Chapter 4

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Person who founded the Rhode Island colony These people helped spread new ideas to everyday Americans Largest city in present day America west of the Mississippi Court case that gave colonists limited freedom of the press Person who was banished from Boston for believing that she communicated with the Holy Spirit

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Rodger Williams founded the Rhode Island Newspaper publishers were responsible for the spread of new ideas Santa Fe was the largest city in America west of the Mississippi The John Peter Zenger trial gave limited freedom of the press to colonists Anne Hutchinson was banished for saying she communicated with the Holy Spirit

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Loosening Ties

Even though Britain strengthened some of its Mercantilist policies, there was no clear policy for governing the colonies During the early years of King George I and II the prime minister and his fellow cabinet members were the nations real executives There was no colonial office in London and day to day communication was inefficient People were appointed to colonial posts because of bribery and sometimes they would hire someone else to go overseas and do their job for them

To supplement their income people that went overseas would be more than willing to wave duties for the right price By the 1750s American colonies believed that they could levy taxes, approve appointments, and pass laws inside of the colony Most assemblies came to look upon themselves as little parliaments, each practically as sovereign in their colony as Parliament was in England

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The Colonies Divided

Despite colonist desire to make their own laws, many colonists felt more connected to England then they did their neighbors New Englanders and Virginians viewed each other as foreigners and New York and Connecticut disliked each other In 1754 Benjamin Franklin and other colonists met in Albany to discuss a treaty with the Iroquois. After the treaty was signed Franklin wanted to create a colonial government that would handle all Indian affairs. This government would have a President General and a legislature. None voted for it

New France and the Iroquois Nation

The problem with France began when King Louis XIV started expanding up and down the Mississippi River To secure these lands the French set up a series of forts. They also settled present day Mississippi and Louisiana The French had a better relationship with the Indians but the most powerful tribe (Iroquois) were able to maintain their independence All three powers were competing for the Ohio River Valley and control of this land would drive the conflict

Anglo-French Conflicts

After one of the many wars between England and France (King George's War) the Iroquois decided to grant trading concessions in the interior to English merchants This forced the French to build a fort in the Ohio River Valley This forced the Iroquois to ally themselves with the British and at that point they lost their power to make their own decisions In 1754 Colonel George Washington built a fort near the Ohio River Valley (Fort Necessity). When the French attacked, Washington and his men were trapped. After losing 1/3rd of his forces, Washington surrendered

The Great War for the Empire

The first part of the French and Indian War started with the Fort Necessity disaster until its expansion in 1756 The British tried to help but they were relatively ineffective, and people that did not want to get involved in the conflict moved closer to the coast to avoid the conflict William Pitt tried to rally British troops in North America by impressing citizens and confiscating materials. This caused conflict with the colonists with a riot in 1757 and by 1758 the British backtracked on most of their policies

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By 1758 the British regulars were able to defeat the French at Louisbourg and Fort Duquesne In September of 1759 the British under General James Wolfe was able to capture the city of Quebec which was thought to be impregnable By 1763 the French ceded all land to England in the North and Spain in the south The problem with the war is that it saddled the English with large debts and resentment that the Americans did not do more to help themselves. The Americans viewed the British takeover of their goods as an attempt to undermine years of self rule

Before 1763 the British viewed trade as the most important part, but after the war both English and American leaders viewed land as valuable After the war the area of the British Empire was suddenly twice as great as it had been, thus causing more problems to control it England had war debts that needed colonial support due to the fact that many English people felt as if they were already paying such a high burden

Burdens of Empire

In 1760 King George III ascended the throne and wanted to be a more hands on monarch He distrusted William Pitt and changed Parliament with his own people He believed that the colonists were way to coddled and it was time for them to do their fair share He was also prone to bouts of madness

King George III

To prevent western settlers from swarming across the Ohio River Valley and disrupting trade with the Native Americans the British decided to prevent settlers from coming across the Appalachian Mountains This angered the colonists who eventually decided to ignore the boundary and move further and further west, increasing hostilities with the Indians

Proclamation of 1763

The first act of the British was to permanently station troops and demand that the colonists pay and maintain the army It also began to send regular patrols up and down the American coast looking for smugglers It also forced customs officials to show up to their posts personally and expand the size and scope of the agency

The Colonial Response

In 1764 Parliament passed the Sugar Act which would try to eliminate the illegal trade that was being done between Spain and the colonists It also lowered the duty on molasses hurting sugar planters in the colonies It also made smugglers be tried in a ViceAdmiralty court

The Sugar Act

The Stamp Act of 1765

Imposed a tax on most printed documents in the colonies: Newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, deeds, wills, and licenses These acts were successful, British officials were taking in as much as 10 times the revenue pre 1763 Colonists were not quite ready to fight these new rules because they still distrusted each other but because the new regulations were so broad it was possible to find something that each region was not happy about

The Stamp Act Crisis

The Stamp Act was able to deal damage to all sections of the colony. Merchants & Lawyers were obliged to buy stamps for ships papers and legal documents Tavern owners, often the political leaders of their neighborhoods, were required to buy stamps for their licenses Printers who controlled the information had to buy stamps for their publications The colonists needed to fight this because if they let themselves be taxed now it could lead to more burdens later

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Virginia planters were beginning to talk about the belief that only colonial assemblies should be allowed to tax their people. This became known as the Virginia resolves Massachusetts also called for a Stamp Act Congress who petitioned the king and parliament In 1765 a serious riots broke out up and down the coast and terrorized stamp agents. Those that were American resigned immediately The reason why they got rid of the Stamp Act was not because of colonial petitions but because of the boycott that the Sons of Liberty intimidated people into joining.

The Townshend Program

When the Stamp Act was repealed, Londoners thought this appeasement would push taxes back on them So they invited William Pitt back to form a government, but he had gout so most of the work went to Charles Townshend The first act was to deal with the colonists refusal to follow the Quartering Act of 1765. The colonists resented the fact that it was mandatory New York and Massachusetts refused to released the supplies. This was worse for New York because it was where the army headquarters were

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Townshend passed two laws in 1767, the first disbanded the New York Assembly. The second known as the Townshend duties levied new taxes on goods imported to the colonies (lead, paint, paper, and tea) The colonists still objected to the tax without their say. Also by dissolving the New York Assembly it rallied the colonies together. Massachusetts also passed a letter to colonial governments to stand up to every tax. Even though Britain swore it would dissolve any assembly that passed the letter the British passed it again 92 to 17.

Townshend also strengthened the customs house in Boston shutting down most, if not all, smuggling in Boston Boston started to lead another boycott. They were able to get the merchants of New York and Philadelphia to join In 1767 Townshend died and the new leader Lord North to make the peace repealed all the duties except for the tax on tea

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The Boston Massacre

The harassment of customs duty officers were so bad that Britain kept four regiments of regular troops inside of the city. It did not help that soldiers that did not get paid a lot were competing off hours with colonists for jobs On March 5th 1770 a few days after an intense skirmish between ship workers and British soldiers, dockworkers began to pelt the sentries with snowballs and rocks. The Captain quickly lined up his men to protect the building. After some scuffling; one of the soldiers was knocked down; and in the mist of it all, several British soldiers fired into the crowed killing five

The incident was quickly dubbed The Boston Massacre in the press. Paul Revere created a picture of the violence Samuel Adams was able to give speeches that would give rally the colonists against the British

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Most colonists were able to draw their believes from many different places such as Scotland and out of power English John Locke and others believed that governments were needed to protect people from the evilness of man The colonists believed in no taxation without representation which was a different philosophy for England, many parts were not represented and each member of Parliament was responsibly for the overall health of the empire

The Philosophy of Revolt

The Britains East India Company which had a monopoly in the far east was on the verge of bankruptcy in an effort to save the company Parliament passed the Tea Act of 1773 This allowed them to sell their tea without having to pay the tax under the Navigation Acts This brought the all of the colonies together in a widespread protest

The Tea Excitement

On the evening of December 16th 1773 three companies of fifty men each, masquerading as Mohawks, passed through a crowd of spectators (which worked to protect them from interference) attacked the three ships, broke open the tea chests and threw them in the harbor This forced King George III and Lord North to policy of coercion to be applied to Massachusetts

Boston Tea Party

The Coercive Acts shut down Boston Harbor until the colony would pay for the tea that was destroyed Instead of being used as an object lesson it helped bring all of the colonies together

Coercive Acts

As Massachusetts was mounting their protests it allowed Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty made sure that people were following the boycott They also worked to keep the lines of communication open between each of the colonies Virginia was the first to push for a continental congress

New Sources of Authority

Continental Congress Demands

In the first meeting in Philadelphia they agreed to five different points First they decided to reject a colonial union under British authority (Albany Plan) Second they endorsed a list of grievances with a repeal of all acts that were passed since 1763 Third, they made recommendations to prepare for a potential attack by British troops Fourth the wanted no trade with England which would be enforced by the colonies Fifth, after the adjourned they agreed to meet next spring

Lexington and Concord

For months people in New England had been training as minutemen When General Thomas Gage was ordered to capture rebels John Adams and John Hancock he set out in April 18th of 1775 to take the prisoners and the arsenal before the colonists could act But Paul Revere and William Dawes rode out to warn the villagers that the British were coming. When Gage asked the rebels to leave they refused and shots were fired. At that point war had torn apart the British and the colonists

This prevented colonists from gaining access to the Ohio River Valley The most powerful tribe during the French-Indian war This levied a tax on paper or licenses Propaganda boost for the colonists that showed British aggression Sons of Liberty protest that caused the British to close down Boston Harbor

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Proclamation of 1763 prevented colonists from getting into the Ohio River Valley The Iroquois were the most powerful Indian tribe during the French-Indian war The Stamp Act levied a tax on paper goods and licenses The Boston Massacre was a propaganda boost for the colonists The Boston Tea Party was where the Sons of Liberty forced the British to close down the harbor

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