Conflict of Empires

• Growing British Power in NA (1763)

  • Thanks to Mercantilism and war victories in Europe, Britain’s Empire has gotten large and expansive. They’ve begun making inroads to India and Bengal, as well as starting to colonize Africa. However, they are not the only ones fighting for dominance in NA.

  • The French and Spanish are still in the continent, and each country has claims where Britain also has claims.

• Wars and Taxes

  • A war between Britain and France has been going on, essentially, to see who will dominate North America. Like all wars, it costs money. taxpayer money.

  • The colonists do not like paying for the wars Britain has been fighting (Remember, they are still British citizens). The government argues that the taxes are to raise money for wars to protect the colonists from other countries and tribes, so the colonists should pay for these wars.

  • Join or Die - A cartoon drawn by Benjamin Franklin was created calling for all of the British colonies to work together for mutual defense. It’s not involved in the American Revolution - more so for in the event of a French or Spanish invasion. However, the colonies couldn’t work together because of their individual interests outweighing the general whole. This begs the question - what is different from here to 20 years later at the Revolution.

• The French and Indian War

  • After fighting for nine years against France and their Indian allies, Britain takes control of Canada and pushes French forces further west and removes a lot of France’s claims in the north and south east of NA.

  • The colonists are absorbed into fighting this war.

  • One George Washington would make a name for himself in battle.

  • Big picture idea here - Britain gets a lot of territory, France’s hold is weakened.

Lecture 2

• George Washington

  • Washington is a land surveyor, which is how he makes a lot of his money. He gets to know the frontier area of North America, especially in Virginia. While other founding fathers went to college, Washington did not.

  • While he wants to be a British officer, he first is tasked by the Virginia militia to meet with a French army representative and to tell them they do not have claim to anything in the Ohio Valley area. They say “no?” and Washington responds by having his small unit kill and capture many of them. In response, French soldiers rain down upon him and his men in the area they fortify and he his taken prison.

  • He agrees that for his release he testifies he fired upon the men and murdered them - did Washington technically start the French and Indian war?

  • Washington would get a lot of battle experience in the war working with his fellow soldiers. While he doesn’t get his royal commission he is looking for, he does know how the British army functions.

• Treaty of Paris (1763) and the aftermath of the war

  • This gives Britain control of most of America - Canada and territory in the west. The win is bittersweet, however, as the British have exacerbated tensions among the colonists.

  • New taxes have taken their toll, from owing soldiers many and compensation, restrictions on settlement in the west (to reserve land for the Indians - Proclamation line of 1763)

  • Pontaic’s Rebellion would occur due to the gift giving system ending and colonists continuing to settle west - they would start to attack British forces (This is why the line occured).

  • Britain still holds onto the sentiment that the colonists need to pay for the war because Britain was protected them - Colonists feel they are paying for a war that they helped fight.

• Debt

  • Britain’s debt skyrocketed from these wars, so how did they fix it? Taxes.

  • They began to tax luxury items, like sugar. Other things like Official documents (ex. deeds, wills) were also taxed.

  • The Townsend Acts taxed things like glass, tea, paint - everyday life items.

• The Boston Massacre

  • On a day of protest, things began to get heated, and a British garrison started to fire on the crowd. These soldiers were trained that when one fired, all fired - 5 people were killed as a result of it.

  • John Hancock tries to go to the royal government in Massachusetts to remove troops from Boston. Some soldiers were moved away from the customs house, so Hancock recieved a legacy.

• Stiring up Boston’s spirit

  • The printing culture at the time was large in Boston, especially cartoons and engravings.

  • A trial starts to see if the soldiers are guilty or innocent, and no one wnats to defend them except for a young John Adams

  • Adams wants to give his clients a fairness on the trial - 3 were aquitted, 2 were convicted - they were not hung, just a physical punishment - they branded them with an M for murder on the thumbs.