APPROFONDISSEMENT LANGUE LITTERATURE ET CULTURE ANGLOPHONES

The American Revolution 1763-1791

Why the American Revolution matters?

1. Creation of the United States:

- Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776 (2 days before a resolution between all 14 colonies,
the declaration was the approval of the text of this resolution)  it creates a nation, but
international low required that other nations recognise the existence of a self-declared nation
before becoming a real country
- Treaty of Amity & Commerce, 6 February 1778 (recognition of the US by France  the French
helped unofficially the US during the war against Britain with arms and food, been the second
power in the world, so the French were happy to help defeat British as they were rivals). After
the fact of Saratoga, where the Americans defeated the British and keep hostage a general, the
world started believing in the power of Americans. So, the French signed diplomatic treaties
with US.
- Treaty of Paris, 3 September 1783  After the defeat of Britain in 1781, Britain recognise the
independence of its colonies and after the entire world. Even then, if you look at the internal
political structure of US it wasn’t a real country yet, in fact perhaps 14 different countries. They
remained more a confederation of independent states (like the European Union)
- US Constitution, 4 March 1789  only with the Constitution, that we have an actual federal
nation. In the constitution, we can read “We the people of United States…”.
- Colonial Congresses, 1765-1775

2. Development of the United States:

- Seneca Falls Convention, 1848  first women rights convention ever in the world, call for
equal rights with men (divorce, vote, organisation). It used the Declaration of Independence as
a tool (“That all men are created equal” they transformed it in “That all men and women are
created equal”). They use the image of British over the Americans to make understand the
place of men over women. Moreover, this inequality was also present for black Americans and
slaves before (contradictions).
- The First Emancipation, 1776-1804  if this revolution means anything, then it should be
extended also to African Americans, so the principles of the revolution became a great part of
what was called the first emancipation in the northern ex colonies. New Jersey for example was
the last one and it freed people born after July 4 once they reached the age of 28 (everyone
born after that will spend anyway 28 years as a slave and who born before they passed all their
lives as slaves, so there were still slaves during the Civil War in New Jersey. In other state
however like New York they freed everybody
- Abolition of slave trade, 1808 because of the principle of the Declaration of Independence.
- The Civil War, 1861-65  final emancipation of all slaves, after the election of Lincoln who
wanted to spread the slavery again.
- Civil Rights movement, 1940s-1960s  campaign of this black movement to gain civil rights,
based on revolutionary (1963 Martin Luther King I have a dream speech refers to the
declaration of independence)
- Barack Obama  police violence created the black lives matter. He constantly quoted the
declaration of independence. E Pluribus Unum ("from many, one") was the first motto of the
US in the sealed from 1776.
 - The “Tea Party”: way that conservatives used to oppose to Obama. In reference to the Boston
tea party, which through British tea been taxed as it makes concurrency with the American tea.

3. Its place in the Age of Enlightenment (18th century):

All these European people were involved in the American revolution:
- John Locke etc, Scottish moral philosophy  Americans absorbed the ideas of enlightenment
- Machiavelli (Renaissance)  how to preserve liberty in a republic from tyranny and corruption
- Montesquieu, Rousseau 
- Thomas Paine  in 1774 he migrated to US from England and wrote a pamphlet in 1776 about
the American Independence (possible and desirable). After the revolution, he came back to
Britain as an engineer. He also supported the French revolution, and he became a depute in the
National assembly in France.
- Marquis de Lafayette  fought in the war for independence. He forged the commitment for
the French revolution.
- The French Revolution

4. Its place in the Age of Revolutions

America was part of the age of revolution. It was the first country to be created from colonies. After
that a lot of countries became independent:
- St. Domingue/Haiti, 1794-1804
- Paraguay, 1811
- Argentina, 1816
- Chile, 1818
- Guatemala, 1821
- Brazil, 1822
- Peru, 1824
- Bolivia, 1825
- Uruguay, 1828

Starting year of American Revolution:

1764

Ending year of the American Revolution:

1783 end of war of independence

Constitution and political system:

1787 drafted the constitution

1788 Ratification of constitution

1789 implementation of constitution

1791 Dispute over the constitution

For some, the Constitution was conceived as a threat, with the central government, so it was important to
protect the rights and liberty of people.
Outline of events

CM 1: Introduction

 The Importance of the American Revolution

 Outline of events

CM 2: The Colonial Background to the American Revolution

 The various colonies

 Background of the 13 colonies

 Self-government

CM 3: The Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, & the Declaratory Act, 1764-66

 Seven Years’ War, 1756-63

 “No Taxation without Representation”

 Parliamentary sovereignty

 CM 4: From the Townshend Duties to the Tea Act, 1767-73

 Townshend Duties, 1767

 Local legislative sovereignty

 Liberty Riot, 1768

 Troops & Boston Massacre, 1770

 Quiescence, 1770-73

 Tea Act, 1773

CM 5: From the Tea Party to the Outbreak of War, 1773-76

 Boston Tea Party, 1773

 Coercive/Intolerable Acts, 1774

 First Continental Congress, 1774

 Outbreak of war, 1775

CM 6: Declaring Independence, 1776

 How it came to be declared (Tom Paine etc)

 Loyalism

 Meanings of the Declaration

CM 7: War & Government, 1776-83

  Saratoga, 1777

 French involvement in the War of Independence, 1778-83

 Yorktown, 1781

 State government, 1776-1780s

 Radicalism & Reaction – popular sovereignty

CM 8: Governing the Nation, 1776-91

 The Continental Congress, 1776-81

 The Articles of Confederation, 1781-89

 The Constitutional Convention, 1787

CM 9: The Constitution & the Bill of Rights, 1787-91

 The Constitution, 1787

 Ratification, 1787-89

 The Federalist Papers, 1787-88

 Bill of Rights, 1789-91 

CM 10: The ideology of the American Revolution

 A modern revolution or “the last great act of the Renaissance”?

 John Locke & liberalism?

 Nicolo Machiavelli & Republicanism?

 Natural Rights & Property

CM 11: The American Revolution as a Social Revolution?

 Stamp Act Riots, Liberty Riot, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party etc

 A “people’s” revolution

 Slavery & the Revolution

CM 12: Catching up & what we have learned

EXAM:
The exam will have 2 sections

Section 1 contains ten factual questions about the American Revolution, and you should try to answer all of
them. Your answers will count for 25% of your overall note. You should therefore spend no more than a
quarter (30 minutes) of your exam time (two hours) on this section.

Section 2 contains three short extracts from documents we looked at in the TDs. You must do an analysis of
(a commentary on) one of them of your choosing. Again, you can use subtitles for sections of your analysis,
but you can also simply write it as a continuous piece of prose. This time of course it is a good idea to revise
your notes from the TDs as well as the documents for the TDs. The document analysis will also count for
75% of your mark. You should therefore spend at least three-quarters (one hour and thirty minutes) of your
exam time (two hours) on this section.

Main readings :

 GREENE, Jack P. and POLE, J. R., eds., A Companion to the American Revolution, Oxford, 2000

 COGLIANO, Francis D., Revolutionary America: A Political History, 1763-1815, London, 2000

The colonial background

A “British” Empire

England: the part of Britain that is not Wales and Scotland

Great Britain = England (Angleterre), (Pays de Galles), & Scotland (Ecosse)

“United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” (1801-1922) with the Act of Union  process of conquering
very violent (Catholic church, economic exploitation, starvation of people).

Then United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1922.

1530-40 two act of union: Wales and England were unified: same education, but different languages and
cultures, but they created a nation through the possession of a legislator, institutionally speaking Wales
became part of England). This took longer with Scotland from the XII century English tried to conquer
Scotland, but they succeeded only with political integration in two stages:

- 1603 Union of the Crowns (Elisabeth the I Tudor died in 1603 and she was childless, so they
searched the succeeder, the thrown goes to James I who was the king of Scotland, King James
VI, yet so we have a composite monarchy: one king for two countries. But Scotland kept his
parliament, so they were still two countries. He integrated some laws, like fishing laws)
- This situation ended in 1707 with the act of union who unified the two parliaments
(abolishment of Scottish parliament). The Scotland kept some of their traditions (Church of
Scotland), so they continued to think they were different from English.

“English Empire” before 1707 (Scotland people were excluded from the English empire)

“British Empire” after 1707

Anyway, there were several rebellions from the Scottish people, until 1745 where there was a great
rebellion  disputation in Britain, but when they became officially united (right to slave trade, great
economical opportunities, but domination of English).

The other colonies in America

In 1776, the colonies who didn’t leave the British empire are (poor colonies without a fully articulated
system based on fishing, only men):

 Canadian:
- Newfoundland, 1610
- Nova Scotia, Treaty of Utrecht, War of the Spanish Succession of 1701-1714 (expelled French
people, 1750s)
- Quebec, Peace of Paris, French and Indian War (French-British in America), 1754-63/Seven Years’
War, 1756-63 (abandoned by France, but they weren’t interested being part of USA, religious
toleration of Catholicism and different conception of rights respect the USA).

  West Indies/Caribbean: against British taxes, parliament laws, but the percentage of slaves
population in islands (8 out of 10) created extreme violence + attack from other enemies because
of the attack from the sea (can’t afford the instabilities of the revolution)  complicated society.
- Leeward Islands -- Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, St Kitts, 1624-1632
- Barbados, 1627
- Jamaica, 1655 (previously Spanish)
- “Ceded Islands” -- Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent, Tobago, 1763

 East and West Florida (Treaty of Paris, French ceded it to British 1763  1819 part of USA) 
Spanish population, different ethnicity, heavily populated by Native Americans very powerful as
they formed alliances with African Americans (freedom for slaves)

TD 1

The declaration of Independence (final overflow of the old regime and the institution of a new one).

It’s a key document, also because it’s seen as emblematic of the revolution (national liberation: first
declaration of independence from colonies to a great power; for Thomas Jefferson, Africans and women
are born equal as men but they hadn’t same rights).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson

It established principles for the future.

It has 4 parts: introduction (“When in the course of human events”: description of history, slavery was a
human event, philosophical principles vs historical events), preamble, grievances against British (historical
lists of actions of the king, 12 main grievances: taxes, war), conclusion.

Slavery was never about slave owners but about the power of the state to support it.

[1. The Introduction]

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

[2. The Preamble]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it
is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on
such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer,
while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to
reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and
to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies;
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The
history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in
direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be
submitted to a candid world.

[3. The Grievances]

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in
their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to
attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people
would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable
to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository
of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the
rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the
Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the
State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions
within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose, obstructing the Laws for
Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the
conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary
powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and
payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat
out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the
Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the
State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions
within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose, obstructing the Laws for
Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the
conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary
powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and
payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat
out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and
unacknowledged by our laws, giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the
Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary
government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for
introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of
our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all
cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death,
desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to
become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our
frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of
all ages, sexes and conditions.

[4. The Conclusion]

In every stage of these Oppressions, We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our
repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked
by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time
of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of
the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and
magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these
usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been
deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which
denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace
Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled,
appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies
are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the
British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to
be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude
Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent
States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of
divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

CM

Pre-settlement period: the English came late on colonisation.

1492 Spanish and Portuguese started colonising.

North America wasn’t easy to colonise (not gold and silver, not so much potential for sugar, except
Louisiana).

At the beginning, the English imperialism was made thanks to the attacks to Spanish ships and came back to
England = piracy, legalised by the crown).

No peace behind the line (imaginary line in Atlantic ocean)  no rules on the west of the line (so you could
attack whoever on America).

1603 Elisabeth I died with no children  King James I (her nephew) made peace with Spain (treaty of
London 1604: prevent piracy against Spanish). Attempt of settlement  1606 two Virginia companies
(Plymouth and London)  1607 first successfully settlement in Virginia.

14 colonies:

Virginia, 1607 (celebration of the first settlement as a sort of first Thanksgiving)  1863 first national
Thanksgiving day made by Lincoln  quest for religious freedom of pilgrims. Virginia was associated with
slavery. Also creating wealth (business settlement)
Massachusetts, 1630 (Puritans. Plymouth Colony, 1620-1692, Pilgrim Fathers)
Maryland, 1634  mainly religious settlement (as it was a Catholic colony by Irish family, act in 1620s no
Catholic governments)
Connecticut, 1662  1643 created and then recognised by England on 1662.
Rhode Island, 1663  1643 created and then recognised by England on 1663. Place of religious toleration.
North & South Carolina, 1663  fishing settlements, 1679 independent colony, 1684 with Massachusetts.

New York & New Jersey, 1664

New Hampshire, 1679
Pennsylvania, 1681 (Quakers)
Delaware, 1701
Georgia, 1733

1641- 53 civil war in England with Scotland and Ireland  no position to colonise  Charles I was executed
in 1649  interregnum between 1649 -1660 sort of Republic so no colonisation. Restoration of monarchy
in 1660  new imperative for colonisation, Charles II hold dets for who were loyal to monarchy.

Colonies by regions

 New England = Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut  culturally religious
towards extreme Protestantism but it was complicated (different faiths and economic activities) 
we think new England as a quite rich region: centre of American industrial revolution in 19 th
century; but in the colonial era was the poorest part of the colonies, but it had much less slavery as
other colonies, mainly small farmers making small amounts of crops.

 Middle Colonies = New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware  rich land and quite
entrepreneurial, people quite healthy thanks their connections of the Caribbeans slaves’ society.

 Chesapeake = Virginia, Maryland  mainly agriculture

 Lower South = North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia  coastal oriented (rice), slave labour used
in agriculture (“reproductive capital”).

Indentured slavery: a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a
specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for
eventual compensation or debt repayment, or it may be imposed as a judicial punishment.
Historically, it was used as a way for a person to pay the cost of transportation to colonies in the
Americas.

Like any loan, an indenture could be sold; most employers had to depend on middlemen to recruit
and transport the workers, so indentures (indentured workers) were commonly bought and sold
when they arrived at their destinations. Like prices of the enslaved, their price went up or down
depending on supply and demand. When the indenture (loan) was paid off, the worker was free.
Sometimes they might be given a plot of land.

Indentured workers could usually marry, move about locally as long as the work got done, read
whatever they wanted, and take classes.

- Selling your labour is different to sell yourself in the market (temporary slavery, your children
won’t be slaves, if you’re a white poor European …)
- Protection of the British empire
- White supremacists: to erase the history of slavery, they said that there were also white slaves.
 TD 2

Original colonisation had to be done by the state that claimed the right to settlement.

Settler society: especially form the Natives point of view, it defines what these colonies were  they
thought that they deserved a form of freedom (own parliament, replacing the British government)  shock
to the attack from British

Stamp Act: 1765 most private and public transactions had to be taxed with stamps  internal tax by an
external government.

Now, Americans started to talk about their liberties  riots (resignation of functionaries), writing
pamphlets to say why this law was wrong, congress in New York 

The Declaration of Rights & Grievances of the Stamp Act Congress, October 19, 1765

 1st. That His Majesty's subjects in these colonies owe the same allegiance to the crown of Great
Britain that is owing from his subjects born within the realm, and all due subordination to that
august body, the Parliament of Great Britain.

= they wanted to be treated equal to British people. But they make the difference between realm
and colonies (even if there was only one parliament of Britain), the colonies are distinct places to
the realm, so there should be different laws for the colonies. Being equal doesn’t mean you are the
same, so they wanted the same rights but not necessary the same duties.
Allegiance to crown but due subordination to Parliament  it’s a grey area, it depends on the
context, it’s the Parliament for Great Britain not for the colonies.
For English people, there is not a real difference between king and parliament, for colonial people
there was.

 2d. That His Majesty's liege subjects in these colonies are entitled to all the inherent rights and
privileges of his natural born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain.

 3d. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted rights of
Englishmen, that no taxes should be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given
personally, or by their representatives.

 4th. That the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances cannot be,
represented in the House of Commons in Great Britain.

 5th. That the only representatives of the people of these colonies are persons chosen therein, by
themselves; and that no taxes ever have been or can be constitutionally imposed on them but by
their respective legislatures.

CM

Self-governing colonies from their funding (entitlement, Britain hadn’t the resources to colonised as we
conceived that)  privatised colonies:
  Charter colonies (contract given to private businesses):
Virginia, Virginia Company
Massachusetts Bay Company (settles New England Company)

 Proprietary Colonies (given as proprieties, the king gave a territory as feudal lordships):
Maryland, Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore
Pennsylvania, William Penn
New York, James, Duke of York (the one colony captured by the military force of Britain and then
given to the king’s brother the Duke of York, whereas the others where colonised by private
companies, 1688 he got overthrown and New York got an assembly)
Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas, New Jersey, Georgia

Private Colonies in 1776 (until the revolution):

 Charters colonies = Connecticut and Rhode Island

Proprietary Colonies = Maryland and Pennsylvania

 Royal Colonies in 1776 (the companies had gone bankrupt or liquated or the colony was given back
to the Britain, so they were directly governed by the Britain government):
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia

In general every colony has their council and assembly and the governor had to work with the elective
assembly  this was considered in place of the Britain government, the governor represents the king
(appointed by the king), the lower house of assembly elected by the people of the colony and the upper
house of assembly (appointed by governor)  rights for properties, but what matter the most was who had
the legitimation to tax them  own local government, they had in common the king and the division in
realms but the concept of empire was not unitary, so when the Britain government started taxing it was
quite a shock.

One post office for all colonies (by Franklin)  unifying force in the American history, so stamps were used
as commemorative objects.

The navigation acts  first one 1651 (Navigation ordinance)  1660 Charles II (the second one)  the
major Britain merchandises should be sold with British ships by British merchants within a British trading
system (mercantilism, not free trade)  maintaining a close trade system  all merchandises from
colonies should by exported by British government. Colonies didn’t like that as with a free trade there
would be major profits, but people preferred the British protection. Once you accepted these laws then you
have consented to them. They didn’t lead to direct taxation of the colonies  relation between the
colonies and the rest of the world (kind of accepted).

Why the self-government colonies ended?

French and Indian War, 1754-1760  Britain against the world (first war started within the colonies, the
French in Quebec started to move through the south so there were a direct territories conflict)
 The Seven Years’ War of 1756-1763  “A Great War for Empire” (Prime Minister William Pitt)  the
British conquered Quebec in Canada, Caribbean, Gory In West Africa (but they gave Guadalupe and
Martinique to France  they removed French from North America  1763 Peace of Paris (highest of
British unrivalled power)  but at huge cost  National debt in 1763 = £132,600,000 (interest payment =
£5million per year)  it was a large cost at the time (lots of people couldn’t afford to pay taxes (25% of
their income at the time for Londoners  unprecedented at the time  burden  taxes also on beer and
cider so everyone was taxed), agriculture economy  really little financial sector)  they needed help 
after the war Britain sent lots of troops in north America to keep the new colonies, but this make the debt
highest  so also colonies have to pay the taxes to the British government to pay the benefits they were
enjoying  2 million people in the colonies, trade under the protection of Britain, colonies weren’t under
control  British American trade with the French islands increased a lot (trading with the enemy) and so
they thought they weren’t under control.

Each colony had created their own currency (based on the British, but used as current money, 1/3 less then
pounds, it created paper money  not hold its value)  prohibition of American currency to pay debts.

The Sugar Act, 1764  the British Parliament passed the first direct tax on the colonies  it replaces the
Molasses Act, 1733. The Molasses Act was not really a tax (a British law that imposed a tax on molasses,
sugar, and rum imported from non-British foreign colonies into the North American colonies  The Sugar
Act was made to raise money for the British treasure  it’s an external tax).

https://www.britannica.com/event/Sugar-Act

It’s the beginning of a revolutionary era  changes of the parliament

This tax was made by George Grenville, Chancellor of Exchequer and Prime Minister
Vice Admiralty Courts
An act to “regulate commerce” / act to raise revenue
“No taxation without representation!”
Parliamentary Sovereignty

No direct actions  even though Massachusetts were directly inflicted

Actual representation: right to vote (men with property)

Vs Virtual representation: people excluded to vote (women, children, men with little properties), an MP
represents the people who voted for them, against them and all people in your constituency and colonies
 so the colonies were virtually represented.

TD

The Declaration of Rights & Grievances of the Stamp Act Congress, October 19, 1765

(Representation and taxation)

 1st. That His Majesty's subjects in these colonies owe the same allegiance to the crown of Great
Britain that is owing from his subjects born within the realm, and all due subordination to that
august body, the Parliament of Great Britain.

(about institutions and constitution of the empire)

 2d. That His Majesty's liege subjects in these colonies are entitled to all the inherent rights and
privileges of his natural born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain.
= rights as Englishmen  members of a political community; but also natural rights (human rights
Franklin in 1806 about the abolition of slavery)  inherited by the fact we are human. Until 1774
Americans were really concerned about civil rights, but then with ideas of independence they
stopped thinking about civil rights of Englishmen and thinking about natural rights (then they
established their own rights).

 3d. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted rights of
Englishmen, that no taxes should be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given
personally, or by their representatives.
 4th. That the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances cannot be,
represented in the House of Commons in Great Britain.

= Why?
It’s a geographical problem: The distance between the two places creates difficulties to respond to
your duties if the colonial people would be in the House of Commons.
Idea of corruption linked with London and big cities
Native Americans tried to attack colonists
Americans thought that to make laws you have to live in America, so it is not moral for British to
make laws for Americans (but they’re not ready for direct action against Britain).

 5th. That the only representatives of the people of these colonies are persons chosen therein, by
themselves; and that no taxes ever have been or can be constitutionally imposed on them but by
their respective legislatures.

 6th. That all supplies to the crown, being free gifts of the people, it is unreasonable and
inconsistent with the principles and spirit of the British constitution for the people of Great Britain
to grant to His Majesty the property of the colonists.

 7th. That trial by jury is the inherent and invaluable right of every British subject in these colonies.

 8th. That the late act of Parliament entitled, "An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties,
and other duties in the British colonies and plantations in America, etc.," by imposing taxes on the
inhabitants of these colonies, and the said act, and several other acts, by extending the jurisdiction
of the courts of admiralty beyond its ancient limits, have a manifest tendency to subvert the rights
and liberties of the colonists.

 9th. That the duties imposed by several late acts of Parliament, from the peculiar circumstances of
these colonies, will be extremely burthensome and grievous, and, from the scarcity of specie, the
payment of them absolutely impracticable.

= Currency Act: only the British currency and eliminate of paper money  no way to pay British
taxes

 10th. That as the profits of the trade of these colonies ultimately centre in Great Britain, to pay for
the manufactures which they are obliged to take from thence, they eventually contribute very
largely to all supplies granted there to the crown.

= We can give you enough profit without tax us (Navigation Act)

 11th. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of Parliament on the trade of these colonies
will render them unable to purchase the manufactures of Great Britain.

 12th. That the increase, prosperity, and happiness of these colonies depend on the full and free
enjoyment of their rights and liberties, and an intercourse, with Great Britain, mutually
affectionate and advantageous.

= you will be heard if you heard us

 13th. That it is the right of the British subjects in these colonies to petition the king or either house
of Parliament.

= after March 1766 with the Declaratory Act they cannot say that, as if they deny the authority of
the British parliament and petitioning it, they would have only confirmed their power, so they
would talk only to the king and not to the parliament.
 “That the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right ought to be,
subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial crown and Parliament of Great Britain; and
that the king's Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, of Great Britain, in Parliament assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to have, full
power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies
and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.”

 Lastly, That it is the indispensable duty of these colonies to the best of sovereigns, to the mother-
country, and to themselves, to endeavor, by a loyal and dutiful address to His Majesty, and
humble application to both houses of Parliament, to procure the repeal of the act for granting and
applying certain stamp duties, of all clauses of any other acts of Parliament whereby the
jurisdiction of the admiralty is extended as aforesaid, and of the other late acts for the restriction of
the American commerce.

CM

Things were different with the Stamp Act, 1765  stamped paper to make documents for everything
notary documents, dice, alcoholic drinks…)  on local transactions  An “internal tax” in colonies.

The 1660s colonies were autonomy (own representative assemblies)  so it was a shock the introduction
of this taxation. It effects everybody, also enslaved people (they were free in Saturday’s afternoon and
Sundays, so they paid for alcohol so even them have to pay this tax). So, they act against it.

The Stamp Act Congress, October 7 to October 25, 1765  declaration of rights and grievances.

Pamphlets: rejection of Sugar Act and Stamp Act.

Protests:
 1765 successful non-importation agreement between colonies (all colonies)  1/3 of British exports
were going to the American colonies (MPs, connection with parliament merchants  pressure)  stop of
international business.
 Sons of Liberty and crowd actions/riots (clear political ideas about economics): huge streets riot in New
York, South Carolina, Boston-Massachusetts the biggest
Andrew Oliver (tax collector)  hanging him as an effigy from a liberty tree (iconography of the revolution)
 next time will be real.

In 12 out of 13 colonies stamp collectors resigned their post (except Georgia)  so the act was not usable,
so the colonies continue as the act hasn’t existed.

Overseas trade crisis  British government repeal the Stamp Act March 18, 1766, still British people who
wouldn’t repeal that  if you have an argument with a sector of the society, and this argument is legal, so
this repeal can be used as a precedent of legal principle  you have to do something that you have
repealed that, but you don’t deny this right 

Declaratory Act, March 18, 1766, by Prime Minister Charles Rockingham 

Parliament “had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes, of
sufficient force to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all
cases whatsoever.”  powers of the crown and parliament are indivisibles.
Parliament was really incapable to impose terms (internal contrast between monarchy and parliament) 
parliamentarians presume to have an authority to rule on people in Britain and colonies  so the colonies
were represented virtually in the parliament (for them is not enough, they had their own assemblies).

This situation leads to revolution  British really believed in their actions so they continued to do that.

The American Revolution

FROM THE TOWNSHEND DUTIES TO THE TEA ACT, 1767 -1773

During the Stamp Act, Charles Townshend thought that was auspicial to keep the difference of internal and
external taxes, even if he didn’t believe in it. So, he imposed:

• The Townshend Duties, 1767 (taxes on imports of glass, lead, paper, paint, tea)  taxes on
essential goods that colonies needed (enlisted in the Navigation Act, so the colonies were obliged
to buy these goods from Britain) by Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend.
One-third of the money raised from these taxes went to British Treasury / Colonial Governors /
Customs Commissioners (“customs racketeers” = bureaucrats, no salary, their income depends on
the taxes they collected)
“external” taxes = “taxation without representation”

• John Dickinson (he seemed a modest man, but in reality he was a tobacco slave owner, if you want
to be important in politics you should seem less rich than you are like a farmer), Letters from a
Farmer in Pennsylvania (1768)  pamphlet
“diffused sovereignty”  the empire consisted of a growing number of distinct political bodies
related by their historical Britishness, rights of free born Englishmen, connection to the king, and all
due subordination to the parliament  disagreement about the last point  the parliament can’t
regulate trades, so an internal autonomy of colonies. Others argued that the parliament of great
Britain was related to colonies confederacy of separate states (each colony was originally an
independent state) than form of new society under the same government (social country), and
then they formed allegiances to the crown (the colonies created the empire not the mother state).

The colonies had the right of self-government: before 1769, the British hadn’t the power to
govern the colonies.

• Samuel Adams (radical politician)

Circular Letter, 1767  in response of Town and Duties, he put it before the Massachusetts
General Court to approve its ideas to send to other assemblies  all colonies speak together in one
issue (no taxation without representation).

• Wills Hill, Lord Hillsborough, Colonial Secretary in coordination with the Privy Council  order the
government of Massachusetts (Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard) to order the
Massachusetts general court to reject the circular letter or they would dissolve the assembly (new
elections: the crown can’t to it to the British parliament, so why can you do it in the colonies?) 
the general court voted to maintain the letter, so there were new elections (people voted for who
voted for the circular letter and against who rejected it)  they continued existing without the
confirmation of the crown  1774-6 first process of independence.

• New York Restraining Act, 1767  under the Mutiny or Quartering Act, 1766, the soldiers in new
York left behind by British were supposed to be house in the state of NY  its assembly objected to
this initially  so an act from British said that the government of NY to vital all NY acts of assembly
until NY pay their soldiers  they agreed in the end  so the act never came in effect 
sovereignty of Britain and subordination of the colonies assemblies
 “An Act for the trial of treason committed out of the King’s dominion”  if you commit any act that
are treason, you are taken where you are and taken to Britain (no jury of peers)  parliament was
prepared to hang people if you don’t accept the British authority.
A standing British army in peacetime  considered as a threat for liberty  they answered to the
monarch  to control the executive power.

1754  great threat from France  no British soldiers there

1755  after the start of the war soldiers arrived  France defeated, Quebec became British 
kind of peace established between Native Americans and British  so why leave soldiers? Taxes,
taken American liberties from them  peace of advice in 1763 from William Knox, former colonial
official for the British in Georgia  keep an army to keep Americans into submission (official reason
to protect borders)

• The Liberty Riot, 1768  the threat of the standing army was worse  send to Boston against the
liberty riots  beginning of the independence 
John Hancock (Boston merchant, son of liberty: organisation established in 1765 in opposition of
Sugar Act and Stamp Act, hero of colonies)  its Liberty boat broke the towns and duties laws (he
was supposed to declare your goods before you offload them, he didn’t  pay a fine of 45.000
pounds  riot where Bostonians rampaging the streets  soldiers had to retreat in Castle
William).
General Thomas Gage (commander in chief in colonies)  restore order, in October 1768 with four
regimens of troupes.
Escalation of the situation  no more pretending that the troupes are there to protect the colonies
 in the troupes there were poor people from UK (not well paid, or well treated so they worked in
their off duties times  labour work  less paid than Americans  dimmish the work for local
people  problem even for enslaved people as they worked in their spare times in order to earn
money to buy their freedom)  fights.

The Boston Massacre, 5 March 1770  higher point of

tensions (political, social, economic problems)  it was a
confrontation in which British soldiers shot and killed several
people whom they perceived to be a crowd. The event was
heavily publicized by leading Patriots such as Paul Revere
and Samuel Adams. British troops had been stationed in the
Province of Massachusetts Bay since 1768 in order to support
crown-appointed officials and to enforce unpopular
Parliamentary legislation.

Amid tense relations between the civilians and the soldiers, a

crowd formed around a British guard and verbally abused
him. He was eventually supported by seven additional
soldiers, led by Captain Thomas Preston, who were hit by
clubs, stones, and snowballs. Eventually, one soldier fired, prompting the others to fire without an
order by Preston. The gunfire instantly killed three people and wounded eight others, two of whom
later died of their wounds.

The crowd eventually dispersed after Acting Governor Thomas Hutchinson promised an inquiry,
but they re-formed the next day, prompting the withdrawal of the troops to Castle Island. Eight
soldiers, one officer, and four civilians were arrested and charged with murder, and they were
defended by future U.S. President John Adams. Six of the soldiers were acquitted; the other two
were convicted of manslaughter and given reduced sentences (they were treated with mercy, it was
considered a simple negligence, called the unfortunate incident in Kings Street, but for Bostonians
they were guilty not only of murder but of massacre, at least regarding their intentions).

 A “period of quiescence”  things went quiet for a while  very few people in favour of
independence  the British troupes backed off after the Boston massacre.
Committees of Correspondence
Prime Minister Lord North
Repeal of the Townshend Duties, 1770  a month after the Boston massacre  except the one
on tea and this is significant as:
- they thought that it was essential to keep a tax to keep this right (to avoid admitting that those
taxes were illegal).
- It left the door open to the next action by the British which lead directly to independence 
The Tea Act, 1773  it wasn’t a tax  The East India Company was a massive cooperation
(many MPs and British merchants  political entity) which was in financial problems so the
parliament exempted this company from the taxes on tea and it was the only company which
sold tea.

TD 6

- Identify the source (summery view of the context)

- Problematic
- + own opinion

Charles Jenkinson, “Notes on the Right to Tax the Colonies” (1765)

Charles Jenkinson was Secretary to the Treasury under George Grenville, Prime Minister from 16 April
1763  to  13 July 1765, & helped frame the Sugar and Stamp acts. His “Notes on the Right to Tax the
Colonies” provided his superiors with answers to objections to the new tax policies. He deliberately wrote
the Notes in abbreviated form.

The Right of Taxing the Colonies not merely an Act of Power but a Constitutional Act of Legislation founded
upon Principle and justified by Precedent.

The Principle is that all who are intitled [entitled] to Protection ought equally to bear the Burthen [burden]
of It, and that They who have the Management of that Protection can be the only Judges of what that
Burthen Should be.

This acknowledged with respect to the general Powers of Legislation if it were doubted it could be shewn
[shown] that no Country ever came under the Dominion of the Crown of Great Britain but that the
Parliament had made Laws with respect to It...

Property a less sacred Right than Liberty; Property the Creature of Society, and therefore more the Object
of Laws of Society.

Mr. Locke evidently mistook the Declarations of Parliament in favour of the Rights of Parliament to levy
Taxes in Opposition to the Claims of the Crown for Declarations in favour of the People at large.

The Statute de Tallagio non concedendo [1297] Says, that no Tallage or Aid [tax] shall be laid or levied by
the King or his Heirs in this Realm without the good will & Assent of the Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons,
Knights, Burgesses and other the Freemen of the Commonalty of this Realm & the Petition of Right the 3 rd.
of Charles the 1st. reciting this and other old Statutes on this Subject declares that no Man hereafter be
compelled to make or yield any Gift, Loan, Benevolence, Tax, or such like Charge without common Consent
by Act of Parliament: The Facts that gave Rise to this Petition sufficiently shew that it was made in
Opposition to the Power claimed by the Crown and no other.

The Bill of Rights at the Revolution declares that the levying Money for, or to, the Use of the Crown by
Pretence of the Prerogative without Grant of Parliament for longer Time, or in other manner than the same
is or shall be granted is illegal.

The Idea of the Legislature of this Country is not a compleat [complete] Representation. Upon this Principle
it is the Doctrine of Parliament that every Member after he is chosen is no longer to be considered as the
Representative of any particular Place but as one of the Representatives of the Dominion of the Crown of
Great Britain at large.

If the Consent of all the People was necessary to impose a Tax many of the Richest Towns in England would
have an equal Right with the Colonies to complain, but the Legislature of Great Britain have frequently
exercised the Right of Taxing the Colonies....

Their Charters also shew that They are in every respects as well with regard to the Right of raising Money as
everything else subject to the Legislature of Great Britain....

The Expediency of this Act is evident 1 st. from the Distresses of the Mother Country; 2 ndly. from the Abilities
of the Colonies.

But it is said that by this Measure You will render Their Assemblies useless; The Purpose of This Objection
is, that the Parliament of Great Britain ought not to exercise it’s full Constitutional Powers, and not to
exercise Them when a proper Occasion offers, is in fact to resign Them, least You should interfere with, and
diminish, the mighty Powers of the little Assemblies of any One of Your Colonies; but the Truth is, that the
present Law does not interfere with the Powers that any of the Assemblies ever have exercised or perhaps
ever can exercise:

.... It provides for Their general Defence, the Charge of which has always hitherto been borne by Great
Britain and We are going now to exercise a Power which We always had, which We have already frequently
exercised, and the Discretion We use should rather be a matter of Comfort to the Colonies as it clearly
points out that where Necessity does not call upon Us, where Their own Assemblies can sufficiently answer
the Purpose, We do not mean to exercise it: But if it had affected the Power of These little Legislatures I will
never suppose that the immediate Protection of the Parliament of Great Britain is not more valuable, more
conducive to the Security of Their Liberty and Their Propertys, than the Protection of Their own
Legislatures; I speak the Language of Parliament....

From the Boston tea Party to the Outbreak of War 1773-1775

• Repeal of Townshend Acts, 1770

• Tea Act, 1773

 • East India Company exemption from the tea tax  raise the price of tea for everyone.

• In Maryland Harbour  burnt of ships  more extreme than Boston tea party.

• Boston Tea Party, 16 December, 1773  most famous protest  no damage of ships only of the
tea (it was conceived as an orderly and legal protest, even it was not conceived like that by British)
 in late November three ships (Dartmouth, Eleanor, Beaver) arrived in Boston and a large group
of Bostonians blocked the access of the harbour  they demanded that the Governor Thomas
Hutchinson sent the ships away but he refused (offense to the British parliament) and he ordered
that the ships were outlawed before the 17 of December  a group of Bostonians reached the
ships and asked for the keys (they claimed a moral economy: The concept of moral economy refers
to economic activities viewed through a moral, not just a material, lens. Il désigne un ensemble de
pratiques et de valeurs politiques, infra-politiques et culturelles communautaires qui visent à la
défense des intérêts de la communauté même sur le plan économique.) enforcing the law  but
no damage on the ships (form of legality)  condemnation for the destruction of the tea  342
chests of tea = 90,000 lbs. = £9,000  dropped in Boston Harbor

• They disguised themselves:

 Not really to hide themselves  the British government couldn’t recognize them, but they
recognized each other.
 It was an 18th century tradition  emphasize the sense of subordination of the group (as black men
or women)  they wanted to say to British that they were treated as savages or slaves or women
(so you can treat native Americans like that but not us)  they were better so they should be
treated better than them.

The Coercive Acts / Intolerable Acts, 1774

• The Boston Port Act (March 31) – closes port (embargo), until the Bostonians paid back what they
destroyed  alienation of all ranges of society (even enslaved people).

• The Impartial Administration of Justice Act (May 20) – trials in England  people suspected of
involvement in the tea party was brought in England (violation of the court of peers).

• The Massachusetts Government Act (May 20) – military rule  imposed military government
(General Gaged as the government)  the council was appointed by him and no more town
meetings.

• The Quartering Act (June 2) - troupes back in the centre of Boston in unoccupied houses.

• The Quebec Act (An “Intolerable Act” but not a “Coercive Act”) 1774  new constitution for the
French colonies which were acquired by England. It contains everything that colonists feared about
English:

- Unelected legislation
- Royal verbs (royal vita)
- Parliamentary taxes
- French civil laws (it meant that certain aspect of English common laws didn’t exist)
- Catholic toleration (in American colonies, there was a strict discrimination against Catholics,
they were second class citizens)
- Border redrawer (down to the Ohio river)  these lands were claimed as territories by English
colonists (rival lands claims), moreover these lands contained private properties of speculators,
it was suspected that those lands were used as a military English base (invasion of other
colonies and enforce these politics).
 Even after all those acts, very few people (radicals) wanted independence.

The (real) Revolution begins

Recreation of a new regime against the British one:

• First one in Massachusetts: after the Massachusetts Government Act (English replacement of its
government, but this assembly continued to claim its power in Cambridge, Concord, Salem two
bodies in the same place) Massachusetts House of Assembly declared itself as a “Provincial
Congress” 7 October 1774  it received its power from its people, not from England  implicitly it
is a declaration of independence. It took some time for other colonies to do the same thing.

• The First Continental Congress, 5 September - 26 October  delegates for all of the colonies,
except Georgia, it acted cautiously (they would help Massachusetts if it had been attacked), in an
attempt to oppose British laws.

• Declaration and Resolve  objections to British policies (taxes, coercive acts), diffused sovereignty

• Continental Association  non-importation agreement, but it was different from the previously
one  article of association: it refers to the colonies as a country, these articles permitted a
permanent kind of unity inspired by opposition to Britain (they referred to themselves as United
colonies).

• They created a local police force to reinforce this agreement (Committees of Inspection).

• It began to work as a federal government

• 10 Mai 1775 Second continental congress  including Georgia  it will become the government
of United States.

War breaks out in 1775 (armed insurrection of citizens against its government  after it was referred as
the War for independence):

• The new secretary government Colonial Secretary Lord Dartmouth ordered General Thomas Gage
to take some action against the insurrections  he asked for greatest resources from the British,
but they were not disposed to give to them  700 men to conquer Massachusetts  to capture
Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

• 18 April 1775 they wanted to attack, but the colonists had their spies too (Committees of Safety)
waiting to something like this to happen.

• Paul Revere: “the redcoats are coming” / “the regulars are coming”: not “the British are coming” 
organised act coordinated among Massachusetts and other colonies  British

• 17 Minutemen (civil militia), Battles of Lexington Green and Concord, 19 April 1775  the British
ordered them to get out of the road, they refused and so they attacked them, and they died 18
people  everybody knew it so people from the surroundings and waited for the British  surprise
attack on the British and killed 14 of them on Concord bridge.

• They attacked on their way back to Boston  shooting them behind trees  insurgent movement
 275 soldiers died  The Siege of Boston

• Reinforcement from British: William Howe, Henry Clinton, John Burgoyne

• Breed’s Hill (“Bunker Hill”), 17 June 1775  British troupes captured militants  it seems that
British won, but in reality, British lost much more people than Americans  useless victory.
 • Militants continues the siege in Dorchester Heights

• 17 March 1776  British withdraw to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

• 17 November  John Murray, Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation: proclamation of freeing male adult
slaves of masters  threat to slavery  it forced Americans to have black regimens themselves.

• Norfolk, Virginia 1 January 1776  burning of the town  act of war.

TD

John Dickinson’s Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, 1768

Biography: John Dickinson was a Pennsylvania lawyer and landowner who adopted A Pennsylvania Farmer
as a nom de plume. In this guise he published his Letters, first in newspapers and then in pamphlet form,
and they became among the mostly widely read pamphlets of the revolutionary era. They were written in
opposition to the Townshend Duties of 1767 but expressed colonial opinions on a wide range of issues.
Symbolically, Dickinson published the first of his letters on 5 November 1767, the anniversary of the
discovery of the Guy Fawkes plot to burn Parliament (1605) and of the invasion of England by William of
Orange in the Glorious Revolution (1688).

He was a moderate, he believed British acts were illegal and unconstitutional.

He describes himself as a farmer from Pennsylvania with few servants (self-made man)  in reality he was
a very rich planter from a rich family in Delaware, highly educated.

(In the context)

Letter II

My dear Countrymen,

The parliament unquestionably possesses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain, and all her
colonies. Such an authority is essential to the relation between a mother country and her colonies; and
necessary for the common good of all. He who considers these provinces as states distinct from the British
Empire, has very slender notions of justice, or of their interests. We are but parts of a whole; and therefore,
there must exist a power somewhere, to preside, and preserve the connection in due order. This power is
lodged in the parliament; and we are as much dependent on Great Britain, as a perfectly free people can be
on another.

I have looked over every statute relating to these colonies, from their first settlement to this time; and I find
every one of them founded on this principle, till the Stamp Act administration. All before, are calculated to
regulate trade, and preserve or promote a mutually beneficial intercourse between the several constituent
parts of the empire; and though many of them imposed duties on trade, yet those duties were always
imposed with design to restrain the commerce of one part, that was injurious to another, and thus to
promote the general welfare. The raising of a revenue thereby was never intended. Thus the King, by his
judges in his courts of justice, imposes fines, which all together amount to a very considerable sum, and
contribute to the support of government: But this is merely a consequence arising from restrictions that
only meant to keep peace and prevent confusion; and surely a man would argue very loosely, who should
conclude from hence, that the King has a right to levy money in general upon his subjects. Never did the
British parliament, till the period above mentioned, think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of
raising a revenue. Mr. Greenville first introduced this language, in the preamble to the 4th of geo. III Chap.
15, which has these words—“And whereas it is just and necessary that a revenue be raised in your
Majesty’s said dominions in America, for defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the
same: We your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the commons of Great Britain, in parliament
assembled, being desirous to make some provision in this present session of parliament, toward raising the
said revenue in America, have resolved to give and grant unto your Majesty the several rates and duties
herein after mentioned.” etc.

A few months after came the Stamp Act, which reciting this, proceeds in the same strange mode of
expression, thus—“And whereas it is just and necessary, that provision be made for raising a further
revenue within your Majesty’s dominions in America, towards defraying the said expences, we your
Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the commons of Great Britain, etc. give and grant,” etc. as before.

The last act, granting duties upon paper, etc. carefully pursues these modern precedents. The preamble is,
“Whereas it is expedient that a revenue should be raised in your Majesty’s dominions in America, for
making a more certain and adequate provision for defraying the charge of the administration of justice, and
the support of civil government in such provinces, where it shall be found necessary; and towards further
defraying the expences of defending, protecting and securing the said dominions, we your Majesty’s most
dutiful and loyal subjects, the commons of Great Britain, etc. give and grant,” etc. as before.

Here we may observe an authority expressly claimed and exerted to impose duties on these colonies; not
for the regulation of trade; not for the preservation or promotion of a mutually beneficial intercourse
between the several constituent parts of the empire, heretofore the sole objects of parliamentary
institutions; but for the single purpose of levying money upon us….

Upon the whole, the single question is, whether the parliament can legally impose duties to be paid by the
people of these colonies only, for the sole purpose of raising a revenue, on commodities which she obliges
us to take from her alone, or, in other words, whether the parliament can legally take money out of our
pockets, without our consent. If they can, our boasted liberty is but Vox et praeterea nihil. A sound and
nothing else.

A Farmer

 All previous legislations were to regulate trades (raising revenues)

Letter XII

Our vigilance and our union are success and safety. Our negligence and our division are distress and death.
They are worse—They are shame and slavery. Let us equally shun the benumbing stillness of overweening
sloth, and the feverish activity of that ill-informed zeal, which busies itself in maintaining little, mean, and
narrow opinions. Let us, with a truly wise generosity and charity, banish and discourage all illiberal
distinctions, which may arise from differences in situation, forms of government, or modes of religion. Let
us consider ourselves as MEN—FREEMEN—CHRISTIAN FREEMEN—separated from the rest of the world,
and firmly bound together by the same rights, interests, and dangers. Let these keep our attention inflexibly
fixed on the GREAT OBJECTS, which we must CONTINUALLY REGARD, in order to preserve those rights, to
promote those interests, and to avert those dangers.

Let these truths be indelibly impressed on our minds—that we cannot be HAPPY, without being FREE—that
we cannot be free, without being secure in our property—that we cannot be secure in our property, if,
without our consent, others may, as by right, take it away—that taxes imposed on us by parliament, do thus
take it away—that duties laid for the sole purpose of raising money, are taxes—that attempts to lay such
duties should be instantly and firmly opposed—that this opposition can never be effectual, unless it is the
united effort of these provinces—that therefore BENEVOLENCE of temper towards each other, and
UNANIMITY of counsels, are essential to the welfare of the whole—and lastly, that for this reason, every
man among us, who in any manner would encourage either dissension, dissidence, or indifference, between
these colonies, is an enemy to himself, and to his country....

Declaring Independence 1775-1776

The Second Continental Congress, 10 May 1775 (Philadelphia)

• Declaration of the Causes of Taking Up Arms  diplomacy  necessity  addressed to British to

explain why colonies were defending themselves, but also for the rest of the world to understand.
• The Olive Branch Petition  end hostility requested to George III  he rejected this petition
(formally he never received it)  king more authority than the parliament for the colonies, but he
sided with it.
• George III’s Proclamation  “Open and devoured rebellion”  this authorised the action of
parliament against colonies.
• Parliament’s Prohibitory Act  cut off all trades to anywhere in the world to American colonies.

Negotiations with foreign countries  French (supplies sent secretly to colonies, to weaken the British
empire), military policy to order the parties of colonies and to form a regular army (not civilian militia
anymore  romanticised idea that resist till today with the conception of guns).

Civilian militia continued to combat, but together with a regular army (paid soldiers)  commander in chief
of the American forces Washington (experience French and Indian war).

Raising money by printing new money with no fundings  loss of value  worthless.

Even then thought, despite years of pressions, there were still a minority of people in favour of
independence  fear of the colonies (power differential between colonies and Britain), powerful affinity
with Britain (they felt British  multiple identities), British cultural habits (architecture, language…) and
many have born in Britain.

Loyalism  1776 1/3 in favour of independence, 1/3 undecided and 1/3 against  complicated
calculation: opposition between two groups:

• “Patriots” = “Whigs”  colonists in favour of independence.

• “Loyalists” = “Tories”  people who supported British  1698 support of Britain in civil war.
- Toryism  believed in monarchical power (the king can’t do it wrong), more than British people.
- Whiggism  sovereignty of parliament of GB  even in the colonies.
- Anti-revolutionary  radical Americans  oppose of the extension of British power, but they
didn’t want independence anyway.
- Contingency (e.g. slaves)  loyal with Britain for reasons of contingency  Native Americans
(loyalists to themselves, agreement that British will protect native Americans  they didn’t really
do that but the British had respect for these people  1783 at the end of the war the British could
have provided some protection for them in the treaty of Paris, but they didn’t, they only give all
their territories to Americans) and African Americans (they wanted their freedom, and the British
 had an interest to destabilised American society in particular where there were lots of slaves 
proclamation offering freedom to slaves who fought against Americans, Clinton offered freedom to
slaves who fought for British).
- Loyal colonies (Canada, Florida, Caribbean)  dislike the intervention of British interventions, but
independence wasn’t possible for them (too many slaves in the Caribbeans, surrounded by the sea
so very easily attackable from enemies; Canada and Florida: no economic infrastructure, French
ancestors so very little intentions to liberty, liberty to Catholicism thanks to the Quebec Act in
Canada)  they had rebelled but not revolt till the independence.

 Public humiliation and torture of loyalists  80,000 were forced to leave their homes at the end of
the war resettling in Canada, Florida or the Caribbeans.

To succeed on independence, you have to wait to have lots of supporters  this happened in early 1776 
New Hampshire, George, North Carolina, Road Island declared independence (in addition of
Massachusetts).

4th July North Carolina instructed electors to vote for independence.

The Declaration of Independence

• Benjamin Franklin: “we must all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately”
• Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 10/01 1776  in favour of independence  25 reprints  people
talked a lot about it  huge impact.
• George Washington described Common Sense as “working a powerful change in the minds of many
men” on “the propriety of separation”.
• Paine and the French Revolution  wrote in favour French revolution in the work Rights of Man,
1791-92  honour French citizenship (he had to escaped England).
• The Age of Reason, 1794-96  rational religion.

Paul Reverse’s The Boston Massacre

- Son of liberty  persuasive

- Painting out of an engraving,
appeared in newspapers,
constantly reproduced to remind
the Boston Massacre, except it is
not really it  it’s a piece of
propaganda “the bloody
massacre in Kings Street” (it
 seems that British troupes fired on the crowd with deliberation, they had their bayonets on and
they are ordered to go on; the crowd didn’t seem to fight; calling it massacre it means that it is
premeditated)  in reality only 5 people died and it was accidental at the beginning at least, in
fact British wanted to call The Unfortunate accident in King Street.
- 7 soldiers  firing squad (military execution)  systematical action, orchestrated  martial
law in a civilian place.
- British troupes as invaders  it seems a battlefield  from east to west form Britain to
America.
- Americans are the victims and they are
courageous as they brought away the dead.
- During the process of soldiers, it has been a
denigration of the crowd as they are slaves,
African Americans…  in here they are all
white respectable men with elegant clothes.
- This much smoke: they have already shot in
the crowd, but they are still shooting. It is
starting to obscure the market building and it is
going towards the church.
- Dog: civil life, but also domesticity, loyalty 
homes are being destroyed too.
- Moon : femininity  domesticity (as above);
the phase of the moon: revolution in the 18 th
century was associated with cycles  moon
symbolized a revolution, fight for liberty.
-