Causes of Revolution

1
Causes of Revolution

• 1763-1775

2
Background

• In 1763 the colonies and the Mother Country had
  a great deal to feel good about. They had just
  defeated the French in the French and Indian War
• Almost immediately relations between the two
  allies started to deteriorate
• Britain was about to embark on the Industrial
  Revolution with interests on four continents
• The colonists wanted to know how they would
  benefit from the new system
• The English wanted to know who would pay for the
  cost of the war and maintaining the peace

3

• The war and the demand for products had
  revolutionized industry in the colonies
• Factories replaced small workshops, but still the
  colonists imported far more after the war than
  they had before the war
• New England merchants especially benefited for
  the post-war economic boom
• But the war had alsoa) created widows and
  orphans that need to be looked afterb) inflated
  pricesc) caused unemploymentd) caused a
  shortage of raw materialse) opened the western
  land for settlement

4
The Cost of War

• The British had passed a series of acts to
  regulate their mercantilist system, starting with
  the Navigation Laws but these laws were loosely
  enforced and easily circumvented
• The British government found itself with over
  100 million in debt. They had paid most of the
  costs for the war and now expected the colonies
  to pay towards their own defense
• The colonists argued that the British should bear
  the expense since they benefited from the
  colonies
• Royal governors began trying to enforce the
  Navigation Acts to help pay for the thousands of
  British troops still in North America

5
The Reforms

• In 1764 the Sugar Act replaced the Molasses Act
  (1733)
• The Molasses Act placed a tax on imported
  molasses which was needed to make rum. The Act
  had not been widely enforced and where it was it
  was circumvented by smuggling
• The colonists raised their objections to the
  Sugar Act and eventually the taxes were lowered
• The next act was the Quartering Act of 1765 which
  required the colonists to feed and house British
  troops at their own expense
• Also in 1765 the British passed the most
  notorious act the Stamp Act

6

• The courtswere run without the normal codes of
  law the accused was assumed to be guiltythere
  were no juries
• The courts ended decades of salutatory neglect by
  the British and proved to the colonists that they
  had to follow British law but not be afforded the
  same protection and rights as Englishmen
• The courts violated the rights of every
  Englishman and the colonists viewed themselves as
  Englishmen
• The colonists also started to question why so
  many British soldiers needed to be stationed in
  the colonies unless it was to suppress
  rebellion!

7

• The cry of no taxation without representation
  was heard throughout the colonies
• Its interesting to note that the colonists
  actually paid less taxes then people in England
  and in certain areas of the colonies the Stamp
  and Sugar Acts had very little impact. But there
  was not one American representative in the
  British Parliament
• The British completely misread the situation and
  underestimated the animosity in the colonies
• George III defended his government by claiming
  all people are represented virtual
  representation
• Nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act
  Congress in New York in 1765

8

• The delegates created a set of Resolves to
  protest the constitutionality of the Stamp and
  Sugar Acts and objected to the vice-admiralty
  courts
• The Congress drew little attention in the
  colonies and even less in Britain. But it was
  the first step toward unity
• When the acts took effect several hundred
  colonial businesses started to boycott British
  goods and refused to pay the stamp tax
• Mass protest against the Stamp Act prevented the
  tax from being effective
• The colonists formed protest groups called Sons
  of Liberty or Daughters of Liberty
• The goal of these protest groups was to ensure a
  complete boycott of British goods and to find
  alternatives

9
Non-importation Agreements

• Opposition began in the coastal towns especially
  those involved with trade. Colonists signed
  non-importation agreements promising to boycott
  British goods
• The boycott was enforced by patriots, often with
  the use of violence mobs sacked the houses of
  stamp agents and hung them in effigy
• With the resignation of the stamp agents the
  British government was unable to enforce the tax
• The British economy was devastated by the
  boycott. Manufacturers could not sell their
  products, businesses went bankrupt, thousands
  lost their jobs

10
Declaratory Act

• Parliament was besieged by protestors who
  demanded an end to the Stamp Act
• In 1766 the Stamp Act was repealed
• The colonists celebrated their victory,
  especially in New York and Boston
• Immediately Parliament passed the Declaratory Act
  The British Parliament had sovereign power in
  North America and it would not yield that power
• But the colonists had tasted victory and believed
  they had a right to their own sovereignty

11
Townshend Acts

• Charles Townshend became the new Chancellor of
  the Exchequer following the collapse of the
  government after repealing the Stamp Act
• Townshend promised to make the colonies pay for
  their action
• In 1767 he passed the Townshend Acts which taxed
  glass, paper, paint, and tea amongst other things
• Townshend argued that his new legislation made
  any payment an indirect customs tax since it was
  payable at the ports

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• To the colonists it was still taxation without
  representation
• The revenue from the new customs tax was
  designated to pay the salaries of royal governors
  and judges
• Also in 1767 the British suspended the New York
  legislature for not complying with the Quartering
  Act
• People once again resorted to non-importation
  agreements, but this time the colonists were not
  as successful
• Many Americans had little inclination to protest
  the new taxes since they were relatively light
  and only affected a few people
• Colonists also found that smuggling could easily
  supply most needs

13

• In 1768 the British government sent two regiments
  to Massachusetts to help restore order and catch
  smugglers
• The soldiers did little to make friends with the
  colonists, they were rude and often drunk
• The colonists resented the lobster backs and
  tormented them at every opportunity

14
Boston Massacre

• On March 5, 1770 a large crowd started to torment
  a small British patrol
• As the situation deteriorated the British opened
  fire on the colonists. Several colonists died
  including Crispus Attucks, a runaway slave
• The soldiers were put on trial and defended by
  future president John Adams
• Two were found guilty of manslaughter and
  released after being branded on the hand

15
Committees of Correspondence

• The Townshend Acts were a disaster for the
  British government they could not be enforced,
  nor did they bring in much revenue
• Lord North persuaded the government to repeal the
  Acts except for a small token tax on tea
• To the colonists a tax was still a tax,
  regardless of size
• Samuel Adams, cousin of John Adams, formed
  committees of correspondence in Boston

16

• The idea was to keep other colonies informed
  about the affairs in Massachusetts. Quickly,
  committees sprang up in other colonies
• By the end of 1773 every colony had a committee,
  some had been approved by the colonial
  legislature
• The committees became powerful weapons in
  spreading the ideas of rebellion throughout the
  colonies and keeping anti-British feeling alive

17
Boston Tea Party

• In 1773, tea in the colonies was cheaper than tea
  in Britain, even with the tax
• Fewer people were resisting and it seemed like
  the rebellion might pass, besides nothing had
  happened to seriously damage relations between
  the colonies and the Mother country
• The British East India Company, close to
  bankruptcy, pressured the British government for
  financial help
• The government could not afford for the company
  to collapse

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• The government responded by giving the company a
  monopoly on tea sold in the colonies
• The result was cheaper tea for the colonists, but
  it was still taxed, and that upset some colonists
• The British government supported the company and
  shipped the tea to the colonies
• Not one crate of tea reached its destination
• In ports all along the eastern seaboard
  demonstration forced the British ships to return
  to England with their cargoes
• In Boston, the royal governor, Thomas Hutchinson
  was determined not submit to mob rule

19

• Hutchinson had suffered at the hands of the
  demonstrators during the Stamp Act, now he was
  determined to enforce the law
• Hutchinson refused to let the ships leave Boston
  without unloading their cargo
• On December 16, 1773, a group of colonials,
  thinly disguised as Indians, boarded the ships
  and threw the tea into Boston Harbor
• Reactions varied, not everyone approved of the
  needless destruction of property
• Hutchinson left for Britain, never to return
• The British determined to make the colonists pay

20
Intolerable Acts

• The British responded with a series of acts
  intended to punish the colonies, especially
  Massachusetts
• The Boston Port Act closed the port until
  someone paid for the tea
• Restrictions were placed on town meeting to the
  colonists, violating their freedom even more
• Any representative of the British government who
  killed a colonist in the line of duty would now
  be sent to Britain for trial

21
Quebec Act 1774

• At the same time as the Intolerable Acts, the
  British passed the Quebec Act
• The colonists believed the Quebec Act was aimed
  at them, it was not it was aimed the French
  settlers in Canada who were now part of the
  British Empirea) The Catholic religion was
  guaranteedb) French customs and practices were
  allowed, but not representative assembly or trial
  by jury in civil cases
• The border was set at the Ohio River

22

• The French approved of the Quebec Act, but the
  British colonies only became more suspicious
• They saw the French as being better suited to
  claim the vast unpopulated land that was west of
  the Allegheny Mountains and they feared the
  spread of Catholicism

23
Continental Congress

• Although not everyone agreed with the action
  taken by the Boston rebels there can be little
  doubt about the outpouring of sympathy from all
  the other colonies
• In 1774 in response to the Intolerable Acts, the
  Continental Congress was summoned to meet in
  Philadelphia
• The Congress was intended to find ways to settle
  the grievances with Britain
• 12 colonies sent representatives (Georgia was
  missing)
• The Congress assembled men like George
  Washington, John Adams, Patrick Henry, and Sam
  Adams

24

• The Congress met for 7 weeks to discuss the
  situation
• John Adams persuaded others to adopt a more
  rebellious approach and he warned against
  mediation and acceptance
• The Congress drew up a Declaration of Rights,
  made an appeal to the king, and formed The
  Association
• The Association wanted a complete boycott of all
  British goods
• No one advocated revolution but if the British
  did not act the Congress would meet again in 1775

25
Lexington and Concord

• The British ignored all appeals from the colonies
• In early 1775 the British sent a detachment to
  Lexington and Concord to collect arms that had
  been hidden by the colonists
• The British were met at Lexington by minutemen
  who refused to disperse and stood their ground
• The British opened fire killing several before
  moving on to Concord