The Birth of a Democratic Nation

Chapter 2

Section 2

After years allowing the colonists to manage their own affairs (salutary neglect),

the British began to take an active interest in the colonies.

Why?

Economics

There were economic reasons why England wanted close control over the colonies

The prevailing economic theory in the 1600 & 1700s was mercantilism

Characteristics of Mercantilism

A nation’s wealth is measured by the amount of gold & silver in its country

A nation should export more than it imports The government should place tariffs on imports The government should allow only unfinished

products (raw materials) to be imported The government should subsidize key industries

The government takes an active role in the economy

Mercantilism is the exact opposite of laissez-fair

Protectionism is modern-day mercantilism

Colonial America was both a source of raw materials for England and a market for its

finished goods

England wasn’t about to lose control over this economic gold mine!

The key development in the colonies in the 1700’s was the French Indian War

(1754-1763)

The French Indian War refers to the two main enemies of the British:

the French forces and the various American Indian forces allied with them

The French Indian War was one in a series of wars fought between England and

France beginning in the late 1600s

What made the French and Indian War different from the earlier conflicts was that it

began in the New World

Colonial possessions in 1750

The reason why the French and Indian War began in the New World involved the Ohio

Country

Both the English and the French claimed the land west of the Appalachian Mountains

Beginning in the 1740s both countries had merchants engaged in the fur trade with the

Native Americans in Ohio

By the 1750s, English colonists, especially the investors in a venture called The Ohio

Company, also hoped to convert the wilderness into viable farms

In the 1750s, the French and the English each moved to deny the other access to the

Ohio Country

In the early stages of the conflict, the French enjoyed success, mainly because of help

from their Native American allies

Ohio Country natives enjoyed trading with both the English and the French. However,

most tribes feared the large number of British colonists in North America.

Natives west of the Appalachian Mountains feared that the number of English colonists

would continue to grow

As the English population increased, the Indians believed that white settlers would seek their fortunes in the west, driving the

natives from their land

I wonder why the Natives would think that!

The English, with colonial help, win the war

The Albany Plan of Union (1754)

Proposed by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress in 1754 in Albany, New York

An early attempt at forming a union of colonies that would unite English colonists with mainland England to assist in defending the New World during the French and Indian War

The Albany Plan of Union was used to help write the Articles of Confederation

It established an elected inter-colonial legislature without the power to tax the citizens

Territorial gains/losses results of the war

Proclamation of 1763

The purpose was to organize Britain's new North American empire and to stabilize relations with Native North Americans through regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier

Colonists could not settle west of Appalachians without British permission

This angers western farmers who want more land

In 1765, the colonists still considered themselves loyal subjects of the British Crown, with the same historic rights and

obligations as subjects in Britain

In 1765, Parliament enacted the Quartering Act, which stated that British soldiers were

cared for in peacetime in certain areas

The Quartering Act provided that Great Britain would house its soldiers in American barracks and public houses, but if its soldiers

outnumbered the housing available, would quarter them "in inns, livery stables, ale houses, victualing houses, and the houses of sellers of

wine and houses of persons selling of rum, brandy, strong water, cider or metheglin, and if numbers required in "uninhabited houses,

outhouses, barns, or other buildings"... "upon neglect or refusal of such governor and council in any province", required any inhabitants (or in their absence, public officials) to provide them with food and alcohol,

and providing for "fire, candles, vinegar, salt, bedding, and utensils" for the soldiers "without paying any thing for the same"

England did not expect the colonies to pay off the war debt, but it did a portion of the

expenses for maintaining British soldiers to be paid by the Americans

In 1765, the Stamp Act was the first direct tax ever levied by Parliament on the

colonies

All newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, and official documents—even decks of playing cards—were required to have the stamps

Colonists resented it because they had no representatives in Parliament

“No taxation without representation”

In short, many in the colonies believed the lack of direct representation in the distant British Parliament was an illegal denial of their rights as Englishmen, and therefore laws taxing the colonists and other laws

applying only to the colonies, were unconstitutional

All 13 colonies protested vehemently, as popular leaders such as Patrick “Give-me- liberty-or-give-me-death” Henry, rallied the

people in opposition

Colonists formed groups, such as the Sons of Liberty, to organize protests and

demonstrations

The Sons of Liberty threatened violence if anyone sold the stamps, and no one did

The colonists resorted to an economic boycott of imported British merchandise

Benjamin Franklin made the case for the boycotters, explaining the colonies had spent heavily in manpower, money, and

blood in defense of the empire in the French and Indian War, and that further taxes to pay for those wars were unjust and might bring

about a rebellion

Parliament agreed and repealed (cancelled) the tax

In March, 1766 Parliament passed the "Declaratory Act” that insisted that

parliament retained full power to make laws for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever"

In 1767, the Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which placed a tax on a

number of essential goods including paper, glass, and tea

Angered at the tax increases, colonists organized a boycott of British goods

The Boston MassacreMarch, 1770

In Boston, a large mob gathered around a group of British soldiers.

The mob grew more and more threatening, throwing snowballs, rocks and debris at the soldiers.

One soldier was clubbed and fell. All but one of the soldiers fired into the crowd. Eleven people were hit Three civilians were killed at the scene of the shooting,

and two died after the incident. The event quickly came to be called the Boston

Massacre.

Although the soldiers were tried and acquitted (defended by John Adams), the

widespread descriptions soon became propaganda to turn colonial sentiment

against the British

This was the first violence between the British and the colonists

This in turn began a downward spiral in the relationship between Britain and the

Province of Massachusetts

Committees of correspondence – Organized by local governments of the 13

colonies that helped them communicate with each other and coordinate plans to resist

British

The group of committees was the beginning of what later became a formal political union

among the colonies

The Boston Tea Party(1773)

On December 16, 1773, a group of men, led by Samuel Adams and dressed to evoke American Indians, boarded the ships of the government-favored British East India Company and dumped an estimated $10,000 worth of tea on board (approximately $636,000 in 2008) into the harbor.

This event became known as the Boston Tea Party and remains a significant part of American patriotic lore.

The British government responded by passing the Coercive Acts (1774), which

came to be known as the Intolerable Acts, which further darkened colonial opinion

towards the British.

They consisted of four laws enacted by the British parliament

The first restricted town meetings in Massachusetts. The second Act ordered that all British soldiers to be

tried were to be arraigned in Britain, not in the colonies. The third Act closed the port of Boston until the British

had been compensated for the tea lost in the Boston Tea Party (the British never received such a payment).

The fourth Act was the Quartering Act of 1774, which allowed royal governors to house British troops in the homes of citizens without requiring permission of the owner

The First Continental Congress(September, 1774)

A convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies (Georgia did not send delegates) met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts )

The Congress was attended by 56 members appointed by the legislatures of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies

The Congress met briefly to consider options, an economic boycott of British trade, publish a list of rights and grievances, and petition King George for redress of those grievances.

The Congress also called for another Continental Congress in the event that their

petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts

Their appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so the Second Continental Congress was

convened the following year to organize the defense of the colonies at the onset of the

American Revolutionary War

The king responded by sending more British soldiers to the colonies

Battles of Lexington & Concord(April 1775)

The British sent a force of roughly 1000 troops to confiscate arms and arrest revolutionaries in Concord

They clashed with the local militia, marking the first fighting of the American Revolutionary War

The news aroused the 13 colonies to call out their militias and send troops to besiege Boston

The Battle of Bunker Hill followed on June 17, 1775. While a British victory, it was made a victory by heavy

losses on the British side; About 1,000 British casualties from a garrison of about

6,000, as compared to 500 American casualties from a much larger force.

The Minutemen

Many colonists started to question their loyalty to Britain and began talking about independence, but others still felt loyal to

Britain

Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense (published January 10, 1776) swayed public

opinion toward independence

Paine published Common Sense anonymously because of its treasonous

content. it sold as many as 120,000 copies in the first three months, 500,000 in the first

year

In Common Sense, Paine argued that the only solution to the problems with Britain

was republicanism and independence from Great Britain

Paine’s arguments

It was ridiculous for an island to rule a continent. America was not a "British nation"; it was composed of

influences and peoples from all of Europe. Even if Britain was the "mother country“ of America, that

made her actions all the more horrendous, for no mother would harm her children so brutally.

Being a part of Britain would drag America into unnecessary European wars, and keep it from the international commerce at which America excelled.

Paine’s argument’s continued…

The distance between the two nations made governing the colonies from England unwieldy.

If some wrong were to be petitioned to Parliament, it would take a year before the colonies received a response.

The New World was discovered shortly before the Reformation. The Puritans believed that God wanted to give them a safe haven from the persecution of British rule.

Britain ruled the colonies for its own benefit, and did not consider the best interests of the colonists in governing them.

The Second Continental Congress(May, 1775)

The Second Continental Congress convened in May, 1775 after the war had started

The Congress created the Continental Army and extended the Olive Branch Petition to the crown as an attempt to peacefully resolve the issues

King George III refused to receive it, issuing instead the Proclamation of Rebellion, requiring action against the "traitors"

The Second Continental Congress(May, 1775)

The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved slowly towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776

By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties, the Congress acted as the de facto national government of what became the United States.

With the ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1781, the Congress became known as the Congress of the Confederation

The Declaration of Independence(Adopted July 4 1776)

A statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies (then at war with Great Britain) were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire

Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain

The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial

grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural rights, including a

right of revolution

Thomas Jefferson was heavily influenced by the ideas of John Locke and Thomas

Paine.He argued that the British government did not look after the interests of the colonists,

and listed many abuses by the king.

Preamble to the Declaration

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth,

the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of

mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Declaration of Rights passage

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these

rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the

governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish

it, and to institute new Government,…

Abuses of the King(29 were listed, among of which:) For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among

us For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from

punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of

Trial by Jury For suspending our own Legislatures

The next section states that many Americans still felt a kinship with the people

of Great Britain, and had tried in vain to convince the Parliament and the King to

relax his more objectionable policies toward the colonies. It reflects the disappointment

that these attempts had been unsuccessful.

The Final Section … cutting the ties

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress,

Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do,

in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States

The Declaration of Independence

The Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration on July 4, 1776.

However, the American colonies were only independent in theory.

The Revolutionary War continued until 1781, and Great Britain officially recognized the United States as an independent nation in 1783.

NC Moves Toward Independence• Provincial Congress (1774) met in Wilmington to

elect delegates to First Continental Congress.• Edenton Tea Party (1774) – women burned their

household supplies of tea to protest British policy• Mecklenburg Resolves (1775) – declared

Provincial Congress as only lawful government in colony

• Halifax Resolves (1776) – called for full independence from Great Britain.

NC Moves Toward Independence