Rising Tensions Events (1763-1776)

Rising Tensions Events (1763-1776)

Jake

11/28/2007, 11/30/2007, 12/3/2007

1. 1763 Proclamation Line (Vinay)

· America gains Ohio Territory and land south of that, and Florida

· Colonists say “Can I settle there?”

· England says “No. You can only settle so far west.”

· Colonists outraged because they felt they lost blood over that land

· King George III gave land between Appalachians to Native Americans

· Textbook page 78

· “I can’t have you colonists go there and settle willy-nilly and destroy the peace we provided for you.”

· This is a big irritant for the Americans, and starts the era of rising tensions.

2. April 5, 1764: Sugar Act (Ravindra)

· Tariff imposed on molasses, coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine

· This makes English goods cheaper to help the English market

· This would help defray the cost of what the British paid for American protection

· Britain needed money, and gets it under the guise of a trade policy

· Unfortunately, this only taxes one part of the market. They need to find a tax that would be all-encompassing

3. March 22, 1765: Stamp Act (Pronoy)

· This is the all-encompassing tax

· The British failed to foresee that Americans loved freedom

· This inspires Patrick Henry’s “No Taxation Without Representation”, and the Virginia Resolves

· It also sparks legislations, revolutions, and RESOLVES

· It’s one of the dumbest acts ever made because it hits everybody: The articulate lawyers, the sailors, the common folk, the aristocrats

4. May 29, 1765: Virginia Resolves (Sergey)

· Patrick Henry came with 7 resolves, but didn’t say all of them

· He got up to #5 – they were all very treasonous

· #5 was retracted the next day – General Assembly as only exclusive rights and power to lay taxes on the colony, and any attempt to take this away has a manifest tendency to destroy Britain and American freedom – “HOW DARE you give us the stamp act??

· They were all published throughout the colonies, so everyone knows that Virginia is against it from the beginning

· Resolves: Virginians can tax themselves, all Virginians have the same rights as British

· Allows Massachusetts to say “Let's Go Get Them!”

5. October 7 – October 25, 1765: Stamp Act Congress (Jake)

· More recent attempt at Ben Franklin’s idea of unity for the colonies (Albany Plan of Union)

· Cohesion of policy in redress of grievances

· Met to deal with Stamp Tax

· Certain forms of protest are being exercised at this time

o Massachusetts specialized in burning effigies

o Civil Disobedience – Disobey in a Civil Way

§ Taking to the streets to protest to show evidence of opposition in order to inconvenience others

§ Boycotts

§ Petitions

§ Strikes were NOT used at this time

§ Just the right to assemble is a form of protest

· People felt that these forms of protest were implicitly sanctioned because nine of the thirteen colonies did it

· The Stamp Act Congress piggybacked on the Virginia Resolve

o Since Virginia had the guts to make these resolves, and they represent our views and feelings as well

· Samuel Adams (Founding Father #3) was Massachusetts’s leader in protest

· Virtual Representation = Taxation Without Representation

6. March 18, 1766: Stamp Act Repealed (Cody)

· A break in the tension

· A masterful break in the policy by the British saying “Ok, we’ll remove this”

· Machiavellian Tactic – They’re leaving Massachusetts alone on an island

o Sam Adams keeps saying how evil Britain is…but they just repealed the Stamp Act, so…they can’t be that evil

· This neutralizes the No Taxation Without Representation – now there’s no taxation, but they still don’t have representation

· The very same day, the Declaratory Act was put in place

7. March 18, 1766: Declaratory Act (Tim)

· Act stated that Parliament could make all laws for America

o Text and phrasing was purposefully ambiguous

o No one knew if it included taxes

· People argued that this went against the Magna Carta

· Parliament is not a monolithic body – there is significant descent about how the majority, the king, and the prime minister treat the colonies

· Could pass laws “in all cases whatsoever”

8. June 29, 1767: Townshend Acts (Joe Barbuto)

· William Pitt got sick, Charles Townshend took over

· A series of taxes on many items

· It wasn’t a huge elephant, it was a million little flies

· Townshend wanted to tax lead, paint, tea, etc.

o Just nominal items that served to piss people off

· Reinforced Quartering Act, which limited things unless they gave housing to the British Soldiers

· Colonial children are there at the behest of the mother, but now they’re 16

o They understand the need, but there’s a growing flame of indifference

9. March 5, 1770: Boston Massacre (Tina)

· Started when the British Troops came to America

· Colonists threw snowballs at them

· Soldiers got confused and fired at them

· Note that this is included in the debate and therefore not ever fact is definite

· It’s connected to the Tea Act because they need to pay for the soldiers

· Sam Adams, the great Propagandist, names it the Boston Massacre

o What comes to mind with ‘massacre’?

§ MORE people – Mass killing – innocent people

o He tries to get the other colonies involved

§ “Look at what’s happening up here!! Come help us, Virginia!”

10. May 10, 1773: Tea Act (Jen)

· Britain had a surplus of tea because America didn’t buy theirs from Britain anymore, they made their own

· Also, they wanted to prove that they had full control over American taxes

· Indian tea could go to America without going through Britain, lowering the price

o Americans weren’t boycotting it because of the price, they were boycotting it because of the tax

· Only allowed certain people could get the tea and give it to America

· “How could the colonies object to this?!? We’re giving you more tea for less money!”

o Sam Adams “But a tax is still a tax.”

· Everyone does the polite, correct thing, boycott

o Except Boston!

11. December 16, 1773: Boston Tea Party (Joanna)

· Since they got rid of the middle man, the smugglers had trouble making money

o Smugglers and merchants were mad

· When Hutchinson wanted his ships back, the people dressed up like Native Americans and threw all the tea overboard

o 342 chests of tea were thrown into the water

· Britain had to punish them, and did that using the Intolerable Acts

12. January 29. 1774: Benjamin Franklin on Trial (Video)

· Benjamin Franklin let the contents of a letter between Hutchinson and the King of England leak

· He was put on trial in an attempt to break his confidence and embarrass him in England

o He was not embarrassed – on the contrary, he kept a stone face and did not react

· As a result, Franklin became ‘100%’ American – This event made him realize Britain’s agenda and he was no longer a loyalist to them

13. January 30, 1774: Intolerable Acts/Coercive Acts (Alyssa)

· The Five Acts:

1. Boston Port Act – Closed Boston’s port until they paid for the tea lost at the Boston Tea Party

2. Administration of Justice Act – Allowed the governor to move trials of royal officials to different colonies, or even Great Britain if needed

3. Massachusetts Government Act – All positions in the colonial government must be appointed by the royal governor

4. Quartering Act – All colonies must provide housing for British soldiers, and if not in their houses, in other buildings

5. Quebec Act – Increased the boundaries of the Province of Quebec, made reforms generally favorable to the French Catholic inhabitants, but denied them the right of an elected assembly

· Significance: Though Britain hoped that this would isolate Massachusetts radicals, it made it very hard for anyone to speak in favor of Parliament. It backfired. Other colonies even began to feel compassion towards Massachusetts.

14. September 5-October 26, 1774: First Continental Congress (Max)

· 12 of 13 Continental colonies – Georgia didn’t show up

· Goal #1 – Articles of association – boycott British goods!!!

o The next year, imports of Britain dropped 97%

· Goal #2 – Set up base for 2^nd Continental Congress

· Idea proposed by Virginia

o Massachusetts makes the plea, Virginia makes the foundation for the other colonies to appear

· It was the day of reckoning in terms of how the colonies are going to deal with this foreboding problem, the tension which is now so thick, so palpable, that it can no longer be avoided

· Once Massachusetts and Virginia met for the first time in their history – this is exactly what Britain fears the most – the other colonies realize just how big a deal this is

· Who showed up – George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin

· Vanguard of American protest and rebellion – Samuel Adams

15. September 11, 1774: King George III – “The Die is Cast” (Joe McAuley)

· Written in a letter to Sir Frederick North

· What it was saying is that the colonies’ fate is now sealed, and there is no return for what they’ve done

· Connected to the Suffolk Resolves because the colonies realized that their fate is sealed and want to prepare for it

· The colonies must either ‘submit or triumph’

· If the King of England, arguably the most important and powerful man on the planet at this time, believes that the colonies’ fate is in limbo, then everyone must realize the gravity of Virginia and Massachusetts meeting

16. September 17, 1774: Suffolk Resolves (Gokce)

· Denounced Intolerable Acts and ignored punitive actions on Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party

· Encouraged making their own militia

· Encouraged the boycott of British goods

· Delivered to the First Continental Congress by Paul Revere

· For the first time, ‘Americans must prepare for war’, first time that three-letter word was used

· The militancy in Massachusetts in arming citizen-soldiers against the British is solidified

· Massachusetts made an attempt at a militia, which fought at Lexington and Concord

17. April 19, 1775: Battles of Lexington & Concord (Gokce)

· First military engagement in American Revolutionary War

· British fought at Lexington and then met the American army in Concord

· British fought at Lexington in order to get to an ammunition depot at Concord, which was controlled by the minutemen

· “The British Are Coming” – John Hancock and Samuel Adams were warned by this to take shelter, in addition to alerting Massachusetts citizenry of the British invasion

· This was called the “Shot Heard ‘round the World”

· Significance – 273 British soldiers and 94 American minutemen died

o Britain won, but at a cost

· This led to the Second Continental Congress and their military discussions

18. May 10, 1775: Second Continental Congress (Sayantan)

· All 13 colonies arrived

· John Hancock was the president

· Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were there

· Liberal – John Adams, Samuel Adams

· Conservative – John Dickenson

· Template of colonial government during the war

· Final stage of American self-governance as 13 colonies

· Three major outcomes:

o Military – George Washington appointed

o Diplomacy – Olive Branch Petition

o Legislation – Constitution (eventually)

19. June 15, 1775: George Washington is appointed Commander and Chief (Matthew)

· Chosen unanimously

· He didn’t want a salary, only enough money to pay for munitions

· John Adams proposed that he become Commander in Chief

o John Adams (from Massachusetts) needs to make sure that Virginia is involved – he chooses a Virginian general so they remain involved

20. June 17, 1775: Battle of Bunker Hill (Samaikya)

· First major battle of the revolutionary war

· Most of the battle was fought on Breed’s Hill

· Israel Putnam – “A few more such victories would have been an end to British involvement in America”

· America didn’t win the battle, but the British lost so many men that it didn’t matter

· William Prescott “Don’t shoot till you see the whites of their eyes”

o Meant to keep them in order, but everyone disregarded that and some even ran away

· British – a third of their army died

· America said “This is your last chance…if you don’t sign this, it is only going to escalate.”

· Britons are only masters of their terrain if they’re on a level playing field

· Americans set up their fortifications on top of Bunker Hill so they’re firing down

· Americans, in their confusion to set up their fort in the middle of the night, set up their fort one hill too low, at Breads instead of Bunkers

· Britons military won but psychologically lost

o First major conflict with the Americans and 1/3 of their army is gone

21. July 5, 1775: The Olive Branch Petition (Max)

· A letter to the King to avoid more bloodshed

· Drafted by Jefferson, but Dickenson rewrote it

· Outcome – the King threw out the letter

o Significance – the King doesn’t want peace!

22. January 10, 1776: Common Sense is Published (Joe Schiavone)

· Written by Thomas Paine

· Meant to rally the people towards independence

· George Washington – arrival of the pamphlet was worth more to the colony than 10,000 soldiers

· Source of inspiration to Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence

o 1. Rights in his pamphlet the reasons behind any attempt to establish independence. That ‘I’ word had rarely been used, and when it had, it was tongue-in-cheek. Paine was not being satirical.

o 2. Independence for independence’s sake is not the end-all result.

o 3. Once independent, the American Colonies must become a republic

· Most highly and widely published pamphlet in American History

o Changed the course of history

· He’s not trying to be a demagogue

o Not writing an incendiary pamphlet to be incendiary

· Showed the inadequate rule of the British

· As late as January 1776, there was a very high plurality of people who love their colonies and who resist any notion of something as ridiculous as independence.

o This pamphlet was used as a lightening rod to instigate and energize a base of support that had been lacking

o The name of the pamphlet screams its significance

o The pamphlet was written for the commoners

o The idea of creating a schism between the American colonies and the British had already been a debate that was had among the elites, the giants of the day, the founding fathers – most are already on board. But they represent the intellectual and financial elite. But what about those who will make up the army? Those merchants who will have to give their goods to support the army?

· The Olive Branch Petition proves that some Americans were still pro-Britain