Magna britannia her colonies reduced

\l Revolutionary Americao Change and Transformation 1764-1783

J

Britain's decisive victory in the French and Indian War in1763 removed the French threat to its American empire. But the war had been expensive to wage, and the ongo¬ ing costs of administering and protectingNorth America nearly drained the British

treasury. To pay these costs, Britain adopted a new set of policies for America, includ¬ ingnew taxes, more aggressive ways of collecting them, and more severe methods of enforcing these measures. The colonists viewed these policies as an ominous first steps

CONTENTS

4.1 Tightening the Reins of Empire p. 100

\

inaplot to deprive them of their liberty. WhenKing GeorgeIII(r. 1760-1820) assumed the British throne, monarchism

iwas deeply rooted in American culture, and Americans were proud of their British heritage. Opposition to Britishpolicy beganwithrespectful pleas to the king for relief * from unjust policies. Gradually, over thenext decade, Americans became convinced '

that it was no longer possible to remain within the British Empire andprotect their y

iiiii >ÿ

4.2 Patriots versus

Loyalists p. 109 lv CONG R ESS, Jv-LVv.r*.

A DECLARATION Bv THE REPRESENTATIVES o' vm

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA I, GENERAL CONGRESS

rights. Resistance to Britishpolicies stiffened, and the colonists eventually decided to declare independence from Britain.

Tensions betweenBritainand the Americancoloniesreached aboilingpoint ,v with the Tea Act in1773, the theme of this cartoon, The Tea-Tax-Tempest. In the image, £ - "Father Time" displays the events of the AmericanRevolution to four figures who % symbolize the four continents. The "magic lantern" shows a teapotboilingover, bolizingrevolution, while British and Americanmilitary forces stand ready to face •

one another.

The ideals of liberty and equality that Americans invokedin their struggle against.' British tyranny changed American society. The claim that "allmen are created equal" ; ’ and that every person enjoyed certain "inalienable rights," as America's Declaration of Independence asserted in1776, were radicalnotions for those who had grown up ina society that was ruledby a king and that enthusiastically embraced the idea of

aristocracy.

Slavery continued to present a problem for champions of the Revolution. For some, slavery was incompatible with the Revolution's ideals, while others sought to reconcile the two. New England effectively eliminated slavery after the Revolution,

The new states of the mid-Atlantic adopted a more gradual approach to abolishing slavery. In the South,however, whereplanters made fortunes from cropsproduced with slave labor, slavery remained deeply entrenched. Although women were not yet fullpoliticalparticipants, revolutionary notions of equality led them to demand 1

4.3 America at War p. 116

u

7' 4.4 The Radicalism of the

AmericanRevolution

p. 121 IglgS

that husbands treat wives as partners in their marriage. Anew idea of companio:

marriage blossomed.

==: r

..and a"Yesterday the greatest question was decided. greater questionperhapsnever was nor willbe decided

amongmen.Aresolution waspassed without one dissentingcolony, that theseUnitedColonies are, and of

right ought to be, free and independent states." JOHN ADAMS,1776

wmm... ' w V:> % *i? wSi-mm

- / tSl w'ÿÿmI

-1- . .... :1

mM-**ÿ

L

AH

if % H

-SB Si

\ >

V

BElLwMt * . gj.

sgsg AS*

i1A V ' <> $ '/ r A4 A/vV -

&V* - v.r - i :

PR c , 4

Ij* r. /* - • ,5 v= s.111A in?w MBL .)/ £~ÿ:3ti. . . ;

— m i mn

H K* •>» i

iY- YY. j£ Yv : %.• - Av

IH ;H: AM cmsffl/ w% >

HI

jtiflr

TV,'*//,

Ipi w 55

'S

m mm Atil*1...- m; !ÿ0SS £5Er \m*

r/v «'USi *vS3 r Va2 Kill'!«assCr .. si'm» .A- -i f' 'A \1pi

'

1-~Vk. gipr-

A . / 4

3 .

mm IliL

/ A mSf-

:-%

WSWtk itJu. AAm m s*amm wAWk55 Asfe-iM a§i s»

rtei 1•• 'iik:v:+irki.v-i «g# sss- s 8i5 /i£ * MA/t'A7 .l!

ais &B1 isa

rtm$hk mm§m

m* WML%m AS h

*1 ftE3• • • mm mm /

2 / /-7tr mA //A

100 CHAPTER 4 REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA: CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION, 1764-1783

Tightening the Reins of Empire4.1 V i.ÿ|fe'jgSi The British victory in the French andIndian War in1763 securedNorth

A ® America against French attack.It also forced the British government to

Wj chart a new direction for dealing with America. A cornerstone of the new

I’ If ’ Jjjjr. policy was the Proclamation of 1763, whichprohibited settlement in lands west of the AppalachianMountains (see Chapter 3). Having just fought an

>

expensive war against the French, the British were keen to prevent colonists andIndians from starting a new war. Britain also felt a renewed urgency to raise funds to pay off the war debt and cover the costs of administering the colonies.

The first step inGrenville's new program was

the Revenue Act (1764),popularly known as the Sugar Act.It lowered the duties colonists had to

In1763, George Grenville, the new prime minister, PaY onmolasses,but taxed sugar and other goods

ordered a detailed investigation of colonial reve¬ nues and was unhappy to discover that American customs' duties produced less than £2,000 a year. The lucrative trade inmolasses betweenBritish North America and the Caribbean islands alone

should have yielded approximately £200,000 a year, apart from all of the other goods traded betweenNorth America and Britain, which

4.1 Taxation without Representation

imported to the colonies and increasedpenalties for smuggling. It also created new ways for enforc¬ ing compliance with these laws. Violators couldbe prosecutedinBritish vice-admiralty courts, which

operated without jury trials. For some Americans the Sugar Act violated two long-heldbeliefs: the idea that colonists couldnot be taxed without their consent and the equally sacred notion that English¬ men were entitled to a trialby a jury of their peers.

The Massachusetts lawyer James Otis attacked the Sugar Act as a violation of the rights of English¬ men. Otis had already achievednotoriety for his

should also have generated customs duties. To make the colonies pay their share of taxes, Gren¬ ville was determined to enforce existing laws and enact new taxes tobringin additional revenue. As the figures inEnvisioningEvidence: A Comparison of opposition to the use of writs of assistanceby

customs officials. Otis insisted that under BritishAnnual Per Capita Tax Rates in Britain and the Colo¬ nies in 1765 show, compared to the inhabitants of Britain andIreland, the tax burden on the Ameri¬ can colonists in the 1760s was low. Americans and

law, a court could issue a search warrant only for a specific place where there was probable cause to suspect illegal activity. Rather thanrequire that

officials designate where they intended to search,Britons had come to view taxation differently, and these different visions of the morality and legality new general writs allowed customs officials to

of Britain's new policies put the two on a collision search anY Private property without first demon¬ stratingprobable cause or seeking the approvalcourse. of a magistrate. Inhis pamphlet attacking the

Sugar Act, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, Otis denied that the Britishhad the

"The very act of taxing exercised over those who are

not represented appears to me to be depriving them of one of their most essential rights as

freemen/'

authority to tax the colonists without their consent. But Otis stopped short of recommending active resistance to the Sugar Act. Insteadhe counseled

patience, remindinghis readers that we "must and

ought to yield obedience to an act of Parliament, thougherroneous, till repealed."

Whereas Americans viewed the new tax on

sugar and other imports as aburden and a viola-

JAMES OTIS, The Rights of the British Colonies tion of their rights, for the British, the taxes were a modest impositionnecessary to pay for the costAsserted andProved (1764)

of eliminating the French fromNorthAmerica

4.1 TIGHTENING THE REINS OF EMPIRE 101

II:

nvisionmg tviaence A COMPARISON OF ANNUAL PER CAPITA TAX RATES

IN BRITAIN AND THE COLONIES IN 1765*

Given the stridency of colonial opposition to British taxation, one might think that Americans were the most heavily taxed people in the British Empire. In fact, however, they were the least heavily taxed part of the empire. Americans were also generally wealthier than their countrymen across the Atlantic. American

grievances were less about the levels of taxation than about the constitutional and political issues taxation raised. Policymakers inBritain had trouble understanding this distinction, which had profound consequences for relations with the colonies.

4

Ct/asztic

ISP

a.; .

New York

8 pence Connecticut

7pence Massachusetts Pennsylvania

1shilling 1shilling

Maryland 1shilling

Virginia

5 pence Britain

(England &

Scotland)

26 shillings

Ireland

6 shillings,

8 pence

‘Until 1970, British currency was denominated in pounds, shillings, and pence: £, s, d. There were 20 shillings to a pound and 12 pence to a shilling.

In the 1760s, the daily wage for a skilled worker in London was 2/s 2/d

and a beef dinner with a pint of beer cost 1/s. In British North America, wages and prices varied from colony to colony, but free white American males

enjoyed a higher standard of living than comparable workers did in Britain.

In 1760, a Philadelphia laborer earned just under £60 a year and a merchant £180.

SOURCE: Adapted from R. R. Palmer, The Age of Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760-1800

(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1959)

,iSSSEilfc,4%- 1shilling = 12pence

I

102 CHAPTER 4 REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA: CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION, 1764-1783

4.1 The Great Financier

Prime Minister George Grenville holds a balance in which "Debts" far outweigh "Savings." Britannia, symbol of Great Britain, sits off to the right, forlorn. AnIndian "princess,"

symbol of the American colonies,kneels with a yoke around her neck. The writing on the yoke declares "Taxed without

representation."

rJil ' : - 'M *.

i- ’-JgB iviJJjsR;l> J2

i

f V idf v J

IP rIs and administering the colonies. This political : Tfi cartoon (4.1), which portrays Grenville holding a

balance in which "debts" clearly outweigh "sav¬ ings," illustrates Britain's financial predicament.

SijT' gJ-2

l. \ M <4

Ml

sfla* ft i The British cartoonist who drew it obviouslysympathized with Americans. He shows a Native

‘ American "princess," the most common symbol of the colonies in British cartoons, carrying a sack of

ft u,

money andbearing a heavy yoke around her neck. Inscribed on the yoke is the colonists' complaint: "Taxed without representation."

Whichparts of the British Empire were least

heavily taxed?

Halifax « ic

4.1.2 The Stamp Act Crisis,.6 H V <1 %

fV 1 Britain reacted to the colonists' resistance to the Sugar Actby imposing another, harsher tax, the

Stamp Act, which required colonists to purchase special stamps and place them on everything from newspapers to playing cards. A similar tax existed inBritain, and Parliament believed that requiring colonists to pay such a tax at a lower rate than their

brethren inBritain was entirely reasonable. Many colonists, however, rejected this notion. For them, taxation without consent was a violation of their

s I-SP- V* fv.J

Portsmouth Salem Marblehead Boston Plymouth Pomfret

LCP Windham Lebanon

£ ° AlbanyQA . iartford—.. .

Wethersfield -c • . Wallingford —A

Stratford--T 2 Newport“-—NorwichNew London& Fairfield- Lyme\ P—New Haven O'— West Haven

Milford York

Woodbridge Brunswick

Elizabeth Town Piscataway

Arnwell Twp.

&V rights.

Opposition was most intense in the seaports; the map (4.2) shows how widespread anger against this latest tax was. Stamps had to be affixed to virtually all legal transactions and most printed documents, so the new tax act alienated more

Philadelphia® \ •Salem

•Baltimore•LeAnnapolis* *131001 Dumfries ffl

Leeds’.Rappah

Williamsburg*

Elk Ridge Landing

Frederick Town ®

*ÿ/

annock

Americans than had any previous parliamentary tax. The British couldhardly have picked a worse

target for their new scheme of taxation. Among those most burdened by the tax were lawyers and

printers, two of the most vocal and influential

groups in the colonies. Protests against the Stamp Act filled colonial newspapers and produced a

spate of pamphlets defending colonial rights. The

Massachusetts House of Representatives called on

other colonial assemblies to send delegates to New

York to frame a response to the Stamp Act crisis.

Nine of the thirteen colonies sent a representative

ATLANTICrfolk

OCEAN

•New Bern

Wilmington

Fort Johnson

Duplin Cross Creek*

Brunswickÿ o

Kw f/ 4.2 Stamp Act Protests This map shows the scope of opposition to the detested

Stamp Act. Protest was most

intense in the seaports.

Charleston

'Savannah

4.1 TIGHTENING THE REINS OF EMPIRE 103

impose new taxes on the colonies. The Townshend Acts (1767),named for Charles Townshend, an ambitious British finance minister, leviednew taxes

on glass,paint,paper, and tea importedinto the colonies. Townshend misinterpreted the Stamp Act

protests.Hebelieved that colonists opposed inter¬ nal taxes targeted at commerce within the colonies, but that Americans would accept external taxes

such as customs duties that affected tradebetween the colonies and other parts of the BritishEmpire. Again,many Americans saw things differently.

The Townshend Acts prompted Americans to clarify their views about taxation. Pennsylvania lawyer JohnDickinson's pamphlet Lettersfrom a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767-1768) was animport¬ ant statement of American views. Dickinson dis¬

putedParliament's right to tax the colonists at all. Parliament could regulate trade among different

parts of the empire,he acknowledged,but only the people's representatives could enact taxes designed primarily to raise revenues. Since Americanshadno representationinParliament, that institutioncould not tax them.

Inresponse to the Townshend Acts, Americans

began a nonimportationmovement, an organized boycott against the purchase of any imported Brit¬ ish goods. Women took an active role in theboycott, urging that instead of imported fabrics, Americans wear only clothes made from domestic homespun fabrics. The nonimportationmovement offered American women a chance to contribute actively to

the defense of Americanrights.It also raised wom¬

en's political consciousness. As thirteen-year-old Anna Green Winslow wrote inher journal regard¬ ing the decision to abandon imported fabrics, "I am (as we say) a daughter of liberty,Ichuse [sic] to wear as much of our manufactory as possible."

Another import, tea,hadbecome the basis

of an important social ritualincolonial society. Amid the growing frustration withBritishpolicy, tea drinking took onnew political significance.In 1774, Penelope Barker and a group of womenin Edenton,NorthCarolina, organized a tea boycott. Word of the Edentonprotest eventually reached England, where a British cartoonist lampoonedits

support for the American cause (4.3 onpage 104).

This satire casts the Edenton women as a motley assortment of hags andharlots, whose unfemi¬

nine actions andneglect of their proper duties as women demonstrate their lack of virtue. The tea

boycott eveninspirednine-year-old Susan Boudi- not, the daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia family,

to the Stamp Act Congress, and although framedin

-espectful terms, the "Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonies" was an important step toward articulating a commonresponse to British

policy, forcing representatives from different colo¬ nies to work together for a common goal.

Protest against this latest attack on American

liberty was not limited to newspapers or legislative chambers. Opposition to the Stamp Act spilled out of doors into the streets of American cities and

towns. Angry crowds attacked tax collectors and officials.In a few cases crowds also attacked the

homes of British officials, including the home of the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson.

GeorgeIIIdismissed George Grenville in1765,

leaving the task of responding to the American crisis to a youngEnglishnobleman, Charles Went¬ worth,Marquess of Rockingham, the new prime minister. Rockingham shepherded two key pieces of legislation throughParliament to deal with the crisis createdby the Stamp Act. The Declaratory Act affirmedParliament's authority to "make

laws and statutes" binding on the colonies "inall

cases whatsoever." The second piece of legislation .epealed thehated Stamp Act.Britainbelieved that

it had reasserted its authority over the colonies,

while removing the main cause of colonialprotest. British officials misjudged the reaction of colonists

opposed to recent policy. For critics of Britishpol¬ icy,it appeared that Parliament had embarked on a

path that would lead inevitably to the destruction

of the colonists' liberty. Colonialpolitics hadmoved from the margins

to the center of Britishpolitics. The issue of what to do about the colonies would define Britishpolitics for the next decade.In the colonies the conflict over

Britishpolicy also transformed Americanpolitics, bringing to the fore a group of Patriots, aggressive supporters of Americanrights, including the Sons

of Liberty, a group devoted to opposingBritishpol¬ icy and defending Americanrights.

How didcolonists react to the Stamp Act?

An Assault onLiberty4.1.3 The resolution of the Stamp Act crisis didnot elim¬

inate Britain's pressing financialneed for colonial ''~>evenue,nor didit reduce colonial determination to

resist further efforts to tax Americans. What good¬ will the repeal of the Stamp Act generated,Britain

quickly squandered as it renewed its efforts to

!Hi

104 CHAPTER 4 REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA: CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION, 1764-1783

W "A Lady's Adieu To Her Tea Table/'No more shallIdish out the once lov'dLiquor, Thoughnow detestable,

BecauseI'm taught (andIbelieve it true) Its Use will fasten slavish Chains uponmy Country,

And LIBERTY'S the GoddessIwould choose To reign triumphant in

AMERICA.

Virginia Gazette, January 20,1774

I

ai, d \ »

M,i P5

4.3 Patriotic Ladies of Edenton

This sarcastic British cartoonlampoons the efforts of American women to participate in theboycott of British imports. The caricature shows the women as unfeminine andneglectful of their proper subordinate roles as wives andmothers. Relations between Bostonians and the occupy¬

ing forces were tense. OnMarch 5, 1770, a group of citizens taunted a patrol of soldiers andpelted them with snowballs. In the melee that followed, some of the soldiers fired on the crowd,killing five civilians. The Boston silversmith and engraver PaulRevere published apopular engraving of the BostonMassacre, as the confrontation came to be called, in whichhe portrayed the British as having deliberately fired on the unarmed crowd (4.4). Revere aligns the soldiers in a formalmilitary pose, andportrays the commanders as giving an order to fire. When the soldiers responsible for the shootings were indicted for murder,John Adams, a vocal critic of Britishpolicy, volunteered to defend them. Adams sought to demonstrate to the British

that the Americans were not a lawless mob,but a

law-abidingpeople. A gifted lawyer,he secured

acquittals for all those accused except for two sol¬ diers, who were convicted of the lesser crime of

manslaughter. The evidence presented at the trial

revealed that Revere's version of the event, while

excellent propaganda, was not an accurate render¬

ing of the circumstances. Thenew taxes andpressure for compliance

had stiffened the colonists' resistance. So although Parliament repealed most of the Townshend Acts in1770, relations between the colonies andBritain remained strained. Colonists continued to demand

the traditional rights of Englishmen, such as trial

by jury,but Americanprotests hadmovedina new Wi

direction, including the view that taxation with¬

out representation was a violation of fundamental

to demonstrate her solidarity with the colonial cause inher own way. Wheninvited to tea at the home of the royal governor of New Jersey, Susan curtsied respectfully, raisedher teacup to her lips, and then tossed the contents out of a window.

The new duties imposedby the British were only one part of a more aggressive policy toward the colonies. Between1765 and 1768, the British transferred thebulk of their military forces in America from the frontier to the major seaports, sites of the most violent opposition to the Stamp Act. This increased the already tense situationin these localities.In1768, the simmering tensions betweencolonists and the British government came to a head whenBritish customs officials in Boston seized merchant JohnHancock's ship Lib¬ erty. Customs officials had longsuspected Hancock of smuggling and thought that seizing the Liberty would give them the proof to prosecute him. The decisionproved to be a serious blunder. The sym¬ bolic significance of the British assault on a ship namedLiberty was not lost onBostonians, who saw this as an assault on the idea of liberty itself. Inresponse to the seizure of the Liberty,Bostonians rioted, driving customs officials from the town. To quellunrest inBoston, the British dispatched addi¬ tional troops and warships to the area. By 1769, the

Britishhad stationed almost 4,000 troops, dubbed

redcoatsbecause of their reduniforms,in a city

with a population of roughly 15,000.

4.1 TIGHTENING THE REINS OF EMPIRE 105 mm

reactions. Colonists resented the new law,

even though it made tea cheaper, and merchants resented the monopoly it gave to the East India Company. Others saw the act as a subtle way of reasserting Brit¬

ain's right to tax the colonies. One group of angry colonists inPhil¬

adelphia, calling themselves the Tar and

, Feathering Committee, warned that they would tar and feather any ship's captain

™*T who landed with British tea. The British

| found the colonists' actions thuggish. In this hostile British cartoon, Bostonians Pay-

| ing the Excise-Man (4.5), a cruel-looking | bunch of colonists force a British customs | official, covered in tar and feathers, to | drink tea until he becomes sick. A form of

I public humiliation, tarring and feathering ! involvedpouringhot tar onto the victim's

skin and then attaching a coat of feathers. Scraping off the resultingmess was pain¬ ful and laborious.

mm[ APS B |

S v

C Al-.j yrg :

Tr' A l(. -u

4.5 Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man

In this pro-British cartoon, Bostonians

are cruel thugs who have tarred

and feathered the

custom's official

and are forcing tea

down his throat.

F •A

Si i Entr»v« PrHt»d vSold byR»)tHrvmSosr

Paul Revere's influential engraving of the Boston Massacre

takes liberties with the facts to portray the British in the worst

possible light. The orderly arrangement of the troops and

the stance of the officer at their side suggest that they acted

under orders. Behind the troops,Revere has renamed the shop

"Butcher's Hall."

s jfrights.

Resistance to Britishpolicy was also becom¬

ingmore organized. The Sons of Liberty, created during the Stamp Act crisis, continued their criti¬

cism and intensified their efforts to coordinate and

enforce protests against Parliament's policies. After the repeal of the Townshend Acts, Amer¬

icans enjoyed a brief respite from Parliament's attentions, as Britain turned its focus elsewhere in

its far-flung empire, especially to India. However,

colonists soon faced another effort to tax them.

How didnonimportation transform women’s political

role in the colonies?

f .

4*

'

:

_ ,:

r * \f (a#- V:,

h /

I

1i % XX

My4.1.4 The Intolerable Acts and the First Continental Congress

a#* t.

T.X >y t j

nwiIn 1773, Parliament decided to help the flaggingEast India Company increase its tea sales to thecolonies. Many members of Parliament had siz¬ able investments in the company. The new law

lowered the price of tea to Americans,but kept the tax on tea, and also gave the East India Company a monopoly on the tea trade with the colonies. Again,British authorities miscalculated American

A

at

- t

ft?

| •. . . „;7V

106 CHAPTER 4 REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA: CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION, 1764-1783

4.6 The Able Doctor, or America Swallow¬ ing the Bitter Draught

PaulRevere's engraving

presents America as a

partially cladIndian princess.LordChief Justice Mansfield, a symbol of British law,holds America down. Theprime minister, LordNorth, shown with

a copy of the BostonPort Bill, one of the Intolerable Acts,protruding fromhis pocket, forces tea downher throat.

— m

-gÿ Kk

&

ffl VI, >- . ur j J

Lx kT

Si# iBWi ,

i i i

V/l £ .I SPY?f S'>

A V

* c.

Assisi*?

The most dramatic response to the tea act occurred inDecember 1773, whenBostonians, dressed as Indians,boarded a British ship and tossed over 340 chests of tea into the harbor in what came tobe known as the Boston Tea Party.

To punish the colonists responsible for this act of what the British considered vandalism,Parlia¬

ment passed the Coercive Acts,known to colonists as the Intolerable Acts. This legislation closed the Port of Boston, annulled the Massachusetts colonial charter, dissolved or severely restricted that colony's political institutions, and allowed the British to quarter (house) troops inprivate homes. (A generation later Americans adopted the Third Amendment to the Bill of Rights, which for¬ bade quartering troops incivilianhomes, a direct

response to this detested Britishpractice.) The acts

also allowedBritishofficials charged withcapital crimes to be tried outside the colonies. Some col¬ onists called the last provision the "Murder Act,"

since they feared it would allow soldiers charged withmurder to avoidprosecution.

Americans were divided over how to respond to the Intolerable Acts. Some saw the Bostonians who dumped tea into theharbor as radicals whose actionsbesmirched Americans' reputation as

law-abiding subjects of the king. Others expressed outrage at the Britishpolicy thathad forced Bos¬

tonians to resort to such a dramatic protest. This

cartoon, The Able Doctor, Or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught (4.6), gives a different view of Bos¬ tonians from the lawless ruffians depictedinBos¬ tonians Paying the Excise-Man (4.5).Here the British

prime minister,LordNorth,brutally accosts Amer¬ ica, a half-cladIndianprincess, forcing tea down her throat, while LordChief Justice Mansfield, the symbol of British law,pins her arms down.

Themost important consequence of the Intolera¬ ble Acts was the decisionby the colonies to convene a ContinentalCongress inPhiladelphia inlate 1774. All the colonies except Georgia sent representatives. Among the colonial leaders who attended were Pat¬ rick Henry,JohnAdams, and George Washington. Congress endorsed the Resolves of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, which denounced the Intolerable

Acts and asserted the intention of colonists to nul¬

lify such a manifest violation of their "rights and lib¬ erties." The Congress also recommended that every town,county, and city create a committee to enforce

theboycott of British goods. The informalnetwork of committees that had opposedBritishpolicynow

acquired a quasi-legal status from Congress. Althoughmany Americans hoped that a peace¬

ful solution to the deepening crisis was possible, inMarch1774, the brilliant Virginia orator Patrick

Henry urgedhis fellow delegates in the Virginia legislature toprepare for the inevitable conflict that

loomedbetween the colonies and Britain. Although

4.1 TIGHTENING THE REINS OF EMPIRE 107

4.1.5 Lexington, Concord, andLordDunmore's Proclamation

no contemporaneous copy of his dramatic speech Exists, Henry's words were recounted many years later, assuming almost legendary status in Ameri¬

can culture.In response to British assaults, Henry

declared, "Give me liberty—or give me death!" Between the passage of the Sugar Act in 1764

and the meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774, relations between Britain and America

had steadily deteriorated. As the chart (4.7) shows,

Britain had tried various revenue measures to raise

funds from the colonies. Americans, however,

remained opposed to taxation without representa¬ tion. Rather than subdue the colonies, British pol¬ icy only strengthened the resolve of Americans to defend their rights.

Living on the edge of the British Empire, colonists

had come to depend on their ownmilitias as their primary means of public defense. The laws of the individual colonies regulated these organizations of citizen soldiers. During the colonialperiod the militia was more than just a force available to pro¬ tect the colonists from hostile Indians or attacks

from the French or Spanish. Inan era before police forces, the militia also helped enforce public order,

putting downriots, rebellions, and other civil

disturbances.InJanuary 1775, Virginia's George Mason called on the colonists to put their militia in

good order. Mason declared that "a well regulated What was the most important consequence of the

Intolerable Acts?

4.7 British Policies and Their Con¬ sequences for Relations with the American Colonies

PolicyAct coruseguene.es

intensifies -problem, of land scarcity incolonies

Colonials articulate theory that taxation without representation is a violationof "their most essential rights as freemen"

Documents andprinted materials, -Riots inmajor urban areas, including legal doc.u-iM.tin-ts, newspapers, andplaying cards must use special stamped paper

Date

17&3 Proclamation

of17-6.3 Prohibits colonists from moving westward

Reduces duty on molasses, but provides for more vigorous methods of enforcement

17£>4 Sugar Act

-LJ-to5 stampAct harassment of revenue officers, colonial representatives meet

for .Stamp Act Congress

Colonial Assemblies protest, Slew yortepunished for failure to comply with law

1_J-G>5 Quartering Act Colonists must supply British troops with housing and

firewood

Britain reasserts its authority, while removing the obnoxious provisions of the Stamp Act

Nonimportation movement gains ground

30,000pounds of tea tossed into Boston harbor

Britain asserts its right to legislate for colonies inall cases/stamp Act repealed

'744 Declaratory Act/Repealof Stamp Act

1J-&-J- Townshend Acts New duties placed on glass, lead, paper,paint

Parliament gives Bast India

monopoly, but provides a subsidy to Bast India C.oiM.-pau,Lj that decrtn&es the price of tea for Americans

17-74- Coercive Acts Port ofBoston closed, (intolerable Acts) meetings restricted

1773 Tea Act

First Continental Congress meets and other colonies express support

forBostonians

Continental C-otn-Qrtÿs. adopts a Declaration ofRights asserting American, rights

town

1775- Prohibitory Act Britain decLares intention to coerce AM.tric.am-s into submission

108 CHAPTER 4 REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA: CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION, 1764-1783 IH WMHBaaMHMI

reinforcements pouredinto Concord and the sur¬ rounding countryside. The British column was an

easy target for militiamen, who took up positions along the roadside and in the adjacent woods. A RhodeIslandnewspaper captured the views of Patriots whenit commented that British aggression marked the start of a "War which shall hereafter fill an important page inhistory."

Although the Britishhadmounted a direct assault on the Massachusetts militia, they opted for a stealthier plan for disarming the Virginiamilitia. Under cover of darkness a detachment of Royal Marines entered Virginia's capital of Williamsburg, seized the gunpowder, and destroyed the firing mechanisms on the muskets storedin the militia's

magazine (storehouse). When citizens of Williams¬ burg learned of the assault, they marched on the governor's mansion to protest. As word of the Brit¬ ishraid spread through the colony,militia ledby Patrick Henry planned to march on Williamsburg. LordDunmore, the royal governor, warned that if the militia entered Williamsburghe would "declare freedom to slaves andreduce the city of Williams¬

burg to ashes." At the last moment a compromise was worked out, and the governor made restitu¬

tion for the stolenpowder and damaged guns. Still,Dunmore's threat to free Virginia's slaves had shocked the colony.

Two weeks later colonists learned of LordDun-

more's Proclamation. Dunmore offered freedom to

any slave who joined the British forces inputting down the Americanrebellion. Within a month 300

slaves had joined "Dunmore's EthiopianRegi¬ ment," whose ranks would swell to 800 or more.

The uniforms of this emit included a sash embla¬ zoned with the motto "Liberty To Slaves." Virgin¬ ians complained that the British were "using every Art to seduce the Negroes," while others viewed Dunmore's decision as "diabolical." Many Virgin¬ ians who were wavering on the issue of American

independence now concluded that a break with Britain was inevitable, even desirable. Some Vir¬

ginians recognized that Virginia's slaves were seeking the same liberty that colonists claimed. For example, Lund Washington, who managedhis cousin George's Mount Vernon estate, including his slaves, observed that "there is not a man of

thembut would leave us, if they couldmake their

escape."

What was the impact ofLordDunmore’s Proclamation

on southern colonists?

"If we view the whole of the conduct of the [British]ministry andparliament,

Ido not see how any one can doubt but that there is a settled fix'dplan for inslaving the colonies, orbringing themunder arbitrary

government." Connecticut Minister, the Reverend

EBENEZER BALDWIN,1774

Militia, composed of gentlemen freeholders, and other free-men, is thenatural strength and only sta¬ ble security of a free Government."

The British, too,understood the importance of the militia to colonial resistance. Not only did they pose amilitary threat,but they were also indis¬ pensable to helpingmobilize Americans and orga¬ nizing their opposition to Britishpolicy.Disarming the militiasbecame apriority for the British. Their first target was Massachusetts, whichhadbecome a hotbed of resistance; the British dispatched troops to Concord inApril 1775 to seize gunpow¬ der and other military supplies. PaulRevere, an outspokenmember of the Sons of Liberty, was charged withriding fromBoston to Lexington and Concord to warn citizens that British troops were on the march.Revere got as far as Lexington before a Britishpatrol captured him. Fortunately for Revere he had already encountered another member of the Sons of Liberty that night,Dr. Sam¬ uelPrescott, who was returning from the home of

his fiancee. Prescott agreed to carry word that Brit¬ ish troops were marching from Boston. The alarm spread throughout the countryside. When the 700 Britishregulars finally arrived at Lexington's town

green, they faced 60-70 militiamen. Although the militia agreed to disperse, someone, it is not clear who, fired a shot, and the two sides exchanged fire. The Battle of Lexingtonmarked the first military conflict betweenBritain and America, and the colo¬ nists had demonstrated their mettle.

The British thenmarched to Concord, where

they confronted a larger andbetter organized militia detachment at theNorthBridge. The mili¬ tia stood their ground and exchanged fire with the British regulars, who were forced to retreat. While the British retreatedback to Boston, colonial

4.2 PATRIOTS VERSUS LOYALISTS 109

Patriots versus Loyalists4.2 A nl°c KATA’TJ o N By 1775, the rift between Britain and the colonies had grownprecipitously

large. Indeed, it was not just colonists who believed that if Britain continued on its present course it would end in disaster. A satirical British cartoon, The Political Cartoonfor the Year 1775 (4.8), published inLondon, vividly captured this view.It depicts King GeorgeIIIridingin a coachheading straight over

a cliff. Lord Chief Justice Mansfieldholds the reins of the carriage of state, which rides rough¬ shod over the Magna Carta—a legal text closely linked with the Rights of Englishmen—and the British Constitution, another symbol of liberty. The cartoonist's symbolism suggested a view that wasbecoming increasingly popular in the colonies: Americans couldno lon¬ ger expect the political and legal system of Britain to protect their liberty. Although some Americans were persuaded that Britain was intent on trampling their liberty, other colonists remained loyal to the crown. For Patriots it was becoming increasingly clear that they could no longer count on the legalprotections that had safeguarded their liberty for generations. Loyalists,by contrast, disputed this claim. For those loyal to GeorgeIII, liberty couldbe maintained only by upholding English law. Loyalists viewedPatriots' actions as lawlessness, not affirmations of liberty.

as

they were not the "untrained rabble" the British hadportrayed and that they couldbecome a for¬ midable fighting force. The painter John Trumbull immortalized thebattle inhis painting The Death

ofGeneral Warren at the Battle ofBunker Hill.For a discussion of thispainting andhow it reflected the realities of a battle inwhichneither side won a

clear victory, see Images as History: Trumbull's The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker

Hill (page 110).

Despite the armed confrontations at Lexing¬ ton, Concord, and Bunker Hill, the Continental

Congress hadnot abandonedhope of reconcilia¬ tion withKingGeorge III. InJuly 1775, Congress

The Battle of BunkerHill4.2.1 Two months after Lexington and Concord, the

two sides clashed againinCharlestown, across ;he Charles River fromBoston. American forces

had duginat Bunker Hill andnearby Breed's Hill,prepared to hold off the BritishinBoston. The main fighting actually took place at Breed's Hill, which was closer to the harbor. The British

underestimated the colonists' resolve to hold their

ground. Although the British took Bunker and Breed'sHills, they hadpurchased their victory at a steep cost indead and wounded. Evenmore

important, Americans had shown the British that

4.8 The Political Cartoon for the Year 1775

GeorgeIIIrides next to Lord Chief Judge Mansfieldin a carriage heading toward the

I edge of a cliff. The carriage crushes the

Magna Carta and the BritishConstitution,