03c: Revolution In The AirWhen the French and Indian War ended in 1763, Great Britain was the big winner. The French had been kicked out of North America entirely, and the Spanish pushed back behind the Mississippi River. But Britain had problems with their own colonists. The colonists had done more than their share of the fighting, and felt they had earned more of a say in their government. Several of the colonies claimed territory all the way through to the Mississippi River, and wanted these claims recognized. The British, however, didn't want its colonists doing any freelance colonizing. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 tried to retain British control over the interior. According to this proclamation, colonists were forbidden to settle in Florida or any lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi River. But the colonies were thriving, and their populations were growing, and they needed more territory. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was largely ignored because the British couldn't afford to enforce it.
Taxation without Representation
History teaches us that maintaining an empire is expensive. In the long run, usually too expensive. The British wanted their colonies to be self-supporting, and to pay for their own defense. One result was the Sugar Act of 1764, which levied moderate taxes on imports of sugar. To the colonists, though, it was the first instance of the “taxation without representation” and a first step toward revolution. Another economy measure was the Quartering Act of 1765, requiring the colonists to provide British regulars with free room and board. Worst was the Stamp Act of 1765, which forced the purchase of revenue stamps to be placed on all types of publications and legal documents. Joining various secret organizations like the "Sons of Liberty," colonials broke into customs offices and destroyed all the stamps they could find. A “Stamp Act Congress” attended that summer by representative of nine colonies declared the Stamp Act and other such taxes “unconstitutional.” The British indeed backed off for a while, but then turned up the pressure: the Townsend Acts of 1767 placed duties on many British goods imported by colonists. The colonists were not impressed by Britain’s excuses for hitting them in the wallet. England had enjoyed parliamentary democracy for five centuries already. But Englishmen who happened to live in the Americas were getting the shaft.
If the colonials were to be taxed like Englishmen, they wanted to be represented like Englishmen - by their own members to the House of Commons in London. The British argued that the House of Commons, and Parliament as a whole, represented the homeland and the colonies alike. The Declaratory Act of 1766 said that Parliament represented the entire British world, but the American colonists weren't buying. To enforce the Townsend Acts, Britain stationed two regiments of regular soldiers in Boston. On March 5, 1770 a simple snowball fight ended with three people dying in the "Boston Massacre." In 1773, Britain granted the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales to North America, thereby cutting colonial businessmen out of the British Empire's most lucrative trade. The colonial business community was thus driven solidly into the camp of the Sons of Liberty and radicals like Samuel Adams. On December 16, 1773, Adams and his cohorts turned Boston Harbor into a teapot. Americans are taught to revere the Boston Tea Party as a brave and noble act, but to the British it was an act of terrorism. Parliament passed the so-called Intolerable Acts of 1774, which closed the Port of Boston, forced Massachusetts to feed and house British troops free, and destroyed elective government in the colony. But in trying to teach Boston a lesson, Britain only won the other colonies to Massachusetts's side.
On September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. The delegates preferred not to alienate Britain further, but they refused to obey the Intolerable Acts. They further stated that colonists were entitled to "life, liberty, and property," and that colonial legislatures should determine taxes and other such matters. The Intolerable Acts effectively forced the colonies to consider just what were American colonial rights. A few colonists were still in favor of negotiating with Britain, but neither King George III nor Parliament was interested in further dialogue. In the spring of 1775, British troops were sent to confiscate munitions said to be at Concord, MA; but on April 19, 1775 a group of militiamen called the "Minutemen" intercepted them at Lexington and fired, among other shots, the one heard round the world. On May 15, 1775, the Second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia and declared itself at war with Great Britain. Colonel George Washington of Virginia was named commander of the American forces. The American Revolution was officially under way. The odds against the Continentals' success were astronomical. Or were they? One year later, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution calling for separation from Great Britain. A group of five delegates, headed by Thomas Jefferson, composed the official declaration of independence. Adopted on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence justified the founding of the new nation by an appeal to the natural rights of mankind.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
The French, who had been following developments in the British colonies, were delighted by the birth of a new American nation. The intellectuals were thrilled by the slap in the face to an entrenched monarchy. The entrenched French monarchy was thrilled by the opportunity to play catch-up with Great Britain, and was already secretly sending supplies. American envoy Benjamin Franklin played upon these feelings to obtain in 1778 a treaty of alliance, friendship, and commerce between America and France. Shortly after that, Britain declared war on France. In 1779, Spain considered supporting the Americans against their old British enemies, but declined out of fear for their North American empire. Finally, the British declared war on the Netherlands in 1780 because they were continuing to trade with America. Harassed in North America by rebellious colonials and French expeditionaries, and threatened in Europe by a Franco-Spanish-Dutch alliance, the British were struggling against great odds. The Americans were clearly underdogs at the start of the Revolution, but over time European political developments gave helped give their new nation a fighting chance.
Lecture 03 Homepage
03a: Introduction
03b: The Thirteen Colonies
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03d: Building on Our Beginnings
03e: Conclusions |
