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US GovernmentFoundationsThe American Revolution

Political Heritage◦ Colonists believe the English had the best

government in the world.◦ Due process and jury trials.◦ Colonists paid no taxes unless it was levied by

their representatives.

Causes of The Revolution

Political Heritage (cont.)◦ Governors of the colonies placed by the king

except Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Connecticut (elected own Governors.)

◦ Governor appointed representatives for life-long terms (except Pennsylvania where everything was elected.)

Causes of The Revolution

Alexander Spotswood (VA) Thomas Hutchinson (MA)

Differences in Colonial Government◦ British laws were not formal documents, but

accumulated over the years.◦ Colonial rights were spelled out in formal legal

documents.◦ Two-thirds of free colonial men owned property

which allowed them to vote compared to less than one-fourth British men.

Causes of the Revolution

Differences in Colonial Governments◦ Assemblies often withheld payment to royal

Governors who were unpopular.◦ British officials hoped to tax the colonists to

provide salaries.◦ Parliament officials believed they represented all

British subject including the colonists, therefore, the should obey to their decisions.

◦ Colonists felt that only their elected officials should be able to levy taxes.


New taxes upset colonists◦ The French and Indian war (7 year’s war) doubled

British national debt.◦ The Sugar, Quartering, and Stamp Acts:

In 1764, The sugar act assigned customs officials and created courts to collect duties and prosecute smugglers.

In 1765, the Quartering Act required colonies to provide housing and supplies for British troops stationed after the war. (This was criticized, but accepted because of the provision of defense.)

In 1765, the Stamp act was the first direct colonial tax which was put on any printed material including newspapers, books, court documents, contract, and land deeds.


Taxation without representation◦ Colonists angrily protested the Stamp Act. ◦ Colonial leaders questioned Parliaments right to

directly tax the colonies who had no representatives in Parliament.

◦ Some colonials felt that this was just the beginning of more taxes which could take away their property and political rights.

◦ Parliament was puzzled by the outrage since most Britons paid taxes and could not vote.

◦ The empire needed money, and Parliament felt they had the right to collect taxes from anywhere in their empire.


Enlightenment Ideas◦ Montesquieu and Locke ideas drawn upon believing that people

had divine natural rights including life, liberty, and property.◦ Government existed for the people and to protect their rights.◦ Patrick Henry argued that only the colonial assemblies had the

right to tax the colonists which was accepted by the Virginia House of Burgesses.

◦ Eight other colonies adopted similar proposals soon after.


Patriot Leaders emerge◦ Opposers of the tax acts emerged calling themselves “Patriots.”◦ Protesters formed the sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams,

cousin of John Adams.◦ Thomas Hutchinson Massachusetts lieutenant governor,

denounced a riot in Boston and claimed that the colonists had a legal duty to pay Parliament taxes. His home was destroyed by a mob, and from then on, body in Boston voiced support for the stamp tax.

◦ By the end of the year, all stamp collectors resigned in Boston, leaving nobody left to collect taxes.


Stamp act congress held in NYC in October of 1765 with representatives from 9 colonies.◦ Encouraged boycott of goods from Britain.◦ Local committees enforced the nonimportation

agreements, which threatened British merchant and manufacturers with economic ruin.

Women picked up the role in setting up gathering to make homespun cloth instead of buying British goods and became known as “Daughters of Liberty.”

Parliament repealed the stamp act in 1766, but passed an act declaring its rights to levy taxes on colonists.


New Taxes, New protests.◦ Charles Townsend initiates indirect taxing with the

Townsend acts of 1767 on things such as glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea.

◦ Colonists reject the taxes, saying they would pay no new taxes to Parliament.

◦ Boston held the largest riots of the Townsend duties, and the governor dissolved the Massachusetts legislature.

◦ Other colonies began to take notice after this.


More Boston Riots◦ Customs officers seized the ship “Liberty” which was owned

by a wealthy politician named John Hancock in June 1768. ◦ More riots occurred ad the Crown sent 4,000 troops to

Boston, a city with only 16,000 people at the time. ◦ The poorly paid soldiers competed with locals for minimal

jobs.◦ In March 1770, colonists threw snowballs and rocks at

soldiers guarding the customs house, where they fired back into the crowd killing 5 (known as the Boston Massacre.)

◦ Committees of correspondence started in Mass. to help provide leadership and cooperation. Other colonies soon followed building colonial unity.


Parliament dropped most of the Townshend duties, but kept a tax on tea.

Colonists boycotted British tea and smuggled Dutch tea.

Parliament helped the struggling British East India Company by allowing them to directly sell to the colonists.

On December 16, 1773, Boston Patriots dressed as Indians boarded three British ships and dumped their tea into the harbor (Boston Tea Party.)


Colonists unite◦ After the actions in Boston, Parliament closed

ports until the tea and the tax was paid for. ◦ The British sent warships and troops into Boston.


The Intolerable Acts◦ Colonists now had to house British troops. ◦ Crimes also committed in the colonies were tried back in

England. ◦ The Quebec act extended Canada’s southern border, cutting

off lands claimed by several colonies. (called the intolerable Acts.)

◦ In rural Massachusetts people armed themselves with clubs and guns and forced the closure of courts and assaulted anyone who accepted an office under the governor or spoke in favor of Parliament.


The Colonies take Action◦ In 1774, representatives from all of the colonies except

George met in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress.

◦ Patrick Henry, a delegate from Virginia quotes these famous words “Give me liberty, or give me death.”

◦ Henry also quoted “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, new Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more than I am not a Virginian, but an American.”


War begins:◦ In 1775, General Thomas Gage was named the

governor of Massachusetts. ◦ John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and other colonial

leaders convened a Provincial Congress to govern Massachusetts without Gage.

◦ The leaders also began to stockpile ammunition and arms.

Declaring Independence

The Battles of Lexington and Concord◦ April 19, 1775, war erupted at Lexington and Concord,

two country towns west of Boston. ◦ The battle was provoked by Gage by sending troops to

arrest Hancock and Adams and recapture stockpiled weapons.

◦ These men were tipped off by Paul Revere who had rode into the country side to warn of the approaching British troops.

◦ The local Patriots rallied to drive back the troops to Boston.

◦ The fighters on the American side were militia, full time farmers, part time soldiers.

Declaring Independance

The Battles of Lexington and Concord (cont)◦ By the next morning 70 Patriots gathered on the Lexington green,

while the Redcoats (British soldiers,) marched on to Concord.◦ The British ordered the militia to disperse, but while they were

leaving, a shot was fired. After the shooting stopped, 8 Patriots were dead.

◦ The British Troops then march back to Boston, but Minutemen(men known for being able to get ready in a minutes notice), lined the roads and fired at the British from behind trees and stone walls. 200 British regulars were either killed or wounded.

◦ The remaining British reached the safety of Boston later in the afternoon.

◦ Thousands of militiamen from around New England rushed to confine the solders in Boston.

◦ Loyalists or colonists who remained loyal to Britain fled to Boston for protection.


In May 1775, delegates from all of the colonies met in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress.

The New Englanders were relieved that the Congress took responsibility for the war.

Armed volunteers from the Middle and Southern colonies marched north to join the Patriot siege of Boston.

Congress gave command of the Continental Army to George Washington, since he served as a colonial officer in the French and Indian War.

Washington also came from Virginia, the most powerful of the colonies.

Many members of the congress felt that the colonies would remain part of Britain, but not controlled by Parliament.

An “Olive Branch Petition” was sent to King George III reaffirming the colonists’ allegiance to him but not to Parliament and the king rejected it and sent more troops.


Patriots and Loyalists Disagree◦ Most colonists supported the boycott of British imports, but a large

minority preferred British rule (later called Loyalists.)◦ Loyalists felt that though they opposed Britain’s taxes, they felt that

Parliament and the Crown must be obeyed as the legitimate government.

◦ Few Loyalists believed that the Patriots could win this war verses a major power who had just beaten Spain and France in major wars.

◦ About one-fifth of the colonists remained loyal and more wished to stay neutral

◦ Loyalists disliked the taxes, oaths of allegiance, and militia drafts demanded by the Patriots to support the war.

◦ Loyalism also appealed to the Native Americans and to enslaved people. Indians wanted the settlers to stop expanding on their lands and the slaves

felt that the British would give them their freedom if they fight on their side of the war.


Thomas Paine: Common Sense◦ In January 1776, a short, but powerful book was

written by Thomas Paine called “Common Sense.”◦ This book was radical in telling people that the King,

not Parliament was the true enemy of the people. ◦ In England there were rigid class structures and very

few people could even vote for their representatives.◦ Paine proposed that the colonies needed

independence from Britain, republican state government, and a union of the states.

◦ If the colonies followed Paine’s plan, he felt it would inspire many other countries to follow in this path.


The colonists declare independence◦ By spring 1776, Paine’s ideas had built momentum for

the independence movement. ◦ Congress selected a committee to draft a document

declaring Americas independence from Britain and explaining the reasons.

◦ On July 2, Congress voted that America was free.◦ Two days later (July 4), the Declaration of

Independence was approved.◦ The Declaration was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and

stated that all men were created equal. ◦ The document also gave the idea of natural rights or

unalienable rights, something never done before.


British Advantages:◦ Able to manufacture more ships and guns.◦ Had established government and ability to raise

funds to pay for the war.◦ Well trained troops that were well fed and

thoroughly supplied.

The War

American Problem:◦ New government with limited resources to pay for

soldiers.◦ Printed money, which hurt the economy and

caused inflation.◦ Continental soldiers constantly suffered from

hunger and cold.

The War

Mistakes by the British◦ Did not take the Patriots as a serious enemy in

1775.◦ Example: Howe pushed his troops up Bunker Hill

to face to Americans, knowing they had the higher ground, but felt that trained troops were invincible against untrained rabble.

◦ Soon after, the British abandoned Boston.

The War

The Conflict is misunderstood.◦ The British assumed this war would be fought like

a traditional European war. ◦ Howe felt that if he beat the continental army and

captured all of the major sea ports and Philadelphia, the Patriot capital.

◦ Howe succeeded in all of these, but still lost the war.

The War

European allies enter the war:◦ A victory at Saratoga helped France recognize

American independence and they were very willing to go to war against their longtime enemy.

◦ France sent ammunition and arms secretly to the Continentals.

◦ Some French leaders like Marquis de Lafayette joined the Patriots as a general.

The War

European allies enter the war (cont.)◦ Benjamin Franklin was the American diplomat to

Paris, and helped organize an alliance.◦ French army and navy began attacking the

British, making it more of an equal war.◦ In 1779, Spain entered the war on the side of the

French to help weaken the British, but was never an official American ally.

The War

The Frontier War◦ Defying the Proclamation of 1763, colonists began settling west

of the Appalachian Mountains which caused frequent skirmishes with the Indians.

◦ Most Indians sided with the British who promised to keep the colonists in the east.

◦ British encouraged more Indian attacks, and in return, settlers would attack Native Americans, some who were neutral, disregarded truces, and began a cycle of revenge that continued for many years.

◦ In upstate New York in 1779, Native Americans and British attacked several frontier outposts. In response, Patriots burned 40 Iroquois towns destroying the power of the Iroquois Federation.

The War

Four reasons the Patriots won the war:◦ The British made tactical mistakes by

underestimating the Patriots.◦ The British misunderstood the political nature of

the conflict.◦ The Patriots were highly motivated and benefited

from George Washington’s excellent leadership.◦ The Patriots received critical assistance from

France.

The War Ends

The British abandoned the loyalists and many state laws and mob violence prevented the Loyalists from returning to their homes causing many of them to flee to Canada.

Many slaves who were freed by the British were re-enslaved in the British West Indies.

The Revolution Impacts Society

The revolution actually spawned two new nations; The US and eventually the Dominion of Canada.

The British also abandoned the Native Americans leaving them vulnerable to revenge by the Americans who also had a hunger for more land.

The Revolution Impacts Society

Slavery inconsistent with ideas of the Revolution. 1 in 5 Americans was of African ancestry. Most American, including Patriot leaders, saw slavery as natural. British and Loyalists mocked Patriots for being hypocritical. In the north, slaves petitioned legislators and sued owners in

courts. About 5,000 African Americans joined the Patriot cause. Southern states feared armed blacks could threaten the slave

system, so 50,000 slaves escaped to join the British.

Changes for African Americans

Emancipation occurred in the North, but many northern slave owners sold their slaves to the South.

1 our of 3 people in the South were slaves. In Maryland and Virginia, some planters voluntarily freed their

slaves in what is known as manumission. After 1800, many southern states passed laws to prevent

manumission assuming past slaves may look for revenge. By 1810, 20,000 southern slaves had been freed, including 300

by George Washington.

Changes for African Americans

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