Beginnings of the American Revolution [History notes]

The American Revolution / War of Independence Notes

General Situation

• French defeat in the Seven Years’ War left the British in control of nearly all the settled parts of North America
• In 1763, the Treaty of Paris recognized British claims on the continent that were east of the Mississippi, including Florida and British North America
• Expulsion of French power removed an external threat that had bound the colonies closely to London; they soon began to question the need for British control
  • Some began to feel that American concerns took precedence over British concerns
• At the end of the Seven Years’ War, the American colonists were far better off than their counterparts in other European colonies, and even their British cousins
  • They were free from the hereditary class system, taxed less (one twenty-sixth of the average British taxpayer), did not have to serve in the army or navy, no maximum wage, all trades and professions were open, no required contribution to the church, self-government, freedom of speech, the press and assembly
• Soon after the end of the war, the Amerindians rose up against the British after being deserted by their French allies because they were afraid of the British
  • The “Pontiac Conspiracy” (named after the leader) attacked and destroyed 7 out of 9 British-controlled forts
  • To avoid a war, the British distributed thousands of blankets to the Indians, each of which was infected with smallpox
  • The resulting smallpox epidemic spread and killed thousands quickly
  • The weakened Indian forces were then offered an “olive branch”, the Royal Proclamation of 1763
• The colonies were moving toward economic autonomy from Britain, but the British were becoming increasingly dependent upon them
  • Growing colonial independence thus spelled economic disaster for Great Britain

1)    Background to Independence:

a)    Causes and reasons for rebellion in the Thirteen Colonies

• Mercantilism: the key to economic health for any nation was a favourable balance of foreign trade
  • British colonies were to provide staple products, and provide a market for British goods that could not be sold elsewhere because of the mercantilist policies of other nations
  • Colonies were to be administered almost exclusively for the economic benefit of the mother country
  • In as early as 1651, Britain put mercantilism into practice
  • Acts passed in 1660 + 1696 mandated that trade had to occur on vessels owned and commanded by an English subject, limiting competition from colonial merchant shippers
    • The 1696 act also stated that colonial staples had to be shipped to Britain first, where their re-export could be controlled and taxed
    • Acts passed in 1699 (Woolen Act) – Hat Act (1732), protected British manufacturers which limited colonial exports of goods
    • However, most colonials cared little about economic regulations because colonials were living quite well, and they had a considerable degree of freedom and self-government
    • Even when laws were harmful, little harm was done because colonials either engaged in smuggling (a routine and vital part of the American economy), ignored the law, or forced the British to repeal the act or not enforce it
• Differences of opinion between colonists and London over their imperial relationship
  • The British assumed the supremacy of Parliament in all matters, and colonial assemblies were subservient to it
  • However, lack of concern with American colonies “encouraged” the colonial assemblies to claim that they had certain rights and prerogatives that could not be interfered with by the imperial parliament (eg. Direct taxation)
  • A sense of pan-American national consciousness had started to develop between 1609-1763
    • The openness and relative social equality of North American society compared to that in Europe helped form that identity
    • They thought they were forming a new type of person: an American
    • They came to believe that the New World was somehow purer and less corrupt than the Old; a sense of moral superiority
    • Suspicion and mistrust of British government institutions
• The Great Awakening, a religious movement
  • The brilliant Congregationalist minister, Jonathan Edwards, produced an impressive philosophical foundation for the movement, which was emotional, popular, egalitarian and anti-intellectual
  • Itinerant preachers spread their message across the Thirteen Colonies
  • The widespread appeal of the Great Awakening may suggest that a degree of ideological unity was already present in the colonists
  • This movement contributed to the development of a distinctive national character
  • NOTE: Nova Scotia experienced the same thing in the mid-1770s, but it tended to divide Nova Scotians from the Yankees rather than unite them
  • Thus, many Americans perceived British attempts to tighten imperial control over its colonies as evidence of an old and decadent society’s struggle to restrict the development of a young and dynamic one
  • American resistance and discontent was met with British irritation at their insolence
• Colonial Defence and Taxation
  • Colonists refused to furnish troops, supplies and money in the Seven Years’ War
  • Since the war was very expensive, and Britain now had an enlarged empire, defence would be very expensive; thus, Britain made the request that colonies were to assume a greater proportion of the cost of their own defence, especially since colonies needed a strong military and naval presence
  • To get this money, the colonists would have to be taxed, but the colonists wanted representation in Parliament; hence the saying, “No taxation without representation”
    • British claimed that each Member of Parliament represented the interests of the Empire and his own riding (virtual representation), but the Americans believed in direct representation
    • Colonists ignored it because the franchise did not extend to about 90% of the British population, and they received no representation in Parliament
    • Proclamation of 1763 further deteriorated relations between the British and Americans: the British decided to close the West to settlement because it would help them control the Amerindians and the French, and build a string of strategically located garrisons in the Northwest
      • This angered the colonists because they wanted these rich lands for settlement and cultivation
      • To prevent further Amerindian uprisings after Pontiac’s Rebellion, which took the British two years to suppress, they decided to send a standing army of 10000 troops to the colonies in order to protect the colonies, and also to enforce British authority
• Taxation Legislation (eg. The Stamp Act Crisis)
  • In the next decade, a series of acts passed by the British Parliament exacerbated the situation
  • The first of these was the Stamp Act, which required that special tax stamps be affixed to printed items
    • This was the first direct tax levied on the colonists, raising violent objections in America
    • Prior to this, only indirect taxes existed, like customs duties
    • Tax officials were attacked, property was destroyed in some areas; in others, British goods were boycotted
    • In 1765, representatives from nine colonies met in New York to petition against the Stamp Act
      • In the face of such concerted opposition, the British backed down and repealed the act in 1766
      • A year later, new import duties on commodities that had previously been untaxed caused more trouble
        • More agitation and boycott followed
        • British troops sent to Boston to reinforce the garrison opened fire on a crowd of hostile, unarmed rioters, killing three—The Boston Massacre
        • Radical colonial leaders stirred up so much agitation that almost all taxes were repealed; tranquility ensued for the next 3 years
          • Events up to this time cemented a growing identity in the American colonies, since they successfully defied the imperial government
          • Samuel Adams and other radical leaders established “committees of correspondence” in several colonies, pressure groups that kept in touch with one another to maintain the agitation against grievances, real or imagined
          • When radicals maintained their hostility to Britain, the colonists were as every bit as suspicious of local radicals as of British officials
          • In 1773, a new crisis occurred – The Boston Tea Party
            • The East India Company had the exclusive right to sell its tea directly to American consumers without the English export tax, enraging conservative merchants who resented this British monopoly—it allowed them to sell tea directly to the colonists, completely bypassing local agents and merchants
            • These merchants were driven into an alliance with the radicals
            • Samuel Adams and his followers staged the Boston Tea Party—agitators boarded the East India Company ships and dropped the entire consignment of tea into Boston harbor, to the delight of onlookers
            • British government’s reaction was harsh—a series of four acts, called the Intolerable Acts, were passed, to make an example of Massachusetts. These acts, passed in 1774, were the Boston Port Act (closed the port to all shipping), Massachusetts Government Act (concentrated power in the royal government), Administration of Justice Act (allowed British soldiers and officials to be tried in England instead of the colony they were in), Quartering Act (allowed British troops to maintain themselves in America by virtually any means)
              • The Massachusetts charter was revoked, and a military government under General Thomas Gage was imposed
              • Eventually up to 5 regiments occupied Boston, and a British naval squadron blockaded the harbour
  • The Quebec Act was passed at nearly the same time, which angered nearly all the colonies and cemented their unity against the British (enlarged boundaries of Quebec, granted religious freedom to Catholics in the province). Not only did this act help few Quebeckers, it also threatened the Americans by suggesting that local assemblies were a privilege, not a right, and that expansion into the West would occur under French civil law, due to the expansion of the boundaries of Quebec
    • The new boundaries of Quebec included the Ohio valley, which was just too much for the colonists

b)    Reasons why Quebec and Halifax did not accept the invitation to join in the rebellion against Britain

• Dissatisfaction with the British authorities diminished in intensity in direct proportion to increasing distance from the centre of the North American empire (isolation and economic underdevelopment)
• The Atlantic colonies
  • These were unmoved by the call to arms
  • In St John’s Island (Prince Edward Island), underpopulated and governed by largely absentee landowners, the conflict produced little interest
  • Acadians expressed some sympathy for those who were fighting Britain, but they were too few, too powerless, too product to take any active part in the revolution
  • In November 1755, two American privateers sailed to Charlottetown from Massachusetts, but there was no popular rising, and thereafter St. John’s Island was left to the protection of the British navy
  • In Newfoundland, the population was small, poor, scattered and divided on ethnic, religious and class lines
    • They were totally dependent on the cod fishery off the Grand Banks, and they ahd little interest in American affairs
    • American privateers attacked some settlements during the course of the revolutionary war, but except for a degree of economic improvement from the British military presence at St. John’s, Newfoundland remained largely untouched by the revolution
• Quebec
  • Sections of both the French and English population were upset with the policies of the British government in general and the Quebec Act
  • Although the Quebec Act pleased the seigneurial class and the Catholic hierarchy, to many of the habitants it signaled a reinforcement of the economic power of both Church and landlord to wring added taxes from farmers
  • Some in the British merchant community were irritated by the British refusal to provide a colonial assembly, and by the Act’s concessions to French law and the Catholic religion
  • However, discontent in Quebec never developed widely or deeply enough to pose a serious threat to British authority in the colony, and during the course of the revolutionary war, American policy tended to alienate the little support they had in Quebec
  • The majority of the British population determined that support of the imperial authorities or a cautious neutrality served their interests the best
    • Those in the fur trade appreciated the expansion of Quebec’s borders in 1774, and saw their chief rivals in the western trade, the merchants of New York’s Hudson River Valley, take a leading role in the revolution
    • Others merely sold to both sides in a fluid military situation
    • The French upper classes and Church supported the British for protecting their interests in the Quebec Act, and cooperation with legitimate authority
      • The mass of Canadiens decided to remain neutral because they wanted to preserve their lives and livelihoods
      • Several seigneurs tried to raise militia among their tenants with only moderate success, especially in the light of the American incursions in 1775
      • Many farmers decided to remain on their farms and trade with both British and American soldiers as long as they had hard cash
      • Many Americans saw this as sympathy for their cause, but actually the Canadiens did not want to offend forces who could either help or hidner the habitant‘s personal and economic well-being
      • When the Americans were doing well, the Canadiens were more receptive to the invader, but when the British were resisting the Americans fairly well and were more reliable customers, French Canadian loyalty ot the Crown was more evident
• Nova Scotia (Halifax) – the “neutral Yankees”
  • Half of the population of farmers and fishermen had come from New England, and retained close connections to those in the Thirteen Colonies
  • Serious hostility had been growing between the settlers in outlying villages and those in the ruling élite of the colony’s capital, Halifax
    • Urban vs. rural; rural communities were not represented fairly nor were they left alone if they wished
    • Two rebellions arose in the western sections of the colony during the revolutionary war, but ultimately Nova Scotia remained in the British fold
    • The most important factor was the loyalty of Halifax
      • Although some residents objected to British legislation, like the Americans (Stamp Act, etc.), the city was too dependent on the British military establishment for its livelihood ever to challenge that relationship
      • Few Yankees, and its economic position was too tied, like other communities, to trade with New England
      • Outside Halifax, the settlements had little contact with each other, partly because of the lack of road links
      • There were also quite a few villages of immigrants, like Germans, Scots, and Irish, with whom the Yankees had little to do
      • The neutral French of the colony (nearly 6000) who remained after the 1755 expulsion were reluctant to draw attention to themselves by being anti-British
      • Some sympathy for the American cause existed, but no co-ordinated support within Nova Scotia existed
      • If the Americans mounted a major invasion of the colony, they would have been welcomed by Nova Scotians, but this was never seriously considered by the Continental Congress
      • Shores of Nova Scotia were attacked and plundered by American privateers
        • Many turned against the Americans for the activities, others blamed the British for not protecting them
• Nova Scotia’s Great Awakening
  • Rural Nova Scotia was caught up in its own delayed version of the Great Awakening during the war
  • The outlying communities turned their attention from frustrating political activity to religious rival
  • Thus, many colonists lost interest in the conflict between the Americans and the British, and sought to maintain their neutrality and independence

2)    The Revolution / War of Independence

a)    Major Events

• In a last-ditch attempt at reconciliation, a Continental Congress of representatives from 12 of the colonies met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, but the radicals took over the proceedings and created a strongly worded Declaration of Rights/Resolves
  • The Galloway Plan (from John Dickinson and Joseph Galloway) wanted a union of the colonies under British authority, but this was defeated by the radicals who wanted complete independence
• They also created Committees of Safety, which clearly laid the basis for a future colonial government system
• Although many colonists supported efforts to secure concessions from the British, only a minority supported the aggressive tactics of the radicals
• Many were opposed to action that threatened to break the British connection, while many more were indifferent, confused, or ignorant
• The system of Committees of Safety gave the radicals a highly effective means of committing the passive majority to their side
• This tumultuous time also created a generation of radical orators, such as Patrick Henry of Virginia who established himself as a constant and vocal opponent of arbitrary government and tyranny; he apparently played an essential role in laying the groundwork for rebellion
• The mood of disaffected American colonists seemed to change dramatically between 1774-1776 from one that sought reconciliation with Britain to one that would settle for nothing less than independence
• Most members of the Continental Congress convinced themselves that they were merely seeking the restoration of rights that had been stripped away by a good but misinformed and badly advised monarch
• The publication of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in January 1776, signaled a shift in the language and tactics of the American rebels, culminating in the Declaration of Independence in July 1776
• Paine came to America for thirteen months from England before publishing his pamphlet
• In this pamphlet, the character of King George III was directly attacked, and he urged the formation of a government based on reason (or common sense) alone
• Momentum for independence slowly grew, fueled by items like this pamphlet
  • Some even claim that the revolution owed as much to the “pen of Paine as to the sword of Washington”
• Now the radicals had momentum; Common Sense made up the minds of many
  • On April 6, 1776, the Continental Congress opened the ports of the United Colonies to the trading nations of the world; mercantilism was dead
  • The economic declaration of independence was soon followed by a political one
  • On June 11^th, R.H. Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution calling for indepndence
  • Four days later, the Congress appointed a “committee of five” to draft the resolution, with most of the work done by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia
  • On July 1^st, his draft was submitted to Congress, and on July 2^nd, the Continental Congress voted for independence
• The declaration of was approved by the Congress on July 4, 1776, sealing the fact of revolution
  • The declaration severed the Thirteen Colonies not only from “all allegiance to the British Crown” but also from its neighbour colonies to the north
  • Thomas Jefferson, assisted by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, wrote the Declaration of Independence
  • It provided a political and philosophical justification for the decision of the Thirteen Colonies to break away from Britain
  • It also sought to enlist military aid in the forthcoming revolutionary war from foreign nations, particularly France
  • It laid the foundation for a liberal, individualistic society, but changing Locke’s theory that government is instituted for “life, liberty, and the protection of property” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”

b)    Roles of Foreign Powers in the War of Independence

c)     Major Battles

• In April 1775, royal governor General Thomas Gage, moved against rebel leaders at Lexington and Concord by dispatching British troops from Boston to seize arms stored at Concord and to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, both of whom were radical leaders
  • Warned by Paul Revere and William Dawes, “minutemen” at Lexington and Concord challenged the British soldiers
  • Fighting was surprisingly fierce, both sides groped clumsily for some sort of compromise to prevent a complete break
  • Exaggerated accounts of massacres of innocent farmers produced a burst of patriotic indignation, giving the Committees of Safety complete control
  • The hastily assembled Second Continental Congress authorized raising an army under George Washington
• In 1775, the Americans tried to invade Canada
  • They captured St John’s, southeast of Montreal, but were unsuccessful in taking Quebec, and were eventually driven back in the spring of 1776

d)    Outcome – Treaty and Settlement

• The American Revolution produced a unique society founded on liberal, republican and individualistic values
• The British attempted to gain some protection as well as compensation for the Loyalists during negotiations, but the new American government had neither the power nor the desire to ease the plight of those that they regarded as traitors
• They were also hamstrung by the limited authority of the central government created by the Articles of Confederation; all they could do was to promise to recommend that individual states should refrain from punitive measures

3)    The Loyalists

a)    Who they were

• Essentially, they were those who resisted the American Civil War, and formed the backbone of a very different society to the North; revolution and resistance led to the partition of English-speaking North America into two distinct societies
  • The Northern colonies were to reflect the outlook of the Loyalists, who were attached to the monarchy, and content to let their interests be represented by the British Parliament
  • They were hostile to the democratic and social leveling ideas of the Americans
  • Placed great values on British ancestry and connection
  • They were more conservative and communal
  • Branded as “Tories” by the Americans
• The revolutionaries in the war were not, for the most part, idealistic crusaders; some were practical and pragmatic
• Not all Loyalists were members of the upper class, neither were all revolutionaries economically disadvantaged
• Both groups drew adherents from every religious, social and professional group
• Both groups were represented in every region
• Leading Loyalists were frequently drawn from the ranks of the Anglican clergy and from those who held offices or jobs dependent upon the imperial government
• Every colony was divided, every ethnic group was split over the issue (though those born outside North America and Amerindians were more supportive of the Crown)
• A calculation of self-interest determined most people’s response to the revolution
• They were a mixed lot—they were from every level of society, every colony, every kind of background, every kind of reaction to the revolutionary war

b)    Migration to Canada

• Nearly thirty thousand United Empire Loyalists migrated into Nova Scotia, and a further addition of close to another ten thousand migrated into the province of Quebec, partially because of its proximity to the Thirteen Colonies
• Nova Scotia was the preferred choice of the Loyalists, because Canada was more distant, colder, and significantly French
  • This migration doubled the pre-revolution population of Nova Scotia of 17000
• This produced profound political and social changes
• The exodus and plight of the Loyalists has been viewed as an epic struggle in Canadian history; they experienced many hardships to eke out a subsistence living on a harsh frontier
• However, the British army furnished supplies for the Loyalists by providing foods, seeds, tools and expertise, preventing complete disaster for the Loyalists
• The plight of the Loyalists was intensified by their own ignorance and lack of judgment; most of them were town dwellers and were ill-prepared for a pioneer existence
• However, those went to Quebec were often more prepared than those who went to the Maritimes since they often came from the western frontier regions of the American colonies, and were already pioneer farmers

c)     Reasons for Migration

• They were often regarded as the enemy by American revolutionaries and often had to suffer at the hands of a patriotic crowd
• Some were tarred and feathered, run out of town, as well as being forced to give up their possessions
• Their stores were boycotted, their parties shunned, their children ridiculed
• This kind of activity increased in frequency after sizable numbers of Loyalists joined Major General John Burgoyne’s British army
  • Burgoyne was forced to surrender, and the Loyalists were in grave danger
  • Loyalists who helped the British militarily were often treated as traitors if they were captured
  • Thus, they were forced to emigrate as early as March 1776, but the majority left the Thirteen Colonies after the peace treaty ending the war
  • Nearly one hundred thousand Americans emigrated by the end of the revolutionary war in 1783—some left for England or the Caribbean islands, or Canada

d)    Attitudes Towards Canadiéns

• The Loyalists were dissatisfied with the British for not welcoming them in an alien environment with different laws, language and religion

e)    Impacts and Effects of Migration on Canada

• The government of Nova Scotia administered a very generous system of land grants, and it also assisted in the establishment of Loyalist homesteads, but the need far exceeded the supply
  • Demand for food, clothing, tools, farm implements and the like overwhelmed the governor, John Parr
• Their demands overwhelmed the government, causing fewer and fewer requests to be answered, and the government began to view them as demanding and incompetent
• After the initial zeal disappeared and hope was replaced by despair, many gave up and returned to England and the United States
• Eventually the Loyalists began to argue for a separate provincial government in Nova Scotia because they felt that they were ignored by the government in Halifax, and had contempt for New Englanders there and those who did not serve in the military with the British to fight the Americans
• The British agreed, and decided to create the colony of New Brunswick in order to divide and weaken the colonists
  • Over 80% of the inhabitants in the new colony were Loyalists
• Overall, the coming of the Loyalists into the Maritimes had more than doubled the population, led to the clearing of substantial portions of previously uncultivated land, and improved the economy
  • It also created a new province that was staunchly anti-American
  • The Loyalists received less than they expected, but they produced more than they intended
• In Quebec, Governor Frederick Haldimand (around 1780′s), decided to initially separate the newcomers from the existing population because of their notions of liberty and representative government
• Later, he decided to settle the Loyalists in large blocks in the western reaches of the province to create a buffer against the Americans
• He also equipped the newcomers with provisions for three years; when Haldimand left in 1784, over 6000 refugees had been settled, and all but 500 were drawing full provisions
  • When the support program ended, many starved and would have died if it were not for the importation of food from the Mohawk valley
• Loyalists could not tolerate living under the terms of the Quebec Act, so in April 1785, Sir John Johnson proposed the establishment of a Loyalist Colony
  • The Constitutional Act was passed and given Royal Assent in June 1791, creating parallel governments with elected assemblies for two colonies carved out of Quebec
  • There would be an appointed governor, an executive council, and a legislative council
  • The actual division of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada (English and French, respectively) was done through executive action to prevent public debate and discussion over boundaries—the Ottawa River eventually became the dividing line
  • The settlers soon learned that they could no longer count on government handouts, and soon established communities and services, becoming the backbone of Ontario’s population
  • Upper Canada would be governed under the Royal Proclamation of 1763, whle Lower Canada would be governed under the Quebec Act of 1774
• Land allotment in Canada followed the same pattern as in Nova Scotia
  • The British prevented private purchases of land from Amerindians
  • Land was distributed to the Loyalists via lottery
  • As early as 1783, more than three million acres of land had been given to the Loyalists