POLI+300+Content

http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Road+to+Revolution
 * ROAD TO REVOLUTION MODULE [condensed version]**

Learning Objectives:

1. Causes and consequences of the Seven Years War (French and Indian War).

2. Through an examination of the development of the colonial resistance movement, explain the reaction of the colonists to Parliament's actions in the period 1763-1774.

3. Examine the ideological and constitutional arguments presented by the colonists against the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and Townshend Acts.

4. Explain the role of each of the following in the development and spread of the colonial resistance movement:


 * Pamphlets
 * Legislative protest (e.g., Virginia Stamp Act Resolves)
 * Crowd action
 * Economic protest
 * Public rituals
 * Committees of correspondence.

How have recent enemies of the US used similar tactics against us?

5. How did demonstrations against imperial policy include obvious violations of the law? How did the colonists justify their actions? Are those justifications valid?

6. Trace the development of the theory that Great Britain was conspiring to oppress the colonists, and explain how that theory became especially important in relation to the Tea Act, the Coercive Act, and the Quebec Act.


 * French and Indian War (Seven Years' War**), 1754-1763

Really a French versus British war with Indian allies on both sides.

French began to encircle the British colonies.

French—from today's Canada—claimed the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley. French established New Orleans to anchor the southern end of the Mississippi River. French claimed the Pittsburgh area (originally called Fort Duquesne by the French, Fort Pitt by the British). Three rivers come together at Pittsburgh: Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio


 * Peace Treaty of Paris** (1763)

This map is even better! []

British got all of Canada. France out of America entirely. British got all French North American possessions east of Mississippi River==all of Canada.

Britain got all of Spanish Florida. To compensate for Spain's loss of Florida, France gave Louisiana to Spain France will later get Louisiana back from Spain We will purchase it from France in 1803

France is thereby entirely ousted from the North American continent France will want to get back at Britain for this defeat France will therefore be willing to help us win the American Revolution.

After the war, British colonists no longer feared a French threat. Indians could no longer play European powers against one another.


 * Ideological conflicts between Britain and the North American colonies**


 * a) Conflict over the nature of political representation**


 * English view**:
 * Parliament collectively represented the entire nation
 * Member of Parliament voted on best interests of nation not his district.
 * Virtual representation: colonists were represented even if not there in person


 * Colonists' views**:
 * Advocated individual representation.
 * Legislator instructions
 * Represented only the regions that had elected them.


 * b) Conflicts over the role of a national government.**

1. Colonists saw conspiracies in England that threatened to take away their liberties.

Colonists believed that a central government should have only limited authority over people.

Colonists felt the need for perpetual vigilance to ensure that monarchs do not corrupt and oppress the people, encroach on their liberty, and seize their property

2. Colonists believed that there was an important link between liberty and property rights:


 * Excessive and unjust taxation could take away personal freedom.
 * No taxation without representation idea, but more subtle.
 * Not so much the amount of taxation, but who did the taxing.


 * Major themes along the Road to Revolution**:


 * Development and spread of the colonial resistance movement
 * British actions
 * Colonists' responses
 * King George III** (1760–1820)
 * King George III** (1760–1820)

New young king; various prime ministers.


 * Pontiac's uprising** (1763)

Indian chief led Indian uprisings in the Ohio region to kick out colonists. British troops unable to defend the frontier against him.


 * Proclamation Line of 1763**

British tried to keep colonists out of land west of Appalachian Mountains British wanted to protect Indians British wanted to slow down land speculation . But many colonists had already settled west of the Proclamation Line They refused to respect the line.


 * Great Website**: **Coming of the Revolution (Massachusetts Historical Society)**


 * Sugar Act** (1764)

Sugar Act (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

New British Prime Minister George Grenville He felt that colonists should pay a greater share of costs of empire. Particularly pay back costs of French and Indian War.

American protests limited largely to New England merchants Navigation Acts OK Collection of revenue not OK


 * Currency Act** (1764)

British merchants complained that Americans were paying their debts in inflated local currencies. Currency Act outlawed colonial issues of paper money. The Sugar and Currency Acts hit an economy already in the midst of depression. Lacking any precedent for a united campaign against Parliament, Americans in 1764 took only hesitant and uncoordinated steps of protest.


 * Stamp Act** (1765)

Stamp Act (Massachusetts Historical Society) http://www.masshist.org/revolution/stamp.php

Modeled on a law in effect in Britain for over a century.

Three aspects to remember:

Stamp Act required tax stamps on most printed material Tax stamps had to be paid for in cash (scarce) Violators would be tried in vice admiralty courts (no juries).


 * Protests against the Stamp Act**

Colonists feeling their way.

a) James Otis:

How to combat certain acts of Parliament without questioning Parliament's authority over the colonies. He concluded that colonists had to obey British laws. Many Americans, therefore, reluctantly prepared to obey the Stamp Act.

b) Patrick Henry

Not all the colonists were resigned to paying the Stamp tax. Patrick Henry did not agree with James Otis He proposed the "Virginia Stamp Act Resolves" These resolves protested Parliament's right to tax Americans without their consent.

c) **Despite the uproar, most Americans wanted to remain loyal British subjects and were not yet arguing for independence.**


 * Sons of Liberty**

Colonial elites wanted to control the protests against unpopular laws. They created an inter-colonial association, the Sons of Liberty, to protest the Stamp Act. In U.S. history, groups who want to protest government action often will call themselves Sons of Liberty.

References:

Sons of Liberty (Massachusetts Historical Society) http://www.masshist.org/revolution/sons_of_liberty.php


 * Non-importation association**

The first attempts to use an economic boycott to pressure British exporters to demand repeal of the Stamp Act.

Non-Importation (Massachusetts Historical Society) []


 * Stamp Act Repeal** (March 1766)

New British Prime Minister, Lord Rockingham He repealed the Stamp Act **not because** he believed Parliament lacked the power to tax the colonies, **but because** he thought the law unwise and divisive.


 * Declaratory Act** (March 1766)

Linked to the repeal of the Stamp Act. Dangerous implications for the colonists.


 * Asserted Parliament's ability to tax & legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever."**


 * Townshend Acts** (1767)

Townshend Acts (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

1. British officials searched for new ways to generate revenue to help pay war debts from French and Indian War.

2. The passage of the Townshend Acts drew a swift response from the colonists, who were now less hesitant and better organized.

3. Townshend Acts provided as follows:
 * Duties on goods (paper, glass, tea) imported from Britain to the colonies
 * Proceeds would pay salaries for some royal officials in the colonies
 * American Board of Customs Commissioners (based in Boston)
 * Added vice–admiralty courts in Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston


 * Townshend Duties Repealed (12 April 1770)**

Townshend Duties Repealed/Non-Importation (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

Parliament revoked all the duties except that on tea. (This will be a cause of the Boston Tea Party)

The other Townshend provisions remained in force.


 * Boston "Massacre"** (5 March 1770)

British troops assigned to Boston to protect Customs Commissioners. Tensions in a military garrison town: soldiers took local jobs Was this a "massacre"?

Massachusetts Historical Society []


 * Committees of Correspondence**

Committees of Correspondence (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

Widen geographic scope of resistance movement.


 * Boston Tea Party (1773)**

Boston Tea Party (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

Tea Act (May 1773)

1. Monopoly: British East India Company sell off surplus tea to America 2. Patriots were making money smuggling tea from Holland. 3. Patriots feared precedent of paying even a small tax on tea.

Tea Party itself:

Tea destroyed worth almost $1 million. Colonists refused to pay for the tea.


 * Coercive Acts (1774)**

Coercive Acts (Massachusetts Historical Society) __ [] __

Called Intolerable Acts by the colonists

British Parliament Adopts the Coercive Acts (History.com) http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/british-parliament-adopts-the-coercive-acts

Americans convinced British planned to take away their liberty.


 * Port of Boston closed to shipping** until tea was paid for: "Lord North is closing the port of Boston."

a. Massachusetts Government Act

Altered the Massachusetts charter Substituted an appointed council for an elected one Increased the powers of the Governor Halted most town meetings.

b. Justice Act

British officials would be sent to England for trial.

c. Quartering Act

British military commanders could house their troops in private dwellings.


 * Quebec Act (1774)**

Intended to ease strains of British conquest of the former French colony.

Catholics granted greater religious freedom. Representative assembly abolished. Canada boundary extended to Ohio River. Many American colonists coveted this land.


 * Results thus far** in the arguments between the British government and the colonies:

Colonists worried over precedents of Coercive Acts and Quebec Act. Both Acts made colonists fear that Britain had a deliberate plan to oppress the American colonies.

BUT: few people wanted to take hasty action. Most patriots remained loyal to Britain and hoped for reconciliation Colonists agreed to send delegates to Philadelphia to attend a Continental Congress to consider an appropriate response.

http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Revolution
 * REVOLUTION MODULE [condensed version]**


 * Learning Objectives**:

1. How was a resistance movement transformed into a coalition in favor of independence?

2. Would you have been a Loyalist, Patriot, or Neutral? Why?

3. Why did the patriots (a small force) win and the British (the most powerful military in the world) lose the Revolutionary War?

4. What lessons, if any, does the British experience provide for America in 2012?


 * The American Revolution required patriot leaders to do three things**:
 * Establish a coalition in favor of independence
 * Gain foreign recognition.
 * Triumph over the British army


 * First Continental Congress** (Philadelphia, Sept 1774)

First Continental Congress (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

First Continental Congress:

1. Declaration of Rights and Grievances (Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/rebelln/rights.html

Colonists would obey normal laws of British Parliament Colonists would not obey taxes in disguise (like Townshend Duties)

2. Continental Association: boycott of English goods (Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/rebelln/assoc.html

3. . Committees of Observation & Inspection Committee members (7000) assigned to monitor boycott, Became, in effect, the local leaders of the American resistance.

Independence was being won at the local level, without formal acknowledgement and without much bloodshed.
 * Provincial conventions**:

Popularly elected congresses took over government in each colony

These conventions


 * a. elected delegates to the Second Continental Congress
 * b. organized militia units
 * c. gathered arms and ammunition
 * d. collected taxes


 * Choosing sides**

1. **Patriots** (40% of population)

Americans who were against the British


 * To win, Patriots had to neutralize or defeat potential internal enemies.**

2. **Neutrals** (40% of population)

Those who tried to remain in the middle


 * Sincere pacifists (Quakers)
 * Those who supported whoever controlled their area
 * Those who simply wanted to be left alone

3. **Loyalists** (20% of population)

Loyalists were Americans who remained loyal to the British:


 * British–appointed government officials
 * Merchants whose trade depended on British connections
 * Anglican (Church of England) ministers

100,000 loyalists left America, many to Canada

4. **African–Americans**

Slaves sought freedom by supporting the British. British eventually took away 55,000 slaves Colonies with highest slave %—less support for revolution.

5. **Indians**

Both British and patriots tried to keep Indians neutral Indians bitter at aggressive expansionism of colonists Most taking sides supported British—less threat than Patriots


 * The War itself**


 * British military planners made three erroneous assumptions**:

1. Americans would not stand up to professional troops

2. English could fight a conventional war as they would in Europe

3. Military victory would be sufficient to win the struggle


 * Revolution Chronology**:

1. **Battles of Lexington and Concord** (April 1775).

Lexington and Concord (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

2. **Battle of Bunker Hill** (June 1775)

Battle of Bunker Hill (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

3. **Boston siege**

Patriot troops surrounded British in Boston for next year

4. **Second Continental Congress**

Second Continental Congress (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

Convened in May 1775 at Philadelphia

a. Became the intercolonial government during American Revolution b. Authorized the printing of money c. Established a committee to supervise relations with foreign countries d. Created Continental Army

e. Washington appointed commanding general

Washington from the South

Washington as Commander (Massachusetts Historical Society) []

5. **Continental army**

a. Never numbered more than 18,500 men b. Included black (5,000) troops c. Short–term militiamen helped in their own area d. Women traveled with the army

Who: wives and widows of poor soldiers Doing what: cooks, nurses, and launderers

6. **Thomas Paine: //Common Sense//** (Jan 1776)

a. Wildly popular book b. Helped Americans accept the idea of separation from Britain c. Advocated creation of an independent republic d. Downplayed benefits of links to mother country e. Insisted Britain had exploited colonies unmercifully f. Americans hated Parliament, but thought King was sympathetic g. Paine disagreed: h. King was a royal brute i. King only pretended to care for the colonist's welfare

7. **PBS video LIBERTY! The American Revolution**

Play "The Road to Revolution Game" [] Class should try to navigate its way to independence!

8. **Religion and the American Revolution** (Library of Congress) []

Read the Introductory paragraphs Read "Resistance to Tyranny a Christian Duty" Read "Revolution Understood in Scriptural Terms" Read "A Fighting Parson"

Invoking God. Us in 1776. Muslims in current Iraq and Afghanistan.


 * ALL OF THE ABOVE TOOK PLACE BEFORE ANY DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE**

9. **Declaration of Independence** (July 4, 1776)


 * Jefferson was chosen to draft the Declaration**

He wrote well He had recently drafted the Virginia state constitution

b. Colonists no longer accept legitimacy of Parliament

c. Declaration concentrated on King George III as the villain

The King had attempted to destroy representative government The King oppressed Americans by excessive force

d. All men are created equal: principle to live up to

e. Signers of the Declaration at great risk: treason. John Hancock's big signature: "King won't need his spectacles"

f. Founding.com (A Project of the Claremont Institute) Go to "The Declaration" along the top of HOME page [] Three annotated versions are provided: click on the "Historical Context" version. [] Read carefully through the complete text of the Declaration of Independence

10. **Lineup of opponents during the war itself**:

a. War took place on several levels

Regular troops: British against Patriots Irregular troops: Partisan warfare (Patriots versus Loyalists)

b. Fighting moved chronologically from North to South:
 * New England
 * Middle colonies
 * Southern colonies

11. **Patriot winter camp**: **Valley Forge**

Tremendous suffering Time for needed training (Baron von Steuben)

12. Treason of **Benedict Arnold (21 September 1780)**

Officers developed intense commitment to the revolutionary cause

13. **Washington "crossed the Delaware" River**

14. **Battle of Saratoga**

a. British invaded New York to cut off New England from rest of colonies b. British General Burgoyne surrendered 6,000 troops c. American victory led to French recognition of American independence

15. **Franco–American Treaty of Alliance** (1778)

Treaty of alliance brought France into war on American side:

a. Americans had mixed feelings b. France had been major enemy in past c. French were Catholic d. But French were anxious to avenge their defeat in the French and Indian War

French help was critically important to the overall Patriot victory against the British.

16. **Fighting moved to the south**

British had taken key cities in the North:
 * Boston
 * Newport, Rhode Island
 * New York City (their headquarters for most of the war)
 * Philadelphia

But still the British were not stopping the Patriots

British thought they would have better success in the South

17. **Charleston** (South Carolina)

Results were the reverse of Saratoga.

Americans surrendered 5,000 troops to the British.

18. **Nathanael Greene**

He was a Quaker. He operated effectively against the British militarily. But he was much more than just a military man. He showed tolerance for the problems of loyalists and Indians.

19. **British Surrender at Yorktown** (1781)

a. British General Cornwallis trapped on Tidewater peninsula b. American and French armies surrounded him on land. c. French navy defeated British rescue effort off Chesapeake Bay d. Great American victory.

20. **Peace Treaty of Paris** (1783)

American diplomats: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay Won a tremendous settlement for America

Great map: []

a. England recognized American independence b. Britain kept Canada—but reduced to its original boundaries before Quebec Act c. U.S. got all territory east of the Mississippi d. Britain ignored territorial rights of its Indian allies e. French GOT NOTHING out of the peace treaty