CH 5 OUTLINE APUSH

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Alex Dhond Mr. Kanna APUSH 30 August 2014 Chapter 5: Roads to Revolution, 1750­1776 Chapter Outline 1. The Triumph of the British Empire, 1750­1763 After King George’s War, neither France nor Britain had power over the other in North
America. As both sides readied themselves to fight again, the Ohio valley became a center of conflict between the two. Seeing that they could possibly gain an advantage here, the French began to build forts along the valley. The British sent George Washington to ask them to leave the valley, but he was pushed back to no avail. Fearing the French gaining the upper hand, the
British not only tried to bribe the Iroquois to their side with goods, but also attempted to create an inter­colonial “confederation,” which they hoped would unify the colonies and provide a systematic and mutual defense system. As the Seven Year’s War began in America, one of the first British offensives was an attack on Fort Duquesne by General Edward Braddock and his 2,200 men in 1755. However, a coalition of French and Indian forces assaulted the British force, and after heavy losses and the death of Braddock, the British forces retreated. With the retreat, French­allied Indians began attacking the borders of the colonies, effectively halting both the war effort as well as expansion for three years. The French and Indians took both Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry, and with these gains, they now held a much better position over the British, both in Europe and
America. However, the tides turned when the Iroquois began to fear that the French were getting too powerful, and they resigned from fighting, which also caused many of the other Indian tribes to stop and/or switch sides. Also, William Pitt became the leader of the military sect of the
British cabinet. Pitt rallied the colonists into fighting through offering to pay for the war debt, which generated over 40,000 new soldiers. With fresh, new soldiers, the tide of the battle turned, as the British took back their lost lands, and after driving the French out of the colonies they captured Montreal in 1759.

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These defeats forced the French to negotiate terms for land distribution in North America.
However, the French did try to launch a recapture, which failed miserably. Afterwards, the
British and French agreed that France was to give up all of the land east of the Mississippi to
Britain. It was not only France and Britain in the talks, however, as Spain was also involved. A series of trades then began. Spain would take all lands west of Louisiana from the French, and would give Britain control of Florida in exchange for Cuba. At the end of it all, both Britain and
Spain had massive land holdings, and the French only had tiny spots of territory in the Caribbean and islands in North America. French subjects, who did not support their new British rulers, were forced out, and most of them went to Louisiana, and became “Cajuns.” 2. Imperial Revenues and Reorganization, 1760­1766 In the aftermath of the Seven Years’ War, the British sought a way to strengthen and pay for their now much larger empire. The British government passed Acts, such as the Stamp Act, to generate money. However, the colonists did not like these newfound taxes, and protested, sometimes violently. Throughout the war, there were tensions between British and Colonial troops, with each feeling that the other was somehow in the wrong. The British felt that the colonial troops were unorganized and ungrateful, and the Colonial troops felt the British were stuck up. The British were also angry that the colonists were free from paying the debts of the war, as the debt in
England skyrocketed. However, because colonists were spending so much on British goods, the price of which had risen during wartime, they also fell into debt. With this came much suspicion of Britain purposely putting the colonists into this situation. These were not the only tensions that arose after the war. Many Natives, fearing that the British would take their land and enslave them, attacked British forts and raised an anti­British sentiment. Pontiac’s Rebellion, as it was known, was ultimately a failure, as the the British crushed them with help from smallpox and other factors. King George also proclaimed that all of the land west of the Appalachians was now under royal rule, and that the Indians could either give them up to the British or leave. However, this “Proclamation of 1763” angered the colonists in that it felt that the royal crown had suddenly taken all of their claims to the west, instead of giving them back to the colonies. Finally, with this uprising came the government’s decision to station 10,000 British troops in the new lands.
This would cost a heavy amount of money, and Parliament wanted the colonists to help pay.
This, combined with the colonists’ idea of the “standing army” in their lands, gave way to more tensions between the colonists and the British government. To stop illegal trade with foreign nations, the British government allowed for their authorities in the colonies to apply a “writ of assistance” which allowed for the seizing of illegal goods (basically a search warrant). However, many colonists considered this document

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“unconstitutional” as it did not require any evidence or suspicion, which meant that anybody, at any time, could be searched. Smugglers in Boston quickly reacted to this act, and appointed
James Otis to argue against it. Otis argued that it was indeed unconstitutional, and thus that made the act void. However, Parliament ruled against Otis, and he lost the case. Nonetheless, this case brought forth a very important point; that the government had no power to infringe the rights of a man under the Constitution. The Sugar Act was passed in 1764 as another way to help raise money for the expenses of the war. The Sugar Act presented a tax on all molasses and sugar entering the colonies from the West Indies. However, with the Navigation Acts already in play, the colonists still decided to import the cheap molasses from the French. Even though Parliament knew this, they did not immediately take action. The Sugar Act was also very complicated in its ways. First of all, it basically stated that any good that went through Britain first could then be shipped to other countries, which effectively voided the Navigation Acts. Parliament saw this as beneficial to
Britain, as they believed it would bring in more trading out of British ports rather than say
French ports. Also, because there were newfound requirements, such as a multitude of papers and forms that a captain had to fill out, many ships could be searched due to a technical error, not necessarily for the captain doing anything wrong. Because the Sugar Act was enforced so heavily, many ships were searched. In the end, Parliament lowered the tax to less than a penny, which helped to deter some smugglers. The impact of the Stamp Act was that many colonists were now aware of the growing number of policies and bills pushed onto them by Parliament. Although the Sugar Act did raise some revenue, Britain was still in massive debt. So, to try to relieve more debt they passed the Stamp Act in 1765. The Stamp Act was an act that required any colonists who wanted to create or sign a document (newspaper, licenses, buying land etc.) to buy a stamped paper. The Stamp Act immediately had a much larger impact on the colonists as compared to the Sugar Act, as it applied to almost all of the colonists, instead of just merchants and traders. William Pitt argued that Parliament couldn’t tax British subjects who did not have representation in Parliament. George Grenville, the British Prime Minister, agreed, but also stated that they had “virtual” representation in Parliament, and thus could be taxed.
Colonists agreed that this act infringed on their political autonomy. Obviously Parliament and the colonists had different ideas about the self­governance of the colonies. Nonetheless, the Stamp
Act caused much backlash within the colonies. Many colonists had similar opinions on the Stamp Act. The majority of colonists were upset by the tax itself, and the trivial idea of “virtual representation.” Patrick Henry, a lawyer out of Virginia, sparked more support against this act. Henry requested that the Virginia House of
Burgesses to deny Parliament’s taxation of the colonies through a series of well worded resolutions. Henry drafted some of these resolutions, and passed them to Parliament, but he did

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not have much success. Parliament was unimpressed and somewhat offended by Henry’s strong language towards them. However, to the everyday man not involved in politics, Henry’s resolutions sounded very strong. In Boston, where common people were in a poor situation, these resolutions brought forth a revolutionary fire. Many of the citizens of Boston had seen dramatic decrease in profits and overall wealth, due to numerous factors. Some of these factors were taxes, like the Navigation and Sugar Acts, as well as the loss of industry to other colonies.
Bostonians heavily, and sometimes violently, resisted the Stamp Act. Throughout the colonies, groups of men, known as the “Sons of Liberty” formed to help foster more protests, although they did keep the protests from getting too violent. In 1765 some colonial representatives met at the Stamp Act Congress, to discuss the authority of Parliament over the colonies. They agreed that Parliament did lack authority to tax the colonies. As riots continued, royal agents as well as stamp distributors were rejecting to do their jobs. Colonial elites, fearing a very violent outcome, tried to restore businesses and local trade to how it was. Many colonists tried to force the Stamp
Act to be repealed, as was seen in New York, where merchants decided to not buy any British goods. These boycotts and riots caused panic in Britain. In Parliament, the prime minister was reluctant to repeal the law because so many of the
British elites were furious at the colonists’ refusal. Parliament attempted to swap out the Stamp
Act for a Declaratory Act, which stated that Parliament could in fact legislate for the colonies. In
Parliament’s eyes, this was an affirmation of their power over the colonies. However, the colonists interpreted this Declaratory Act as that similar to Ireland, where they could be exempt of taxes. However, Parliament argued that it should not be taken so literally. In the end, most colonists were simply happier at the repealment of the Stamp Act than the passing of the
Declaratory Act. In the wake of the chaos caused by the Stamp Act, many colonists began to question the authority of Parliament. Because of the common man’s involvement in government affairs during the Stamp Act, many of these common people began to actually pay attention to the government. The writings of Enlightenment thinkers, such as John Locke, and the ideas in his writings, became more common and widespread throughout the colonies. A group called the oppositionists arose, who questioned the motives of Parliament, and argued that they did not adequately embody the ideals of government. The combination of Enlightenment ideas as well as the hatred of the British helped to spread anti­British feelings around the colonies. Samuel
Adams combined the ideas of republicanism with religion, which bolstered his following. Puritan
Church leaders cried for “God and liberty” which further boosted the message of revolution.
With almost every colonist surrounded by these constant ideas about the tyranny of the British, it was hard not to be sucked into the revolutionary feel.

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3. Resistance Resumes, 1766­1770 As the resistance to the Stamp Act died down after its repeal, more problems were instigated by other acts. For example, the Quartering Act required the colonies to pay for housing and goods for soldiers. Because the colonial assemblies had agreed that only they could create money­raising ventures, this act furthered the idea of Britain’s tyranny, as Britain was forcing another act upon the colonies. New York in particular boycotted this act, but Parliament was swift to pass the New York Suspending Act, which said that New York would not be able to pass laws. Although New York did come to terms with the Quartering Act, it showed that British officials were becoming much more stern in how they would enforce these acts. Britain’s problems with taxes and debt posed problems for the colonies too. Because
Britain still wanted to raise more money to soothe their debt, they tried once more to take advantage of the colonies’ demands. Parliament passed the Revenue Act in 1767 which taxed the imported goods to the colonies. Earlier, the colonists were more concerned about direct internal taxes, but had not stated much regarding import taxes. The colonists saw this Act as similar to the Stamp Act in that it acted simply as a way to increase prices to get more money. However, the main point of the Revenue Act was a way to pay for royal officials in the colonies, so that they would be exempt of the colonial assemblies’ power. This would then tip the balance of power from the colonial assemblies to the royalty­appointed officials. At first, the colonists had little resistance to this act, until John Dickinson wrote a number of points saying why it was unjust. He stated that it was unjust to tax something simply to make revenue. Following Dickinson’s writings, James Otis urged the Massachusetts council to oppose the Revenue Act. The resolutions were drafted by Samuel Adams, and stated that “taxation without representation” was unjust and that there was a threat to self­governance by the independence of royal officials. This was then passed to the Virginia assembly, which also agreed to the points. However, a new British official, Lord Hillsborough, was appointed to get the assemblies to destroy the letter. This backfired, as many of the other colonies’ assemblies took up the letter as a sign of protest against Hillsborough. To get Parliament to repeal the
Revenue Act, Bostonians once again boycotted, this time against importation. As this “non importation agreement” spread, more and more people backed the repealment of the Revenue
Act. The Sons of Liberty also resumed in their efforts. Ultimately the boycott of imports pushed colonists to resist more and more British policies. Merchants and traders in Britain were very upset with the American boycotts, as around
40 percent of their exports to America were effectively nullified. Now that people in England were affected, a movement against the policies of King George arose, and was led by John

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Wilkes. Wilkes wrote his newspaper which shamed and defaced King George’s policies, and multiple warrants went out for his arrest. Wilkes fled England, but when he returned, he ran for
Parliament. After a series of escapes from the King, Wilkes was elected to Parliament but then arrested. People in America, after hearing what he did, raised money to pay for his debts. He became famous in America for his defense of liberty. As the colonists upheld their policy of non importation, white women and their role in society began to change. Because the number of white women in churches outnumbered the men, the Church was a great area for women to gather spread ideas. Women also supported their husbands in their endeavors, such as boycotting drinking tea. Women enforced the boycotts of the colonists within their own households, which helped the spread of these ideas. When the colonists began to boycott English clothing, women took charge to make their own clothing, with one example being that they organized spinning bees. It was evident that the support of women behind men really bolstered the feeling of resistance within the colonies. Apart from the Revenue Acts, the British Parliament also sought to further enforce the
Navigation Acts. Parliament passed an act that allowed for more customs officials along the docks, and these officials, along with informers, were given quite a bit of power over the merchants. Because these port officials could simply “search and seize” any ship, many merchants, who were trying to boycott English goods, found it hard to smuggle any foreign goods in. Merchants looked down upon these informers and commissioners, as they received heavy fines if they were caught smuggling. In Boston, merchants rebelled against these commissioners after John Hancock’s ship was searched. 4. The Deepening Crisis, 1770­1774 Hancock’s backlash against the Acts provoked a worse response from Britain. Later on,
Britain sent 4,000 troops to occupy Boston, and the citizens frowned at their arrival. Bostonians now did not feel independent, rather like prisoners of war. Soldiers looked down upon the citizens, and vice versa. Tensions grew between the two sides, and at one point a child was shot by a customs informer. This escalated tensions to the point of the Boston Massacre, where
Crispus Attucks led a group to protest at the customs office. Attucks and four other people died after the guards fired upon the crowd. Afterwards, the guards who had killed the citizens only received a slight punishment. The colonists began fabricating ideas that the the British government would begin to suppress their freedom through brute force. With a change of prime ministers, Britain tried to ease tensions with the colonists a bit more. The new prime minister, Lord North, offered to repeal most of the Townshend Acts, but

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would keep the tea tax. The colonists, however, still boycotted the tea. Parliament decided to keep the tax on tea despite the continual resistance of the colonies.
To try to fund the paychecks of the royalty­appointed ambassadors, Parliament decided to fund them through the money made off customs. The colonists knew that having independent governors was not beneficial for their own internal governments, which is why they created
“committees of correspondence” which exchanged information regarding colonial rights with one another. On the western frontier, Britain was having a hard time controlling both the expanding colonies as well as the Indians. Because of Britain’s lack of funds, they could not afford to station soldiers there to enforce the earlier Proclamation of 1763. The British government decided to sign a treaty with its Native American allies in the region, which gave most of the land in the Ohio Valley to Pennsylvania and Virginia, and combined the Indian tribes in the region. However, this did not help with relations, as colonists later killed some natives, which sparked “Lord Dunmore’s War.” The colonists quickly dispatched the natives, and took control of the land to the south of the Ohio River. In the north, expansion lead to fighting with landlords.
One such example are the “Green Mountain Boys” who formed their own government in
Vermont. In the Southern colonies, a group known as the Regulators fought the corruption in their colonial governments. However, fighting between the Regulators and the colonial militia ended up in overall weakness within the colony, which made it harder for them to resist their common enemy: the British. With the British East India Company suffering heavily from the boycott of tea,
Parliament passed the Tea Act, which reduced the import tax on tea, making it a much lower price, even lower than that of the illegal smugglers. However, the damage was already done.
Colonists were adamant on getting royal governors out of the colonies, and seeing this as another way to pay for them, the colonists grew upset once more. They had decided to boycott all of the imports of tea from the Tea Act. In Boston, some tea was brought into the harbor. Instead of simply sending the ship away, the customs official forced the captain to pay for it within 20 days.
Hearing the news, a group of around 50 men disguised themselves as Indians and threw all of the tea from the quay into the bay.
They did this swiftly and silently, and were done without making too much of a ruckus. 5. Towards Independence, 1774­1776 African­American slaves in the colonies seemed almost completely separate from the woes of the free white colonists. However, with the growing unrest between white colonists and
British forces, slaves also wanted to join in. However, when slaves did attempt a protest, they were quickly shot down. When a slave was taken to England and sued to be set free, many slaves

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in the colonies became active. They protested that the same law should be practiced in the colonies. Because slaves could get freedom in England, many sought to escape their masters in the colonies. When Lord Dunmore offered freedom to slaves who helped him, many joined, which created a new dynamic between blacks and whites in the colonies. White colonists now associated black slaves with the British, and black slaves began to think of the British as their allies and saviours. After the events of the Boston Tea Party, Parliament was furious, and attempted to punish the colonies. Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, dubbed the Intolerable Acts by the colonists.
These acts were designed to strengthen Britain’s grasp on the New England colonies, but infuriated the colonists. The Coercive Acts contained four different parts, all focusing on trying to contain the colonists. The first Coercive Act stated that all of the tea that was dumped in
Boston Harbour must be paid for, otherwise the port would stay shut. The second stated that the
Massachusetts government would now be appointed by the throne of England, and those appointed would stay for as long as they could. The third stated that any person who was charged only while upholding royal rule could be tried in England or another colony. The final stated that any unused building could be used to house troops, and would not be for public use. All of these acts, in the eyes of the colonists, infringed on their liberties. Hearing of the strict laws placed upon New Englanders, delegates from all colonies met in Philadelphia, to try to find a way to defend the rights of everyone in the colonies. Many important activists and scholars attended the Congress. The Continental Congress decided that
Massachusetts, or any of the other colonies, would not follow the Coercive Acts, and that they would boycott all British goods until the Acts had been removed. In the end, the Congress sent a letter to King George, stating that Britain could in fact regulate trade, but their attempts to tax and burden the colonists were unconstitutional and should be abandoned. As the prospects of revolution became visible, the colonies and the British ramped up the intensity on both sides. The colonial revolutionaries became almost bandit­like, going around and sabotaging and destroying supporters of British rule. Colonists also began amassing arms in the event of a British attack. The British directly countered the revolutionaries by sending forces to take back arms supplies. There was a skirmish between minutemen and redcoats at Lexington, which sparked more violence towards British forces. The ambassadors that still opposed independence at this point were very worried, and they sent a final “Olive Branch Petition” to
King George to repeal the Acts and to uphold the rights of the Americans. However, by the time it had reached Britain, the Continental Army had already formed, and was preparing to fight the
British troops. The minutemen engaged the redcoats at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and although they lost, they fought hard. King George, unwilling to repeal any acts, declared that all of the colonies were in a state of rebellion.

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Many Americans did not want to lose their ties with Britain, however as time passed it was clear that there would be a revolution. Thomas Paine published his work, saying that a monarchy went against the values of liberty. Paine believed that with the creation of a new nation in America, the long standing European ideas would vanish and a much more free society would come based off of republican principles. Many gatherings all over the colonies welcomed independence at this point. With
Massachusetts in rebellion, many of the other colonies also declared independence at this point.
There was now a problem of how to officially declare the colonies independent of Britain.
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams were leaders in writing a new
“Declaration of Independence.” Jefferson wrote the document with a very broad view in mind; one that stated that the colonies would be free, but also allowed for no blame to be passed onto one individual alone. The constant British harassment of the colonists ultimately forced their hand at a grasp for independence. Had the British not been so demanding, maybe today America would still be part of the British Empire. Free Response Questions 1. How and why did their joint triumph in the Seven Years’ War lead to a rupture between
Britain and its American colonies? Although the colonies and Britain worked together in the Seven Years’ War, there were still major factors that caused a rupture. Before the war, Britain had not needed to tax the colonists that much, as they were already making significant gains off of just trade alone. This lack of presence in the colonies lead to the formation of individual colonial governments, which began to hold their own ideas. During the war, Britain amassed a huge amount of debt, which had to be paid. Britain assessed that they could make back a lot of their money off of taxing the colonies, which ultimately backfired. Their joint triumph seemed to show that they were on equal terms, however, Britain’s mercantilist policies did not fly well with the colonists, leading to a rupture. 2. Why did differences between British officials and colonists over revenue­raising measures lead to a more fundamental conflict over political authority within the colonies? Differences between British officials and colonists lead to a more fundamental conflict in that the colonists believed that revenue­raising methods were directly infringing on their rights,

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and were unconstitutional. This lead to more talk within the governments of the colonies regarding colonial rights. Basically, because the colonists saw these methods as unconstitutional rather than simply accepting them, the conflict spread to encompass all of the colonies, rather than just merchants and traders affected by taxes.

3. How did the imperial crisis lead non­elite colonists to become politically active? The Imperial crisis lead non­elite colonists to become politically active in that the constant barrage of acts and taxes imposed force the average person to either fall into debt or revolt. Also, the spread of Enlightenment ideas about liberty and freedom became more common, and as more and more people began to read about these ideas, they opted to integrate them into their lives. Non­elite colonists had to stand up for their individual rights, which forced them to create committees and become active politically in order to force back the acts that were being pushed upon them. 4. What were the major factors leading most colonists to abandon their loyalty to Britain and instead choose national independence? The major factors that lead most colonists to abandon their loyalty were the British policies towards taxation in the colonies. The colonists felt that they were unrepresented in
Parliament, and should not be taxed. Also, the colonists agreed that these Acts were unconstitutional. Americans also grasped onto the idea that they did not have to bow to their social elders, as seen with some of the slave uprisings and the frontiersmen. In essence,
Parliament’s refusal to agree to what the colonies wanted ultimately made it impossible for anyone in the colonies to support their tyrannical rule.