The loss of the American colonies, 1770-83

- Society:

• WASPs who worked on/owned land - not considered 'British'
• Protestants escaping Brit. persecution
• 1770 - only 5 significant towns 
• Skilled workers demand higer wages due to greater demand 

- Economy:

• Agricultural in the South - tobacco produced using slaves
• New England - fishing industry
• Middle colonies - wheat and flour

- Politics:

• Each colony has a governor and legislative ***embly (for money bills and expenditure)
• Electorate is 50-80% of the male population compared to 1 in 10 men in the UK
• Leg. ***. raised revenue for local services and for the payment of officials, and they passed legislation - 13 individual ***emblies easier to ignore for Brit. than one National ***embly

- Why?

• Defence from the French and Native Americans 
• Army of 10,000 wanted permenantly in North America 
• 80,000 citizens to sustain in new Canada settlement 

- Reaction:

• Oppose Brit. illegally extending power this way
• Public want tax to be spent locally, not on the Empire
• Enlightenment era - rebellion against king who breaks contract with his people
• 'No taxation without representation' - denounced King George and his parliament
• Agents of the Crown obstructed from collecting duties 

- 1767 - impose duties on imports of glass, lead, paper, paints and tea

- Was in response to complaints about the Stamp Act although these duties were led by further taxes and tightening of previous taxes

- Reaction:

• Massachussets Assembly publishes denunciation for violating 'no tax. without rep.'
• Further protest in Boston but in 1768 Brit. increase naval/military prescence to ensure duties are collected 
• Boston resistance led by Sam Adams, who founds 'Sons of Liberty' in 1765 - persecute Agents of the Crown, leading to the Boston Massacre 1770

- This wasn't the start of the War because:

• The repeal of the Townshend Acts on 5 March 1770
• Significance number of loyalists
• Lack of unity between colones 
• Although, the 'years of calm' (1770-73) were still uneasy as Brit. still collect taxes

- Divisions in the colonists:

- Neutrals:

• Drink imported tea but protest against taxation
• 1st Vice President, John Adams, represents this
• Brit. try to win them over

- Patriots: 

• Wealthier plantocracy against Britain's involvement - subdivisions of wealth, ethnicity and religion

• United with a cause to gain independence from Brit.
• Sep 1771 - Sam Adams sets up Committee of Correspondance for any grievances to help convert neutrals - Feb 1774: every colony but N. Carolina and Pennsylvania has one

- Loyalists:

• Accept Brit. taxation and colony system
• Minority groups like Anglicans, Germans, Scots 
• Slaves fight for promises of freedom
• Agents of the Crown

- Tea Act 1773:

• 1767-8: Brit. get £400K from E. I. Co. to pay national debt
• Tea Act helps E. I. Co. from bankruptcy by allowing them to deal directly with Americas to increase profits
• Their tea is cheaper than smuggled tea but it increases duties
• Committee of Correspondance encourage boycotts - sent back from NY and Philadelphia and not sold in Charleston

- Sinking of the tea in Boston:

• 28 Nov - 15 Dec 1773: 3 Brit. tea ships land in Boston
• 16 Dec: 60 Sons of Liberty board ships and throw £10,000 of cargo into sea
• Outraged Brit. isolate Boston and Massachussetts in military lockdown (Coercive Acts)

- Isolation of Boston from 1 June, forcing Patriots into submission until tea is paid for 

- Military commander allowed to quarter troops 

- Allows governors to appoint and remove officials 

- Murder trials sent to England to avoid juries letting Patriots off easy 

- Followed by the Quebec Act in Canada which allows governor to rule without an assembly and limits trial by jury, giving Patriots evidence of Brit. tyranny in the Americas

- Sep 1774 - Continental Congress (all the assemblies) meets for the first time, calling for Mass. to arm and for every states' need for troops

- Committee of Correspondance becomes Comm. of Safety who run day-to-day of America

- 9 Feb 1775 - Massachussetts declare rebellion 

- Lexington and Concord (18 Apr 1775):

• First shots fired
• Brits marching there to destroy weapons store but Patriots waiting as they were warned by Paul Revere
• 73 Brits and 8 colonists killed

- Bunker Hill (12 Jun 1775):

• Brit. prepare to storm here but colonists build 6-foot wall surrounding the hill overnight
• 226 Brits killed but they win via reinforcement and charging and colonists retreat due to lack of ammo - NOT a victory  
• 23 Aug 1775 - George III issues Proclamation declaring all colonies in open rebellion

- Fighting 1775-6 makes colonists American patriots who believed they could triumph 

- June 1775:

• Paper money printed for cost of war
• George Washington becomes Commander of the Continental Army 

- New govenment takes long to issue/establish because:

• Delegates still on intellectual journeys to revolution 
• Slow communication via horse 
• Having to make every effort to accomodate Britain

- Olive Branch Petition set up to appeal to George III but his rejection of it leaves colonists with no option but to form a new government against him with a formal army 

- Creation of national government very disimliar to Brit. parliament:

• Allows state co-operation without too much centralised power
• June 1776 - Congress appoint 13-man committee to draw up constitution for war 
• Only approved of in November 1777

- Important articles:

• Congress cannot enforce tax regulations or regulate trade
• Congress can declare war, borrow/issue money and form alliances/treaties
• No president/cabinet/prime minister - simply one congressman to represent each state

- Brit. strengths:

• Best military in the world - well equipped, trained and paid
• Funds easily raised by the empire
• Hired Hessian mercenaries to fight 
• Native Indians tribes fight in return for protection of lands
• 1/5 Americans favour the Crown and 1/2 want to avoid war 

- Brit. weaknesses:

• Months away from home
• Colonists gain validity as long as the war continues 
• Expensive war with doubt from the Brit. population

- Amer. strengths:

• Fighting for rights/independence/liberty
• Coherant military and political leaders
• Alliance made with French boosts morale

- Amer. weaknesses:

• Short of weapons 
• Difficulty in raising funds for basic supplies - use of paper money results in inflation

- The plan:

• General Burgoyne leads Brit./Hessian/Nat. Amer./Can./Loyalists from S. Canadian border to meet main Brit. troops in NY

- Events:

• Burgoyne believes Gen. Clinton's army would advance north enough to bear the brunt of Gen. Gates' attack
• End up surrounded by double the amount of American troops

- Mistakes:

• Burgoyne's plan based too much on Clinton who was pursuing another objective
• Inner tension between Loyalists and Native Americans 
• Encumbered by Burgoyne's 30-vehicle luggage train

- Peace:

• 5,895 Burgoyne's troops lay down arms and travel to Boston, not to fight again
• Remained imprisoned until the end of the war 1783

- How and why?:

• French convinced by Benjamin Franklin's successful diplomacy 
• Fre. motivated by long-term rivalry with Brit. and regaining lost territory from 7 Years War
• Treaties signed Feb 1778 and Fre. declare war on Brit. in June 1778 - Spain enter as Fra. ally in June 1779

- Significance:

• 1781 - Spanish clear Brit. troops from Mississippi Valley
• French intervention at Chesapeake Bay is vital to Brit. defeat at Yorktown
• 1778 - 65% Brit. troops in N. Amer but 1780: only 20% as troops were defending Brit. from possible invasion 
• Becomes more acceptable to lose Amer. colonies in order to defend more important ones like India and the West Indies

- Brit. need Chesapeake Bay to keep Yorktown linked to NY

- General Clinton leaves for NY, leaving Cornwallis w/ only 4000 troops

- Washington leads Franco-American army of 16,000 for 3 week battle

- Fre. fleet take control of Chesapeake Bay to hold off Clinton's relief force 

- 19 Oct 1781 - Cornwallis surrenders 

- Key terms:

• Recognition of Amer. independence 
• Division of imperial possessions - Florida and Minorca to Spain, Bahamas to Britain, St. Lucia and Pondicherry to France
• Evacuation of Brit. strongholds
• Establish boundaries to the US
• POW from both sides to be released

- Why did Brit. end military measures?:

• Political will lost in London as the City of London and parliament pressure the King and ministry to end the war
• Bad for trade and having to change defense priorities against the French

- Significant:

• Resignation of Lord North 1782 and formation of coalition government 
• Trade disrupted w/ Europe and colonies 
• 1783 - national debt at £232 million 

- Limited:

• 1785 - Brit. trade w/ former colonies reaches pre-trade levels
• Appetite for consumer goods and possession of huge coal deposits means entrepeneurs use stable banking system to build mills and factories, leading to the Industrial Rev.
• No Brit. revolution followed, showing good economic resilience and social cohesion
• Continued population growth