Opposition to Britain

1763 - 1776

Colonial Assemblies

- Same as state govt 4 aus, but not answerable to a domestic federal govt

○ Each colony was autonomous, answerable only to Britain

○ From 1600s onwards, american colonial assemblies had 150 yrs of self-govt of their own territory bc Britain was too busy building their empire and throwing hands in europe for DOMINANCE (they wanted to be sigma)

- Each colonial assembly's governance was based on the British political systems and laid the groundwork for the republican-style govt that would later EMERGE

○ Most assemblies had property qualification to eligibility to vote in an election/stand for the colonial assembly

§ Mostly white males w property in America

§ White males could GET RICH QUICK w ez access to LAND and UNLIMITED EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

- British Royal Governors helped run each colonial assembly

○ Their payment was a flawed system

○ Assembly controlled revenue from local taxes and ALSO dictated Royal Governor's salary

§ Governor did not want to bite the had that fed him so a conflict of interest arose

- The Royal Proclamation of 1763 reasserted role of royal governors to the colonists

- An assembly could withhold the salary of a Governor if he tried to exercise his powers in a way that conflicted with the wishes of the local colonial legislature

○ Some assemblies were closed for opposing British policy

§ Assemblies Closed in: New York, Boston and Virginia

- Colonial assemblies played important role in harnessing power of the growing protest movement and forming collective responses to British actions in the American Revolution

○ Instigated documents during the revolution:

§ Virginia Resolves of 1765

§ Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress of 1765

§ Samuel Adams' Massachusetts Circular Letter in 1768

Sovereignty

- 'No taxation without representation'

○ One of the contentious issues in America was sovereignty

§ The colonial assembly had the power to tax in its colony

- Mercantilist policies began to make impact so colonists declared it was UNLAWFUL for the British to tax them as they were not represented in the British Parliament

○ Colonists wanted to be directly represented in Britain if they were going to be taxed by them

○ Wanted actual representation

○ Hierarchical nature of British society made it so Americans weren't seen because they were "lower class"

- British Prime Minister George Grenville argued that the American colonists were represented, as the Members of Parliament did not represent their constituents but ALL British subjects

○ When Britain closed its colonial assemblies in New York - 1767 and Boston - 1768, colonists felt their right to be directly represented was taken away and their 'liberty' was infringed

Sons of Liberty

- Formed as a reaction to the Stamp Act 1765 in Boston

○ Became a generic term for many different groups in the Thirteen Colonies that engaged in violent anti-British activities

○ Original Sons of Liberty in Boston were preceded by the Loyal Nine

§ Small scale merchants, artists and shopkeepers

§ Instigated intimidation of Andrew Oliver in August 1765, aka the starting point of the Sons of Liberty in Boston

§ Engaged in vigilante behaviour (e.g. Harassing tax officials, vandalism)

- Complementing this revolutionary behaviour were the great propagandists

○ More astute like James Otis, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere wrote and drew influential pamphlets and cartoons and were able to use the sympathetic newspaper in the Boston Gazette to reach a LARGE AUDIENCE

- Liked to tar and feather ppl 😏

○ Only if they liked British or hated the Sons of Liberty or failed to comply with boycotts

- Sons of Liberty were very successful

○ Helped to cause the repeal of the Stamp Act

○ Instrumental in the Boston Massacre of 1770 through the harassment of British troops

○ Carried out the Boston Tea Party in 1773

- Egalitarian nature of the Sons of Liberty (inclusivity 😍) meant they had far-reaching powers

○ Gordon Wood says groups like the Sons of Liberty helped to create a 'more open and free society in america' away from Britian's class SNOBBERY

Standing Army

- Theoretical threat of a standing army was beginning to become a practical threat, as large numbers of British Army and Navy troops moved into Boston and New York to police British laws

○ Stories of impressment and the establishment of the Quartering Act 1765 meant that the colonists now felt a growing and oppressive presence of British troops in their cities

- Samuel Adams' Journal of Events railed against the immortality and harshness of British troops in the Boston press, while the Sons of Liberty strove to discomfort the British troops wherever they could

○ Fights between isolated redcoats and locals became common in streets and bars of Boston

○ Since british soldier pay was so meagre, they often had to get secondary employment too, further increasing tensions when jobs were in short supply

- Two of Locke's three 'natural rights' - liberty and estate - had been usurped by Britain through taxes, the Quartering Act 175 and Writs of Assistance

○ Britain only had to take 'life' and all three 'rights would be abrogated - and thats EXACTLY what happened

§ Boston Massacre 1770

§ Coercive Acts 1774

§ Battle of Lexington-Concord 1775

§ Revolutionary War

Daughters of Liberty

- The Daughters of Liberty harnessed the important role of women in colonial America as the principal purchaser of foodstuffs for the family

○ By refusing to purchase British products, women put severe economic pressure on Britain, which highlights their power in the 'domestic sphere'

§ They also practiced mending clothes to avoid buying British goods

§ So blended their own tea to avoid British duties

- While more passive in their resistance than the Sons of Liberty, the boycotts of British goods by the Daughters of Liberty were still successful and their influence was felt across the Atlantic

- Another tactic was to encourage merchants to not trade with British ships

○ Idea was to strangle trade with Britain to force them to repeal the Townshend Act and its associated taxes

○ The tactic was agreed upon in Suffolk Resolves in 1774 at the First Continental Congress, in reaction to the Coercive Acts

- The subsequent downturn in trade hurt British merchants and manufacturing industrialists, who then pressured their members in the British Parliament to repeal laws that were supposed to be raising revenue, but had the effect of dramatically reducing it - for both the Crown and the Merchants

Patriots Versus Loyalists

- One significant result of simmering tensions between the colonies and the British was the fracturing of the American colonies between those that supported the revolutionaries and those that stayed loyal to the crown

○ Patriot was pro-revolutionary, anti-British, and anti-Tory

○ Loyalist was anti-revolutionary, pro-British, pro-Tory conservative who supported the status quo

- Patriot Examples:

○ Paul Revere

○ Samuel Adams

Loyalist Examples:

○ Thomas Hutchinson

First Continental Congress 1774

- Held in Philadelphia in September and October 1774, was attended by representatives of 12 of the Thirteen Colonies

○ Significant because after 150 years of relative autonomy, the colonies came together to solve mutual problems

- The best colonial assemblymen were selected from each colony, and included John Adams, John Dickinson and George Washington

○ In debate on Coercive Acts, many delegates argued that Boston was at fault thanks to its radicals and mob actions, but acknowledged that the British reaction was unacceptable

§ Articles of Association was passed

□ Outlined various things and 14 measures to be adopted by all colonies

□ Many of these resolutions were adapted from the Fairfax Resolves 1774 and the Suffolk Resolves 1774

- Each colony set up a Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety, which were monitored by the Continental Association to ensure all colonies were complying with the agreed sanctions against Britain

○ Controlled propaganda war against Britain

○ The Committees of Inspection made sure no British products were bought in each colony

○ Committees of Safety stockpiled weapons and formed militias in each colony

Second Continental Congress 1775

- Three weeks after the Battle of Lexington-Concord in May 1775 the Second Continental Congress met

○ Battle did not unite the Congress as the Coercive Acts had done; new military threat was far more dangerous

- The Second Continental Congress was beginning to act as a revolutionary federal American Government

○ Sought and drew loans from foreign powers to finance the war

○ Eventually adopted the fledgling New England militia as its own quasi-national army

○ Dealt with political issues, creating postal service and issuing currency

American Nationalism

- One Element of the Revolution was the growing emergence of a separate America identity by people who had traditionally considered themselves to be British

○ Most of the colonists were English, or of English origin, but in the face of salutary neglect and a punitive British taxation regime, they felt disconnected

- The ability to make something of oneself in the New World was also transformative

○ Fewer European constraints, better diet, longer life expectancy, better literacy levels, better SOL, available land to work and endless employment opportunities

§ Benjamin Franklin's transformation was a case in point

- One can see many of the critical moments on the path to American nationalism, particularly the failed Albany Plan in 1754, the successful Stamp Act Congress in 1765, the Continental Congresses of 1774 and 1775, the formation of the Continental Army in 1775 and the eventual Declaration of Independence in 1776

○ Colonial boundaries were being transcended by a new national mindset and entity - the American Nation