- The Deep Roots of Revolution
- In a broad sense, the American Revolution began when the first colonists set foot on America.
- The war may have lasted for eight years, but a sense of independence had already begun to develop because London was over 3000 miles away.
- Sailing across the Atlantic in a ship often took 6 to 8 weeks.
- Survivors felt physically and spiritually separated from Europe.
- Colonists in America, without influence from superiors, felt that they were fundamentally different from England, and more independent.
- Many began to think of themselves as Americans.
- The Mercantile Theory
- Of the 13 original colonies, only Georgia was formally planted by the British government.
- The rest were started by companies, religious groups, land speculators, etc…
- The British embrace a theory that justified their control of the colonies: mercantilism:
- A country’s economic wealth could be measured by the amount of gold or silver in its treasury.
- To amass gold and silver, a country had to export more than it imported.
- Countries with colonies were at an advantage, because the colonies could supply the mother country with materials, wealth, supplies, etc…
- For America, that meant giving Britain all the ships, ships’ stores, sailors, and trade that they needed and wanted.
- Also, they had to grow tobacco and sugar for England that Brits would otherwise have to buy from other countries.
- Of the 13 original colonies, only Georgia was formally planted by the British government.
- Mercantilist Trammels on Trade
- The Navigation Laws were the most famous of the laws to enforce mercantilism.
- The first of these was enacted in 1650, and was aimed at rival Dutch shippers who were elbowing their way into the American carrying trade.
- The Navigation Laws restricted commerce from the colonies to England (and back) to only English ships, and none other.
- Other laws stated that European goods consigned to America had to land first in England, where custom duties could be collected.
- Also, some products could only be shipped to England and not other nations.
- Settlers were even restricted in what they could manufacture at home; they couldn’t make woolen cloth and beaver hats to export (they could make them for themselves).
- Americans had no currency, but they were constantly buying things from Britain, so that gold and silver was constantly draining out of America, forcing some to even trade and barter.
- Eventually, the colonists were forced to print paper money, which depreciated.
- Colonial laws could be voided by the Privy Council, though this privilege was used sparingly (469 times out of 8563 laws).
- Still, colonists were inflamed by its use.
- The Navigation Laws were the most famous of the laws to enforce mercantilism.
- The Merits of Mercantilism
- The Navigation Laws were hated, but until 1763, they were not really enforced much, resulting in widespread smuggling.
- In fact, John Hancock amassed a fortune through smuggling.
- Tobacco planters, though they couldn’t ship it to anywhere except Britain, still had a monopoly within the British market.
- Americans had unusual opportunities for self-government.
- Americans also had the mightiest army in the world, and didn’t have to pay for it.
- After independence, the U.S. had to pay for a tiny army and navy.
- Basically, the Americans had it made: even repressive laws weren’t enforced much, and the average American benefited much more than the average Englishman.
- The mistakes that occurred didn’t occur out of malice, at least until the revolt.
- In fact, France and Spain also embraced mercantilism, but enforced it heavily.
- The Navigation Laws were hated, but until 1763, they were not really enforced much, resulting in widespread smuggling.
- The Menace of Mercantilism
- However, after Britain started to enforce mercantilism in 1763, the fuse for the American Revolution was lit.
- Disadvantages:
- Americans couldn’t buy, sell, ship, or manufacture under the most favorable conditions for them.
- The South, which produced crops that weren’t grown in England, was preferred over the North.
- Virginia, which grew just tobacco, were at the mercy of the British buyers, who often paid very low and were responsible for putting many planters into debt.
- Many colonists felt that Britain was just milking her colonies for all their worth.
- Theodore Roosevelt said, “Revolution broke out because England failed to recognize an emerging nation when it saw one.”
- The Stamp Tax Uproar
- After the Seven Years’ War, Britain had a HUGE debt, and though it fairly had no intention of making the Americans pay off all of it for Britain, it did feel that they should pay off one-third of the cost, since Redcoats had been used for the protection of the Americans.
- Prime Minister George Grenville, an honest and able financier not noted for tact, ordered that the Navigation Laws be enforced, arousing resentment of settlers.
- He also secured the “Sugar Act” of 1764, which increased duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies; after numerous protests from spoiled Americans, the duties were reduced.
- The Quartering Act of 1765 required certain colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops.
- In 1765, he also imposed a stamp tax to raise money for the new military force.
- The Stamp Act mandated the use of stamped paper of the affixing of stamps, certifying payment of tax.
- Stamps were required on bills of sale for about 50 trade items as well as on certain types of commercial and legal documents.
- Both the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act provided for offenders to be tried in the admiralty courts, where defenders were guilty until proven innocent.
- Grenville felt that these taxes were fair, as he was simply asking the colonists to pay their share of the deal; plus, Englishmen paid a much heavier stamp tax.
- Americans felt that they were unfairly taxed for an unnecessary army (hadn’t the French army and Pontiac’s warriors been defeated?), and lashed back violently, especially against the stamp tax.
- “No taxation without representation!”
- Americans took it upon themselves to enforce principle, reminding Brits of the principles that England’s own Puritan Revolution had brought forth.
- Americans denied the right of Parliament to tax Americans, since no Americans were seated in Parliament.
- Grenville replied that these statements were absurd, and pushed the idea of “virtual representation,” in which every Parliament member represented ALL British subjects.
- Americans rejected “virtual representation,” and in truth didn’t really want representation because that wouldn’t have done them good, and if they had really had representation, there wouldn’t be a principle for which to rebel.
- Parliament Forced to Repeal the Stamp Act
- In 1765, representatives from nine colonies met in NYC to discuss the Stamp Tax.
- The Stamp Act Congress was largely ignored in Britain, but was a step toward intercolonial unity.
- Some colonists agreed to boycott supplies, instead, making their own and refusing to buy British goods.
- Sons and Daughters of Liberty took law into their own hands, tarring and feathering violators among people who had agreed to boycott the goods.
- They also stormed the houses of important officials and took their money.
- Stunned, demands appeared in Parliament for repeal of the stamp tax, though many wanted to know why 7.5 million Brits had to pay heavy taxes to protect the colonies, but 2 million colonials refused to pay only one-third of the cost of their own defense.
- In 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act but passed the Declaratory Act, proclaiming that Parliament had the right “to bind” the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.”
- In 1765, representatives from nine colonies met in NYC to discuss the Stamp Tax.
- The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston “Massacre”
- Charles Townshend (a man who could deliver brilliant speeches in Parliament even while drunk) persuaded Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts in 1767.
- They put light taxes on white lead, paper, paint, and tea.
- In 1767, New York’s legislature was suspended for failure to comply with the Quartering Act.
- Tea became smuggled, though, and to enforce the law, Brits had to send troops to America.
- On the evening of March 5, 1770, a crowd of about 60 townspeople in Boston were harassing some ten Redcoats.
- One got hit in the head, another got hit by a club.
- Without orders but heavily provoked, they opened fire, wounding or killing eleven “innocent” citizens, including Crispus Attucks, the “leader” of the mob.
- Only two Redcoats got prosecuted.
- Charles Townshend (a man who could deliver brilliant speeches in Parliament even while drunk) persuaded Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts in 1767.
- The Seditious Committees of Correspondence
- King George III was 32 years old, a good person, but a bad ruler who surrounded himself with sycophants like Lord North.
- The Townshend Taxes didn’t really do much, so they were repealed, except for the tea tax.
- The colonies, in order to spread propaganda and keep the rebellious moods, set up committees of correspondence; the first was started by Samuel Adams.
- Tea Parties at Boston and Elsewhere
- In 1773, the powerful British East India Company, overburdened with 17 million pounds of unsold tea, was facing bankruptcy.
- The British decided to sell it to the Americans, who were suspicious and felt that it was a shabby attempt to trick the Americans with the bait of cheaper tea and pay tax.
- On December 16, 1773, some Whites disguised as Indians opened 342 chests and dumped the tea into the ocean.
- People in Annapolis did the same and burned the ships to the ground.
- Reaction was varied, from approval to outrage to disapproval.
- Edmund Burke declared, “To tax and to please, no more than to love and be wise, is not given to men.”
- Parliament Passes the “Intolerable Acts”
- In 1774, by huge majorities, Parliament passed a series of “repressive acts” to punish the colonies, namely Massachusetts.
- The Boston Port Act
- Boston Harbor was closed until retribution was paid.
- Also, enforcing officials who killed colonials could now be tried in England.
- Massachusetts Government Act
- The charter of Massachusetts was revoked.
- The Quebec Act
- A good law in bad company, it guaranteed Catholicism to the French-Canadians, permitted them to retain their old customs, and extended the old boundaries of Quebec all the way to the Ohio River.
- Americans saw their territory threatened and aroused anti-Catholics were shocked at the enlargement that would make a Catholic area as large as the original 13 colonies.
- The Continental Congress and Bloodshed
- The First Continental Congress
- In Philadelphia, from September 5th to October 26th, 1774, the First Continental Congress met to discuss problems.
- While not wanting independence then, it did come up with a list of grievances, which were ignored in Parliament.
- Only Georgia didn’t have a representative there.
- Also, they came up with a Declaration of Rights.
- They agreed to meet again in 1775 (the next year) if nothing happened.
- The “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”
- In April 1775, the British commander in Boston sent a detachment of troops to nearby Lexington and Concord to seize supplies and to capture Sam Adams and John Hancock.
- Minutemen, after having eight of their own killed at Lexington, fought back at Concord, pushing the Redcoats back, sniping them from behind rocks and trees.
- The First Continental Congress
- Imperial Strength and Weaknesses
- WAR!!! Britain had the heavy advantage: 7.5 million people to America’s 2 million, superior naval power, great wealth.
- Some 30,000 Hessians (German mercenaries) were also hired by George III, in addition to a professional army of about 50,000 men, plus about 50,000 American loyalists and many Native Americans.
- However, Britain still had Ireland (used up troops) and France was just waiting to stab Britain in the back; plus, there was no William Pitt.
- Many Brits had no desire to kill their American cousins, as shown by William Pitt’s withdrawal of his son from the army.
- English Whigs at first supported America, as opposed to Lord North’s Tory Whigs, and they felt that if George III won, then his rule of England might become tyrannical.
- Britain’s generals were second-rate, and its men were brutally treated.
- Provisions were often scarce, plus Britain was fighting a war some 3000 miles away from home.
- America was also expansive, and there was no single capital to capture and therefore cripple the country.
- American Pluses and Minuses
- Advantages
- Americans had great leaders like George Washington (giant general), and Ben Franklin (smooth diplomat).
- They also had French aid (indirect), as the French provided the Americans with guns, supplies, gunpowder, etc…
- Marquis de Lafayette, at age 19, was made a major general in the colonial army.
- The colonials were fighting in a defensive way, and they were self-sustaining.
- They were better marksmen.
- A competent American rifleman could hit a man’s head at 200 yards.
- The Americans enjoyed the moral advantage in fighting for a just cause, and the historical odds weren’t unfavorable either.
- Disadvantages
- Americans were terribly lacking in unity, though.
- Jealousy was prevalent, as colonies resented the Continental Congress’ attempt at exercising power.
- Sectional jealousy boiled up over the appointment of military leaders; some New Englanders almost preferred British officers to Americans from other colonies.
- Inflation also hit families of soldiers hard, and made many people poor.
- Advantages
- A Thin Line of Heroes
- The American army was desperately in need of clothing, wool, wagons to ship food, and other supplies.
- Many soldiers had also only received rudimentary training.
- German Baron von Steuben, who spoke no English, whipped the soldiers into shape.
- Blacks also fought and died in service, though in the beginning, many colonies barred them from service.
- By war’s end, more than 5000 blacks had enlisted in the American armed forces.
- African-Americans also served on the British side.
- In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation declaring freedom for any enslaved black in Virginia who joined the British Army.
- By war’s end, at least 1400 Blacks were evacuated to Nova Scotia, Jamaica, and England.
- Many people also sold to the British because they paid in gold.
- Many people just didn’t care, and therefore, raising a large number of troops was difficult, if not impossible.
- Only because a select few threw themselves into the cause with passion, did the Americans win.
- Seldom have so few done so much for so many.
- NOTE: Read Varying Viewpoints: “Whose Revolution?” on your own, please. Thanks.