A Revolution for Independence | Treaty of Paris

Great Britain

King George III

• Uncertainty in government
• Earl of Bute (Prime Minister, 1760-1763)
• Parliament: parliamentary sovereignty

Portrait of George III, c. 1762

America

American beliefs:

• Representative government
• Local government’s right to tax
• Parliament—no right to tax in America
• Power destroys liberty

Communication

• Pamphlets
• Newspapers

A. British Taxes and American Responses, 1763-1770

Setting after French and Indian War

• 7,000 troops remained in America
• Huge national debt
• Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)
• Proclamation of 1763—prohibited migration west
• George Grenville—Prime Minister (1763-1765)

The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited westward migration beyond the Appalachian Mountains.

Sugar Act (1764)

• Revision of Molasses Act (1733)
• Lowered tax on molasses from 6p to 3p
• Strict enforcement

American reaction to Sugar Act

• Petitions

Stamp Act (1765)

• Tax on printed paper
• Appointment of stamp distributors

Stamps such as this one were required on all official documents.

American reaction to Stamp Act

• Patrick Henry’s Virginia Resolves
• Stamp Act Congress
• Sons of Liberty—violent protests
• Boycotts

Portrayal of colonists protesting the Stamp Act.

Lord Rockingham—Prime Minister (1765-1767)

• Repeal of Stamp Act (1766)

William Pitt—Prime Minister (1767-1770)

Charles Townshend—Chancellor of the Exchequer

Townshend Acts (1767)

• Taxes on American imports

Charles Townshend proposed import taxes on colonists to raise revenue for England.

American reaction to Townshend Acts

• Boycotts
• Circular Letter

British troops transferred to Boston (1768)

• Pamphlet writers protest

Boston Massacre (1770)

• 5 Americans killed; 6 wounded

Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre is one of the most famous pieces of American propaganda. Note the British Redcoats firing a volley into the mass of unarmed colonists. While an inaccurate portrayal, Revere's engraving had a significant impact on colonial opinion.

Lord North—Prime Minister (1770-1782)

• Repeal of Townshend Acts
• Tea tax kept intact (to pay judges’ salaries)

B. An Interlude of Order, 1770-1773

Samuel Adams

• Publicized recent events
• Committee of Correspondence

Samuel Adams was one of America's great revolutionaries.

C. Boston Tea Party & Intolerable Acts, 1773-1774

Tea Act (1773)

• Goal—save East India Company
• Tea to be shipped directly to America by East India Company; tea would be less expensive

American reaction to Tea Act

• Argued that colonists would still have to pay tea tax
• Tea shipments refused in Philadelphia and New York
• Governor Hutchinson keeps ships in Boston
• Boston Tea Party—tea dumped into Boston Harbor

Painting of the Boston Tea Party. Note the colonists on the pier cheering the "Native Americans" dumping tea into Boston Harbor.

Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) (1774)

• Closed Port of Boston
• Restructured Massachusetts government
• Trials of British soldiers to be held in England

General Thomas Gage—Governor of Massachusetts

3. Decision for Independence (see Martin, pp. 115-116, 123-133)

First Continental Congress (September 1774)

• 12 colonies represented
• Suffolk Resolves
• "The Association" (boycott)

Lexington and Concord (April 1775)

• Gage sends troops to seize rebel supplies
• Paul Revere warns colonists
• Lexington militia protests
• 8 Americans killed at Lexington; 10 wounded
• "Minutemen" attack British

The "shot heard 'round the world" was fired on Lexington Commons in April 1775, signaling the beginning of the American Revolution.

Second Continental Congress (May 1775)

• Creation of Continental Army
• George Washington—commander
• Purchased military supplies; issued currency

Thomas Paine—"Common Sense" (January 1776)

• Colonists no longer had to be loyal to king
• Persuades common people to pursue independence

Thomas Paine wrote "Common Sense," the most famous pamphlet in American history.

Thomas Jefferson—Declaration of Independence

• Approved July 4, 1776
• Lists grievances against British government

The Declaration of Independence was largely the work of Thomas Jefferson. It was approved, with minor modifications, by the Continental Congress, on July 4, 1776.

4. A Revolution of Independence (see Martin, 133-146; Martin, "A Most Undisciplined Crew")

British problems

• Underestimated colonial militia
• Overestimated loyalist strength
• Difficult to control large territory
• No great leader
• European balance-of-power considerations

Major battles:

• New York (1776)
• Washington retreats to Pennsylvania
• Trenton (1776) and Princeton (1777)
• British withdraw from New Jersey
• American morale boost
• Saratoga (1777)
• First major American victory
• Leads to Franco-American Treaties (1778)
• Yorktown
• Washington defeats Cornwallis
• British trapped by French fleet (Adm. DeGrasse)

After retreating to Pennsylvania, George Washington launched surprise wintertime attacks at Trenton and Princeton (left).
British general Charles Cornwallis was surrounded by American and French troops on land and the French fleet at sea before surrendering at Yorktown in 1781 (right).

Keys to American victory

• Washington’s leadership
• American improvisation

5. The Treaty of Paris (see Martin, p. 146-147)

American negotiators:

• Benjamin Franklin
• John Adams
• John Jay

An unfinished painting of the Treaty of Paris delegates. The British representatives refused to pose for artist Benjamin West.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

• Independence for United States
• Boundaries established
• US fishing rights in North Atlantic
• Repayment of debts to British merchants
• Compensation of loyalists