Overview
This lecture covers the major causes and early tensions leading up to the American Revolution, focusing on events from the 1760s to 1774 and highlighting how conflict escalated between Great Britain and the American colonies.
Causes of the American Revolution
- Revolutions often follow a nation's involvement in expensive, bloody wars due to resulting social and financial tension.
- The American Revolution followed this pattern, coming after the costly French and Indian War (1754–1763).
- The French and Indian War gave Britain control over North America but left them with massive debt and new administrative costs.
- To pay this debt, Britain decided the colonies should help shoulder the financial burden.
Early Signs of Tension (1760s–1774)
- Navigation Acts: Originally established in the 1660s to regulate colonial trade, these laws were strictly enforced after 1763 to increase revenue, alarming colonists used to lax enforcement.
- Stamp Act (1765): Parliament imposed the first direct tax on the colonies, requiring stamps on all paper products; colonists had no representation in its enactment ("no taxation without representation").
- Colonial Responses to Stamp Act:
- Petitions were sent to Parliament to repeal the tax, arguing it violated their rights as Englishmen.
- Colonists initiated boycotts (non-importation agreements) of British goods.
- Groups like the Sons of Liberty used mob violence and intimidation, targeting tax collectors and loyalists.
- Repeal and Declaratory Act: Parliament repealed the Stamp Act but asserted its authority to legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever."
- Townshend Acts (1767): Imposed new taxes on imports like tea, paper, and paint; colonists responded with the same methods as with the Stamp Act.
- Britain eventually repealed all Townshend duties except the tax on tea.
Escalation and Notable Incidents
- Boston Massacre (1770): British soldiers killed five colonists during a confrontation; used as propaganda to inflame anti-British sentiment.
- Tea Act (1773): Gave the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies, aiming to undercut smugglers and force acceptance of the tea tax.
- Colonial Reaction to Tea Act: Widespread resistance, culminating in the Boston Tea Party, where colonists destroyed large quantities of tea as protest.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Navigation Acts — British laws regulating colonial trade to benefit England.
- Stamp Act — 1765 law taxing all paper goods in the colonies.
- Townshend Acts — 1767 taxes on imported goods including tea.
- Sons of Liberty — Colonial organization using protest and violence against British policies.
- No taxation without representation — Colonial slogan protesting taxes imposed without colonial input.
- Boston Massacre — 1770 event where British soldiers fired into a colonial crowd, killing five.
- Tea Act — 1773 law giving monopoly on tea sales to the British East India Company.
- Boston Tea Party — Colonial protest destroying British tea in response to the Tea Act.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review details of the upcoming British crackdown and colonist response in the next lecture.
- Prepare to discuss the shift from resistance to open rebellion in the following class.