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Sources:Classical authors (Plato, Cicero, Cato, Plutarch)Enlightenment philosophes (Locke, Voltaire,
Montesquieu)Country (Real) Whigs (Milton, Harrington,
Priestly, Molesworth, Trenchard & Gordon) Americans saw a conspiracy in British
actionsOne of the 3 estates (Commons) had gained too
much powerThe other 2 estates (Lords & Crown) went alongStanding armies enforced usurpation
Understood a constitution to be a written document defining & limiting the powers of government
Demanded actual representation, not virtualBelieved rights are inherent in people, not
granted by KingBelieved the people are sovereign, not
government
Each side’s view of the other souredBritish viewed Americans as
cowards unfit for battleAmericans viewed British as
immoral snobs – resented being treated as inferiors
Withdrawal of French removed reason for working together
Enormous expense of war left Britain in debt – needed to raise taxes
King George III determined to administer empire more effectively
King George III(1760-1820)
1763 – French & Indian War ended Proclamation Line set new western
boundary to colonies, violating charters
Troops remained after the French left1764 - Revenue (Sugar) Act
lowered duty but increased enforcement
1765 – Stamp ActSons of Liberty staged mob
actions in cities to protest act and threaten collectors
Stamp Act Congress met in October & drew up petition to protest the act
I. That his Majesty’s subjects in these colonies, owe the same allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, that is owing from his subjects born within the realm, and all due subordination to that august body, the Parliament of Great Britain.
II. That his Majesty’s liege subjects in these colonies are entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain.
III. That it is inseparably essential to the freedoms of a people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes should be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives.
IV. That the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances, cannot be represented in the House of Commons in Great Britain.
V. That the only representatives of the people of these colonies, are persons chosen therein, by themselves; and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective legislatures.
1766 – Stamp Act repealedDeclaratory Act asserts
Parliament’s right to legislate for the colonies “in all matters whatsoever”
1767 – Townshend Act sets new duties on all goods imported from England John Dickinson’s Letters
from a Farmer states colonists’ case
1768 – Nonimportation Agreement; troops occupy Boston after Liberty incident.
1770 – Boston Massacre led to removal of troops to island John Dickinson
5 dead, 6 woundedSamuel Adams seized on
incident for propagandaJohn Adams and Josiah
Quincy defended soldiers
Paul Revere’s engraving of the Boston Massacre
Paul Revere,Samuel Adams,
&Joseph Warren
1770 – most Townshend duties repealed
1771 – S.C. legislature prorogued after voting to send money to Wilkesites
1772 – Gaspee incident in Rhode Island; Committees of Correspondence formed
The Burning of the Gaspee,Charles DeWolfe Brownell
1773 – Tea Act was bailout for the British East India Company
Standoff between Mass. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson & Sons of Liberty, Nov. – Dec.
Boston Tea Party destroyed 342 chests of tea
Tea Chest
The Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (1774): Port of Boston closed until tea paid
for King would appoint Council, and
town meetings allowed only for elections
Any official indicted for a capital offense could be tried in Nova Scotia or England
Soldiers quartered in private homesQuebec Act kept French system
& expanded borders to include Ohio Country
1st Continental Congress Sent petition & organized boycott Galloway’s Plan of Union rejected Adjourned until May 1775
Boston, then & now
1775 – war began April 19th at Lexington and Concord, Mass. Siege of Boston by militia
ensued Battle of Bunker Hill (June
17th) was pyrrhic victory for British
2nd Continental Congress met in May 1775 created Continental Army &
made George Washington commander-in-chief
Sent Olive Branch Petition to London