“Once vigorous measures appear to be the only

means left of bringing the Americans to a due

submission to the mother country,

the colonies will submit.”

• King of England. • Strong supporter of taxing the

colonies to pay for the debt. • He opposed any compromise

with the colonial government in America.

• After losing the colonies, he withdrew his efforts at

personal government and went insane.

Restless Colonials1763

• British concerned by disloyalty of American shippers in war– Many colonies refused to provide money or troops for

war– Colonists wanted rights of Englishmen, but not

responsibilities.

• Inter-colonial disunity had continued through war (distance, religion, ethnicity, class), but participants in war had found commonality

Too Late…

Tea Act (1773)8 British East India Co.:

Monopoly on British tea imports.

Many members of Parliament held shares.

Permitted the Company to sell tea directly to colonies without colonial middlemen (cheaper tea!)

8 North expected the colonies to eagerly choose the cheaper tea.

Tea Act, East India Company

•Made it illegal for the colonies to buy non-British tea and forced the colonies to pay the

tea tax of 3 cents/pound. •The Colonists had to buy tea from the East India Tea Company----gave them a monopoly•Colonists claimed it was “taxation without

representation”•Sons of Liberty protested against the Tea Act in

Dec. 1773 by dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor

Boston Tea Party (1773)

•To the British, the Boston Tea Party represented a crucial change

in the relationship with the Colonies, an act of defiance.

WHAT IS THE BRITISH RESPONSE?

The Coercive Acts (1774)

Lord North

1. Port Bill

2. Government Act

4. Administration of Justice Act

3. New Quartering Act

THE COERCIVE ACTS

• Convinced that severe punishment was essential to British credibility, Parliament passed four Coercive Acts during the spring of 1774– Boston Port Act closed Boston Harbor until Boston paid for the

tea, British also hoped to isolate Boston from other colonies– Massachusetts Government Act – overturned Mass Charter of

1691, made the council appointive, and restricted town meetings– New Quartering Act allowed army to house soldiers on any

civilian property– Administration of Justice Act permitted a British soldier or officer

charged with a crime while carrying out duties to be tried in another colony or in England

Boston Tea Party

Closed the port of Boston from Colonial trade and placed Massachusetts under martial law until

Colonists paid for the tea.Colonists referred to

these as the “Intolerable Acts”

COLONIAL RESPONSE

• To the colonists they became known as the Intolerable Acts– these acts united the colonists

• When royal governors dismissed assemblies, colonies would elect provincial congresses – As more people joined resistance, royal governments

began to collapse

• But the Government act was ignored by the colonists and it does lead to the summoning of the First Continental Congress

First Continental Congress (1774)55 delegates from 12

coloniesAgenda How to

respond to the Coercive Acts

1 vote per colony represented.

FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

• Met in Philadelphia's Carpenter Hall in September 1774– They agreed on non-importation on most British goods

especially tea and molasses

• They agreed to meet again in May of 1775 if British response was unsatisfactory

• The Continental Congress began to act as the official government of the United States

                          

• Moderates argue with Radicals whether or not to go to war.• Representatives send a document “Declaration of Rights and

Grievances” in 1774 to King George and Parliament• In the meantime, Congress ordered militias to prepare for

war.

• Colonies send their representatives to

Philadelphia to form a Congress in

response to the Intolerable Acts in

1774• Main goal was to try

and negotiate with King George and

Parliament

1770

• After the Boston Tea Party the British send more troops to enforce the Intolerable Acts.

• Colonial militias prepare for war.

Patrick Henry(1736-1799)

Revolutionary War orator, radical and

statesman. In a speech urging

armed resistance against the British. Speech was given in March of 1775.

There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our

chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable

and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry,

Peace, Peace -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!

Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle?

What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have?

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at

the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty

God!         

I know not what course others may take but as for me:

“Give me liberty or give me death”. PHenry

AND SO IT BEGINS

• News of the Congress hits England– They know of colonists building up arms supplies– Britain was determined to stomp rebellion by force

• Lord North ordered General Gage to send troops to Lexington to and arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams

• They would then move to Concord to destroy the arms there

• Word had spread through the countryside and Boston radicals became prepared

The British Are Coming . . .

Paul Revere & William Dawes make their midnight ride to warn the

Minutemen of approaching British soldiers.

The Shot Heard ’Round the World!

Lexington & Concord – April 19,1775

• June 17, 1775• The British suffered over 40%

casualties.• 2,250 men• 1,054 injured• 226 killed

• Americans: Moral victory • 800 men• 140 killed• 271 wounded

• King George sends 10,000 Hessian soldiers to help put down the rebellion.

Lexington

British attempt to “search and seize” stolen weapons.

First shots of the Revolution in Action

Battle of Bunker Hill raised the moral of the American Army though the British won the battle and suffered severe casualties. The Americans held there own

against the greatest army in the world. The British never broke out of Boston or gained access to the countryside which the American army held.

                          

Meets in May 1775, it inherited a warVoted to turn militia besieging Boston into a Continental ArmyOn June 15, at urging of John Adams, Congress made George Washington commanding general of Continental ArmyIn 1775 the colonial objective in fighting was to restore government by consent under the crown and British rule

• Would stay together

throughout the war and

became our first

government of the United

States.

                          

• Organized first American army called the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as our Commanding General.

• Willing to stay part of the empire but King must “redress our grievances”• Congress prepares for war…….

• Came together again after the

battles of Lexington and Concord, May

10, 1775.

The Second Continental

Congress(1775)

Olive Branch Petition

• On July 5 1775 Congress approved an Olive Branch Petition to King George III in the hopes of ending bloodshed– Affirmed colonial loyalty– Did not mention “rights”– Asked the king to take the initiative in finding a

solution• The ultimate goal stated is these documents was to

preserve the British-Colonial union, not destroy it• The king’s refusal to even receive the documents

emboldened radicals

THE IMPROVISED WAR• After George III dismissed the Olive Branch Petition

Congress began debating the possibility of Independence

• Resistance to Independence came mostly from mid-Atlantic colonies (NY to Maryland)– Many are still loyalists that believe the war can come to a

peaceful resolution

• This is due to the presence of royal assemblies in those colonies which were still competing for the loyalties of people

Thomas Paine: Common Sense

                      

• Written by Thomas Paine in January 1776

• Came to America in 1774 from England and got caught up in

the Revolutionary Spirit• Wrote a 50 page pamphlet that would convince many Americans

that King George was a tyrant and declaring independence

from Great Britain was our only choice.

• “There is something very absurd, in supposing a

Continent to be perpetually governed by an island”

                      

Any dependence on Great Britain tends directly involve this continent in European wars and

quarrels, and sets us at odds with nations who would otherwise seek our friendship…….

Everything that is right or natural pleads for separation…”TIS TIME TO PART”…

The king has shown himself an enemy to liberty and discovered a thirst for arbitrary power. Is he, or is he not, a proper man to say to the colonies. “You shall make no laws but what I please”? The whole

power of the crown will be exerted to keep this continent as low and humble as possible……Reconciliation and ruin are nearly related….

TIS TIME TO PART

INDEPENDENCE• Finally on May 15 1776 Congress voted to reject authority of the British

• In early June, Congress decided to create a committee to draft a resolution that would state their reasons for separation

• The committee chosen to prepare the statement:– Virginia plantation owner Thomas Jefferson*– Boston lawyer John Adams– Connecticut judge Roger Sherman– New York lawyer Robert Livingston– Philadelphia printer Benjamin Franklin

• On July 2, Congress passed Richard Henry Lee’s resolution to dissolve the relationship with Great Britain and declare the United States free– 2 days later the colonies approved the Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence

(1776)

•Explain to the world why separation from England was

necessary•New theory of government

(democracy---people rule) •27 grievances listed against King

George•Declaration of War

•We became the United States of America

Plantation owner from Virginia

Renaissance manOwned slavesRepresentative to the 2nd Continental Congress from Virginia

Father of the Declaration of Independence.

Independence Hall

Declaration in Word!

• http://www.youtube.com/user/officevideos?blend=1&ob=5#p/u/0/xw_1I1oYApw

NEXT LECTURE!

• WHO ARE THE COSMOPOLITANS AND THE LOCALISTS