Pre-1763—may be used only in a proper context, usually as introductory material.
Navigation Acts; mercantilism; Walpole; salutary neglect
-Albany Congress, 1754 Ben Franklin, “Join or Die”
French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War ) Discord between British and colonial soldiers
Treaty of Paris, 1763 or Peace of Paris, 1763
1763–1776
The need for revenue and cost of the Seven Years’ War caused shifts in British policy toward its colonies; George Grenville, prime minister; George III, King of England.
Tensions during war—William Pitt promise to pay colonists angers British who think
colonists are not paying enough.
Enforcement of Navigation Laws; abandonment of salutary neglect; use of writs of assistance
-James Otis challenges writs in court, 1761; differences on the meaning of a constitution
Proclamation of 1763; Pontiac’s Rebellion Violence toward Indians Paxton Boys, 1764
Sugar Act, 1764—first law (Molasses Act, 1733) passed by Parliament to raise tax revenue for the British Crown; admiralty or vice admiralty courts; suspension of juries
-Continued smuggling
Currency Act, 1764
Stamp Act, 1765
- “No taxation without representation”
- Internal/external taxation
- Stamp Act riots (destruction of Thomas Hutchinson’s and Andrew Oliver’s houses and tar and feathering)
- Sons & Daughters of Liberty (spinning bees)
- Stamp Act Congress, nonimportation Patrick Henry; Virginia Resolves, 1765; “Give me liberty or death”
- speech Ben Franklin, colonial agent to Parliament
Quartering Act, 1765 (also called Mutiny Act)
-Refusal to obey
New York Suspending Act, 1766
-New York assembly passes Quartering Act
Declaratory Act, 1766
-Repeal of Stamp Act
Townshend Acts, 1767 (dismissal of some assemblies; repeal of all taxes except tea); Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer
-John Dickinson—Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer, 1767
-Massachusetts Circular Letter, Sam Adams nonimportation
Creation of the American Board of Customs Commissioners Committees of Correspondence
Paying royal governors from tax money
Committees of Correspondence spread.
Customs corruption; John Hancock’s sloop, Liberty, 1768
Gaspee incident, 1772
Sending 4,000 troops to Boston, 1768 Boston Massacre, 1770
Paul Revere print; Thomas Preston, commander; John Adams defends the soldiers, “lobsterbacks” Crispus Attucks.
Carolinas disputes between colonial governments and backcountry settlers over
governance and bandits
-Regulators, 1769–1771
Tea Act, 1773
-Boston Tea Party, 1773
Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts), 1774: Boston Port Act; Massachusetts Government Act; Administration of Justice Act; Quartering Act
-First Continental Congress, 1774 “The Association”
“Declaration of Rights and Grievances” Suffolk Resolves; Galloway Plan Urged colonies to organize militia for defensive purposes. Provincial congresses—colonial rival governments to
royal government, 1775
-Second Continental Congress, May, 1775 First acting national government; authorized an army and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief; established a small navy; issued Declaration of Independence. Olive Branch Petition to King George III; issued paper money to support the troops. Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking
up Arms; asked king to repeal the noxious acts.
Quebec Act, 1774
-Fear about the spread of Catholicism; considered one
of the Intolerable Acts.
Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, 1775
-Belief that British are abolitionists, Black and White
both
Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, 1775
-Green Mountain Boys-Fort Ticonderoga
-Minutemen; Common Sense, January 1776;
-Declaration of Independence, July 1776
Commitment to Republican Values • Republicanism in the colonies—New England town meetings; Mayflower Compact; House of
Burgesses; Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
• Ideas of the Enlightenment and republicanism
- Written constitution
- Virtual representation versus direct representation
- Assemblies exercised similar power to Parliament.
- John Locke and the “social contract”
- Oppositionists, “commonwealthmen,” “Radical Whigs,” or “country party,” John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon
- God-given liberty
- Distrust of standing armies
• Colonial experience of self-government—Stamp Act Congress, First and Second Continental
Congresses
• “No taxation without representation”
• John Wilkes, “massacre at St. George’s Fields,” 1768
• Power of the purse—often used by colonial assemblies to keep royal governors in line.
• Thomas Paine, Common Sense—idea of republicanism, the language of the pamphlet
• “Declaration of Independence”—Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock
• Republican mothers or wives
• Presumed that government would be entrusted to capable leaders, elected for their superior
talents, wisdom, and incorruptibility.
• For most republicans, ideal government would delicately balance interests of different classes to
prevent any one group from gaining power.
Post-1776—may only be used in a proper context.
• New state constitutions—democratic features
• Articles of Confederation
• Shays’ Rebellion
• Constitution
• Bill of Rights
Commitment to Republican Values • Republicanism in the colonies—New England town meetings; Mayflower Compact; House of
Burgesses; Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
• Ideas of the Enlightenment and republicanism
- Written constitution
- Virtual representation versus direct representation
- Assemblies exercised similar power to Parliament.
- John Locke and the “social contract”
- Oppositionists, “commonwealthmen,” “Radical Whigs,” or “country party,” John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon
- God-given liberty
- Distrust of standing armies
• Colonial experience of self-government—Stamp Act Congress, First and Second Continental
Congresses
• “No taxation without representation”
• John Wilkes, “massacre at St. George’s Fields,” 1768
• Power of the purse—often used by colonial assemblies to keep royal governors in line.
• Thomas Paine, Common Sense—idea of republicanism, the language of the pamphlet
• “Declaration of Independence”—Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock
• Republican mothers or wives
• Presumed that government would be entrusted to capable leaders, elected for their superior
talents, wisdom, and incorruptibility.
• For most republicans, ideal government would delicately balance interests of different classes to
prevent any one group from gaining power.
Post-1776—may only be used in a proper context.
• New state constitutions—democratic features
• Articles of Confederation
• Shays’ Rebellion
• Constitution
• Bill of Rights
