Road to Revolution1763-1774

Mr. Owens

Crash Course #6: Taxes & Smuggling

Essential Questions:

• What were the political and economic causes of the colonists uniting in opposition to British imperial policies?

• What were the philosophical and ideological arguments made by colonial leaders encouraging resistance to Britain, including the influence of the Enlightenment?

• How did leaders like Benjamin Franklin, and popular movements that included laborers, artisans, and women, energize the movement for independence?

1763-1766• King George III’s prime minister George Grenville’s 3

controversial acts1. Sugar Act (or Revenue Act 1764) mostly attempt to

enforce Navigation Acts & cut down on smuggling, actually lowered most taxes on sugar

2. Quartering Act (1765) colonist to provide food & living quarters for troops

3. Stamp Act (1765) placed tax on most printed goods in colonies – first “direct tax” on colonists, “internal tax”

• Colonists’ Response:1. Leaders protested – violation of rights, “no taxation

without representation,” Patrick Henry (VA), James Otis (MA), Stamp Act Congress met in NY

2. Sons & Daughters of Liberty – used violence & intimidation against tax collectors including tar & feathering

3. Boycotts led to repeal of law in 1766, but issued the “Declaratory Act asserting absolute authority

Phase 2: 1767-1770• Charles Townshend appointed chancellor of the

exchequer (treasury)• Townshend Acts (1767) external tax on imports or tea,

glass, paper, raising revenue for colonial officials, eased rules for searching homes of smugglers, suspended NY assembly for ignoring Quartering Act.

• Colonists response:1. John Dickinson’s Letter From A Farmer in Pennsylvania (1768) 2. Massachusetts Circular Letter (1768)James Otis & Samuel Adams3. Colonial Boycott & increased smuggling – Sons of Liberty attack

customs houses4. Daughters of Liberty “homespun” & “spinning bees”

• British send more troops to Boston & disband MA & NY assemblies

• Lord North calls for repeal of Townshend Acts in 1770• “Boston Massacre” March 1770 – 5 killed, used as

propaganda tool by Samuel Adams

1770-1773• 1770-1772 Period of relative calm• Committees of Correspondence – communication

network headed by Samuel Adams 1772• Gaspee Incident (1772) Patriots burn British customs

vessel in Providence, RI• Tea Act of 1773 – gave monopoly to British East India

Tea Company – colonial boycott• Boston Tea Party (Dec 1773) dumped 342 crates into

Boston Harbor• Colonial reaction mixed: radicals celebrated it,

conservatives opposed destruction of property

Tar and Feathering

“Intolerable Acts”• Coercive Acts (1774) Lord North & Parliament

to punish MA & Boston1. Port Act – closes Boston Harbor2. MA Government Act – shifted power from

MA legislature to royal governor3. Administration of Justice Act – trials in

Britain4. Quartering Act – expanded demands for

housing troops• Quebec Act (1774): expanded British ruled

Quebec to Ohio River, established Roman Catholicism, & British Government without an assembly. Why controversial?

• All 5 measures labeled “Intolerable Acts” by colonists

Q-> What was the extent of Parliament’s authority over the colonies??

Absolute or Limited?

Q-> Theories of Representation?

VIRTUAL vs. ACTUAL

Theories of Representation

• Influence of John Locke – Two Treatises of Government – Natural Rights (1689)

• Jean Jacques Rousseau – The Social Contract (1767)