The American Revolution

Context and Background: The French Presence

• the English colonies feel
threatened by the French
presence
• the French claim
Canada and Louisiana as
their own territories
• Samuel de Champlain
explored lands on both
sides of the St Lawrence
river (1603–)
• René La Salle explored
the Mississippi Valley
(1670–)
• the French territories are effectively blocking the way of expansion to the
West and the North, while the Spanish are in the South
 The American Revolution
Context and Background: the French and Indian War
• there were many wars and battles between the French and the English in
the 18th century
• the decisive one is the Seven Years War/the French and Indian War:
1754 (1756) – 1763
• the British sent money and
soldiers to America
• the war ended in 1763 by the
Peace of Paris
• significant territorial gain to
the British
• the French are basically
eliminated
• Britain fought in Europe, as
well, and the American victory
in itself was expensive
 The American Revolution
Context and Background: Situation after the War
• George III‘s Royal Proclamation of 1763: reserves the territory between
the Alleghenies, Florida, the Mississippi River and Quebec for Native
Americans
• reasons:
• the Native Americans helped in the war
• Britain was afraid of battles and possibly wars between the
Natives and the colonizers
• they wanted to regulate Western movement
• reaction:
• Britain is violating the colonists‘ basic right to settle

• introducing various financial measures in the forms of taxes, import

duties and customs
• reasons:
• British tax payers contributed to a large extent to the fighting of
a war which mainly profited the colonists
 The American Revolution
Context and Background: Taxation without Representation
• Sugar Act of 1764 replaces the Molasses Act of 1733
• Molasses Act of 1733:
• a tax of six pence per gallon on molasses imported from non-
British colonies
• not introduced for revenue, but to regulate the market – make
British molasses cheaper and thus more thought for
• the colonists largely ignored it and smuggled in molasses (or
rum) from elsewhere
• reason: not really enforced by the British authorities
• Sugar Act of 1764:
• rum cannot be imported, only molasses
• lowers the tax on molasses to three pence per gallon
• introduces duties on many luxury products – wine, silk, coffee,
etc.
• the aim is explicitly stated as revenue making
• makes sure that it is effectively enforced
 The American Revolution
Context and Background: Taxation without Representation
• Stamp Act (1765):
• many printed documents are required to be
printed on special, stamped paper made in
Britain AND a revenue stamp is to be affixed
to all such documents
• specifically made for revenue
• examples of texts requiring the stamps:
• legal documents, newspaper, magazines,
pamphlets
• repealed in 1766, due to strong protest
• Quartering Act (1765):
• requires colonies to provide British (non-
colonial) troops stationed in the colonies with
provisions and barracks
• if there are more soldiers than barracks, the
soldiers are to be moved in to inns, hostels,
salesmen‘s houses, …
 The American Revolution
Context and Background: Taxation without Representation
• Declaratory Act (1766):
• the British Parliament has absolute power to make laws binding
the colonies “in all cases whatsoever“

• Townshend Acts (1767):

• instead of an “internal tax“ like that of the Stamp Act, it tried
rather introducing “external tax,“ i.e. customs duties on imported
goods, such as tea, paper, paint, lead, glass, etc.
• the colonies were also forced to buy these from British sources
(and yet pay the import duties)
• “writs of assistance,“ i.e. open ended search warrants
• the tax is used to pay the salaries of governors and judges, so they
are independent from colonial sources

• 1773: the East India Company is given a monopoly on tea export to

the colonies and is also allowed to supply directly to retailers, leaving
out the wholesalers
 The American Revolution
Context and Background: Protests, Revolts, …
• Sons of Liberty (1765–1790s)
• middle class merchants, officers, craftsmen,
etc.
• loyal to the crown, but protesting against
unfair taxes
• semi-underground movement
• printed and distributed pamphlets
• organized protests, often violent ones
• prominent members: Paul Revere, John
Hancock, James Otis, John Adams, Samuel
Adams
• Stamp Act Congress, New York, 1765
• no taxation without representation
• only the colonial legislations have a right to
tax the colonies
• without the right to vote, the British
Parliament has no right to represent the
colonists
 The American Revolution
Context and Background: Protests, Revolts, …
• The Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770)
• the Townshend Acts caused violent protests
and attacks on customs officials in Boston
• the British moved two regiments to the city to
restore order
• reaction: the crowd started snowballing,
then hurling various objects at the soldiers
standing guard
• someone tried to take away a soldier‘s
gun – who shot him
• more shots followed and 4 more
people died
• Samuel Adams intentionally
misrepresented this as the British soldiers‘
unprovoked attack on a peaceful group of
people to help the cause
• result: Parliament repealed all the
Townshend duties, except the ones on tea
 The American Revolution
Context and Background: Protests, Revolts, …
• The Boston Tea Party (December
16, 1773)
• a direct reaction to the East
India Company‘s 1773
monopoly on tea
• a group of people dressed
as Mohawk Indians
attacked and seized a cargo
ship full of tea
• poured the contents of the
boxes and crates in the sea
• Samuel Adams may or may
not have been responsible for
organizing it, but he strongly
protected and publicized it
• result: the Coercive or
Intolerable Acts
 The American Revolution
Context and Background: Even More Taxation with Even Less…
• The Coercive or Intolerable Acts (1774):
• Boston Port to be closed until the damage of the Boston Tea Party
is repaid
• town meetings banned without the governor‘s consent
• a new Quartering Act allows British soldiers to be quartered in
private homes if necessary
• Quebec Act: the boundaries of Quebec are extended, and gives
religious and legal freedom to the French inhabitants
 The American Revolution
The Road to Freedom
• The First Continental Congress (September 5–October 26, 1774):
• every colony, except Georgia sent at least one delegate (55 in total)
• no obedience is due to the Coercive Acts
• basic rights:
• “life, liberty and property“
• (only) provincial legislation can decide in “cases of taxation and
internal polity“
• forming the Continental Association
• renewal of trade boycott
• committees to inspect customs entries and publish the names of
merchants violating the boycott
• confiscate their imports
• intimidated those hesitant to join, and punished those against
• started collecting military supplies and gathering troops
• more moderate people tried to have a discussion with the King (e.g. the
Quakers)
• George III‘s answer: “The die is now cast, the colonies must either
submit or triumph“
 The American Revolution
The Road to Freedom
• April 18-19, 1775: The Battle of Lexington and Concord
• General Thomas Gage found out that the colonists have large supplies
of weapons in Concord
• 700 British soldiers were ordered to silently march out of Boston, and
seize the supplies
• the colonists, however, found out about it, and warned about the
danger by hanging signal lights in the tower of Boston‘s Old North
Church
• Paul Revere and William Dawes were riding as fast as they could
to warn the people in Concord
• in Lexington, the British troops met 70 Minutemen blocking the way
(8 Americans died)
• in Concord, most of the supplies were removed, but some where
destroyed by the British
• however, hundreds more Minutemen joined there, and they were
fighting all the way back to Boston (273 British, 93 Americans
killed)
The American Revolution
The Road to Freedom
 The American Revolution
The Road to Freedom
• The Second Continental Congress (May 10, 1775–March 1, 1781)
• they voted on going to war
• Colonel George Washington made commander-in-chief of the
American forces

• July, 1775: John Dickinson‘s Olive Branch Petition,

• asking the king to start talks in order to reach a compromise
and end hostilities
• answer: August 23, 1775, George III issues a proclamation,
claiming that the colonies are in a state of rebellion

• May 10, 1776: a resolution for separation is adopted

• July 4, 1776: the Declaration of Independence is adopted and
signed
• largely written by Thomas Jefferson
• heavily builds on John Locke‘s, Jean Jacques Rousseau‘s and
Montesquieu‘s ideas
 The American Revolution
The Road to Freedom
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.
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.
 The American Revolution
The Road to Freedom
• The Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775)
• not fought at Bunker Hill, but at
Breed‘s Hill
• won by the British
• a textbook example of a Pyrrhic
victory:
• ~ 3000 British soldiers against ~
2400 American ones
• the British are professionals, the
Americans mostly irregular,
untrained soldiers
• losses:
• British: 226 dead (19 officers),
828 wounded (62 officers)
• American: 115 dead, 305
wounded, 30 captured
 The American Revolution
The Road to Freedom
• after initial victories, there was a period in 1777 when the American side was
really close to losing
• they mostly won due to the French help provided
• May 1776: 14 ships with war supplies
• February 8, 1776: Treaty of Amity and Commerce
• France recognized America and gave trade concessions
• February 8, 1776: Treaty of Alliance
• bilateral defence treaty
• if France goes to war with Britain, neither country would lay down
arms until America wins its independence
• neither country would conclude peace with Britain without the
other‘s consent
• June 1778, France joined the war
• 1779, Spain joins the conflict on France‘s side, but not as an ally of the
Americans (to reaquire territories lost in the Seven Years‘ War)
• 1780: Britain declares war on the Dutch because they continued tradinf with
the Americans
• September 3, 1783: Treaty of Paris, Britain acknowledges the US + peace