Michael Chiu

AP US History
Period 2
9/26/09

Outline of Chapter 4: The Empire in Transition

-the beginning of America’s goal of independence started because of differences between

the colonies and England and particular events in the 1760s and 1770s
-in 1763, Britain began to create a series of policies toward its colonies that brought
differences into sharp focus
Loosening Ties
-After the English government became the British government in 1707, many colonies
became under royal control – uncertain about how to run the colonies
A Tradition of Neglect
-Parliament established growing supremacy over king after Glorious Revolution – first
leader of the parliament was Robert Walpole, who didn’t enforce the Navigation Acts
strictly because he thought it would better stimulate commerce
-Administration of colonial affairs remained inefficient – no colonial office in London
-nearest equivalent was the Board of Trade and Plantations which had little rule
-the colonial legislatures had claimed the right to levy taxes, make appropriations,
approve appointments, and pass laws for their colonies in the 1750s – very powerful
The Colonies Divided
-The colonists continued to think of each other as foreigners (from different colonies)
-In 1754, when they faced a their old rivals, the French and their Indian allies, Benjamin
Franklin proposed the Albany Plan, which said that the colonies would be ruled be a one
general government – this plan was rejected
The Struggle for the Continent
-The French and Indian War (Seven Years War) cemented England’s role as the world’s
great commercial and imperial nation and control of most of America’s settled regions
-Final stage in long battle among the English, the French and the Iroquois
New France and the Iroquois Nation
-Conflicts began between England and France in America when the French expanded
their presence in America in the late 17th century
-the French maintained their claims in America using a string of widely separated
communities, fortresses, missions, and trading posts
-Quebec was the center of the French Empire in America
-Plantations emerged on the lower Mississippi, where black slaves worked
-France’s relations with the Indians was crucial to the shaping of their empire- better than
the relations the English had with the natives
-the Iroquois Confederacy, the most powerful native group, had forged an important
commercial relationship with the English and Dutch – continued trade with French also
-the key to their success was that they didn’t form strong alliances with any group
-the Ohio Valley was the principal area of conflict among these many groups
Anglo-French Conflicts
-After the Glorious Revolution, William III took the throne – King of France’s enemy
-William III and his successor Queen Anne opposed French expansionism
-caused many wars between English and French-ended by the Treaty of Utrecht
-More clashes between England and France occurred – known as King George’s War
-Tensions between the English and the French increased and in 1754, the governor of
Virginia sent a militia under the command of George Washington – built Fort Necessity
-Washington surrendered to the French after a third of his soldiers died
The Great War for the Empire
-the French and Indian War was primarily a colonial conflict, with little help from the
British – very inept – General Edward Braddock, the commander of the British army in
America, failed to retake the land where Washington had lost the first battle-died
-most Indians sided with the French except the Iroquois – fighting centered in America
-In 1757, William Pitt, the English secretary of state began to plan out military strategy
for the North American conflict, appointing military commanders and issuing orders
-the tide of the battle turned when generals Amherst and Wolfe captured the fortress at
Louisbourg in 1758, Fort Duquesne falling a few months after-
-a year later, General James Wolfe captured Quebec under the forces of Marquis de
Montcalm; both commanders died – a year later, Amherst captured Montreal
-Peace came after the accession of George III to the British throne
-in the Peace of Paris, singed in 1763, the French ceded to Britain some of their West
Indian islands and most of their colonies in India; also Canada and New Orleans
-the war forced the colonists to work together against a common enemy – also seemed to
confirm the illegitimacy of English interference in local affairs – people in army viewed
themselves as in a “people’s army” without ranks like those of the British
The New Imperialism
-Britain could not avoid expanding its involvement in its colonies
Burdens of Empire
-in the past, the English had viewed the colonies as a source of trade but by the mid-18th
century many English and American leaders saw the land as valuable to the empire
-created debate between the old commercial imperialists and the new territorial ones
-Britain found itself in huge debt after the war – needed a system of taxation
-However, George III, who took the throne in 1760, had many shortcomings
-elected George Grenville as prime minister, who felt that colonies were spoiled, should
be ruled by Britain entirely
The British and the Tribes
-the Proclamation of 1763 forbade settlers to advance beyond the Appalachian Mt.
-this would reduce conflicts with native tribes and would reserve opportunities for British
-However, it was ineffective among white settlers
The Colonial Response
-The Sugar Act of 1764, strengthened enforcement of the duty on sugar – also established
new vice-admiralty courts in America to try accused smugglers-no sympathetic juries
-Currency Act of 1764 required colonial assemblies to stop issuing paper money
-Stamp Act of 1765 imposed tax on most printed documents in the colonies
-Although the colonists resented the imperial regulations, they continued to harbor
grievances against one another as much as against Britain – often centered on tensions
between established societies of Atlantic coast and the “backcountry”
-For example in 1763, the Paxton Boys marched on Philadelphia demanding relief from
colonial taxes
-a civil war broke out in 1771 as a result of the Regulator movement in North Carolina
-Regulators were farmers who organized in opposition to the high taxes that local sheriffs
collected – revolt was suppressed by Governor William Tryon-Battle of Alamance
-the funds Britain had poured into the colonies which had stopped after peace caused a
postwar depression
-However, the political consequences in the eyes of the colonists was much worse –
accustomed to powers of self-government – determined to protect powers
Stirrings of Revolt
-War had given colonists heightened sense of their own importance to protecting political
autonomy
Stamp Act Crisis
-Stamp act fell on all Americans – thought of it as a direct attempt by England to raise
revenue in the colonies without the consent of the colonial assemblies
-Patrick Henry, from Virginia, introduced a set of resolutions declaring that Americans
possessed the same rights as the English, especially the right to be taxed only by their
own representatives
-In 1765, a group called the Sons of Liberty terrorized stamp agents and burned the
stamps – the sale of stamps virtually ceased
-Stamp Act was repealed in 1765 by the Marquis of Rockingham, prime minister
-Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, asserting Parliament’s authority over the
colonies “in all cases whatsoever.”
The Townshend Program
-Townshend was the chancellor to William Penn, who succeeded Rockingham
-had to deal with American grievances with the Mutiny (Quartering) Act, which required
the colonists to provide quarters and supplies for the British troops in America
-Townshend steered two measures through Parliament: the first disbanded the New York
Assembly until the colonists agreed to obey the mutiny Act; the second levied new taxes
on various goods imported to the colonies from England
-Boston merchants were indignant by Townshend establishing a new board of customs
commissioners in America- organized another boycott
-Townshend suddenly died in 1767 and was succeeded by Lord North-repealed
Townshend Duties except the tax on tea in March 1770
The Boston Massacre
-Because of the colonists’ harassment of the new customs commissioners in Boston had
grown so intense, the British government had place four regiments of regular troops
inside the city-constant affront to the colonists’ sense of independence
-Soldiers competed with local workers in an already tight market-clashes were frequent
-On night of March 5, 1770, Captain Thomas Preston lined up several of his men and
shot five people to death
-transformed into the “Boston Massacre” using engraving by Paul Revere
-Leading figure in forming public outrage was Samuel Adams, the most effective radical
in the colonies
The Philosophy of Revolt
-Most people in both England and America considered the English constitution the best
system ever devised to meet these necessities, which were that because people were
corrupt and selfish, government was need to protect individuals from evil but any
government need safeguards to avoid abuse of power
-“No taxation without representation” – Americans believed it was the right of the people
to be taxed only with their own consent
-Fundamental difference of opinion between America and England was the nature of
sovereignty – over the question of where ultimate power lay –colonies for sovereignty
The Tea Excitement
-Colonists continued revolutionary sentiment alive through writing and talking in the first
years of the 1770s
-The British government passed the Tea Act of 1773, which gave Britain’s East India
Company the right to export its merchandise directly to the colonies without paying any
of the navigation taxes that were imposed on the colonial merchants in such transactions
-Revived American passions about the issue of taxation without representation
-With strong popular support, leaders in various colonies made plans to prevent the East
India Company from landing its cargoes in colonial ports – on the evening of December
16, 1773, three companies of fifty men , in Mohawk costumes passed through a corwd of
spectators went aboard the three ships, broke open the tea chests, and heaved them into
the harbor
-George III and Lord North countered by creating a policy of coercion to be applied only
against Massachusetts, closing the port of Boston, drastically reducing colonial self-
government, permitting royal officers to be tried in other colonies or in England, and
provided for the quartering of troops in the colonists’ barns and empty houses – called the
Coercive Acts or known in America as the Intolerable Acts
-These acts sparked new resistance up and down the coast-made MA a martyr
Cooperation and War
-Beginning in 1765, colonial leaders developed many organizations for converting
popular discontent into direct action
New Sources of Authority
-One of the most effective of these organizations was the committees of correspondence,
which Adams had founded in Massachusetts
-Virignia took the greatest step of all toward united action when they issued a call for a
Continental Congress-first one convened in Philadelphia – they rejected a plan for a
colonial union under British authority, endorsed a statement of grievances, and approved
a series of resolutions and also agreed to meet again
-British considered conciliating the colonists – William Pitt urged the withdrawal of
troops from America; Edmund Burke called for the repeal of the Coercive Acts
-Lord North won approval for the Conciliatory Propositions-however, reached the
colonies too late
Lexington and Concord
-“Minutemen”-ready to fight on a minute’s notice
-General Thomas Gage, commanding the British garrison considered his army to small to
do anything until reinforcements arrived
-Received orders to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock-when British troops arrived in
Lexington, several dozen minutemen awaited them on the town common
-Along the road from Concord back to Boston, the British lost almost three times as many
men as the Americans-the first shots known as “shots heard round the world”
-First battles of a war – most people only saw it as more tensions
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