Teachers Discovering History As Historians

JCC Survey Course 1: Cyberlectures & Review: 4

The American Colonies: 1763 - 1775

Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture and should be reviewed.

The British victory in the Seven Years' War/French and Indian War drove the French from North America, but drained the royal treasury. King George III and his ministers immediately initiated a plan to centralize and consolidate control of the Empire. Britain intended to impose tighter controls on American governments, trade and territory--while refilling the treasury with revenue raised in the colonies. The new controls were identifiable as the Proclamation of 1763, the Sugar Act, the Currency Act, the Quartering Act, the Stamp Act and the stationing of more troops in the colonies. The British were perceived as "changing the rules"--perhaps, even violating what American colonials accepted as their constitutional and political liberties: the right to consent to taxation, the right to trial by jury, the freedom from standing armies. As a result many colonists were unified in their opposition to the new policies and initiated petitions, demonstrations and boycotts to demonstrate their concern and resistance.

Parliament reacted to pressure from British merchants, suffering from the boycotts, and repealed the (view this video clip from the History Channel Stamp Act). However, the Townshend Acts passed in 1767 reasserted Parliament's right to tax the colonies. The slogan "no taxation without representation" questioned the difference between virtual representation and direct representation. Who is the representative for Chautauqua County in the House of Representatives? Boycotts became more aggressive with the assistance Patriot/Terrorist groups like the Son's of Liberty and committees of correspondence fostered intercolonial communication related to pressing issues. View the History Channel Video Clip The Boston Tea Party. However, there were many loyalists opposed to and appalled by the social unrest and even possible treason of some of their friends and neighbors.

The stationing of British troops in Boston increased hostility and ultimately resulted in the death of protesting colonials in an event referred to as the Boston Massacre in 1770. You may be intrigued with the account of the trials of the British soldiers and the role of John Adams. A temporary lull in the conflict between 1770 and 1773 ended with the Boston Tea Party. When Britain responded with the Coercive/Intolerable Acts, many Americans-- affected by the events or persuasive propaganda--expressed that colonials had lost their rights as Englishmen and that their property, lives and liberty were at risk. Events were spinning out of control as propaganda and explosive radicals attempted to sway the masses and silence the loyalists--while the king and Parliament seemed to "fiddle as Rome burned". In the fall of 1774, the First Continental Congress convened at Philadelphia to act as the united voice of the colonies. Who were these delegates? The "radicals" included Patrick Henry of Virginia and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts. George Washington of Washington and John Dickinson of Pennsylvania were considered as "moderates". Conservatives, but not loyalists, were John Jay of New York and Joseph Galloway of Pennsylvania. This diverse group attempted to create a balanced policy by resisting both the demands for immediate mobilization for war and conservative appeals for accommodation. The Congress denied Parliament's authority in the colonies except for the power to regulate trade, but acknowledge allegiance to the King.

The collapse of royal authority in Massachusetts was moving toward a violent confrontation. General Thomas Gage dispatched troops for Boston in April of 1775 to seize weapons hidden by colonial terrorists at Concord. Mobilized by the ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes, Massachusetts militiamen/armed civilians assembled on the Lexington village green as a show of force. A shot was fired by either the Americans or the British and in the ensuing fire fight, eight militiamen were killed. As British troops crossed the Concord bridge, they encountered armed resistance and sustained casualties. On the return march to Boston, hundreds of armed civilians fired upon the British troops from the cover of buildings and stone fences. The King's army sustained over two hundred casualties at the hands of these patriots/terrorists. How could this tragedy be resolved? What was the next step?

Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview, numerous Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents and my favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites Related to the Specific Topics

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html

Folk Music of American History:  Music and Lyrics

(highly recommended music before, during or after reading cyberlectures!)

Additional Folk Music and Lyrics

 

 

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