles Townshend (chief financial minister), these taxed imported glass, lead, paper, tea, and paint. * Enforcement: Created a Board of Customs Commissioners to crack down on smuggling. * British Logic: Attempted to see if colonists would accept trade-based taxes (indirect) over direct taxes.
Colonial Counter-Measures: * Daughters of Liberty: Women who signed boycott agreements, organized public spinning bees to produce "homespun" clothing, and refused to buy British goods. * Homespun Clothing: Became a patriotic symbol of self-reliance vs. British luxury. * Economic Motivation: Chesapeake planters like George Washington supported the boycott partly because they were heavily in debt to British merchants. * Slave Import Ban: Briefly attempted by Virginia leaders (though ignored by smaller Piedmont planters).
The Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770): * Context: Tensions rose because British soldiers (stationed since 1768) competed with Boston laborers for waterfront jobs. * The Event: A crowd throwing snowballs provoked soldiers to fire, killing five colonists. * Crispus Attucks: A sailor of mixed African-Native-white ancestry killed during the event; later hailed as the "first martyr of the American Revolution." * Trial: John Adams defended the soldiers; 7 were acquitted, 2 were convicted of manslaughter. Adams feared lower-class actions would undermine the rule of law. * Propaganda: Paul Revere’s engraving depicted soldiers firing on unarmed civilians, which was highly influential despite being inaccurate.
Townshend Repeal (1770): Britain repealed most duties on the same day as the massacre, keeping only the tea tax as a symbol of authority. Troops were withdrawn from Boston.
The Road to War: Tea and Intolerable Acts
The Tea Act (1773): * Goal: To rescue the failing British East India Company after a stock bubble collapse. * Mechanism: Gave the company a monopoly and tax breaks, making their tea cheaper than smuggled Dutch tea. * Colonial Rejection: Colonists argued that paying even a lower tax acknowledged Britain's right to tax them.
The Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773): * Colonists disguised as Indians dumped of tea into the harbor. * Value: Roughly \text{}10,000, equivalent to over today.
The Intolerable (Coercive) Acts (1774): 1. Boston Port Act: Closed the harbor until tea was paid for. 2. Massachusetts Government Act: Gutted the 1691 charter, eliminated town meetings, and made the council appointed. 3. Quartering Act: Allowed military lodging in private homes. 4. Administration of Justice Act: Allowed British officials accused of crimes to be tried in Britain.
The Quebec Act (1774): Extended Quebec’s boundary to the Ohio River and granted religious toleration to Catholics, which Protestant colonists feared was a sign of impending religious and political tyranny.
The Outbreak of Hostilities
First Continental Congress (September 1774): * delegates from colonies (excluding Georgia) met in Philadelphia. * Established the Continental Association to enforce nonimportation and nonexportation. * Shifted justification from "rights of Englishmen" to natural rights. * Thomas Jefferson’s A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774) argued rights came from the "laws of nature" rather than the magistrate.
Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775): * British troops marched to Concord to seize weapon stockpiles. * Skirmishes resulted in American and British deaths. * Ralph Waldo Emerson later called it "the shot heard ’round the world."
Second Continental Congress (May 1775): * Authorized the Continental Army and appointed George Washington (a Virginian) as commander to unify the colonies. * Military Actions: Fort Ticonderoga captured by Ethan Allen, the Green Mountain Boys, and Benedict Arnold. Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775) resulted in heavy British casualties. * Olive Branch Petition (July 1775): A final appeal to King George III, which he rejected.
The Move Toward Independence
Common Sense (January 1776): Written by Thomas Paine. * Written in plain language for ordinary readers. * Attacked monarchy and called George III "the royal brute of England." * Argued it was absurd for an island to govern a continent. * Sold roughly copies, shifting public opinion.
Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation (November 1775): * The royal governor of Virginia offered freedom to enslaved men who joined British forces. * This outraged Southern elites, pushing them toward independence.
The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776): * Primary author: Thomas Jefferson. * Based on John Locke’s theory: "consent of the governed," "unalienable rights," and the "right of revolution." * Stated "All men are created equal." * Global Impact: Translated into French and German; later modeled by over half the world's countries.
Fighting the Revolutionary War
Balance of Power: * British Advantages: Powerful navy, professional army, Hessian mercenaries, vast resources. * American Advantages: Home ground, high motivation, ability to retreat indefinitely.
Loyalists (Tories): Roughly of colonists supported Britain, concentrated in NY, NJ, and the Carolinas.
Blacks in the Revolution: * Initially excluded by Washington, then accepted after Dunmore’s Proclamation. * About served for Americans in integrated units. * Tens of thousands more fled to British lines for freedom; Dunmore's "Ethiopian Regiment" bore the motto "Liberty to Slaves." * 17 of George Washington's own enslaved workers fled to the British.
Native Americans: * Most sided with the British to stop settler expansion. * Joseph and Molly Brant: Mohawk leaders who negotiated with George III. * Sullivan Expedition (1779): Washington ordered General John Sullivan to burn Iroquois towns in retaliation for raids.
Turning Points and Final Victory
Critical Victories: Washington's Christmas 1776 crossing of the Delaware and the surprise attack on Hessians at Trenton, followed by Princeton (January 1777).
Battle of Saratoga (October 1777): General Burgoyne surrendered to American forces; this convinced France to join the war.
French Alliance (1778): Benjamin Franklin negotiated the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. Spain and the Netherlands later joined, turning the war into a global conflict.
Valley Forge (Winter 1777–1778): A period of extreme suffering due to cold and disease, yet the army emerged more cohesive.
The Southern Campaign: British captured Savannah (1778) and Charleston (1780). Benedict Arnold defected to the British in September 1780.
Yorktown (October 1781): General Cornwallis was trapped by Washington’s army and a French fleet blocking the Chesapeake. He surrendered troops on October 19, 1781.
Treaty of Paris (1783): * Negotiated by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay. * Recognized U.S. independence. * Settled boundaries from Canada to Florida, east of the Mississippi. * Ignored Native American claims entirely.
Foner's Final Takeaway
The Revolution was both an independence movement and an internal struggle to define liberty.
Winners and Losers: While it opened space to question slavery and expand democracy, Native Americans were the biggest losers, as the new nation pushed west aggressively.
Global Context: The American Revolution initiated the Age of Revolution, inspiring the French Revolution (1789), the Haitian Revolution (1791), and Latin American independence movements.