The Road to Independence

British Rule

Independence

Chapter 7

Trade Issues

The policy of mercantilism was practiced by both the French and the British in order to prevent colonies from trading with anyone else except the mother country.

Trade Issues

In order to regulate trade in the colonies, Great Britain issued a set of rules called the Navigation Acts:

1. Colonists were expected to use British-owned ships for all importing and exporting.

2. Certain goods ( including rice, tobacco, and indigo) grown in the colonies had to be sent to England first before they were sent to other countries.

3. All goods sold in the colonies by other countries had to be shipped to England first.

Trade Issues

Colonists didn’t mind these laws because they were able to make money off of the prices that England paid for their goods.

Colonists also smuggled goods into the colonies and paid customs officials to keep quiet. As long as the Navigation Act laws were not enforced, the colonists were happy.

French and Indian War

The economic competition between France and England led to a series of wars. The French and Indian war started when French moved into Ohio River Valley. Later spread to Europe where it was known as Seven Years War.

Ohio River Valley

French and Indian War

French and their Indian allies fought against the British and the colonists. South Carolina had little military involvement in French and Indian War itself. There were no French and Indian War battles fought on South Carolina soil, however French fur traders trying to win the Cherokee alliance did cause Cherokee War.

French Fur Traders

French and Indian War

As a result of treaty to end French and Indian/Cherokee wars Spain lost control of Florida, increased indigo trade, both positive effects for South Carolina. Another positive result was the treaty expanded British owned territory to the Line of Proclamation of 1763, which now meant colonists could move past the Appalachian Mountains all the way up to the Mississippi River.

British Control

War is expensive. The British King and Parliament had to pay for the French and Indian war so they started taxing the colonies. Great Britain left soldiers in the colonies and told colonists not to move past the Line of Proclamation of 1763 “for their protection.” Colonists felt the real reason was that Britain wanted to control them and take their money through taxes.

British Control

Colonists did not have representation in Parliament and did not feel that Parliament had the right to make them pay taxes.

Colonists thought that the only people who could tax them were their own colonial assemblies.

From 1730-1775 colonial governments, including South Carolina’s, were becoming more independent and self governing and didn’t like Britain interfering.

Governor’s Mansion Williamsburg, VA

British Control

The most important tax imposed by Parliament was the Stamp Act. This was a duty (a tax) on paper, including legal documents, playing cards and newspapers.

It was the first direct tax. All previous taxes were indirect taxes paid by merchants.

Stamp that had to be purchased under the Stamp

Act.

British Control

A direct tax is one that is added to the cost of an item. If a candy bar costs 48¢ and you pay a 2¢ direct tax, your total is 50¢.

An indirect tax, what colonists were used to paying, was included in the cost of an item. The candy bar would be marked 50¢ and you wouldn’t add any tax.

Tax

included

in

price

Tax n

ot

included

in

price

British Control

Colonists were so angry, they started protesting, “No taxation without representation.”

The people in Great Britain were being taxed more than the colonists, so it wasn’t about the amount of the taxes, it was about not having a voice in Parliament.

British Control

To protest the Stamp Act, the colonists created a Stamp Act Congress and boycotted (stopped buying them) British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed (removed).

Sons and Daughters of Liberty were also created to help protest the tax.

British Control

The Sons and Daughters of Liberty were a secret organization that helped to enforce boycotts against the British by persuading and intimidating people to follow them. The also wrote newspapers that contained propaganda against British rule. Sons of Liberty famous members: Sam

Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, Paul Revere, Patrick Henry and Ben Franklin

The propaganda used by the Sons of Liberty can be seen in the newspaper reports of the Boston Massacre. Occurring on March 5, 1770, the Massacre, as it was called, was no massacre at all, only five people were killed. Calling the incident a massacre raised colonial anger against the British.

British Control

British Control

Compare Paul Revere’s drawing of the Boston Massacre on the left to the picture made from a historic engraving on the right. How did Revere use propaganda to stir up colonists?

South Carolina native Christopher Gadsden was a wealth merchant from Charles Town. He was one of the first people to speak out against the British taxes. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, and a founder and leader of the Charles Town Sons of Liberty. Christopher Gadsden

British Control

The East India Tea Company, a company that traded items like cotton, silk, indigo, and tea, ran into some financial problems. Parliament want to help out the East India Tea Company and issued the Tea Act. The Tea Act was not a tax, but it did give the East India Company a monopoly on tea in the colonies.

British Control

A first issue of the Tea Act.

When the East India Company became the only company that could sell tea in to the colonies, the price of tea became very cheap. The colonists were already boycotting a tax on tea that remained even after the Townshend Act was repealed. The Sons of Liberty were afraid that the cheap tea would ruin their boycott.

British Control

The Sons of Liberty secretly planned a “Tea Party” in response to ships in the Boston Harbor filled with tea waiting to unload their goods. On December 16, 1773, colonists dressed as Mohawk Native American dumped the tea into the harbor crying, "Boston Harbor a tea-pot tonight!" and "The Mohawks are come!"

British Control

In South Carolina, Georgetown and Charles Town held their own smaller “tea parties.”

As a result of the Boston Tea Party, British Parliament closed the Boston Harbor to shipping, and changed parts of the Massachusetts government, among other things. The colonists named this “the Intolerable Acts.”

British Control

The Provost Exchange and Dungeon was where the South Carolina governor stored tea to

prevent another major tea party in the Charleston Harbor.

The Intolerable Acts put Massachusetts into a real bind, since they needed the harbor to import food. South Carolina helped out by sending two hundred barrels of rice to help feed Massachusetts colonists.

These and other supplies were brought into the colony by land.

British Control

Continental Congress

South Carolina was worried that Britain would close their ports as well and agreed to send delegates to the 1st Continental Congress in order to address the problem of the Intolerable Act.

Continental Congress

In 1774, representatives from all over South Carolina elected delegates to go to the First Continental Congress. They also created the General Committee of 99 to act as the government. The colony had not been allowed to have a General Assembly meeting because Lieutenant Governor William Bull, a British supporter, didn’t want to give them a chance to make decisions that went against the British laws and regulations.

British Parliament building

Continental Congress

The South Carolina delegates to the First Continental Congress were John Rutledge, Christopher Gadsden, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Lynch and Henry Middleton.

This congress established a non-importation and a non-exportation agreement with Britain, but allowed South Carolina to continue to export rice since it was essential to their economy. Carpenter’s Hall, location

of First Continental Congress

Continental Congress

Delegates to the Second Continental Congress were: Edward Rutledge

Arthur Middleton

Thomas Lynch JR

Thomas Heyward JR.

These men singed the Declaration of Independence that led to the beginning of the American Revolution.

John Rutledge

Thomas Heyward Jr.

Arthur Middleton

Thomas Lynch Jr.

A Colony’s Division

While the idea of freedom was bouncing around the colonies, people were choosing sides within South Carolina. The Patriots started out wanting their rights as Englishmen and ended up wanting their freedom from England. The Loyalists were faithful to the king no matter what. The Neutrals didn’t care what happened, they just wanted to be left alone. This division among people in South Carolina caused a civil war within the colony.