Chapter 7: The Road to Revolution

1. The Deep Roots of Revolution

-America has always been a symbol of revolution since its discovery by
Europeans.
-the idea of republicanism took hold; it defines a just society as one in which all
the citizens willingly subordinated their private interests for the common welfare; it
opposed hierarchical and authoritarian institutions.
-another idea also formed from a group of British political commentators, “radical
Whigs”, they feared the threat to liberty posed by the arbitrary power of the monarch and
his ministers relative to elective representatives in Parliament.
-1763- The colonists who were used to running the affairs without being pestered
by officials in Britain were shocked when Britain tried to strengthen their hold on the
colonies.

2. Mercantilism and Colonial Grievances

-None of the colonies in America, except Georgia, was formally planted by the
British Government.
-British authorities embraced mercantilism- wealth was power and a country’s
economic wealth could be measured by the amount of gold and silver in its treasury; thus,
the country needed to export more than it imported.
-The government looked upon the colonists as tenants and to not dream of
economic self- sufficiency or self- government.
-Navigation Law of 1650- aimed to regulate mercantilism; all commerce in and
out of the colonies could only be transported by British vessels.
-British policy also led to a currency shortage in the colonies; they had to resort to
trading goods to facilitate everyday purchases.
-To combat currency issues, many colonies issued paper money; Parliament soon
prohibited the printing of paper currency and from passing bankruptcy laws- both of
which could harm British merchants.
-The crown also had the right to nullify any legislation passed by colonial
assemblies if they messed with the mercantilist system.

3. The Merits and Menace of Mercantilism

-Before the Navigation Laws were passed many colonial merchants to disregard
or evade such restrictions.
-Colonists also benefited from the mercantile system; they had a monopoly on
many industries, such as tobacco, thus taking out British competition.
-Mercantilism, however, stifled economic initiative and imposed a dependency on
British agents and creditors; the colonists also felt the mercantilist system to be debasing.

4. The Stamp Tax Uproar

-Due to the Seven Year’s War, Britain had one of the biggest empires in the world
as well as the biggest debt.
-Prime Minister George Greenville first ordered the Navigation Laws and then the
Sugar Act of 1764- the fist law passed for raising tax revenues in the colonies for the
crown; Quartering Act of 1765- required certain colonies to provide food and quarters for
British troops.
- 1765- Greenville also imposed the Stamp Act- put a tax on using stamped paper
and using stamps- in order to raise revenues to support a new military force.
-Greenville thought he was asking the Americans to pay their share of the costs
for their own defense.
-To the colonists Greenville was striking at the local liberties they came to assume
as a right.
-Greenville’s legislation also seemed to jeopardize the basic rights of the colonists
as Englishmen.
-The Americans also began to think there was a conspiracy to strip them of their
historic liberties.
-They protested with the slogan “No taxation without representation.”
-The colonists thought that although the Parliament had a right to legislate matters
that affected the entire empire, only their own elected colonial legislatures could legally
tax them.
-The Americans did not agree with the notion of virtual representation although
the direct representation was not that much better.
-When the British denied the dividing of the legislature and taxing power the
Americans came to deny Parliament and began to think of their political independence.

5. Parliament Forced to Repeal the Stamp Act

- Stamp Act Congress of 1765- New York- 27 delegates from 9 colonies came up
a statement of their rights and grievances and asked the king and Parliament to repeal the
legislation.
-Although the Stamp Act Congress did not have the desired affect, it was one
more step towards intercolonial unity.
-More effective than the congress was the widespread adoption of nonimportation
agreements against British goods; also they spontaneously united the American people in
common action.
-Public defiance also helped spread revolutionary fervor throughout American
colonial society.
-Violence also accompanied colonial protests- Sons and Daughters of Liberty
-1765- Stamp agents were forced to resign and the law was openly defied or
nullified.
-Americans then bought about one quarter of all British exports and one half of
British shipping was devoted to American trade; Merchants, manufacturers, and shippers
suffered from colonial nonimportation agreements and hundreds of laborers were out of
work.
-1766- Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and then passed the Declaratory Act-
reaffirming Parliament’s right to absolute and unqualified sovereignty over its North
American colonies.

6. The Townshend Tea Tax and the Boston “Massacre”

 -1767- “Champagne Charley” Townshend persuaded Parliament to pass the
Townshend Acts- light import duty on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea-
Townshend made these taxes an indirect customs duty payable at American ports.
-The tax on tea was the most irksome to the colonist because some 1 million
people drank it.
-The Townshend revenues were to be used to pay the salaries of royal governors
and judges in America; The British government suspended the legislature of New York in
1767 for failure to comply with the Quartering Act.
-Nonimportation agreements also proved less effective against the Townshend
Acts.
-1768- British officials landed 2 regiments of troops in Boston when faced with a
breakdown of law and order.
-March 5, 1770- 60 townspeople attacked a squad of 10 redcoats; the redcoats
opened fire and killed or wounded 11 “innocent” townspeople; only 2 redcoats were
found guilty of manslaughter.

7. The Seditious Committees of Correspondence

-By 1770 King George III was trying to assert the power of the British monarchy.
-Because the Townshend Acts failed to bring in any revenue, Prime Minister Lord
North persuaded Parliament to repeal it all except the tax on tea.
-Resistance was further kindled by Samuel Adams, a master propagandist and
engineer of rebellion.
-1772- Samuel Adams organized the local committees of correspondence in
Massachusetts leading to the committee being formed in 80 other towns; they spread the
spirit of resistance by interchanging letters and keeping alive the opposition to British
policy.
-1773- Virginia led the way by starting the first intercolonial committee of
correspondence; soon every colony had one to exchange idea and information with other
colonies- evolved directly into the first American congresses.

8. Tea Parties at Boston and Elsewhere

-By 1773 the nonimportation agreements were weakening and more people were
paying for the legal tea because it became cheaper than smuggled tea.
-1773- Because the British East India Company was about to go bankrupt with
over 17 million pounds of unsold tea, the ministry awarded them the monopoly on
American tea business.
-Because the British officials tried to enforce the law, mass demonstrations by the
colonists force tea ships to return to England with their cargo.
-Because Massachusetts’s governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to let the ships
out of the Boston harbor, on December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty snuck on board the
ships at night and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor- the Boston Tea Party.
-The enraged British authorities took to forcing the colonists into shape.

9. Parliament Passes the “Intolerable Acts”

-1774- Parliament passed a series of acts to chastise the colonies, Boston in
particular.
 -Boston Port Act- was one of the many “Intolerable Acts” but also the most
drastic; it closed Boston harbor until all damages were paid for and order ensured.
-Quebec Act (1774) - was regarded as part of the British reaction to the tensions
in Boston, however it was actually a good law which administered the French subjects in
Canada.
-The French viewed the Quebec Act as a shrewd and conciliatory measure.
-The American colonists viewed the Quebec Act as worse than the other
“Intolerable Acts” because it was on a bigger scale.

10. The Continental Congress and Bloodshed

-American rebels were sympathetic to the plight of Massachusetts and the
punishment the British government put on them.
-1774- Continental Congress was summoned to consider ways to rectify colonial
grievances; Georgia was the only colony out of 13 to not attend.
-The First Continental Congress lasted seven weeks and was a convention rather
than a congress.
-The Association-the most significant action done by the Continental Congress-
called for a complete boycott of British goods: nonimportation, nonexportation, and
nonconsumption.
-Parliament rejected all of the Congress’s petitions.
-April 1775- Lexington Massacre: redcoats went to Lexington to capture Samuel
Adams, John Hancock, and gunpowder; 3 Americans were killed, Redcoats were stopped
at Concord
-British were regaining power in Boston, war was on the brink

11. Imperial Strength and Weakness

-Britain had more wealth and people than the colonies.
-British were getting Germans and Indians for their army
-Britain wasn’t all that strong; France wanted revenge on them and they had no
great leader.
-Whigs in Britain were in colonial favor, gave the colonists hope
-Distance caused problems; orders issued were received in America months later
-America was huge= hard to destroy, no one big city to destroy in order to ruin
America, population was growing rapidly.

12. American Pluses and Minuses

-had great leaders; had help from French Marquis de Lafayette
-were self-replenishing; fighting for a good cause; had hope
-bad: were disorganized and not unified
-jealousy among leaders and commoners
-economic difficulties, paper money value deprecate
-inflation of currency, fathers and men were lost in war

13. A Thin Line of Heroes

-America didn’t make enough firearms; no gun factory in colonies/ muskets were
expensive
 -Food and clothing shortage; harsh winters- Valley Forge, PA
-warriors were unreliable and not well disciplined
-soldiers trained later on, especially by Baron von Steuben, were whipped into
shape
-blacks fought as well, mostly freed slaves from the North
-they fought or served as drivers, guides, spies, road builders, and cooks
-British enlisted Blacks from the South and promised them freedom
-morale was low
-There were few patriots who fought selflessly for freedom.