Chapter 06 - From Empire to Independence

The Seven Years War in America

Colonial leaders met to unite against France and Indians

 

The Albany Conference of 1754

Plan of Union

Indian affairs, western settlement be under authority of a grand council

 

The Colonial and Indian Interests

Ohio valley in French hands, British want valley for settlement=conflict

Indians tried to play French and Brits off

 

Frontier Warfare

George Washington forced to surrender his force to the French while trying to kick them out of the Ohio Valley=retaliation

Hard to unite the colonies to fight together=ineffective resistance

 

The Conquest of Canada

Pitt reversed the war by promising Indians to negotiate=co-operation and sending in British troops

England would pay for the war

Plains of Abraham, Montcalm vs. Wolfe=Quebec falls, Montreal follows

Treaty of Paris=Brits win

Brits get Florida and New France, French get Martinique and Guadeloupe and Spain get New Orleans from France

 

Indians and Europeans Struggle over the West

Europeans bought favor from Indian chiefs, but Brits stopped that in Ohio valley=anger

Neolim and Pontiac attack Brits to regain land

Conflict ends in stalemate=Appalachians become border for Indians

However without French to balance of the status quo Indians grow weaker and lose more land

 

The Imperial Crisis of North America

After Seven Years war Britain begins to reorganization

 

The Emergence of American Nationalism

Culture differences, British officers beat their soldiers=discipline

Colonial soldiers were lax

Mutual distrust led to American unity

Fighting in the Seven Years war allowed colonials to associate with each other=unity

Improved infrastructure=better communications

Newspapers began circulating

Peter Zenger tried for libel against the state=freedom of speech

 

Politics, Republicanism, and the Press

Influenced by Locke and others

Get rid of aristocracy

Wanted more power for assembly vs. strong state with king to keep masses in line

 

The Sugar Act

Only affected merchants

Seven Years war left Britain in debt, attempts to tax people at home were met with protests=tax the colonists!

Sugar Acts=tax on sugar

Bostonians boycotted British products

Offenders were tried at the Vice Admiralty Court in Halifax which was hated because mad no presumption of innocence and had no jury trial

 

The Stamp Act

Affected everyone unlike the sugar act

Mad no only cause of tax but because they had no say in the decision

Rich got richer and poor got poorer= tax hit the poor harder=mob unrest

Stamp Act Congress, passed a set of resolutions denying Parliaments right to tax colonists without representation

 

Repeal of the Stamp Act

Hurt by the colonial boycott, British merchants persuade Parliament to repeal the act

Parliament reserves the right to make all decisions in colonies=Declaratory Act

 

Save Your Money and Save Your Country

Stamp Act mostly affected people in the countryside but acts to come resulted everyone

 

The Townshend Revenue Acts

Import duties on lead, glass, paint, paper, and tea

Again argued that Parliament had no right to tax

Didn't want salaries of royal colonial officials to be paid by Britain otherwise they would be dependent on Britain, not the colonial government

New York resisted and had its assembly suspended=anger as that was unconstitutional

 

Nonimportation" An Early Political Boycott

Boycott in many American cities

Split opinion, boycott hurt merchants but helped craftsmen=use of force to subdue merchants

Argued that no importation stopped material decadence (like Protestantism)=appealed to the countryside

 

The Massachusetts Circular Letter

Written to try to get the colonies to come up with a united response to the Townshend Act=Britain dissolves all colonial assemblies

The dissolution of the assemblies sparked new protests

British troops go into Boston

 

The Politics of Revolt and the Boston Massacre

Small riots leading to the Boston Massacre

However Townshend Act also repealed due to boycott

 

The Resistance to Rebellion

Years before the Tea Act were laid out the groundwork for rebellion

 

Intercolonial Cooperation

All royal salaries were dependent of the state legislature

Intercolonial committee to gather intelligence on Brits

Conspiracy to undermine freedom in the colonies

 

The Boston Tea Party

East India Company had to much tea=low prices

Brits tax cheap tea, price is still cheaper that normal

Americans still revolt

When the first tea ship arrives in Boston, the people vow to not allow it to be unloaded in contradiction to Hutchison=Boston Tea Party

 

The Intolerable Acts

Meetings were allowed only once a year and the agenda was set by Brits

Boston Port Bill=no commerce in harbor until Boston Tea Party was paid for

Quartering Act=Quartering for British troops

Quebec Act=Ohio valley was given to Quebec which had no elected assembly=American suspicion that they were going to have their assemblies taken away

Also favored Catholics

 

The First Continental Congress

Wished to avoid war

Imposed sanctions on Brits until Intolerable acts were repealed

Unity

 

Lexington and Concord

Brits go after an ammo depot and but start fighting

Hopes start to dim for negotiations

 

The Second Continental Congress

Georgia, dependent on Britain did not attend first congress but eventually attended second one

Canadians refuse to join so Americans take Montreal but fail to take Quebec

George Washington attends in uniform-get command of the army

Try one last time to get King George to negotiate

 

Fighting in the North and the South

Battle of Bunker Hill lead King George to refuse to negotiate (large casualties at Bunker Hill)

Cannon bombard Boston from forcing Brits to evacuate

Brits are driven from the south

 

No Turning Back

Second Continental Congress was now government

Negotiated aid from Spain and France

Thomas Paine-Common Sense-attacked aristocracy and British traditions

 

The Declaration of Independence

Jefferson write it

Slavery allowed

New York boycotts