Road to Revolution

French and Indian War 1754-1763

  • part of a larger global conflict called the Seven Years’ War

  • In North America, it was between Britain and France, each supported by Native American allies

  • Both nations wanted control of land in the Ohio River Valley

  • Both want control of the fur trade

  • The Virginian Governor hears the French are building a fort in the Ohio Valley

  • A surveyor is sent to the area (George Washington)

  • Rumor is true so he asks them to leave…the French don’t

  • Washington sent back with 150 militiamen to build a fort (Fort Necessity)

  • Battle takes place and Washington is overwhelmed

  • 100 men killed or wounded and forced to surrender

British Response

  • send regular troops

  • Natives in the region ally with French while others ally with British

  • 1755, Gen. Edward Braddock takes command

  • has bad attitude and tactic

  • Washington warns him red coats = easy targets (doesn’t listen)

  • French use Native tactics of hit & run, ambush, use the forest as cover

  • Braddock is shot and killed by his own men

Turning Point and Peace

  • 1759: Battle Quebec — British get the French in the open defeating them (France not able to recover)

  • War will drag on 3 more years

  • Treaty of Paris 1763, ends the war

  • France gives up claims to Canada, Ohio River Valley (to the British)

  • Gives Louisiana territory to Spain

  • England becomes #1 power in the world

Problems with Peace

  • Until 1763 Britain paid little attention to the politics of the colonies

  • Colonies enjoyed a great deal of self determination

  • After the war the British want to reestablish control

  • Britain expected the colonists to give up their freedoms and liberties willingly

  • British Americans wanted to be good citizens and listen

  • However, unwilling to give up their Natural Rights

  • Britain has two problems

  • Problem 1 — Make peace with Natives

    • Natives continue to fight colonists

    • Colonists encroach on Native land

    • Ottawa Chief Poniac attacks to British settlements

  • Problem 2 — Pay the debt of the war

    • England in debt $181 million (3.2 trillion today)

Solution 1 — Proclamation of 1763

  • Aimed to organize and control British territories in North America

  • Created to manage relations with Native Americans and limit colonial expansion

  • Drew an imaginary line along the Appalachian Mountains

  • colonists were forbidden from settling west of the line

  • Colonists already there ordered to move out

  • Colonists were angry

  • They felt they had fought in the French and Indian War to earn the right to move west

  • Colonists largely ignored the proclamation and kept moving West

  • British response — Send more soldiers to enforce proclamation (10,000 in total)

Solution 2 — Quartering Act of 1765

  • Britain kept soldiers in the colonies to protect the new land and enforce British laws

  • Keeping an army in the colonies was expensive. Britain expected the colonists to help pay for the costs

  • Colonies had to provide housing for British soldiers and supply them with goods

  • British Reasons —

    • To save money by having colonists share the cost of keeping an army

    • To make sure soldiers were stationed where they were needed quickly

  • Colonists’ Reaction

    • felt this was unfair

    • They believed it was another way for Britain to control them

    • Angry they had to pay for an army that was not protecting them from enemies, but rather watching over them

Solution 3 — Taxes

  • Britain wanted the colonies to help pay for the cost of the war

  • Taxes were used to cover the cost of housing and supplying soldiers

  • Britain wanted to make sure money from the colonies went back to the empire

Navigation Act of 1763

  • Colonies could only trade certain goods (like tobacco, sugar, and cotton) with Britain

  • Colonial goods had to be shipped on British ships

  • All trade going to or from the colonies had to pass through British ports, where taxes could be collected

  • Many colonists were angry because it limited their trade and profits

  • Merchants wanted to sell to whoever would pay the highest price, not just Britain

  • Colonists often smuggled goods to avoid British rules and taxes

  • Felt that their freedom was being restricted

Sugar Act of 1764

  • Placed a tax on sugar, molasses, and other goods imported into the colonies

  • Aimed to stop smuggling by lowering the tax but enforcing it strictly

  • Allowed British officials to search ships and seize good without regular court trials

  • Colonists were angry because they had no voice in Parliament about the taxes

  • They protested with the slogan “No taxation without representation!”

  • Formed Committee of Correspondence — groups that shared information and organized resistance between colonies

  • Helped unite colonists against British policies

  • Organized boycotts, refusing to buy British sugar, molasses, and other taxed goods

Stamp Act of 1765

  • placed a tax on all paper goods in the colonies (newspapers, legal documents, playing cards, pamphlets, and even dice)

  • A stamp had to be purchased and placed on the item to show the tax was paid

  • Colonists were outraged

  • Angry colonists harassed and attacked British tax collectors

  • Many British officials resigned out of fear

  • Declaration of Rights and Grievances — written by the Stamp Act Congress (delegates from 9 colonies)

  • Declared that only colonial assemblies had the right to tax colonists

  • In 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act

  • However, Britain also passed the Declaratory Act, saying it still had the power to make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”

1767 — Townsend Act

  • Placed taxes on imported goods like glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea

  • Writs of Assistance — Search warrants that allowed British officials to look for smuggled goods without specific cause

  • Wanted to stop colonists from avoiding taxes by sneaking in goods

  • “Guilty until proven innocent”

  • Accused smugglers were tried in special courts with no jury

  • Had to prove their innocence instead of being presumed innocent

  • Parliament eventually repealed most of the Townsend Act in 1770, but kept the tax on tea to show its authority

Boston — The Rebel Child

  • Major port city — many taxes and trade laws directly affected merchants there

  • Strong tradition of self-government and independence

  • Many colonists in Boston believe Britain was trying to take their rights away

  • Soldiers sent to Boston to maintain order and protect officials

  • 2,000 soldiers in a city of 16,000

  • Tensions begin to rise

  • Many colonists saw the soldiers as an army of occupation (an army controlling them, not protecting them)

Sons of Liberty

  • A secret group of colonists who organized protests against British taxes

  • Used boycotts, demonstrations, and propoganda to rally support

  • Sometimes used intimidation and violence against tax collectors

  • Famous Members —

    • Samuel Adam — Leader and powerful organizer

    • John Hancock — Wealthy merchant who supported the cause

    • Paul Revere — Famous for spreading messages and warnings

Boston Massacre — March 5, 1770

  • A crowd of angry colonists gathered near the Customs House in Boston

  • Colonists shouted insults, threw snowballs, ice, and rocks at British soldiers

  • Confused and frightened, the soldiers fired into the crowd when someone shouted “FIRE!”

  • 5 colonists were killed, including Cripus Attucks, a free African-American man

  • Paul Revere’s famous engraving spread across colonies

  • Event became known as “The Bloody Massacre”

  • The Sons of Liberty spread the story to unite colonists against British rule

  • Soldiers involved were put on trial

  • John Adams defended them in court, arguing that they acted in self-defense

  • Believe everyone deserved a fair trial, because protecting justice and the rule of law was more important than giving in to anger

  • 2 soldiers found guilty of manslaughter while the rest were found not guilty