Topic 2: The Causes of the American Revolution

Question 1

What were the benefits of the Seven Years’ War? [3]

Answer 1

<ul><li><span>The </span><span>Treaty of Paris</span><span> gave </span><span>Britain control over Canada,</span><span> including the 80,000 French-Canadians living there.<br></br></span></li><li><span>The French defeat effectively </span><span>wiped them off the American map</span> <span>and removed most of their influence on the continent.<br></br></span></li><li><span>The colonists</span><span> now (SO THEY BELIEVED) had more land to expand on and prosper from.<br></br></span></li><li><span>There was</span><span> no more fear </span><span>of </span><span>French oppression</span><span> from the colonists.</span></li></ul>

Question 2

What were the drawbacks of the Seven Years’ War? [3]

Answer 2

• The war created tremendous debt, DOUBLING the British National Debt.
• By 1763 it cost £4.4mn, with an £8mn govt. income
• Britain was trying to avoid hostilities between the Native Americans, which expanding westward would have caused.
• The British now needed to station troops in the colonies to prevent further hostilities between the Natives, which they wanted to make colonists fund.
• This led to an increase from an already high £350,000 spent on colonial defences by 1763
• This made colonists frustrated and to some extent intimidated or anxious of British military presence in the colonies.

Question 3

Which British PM decided to station troops in the colonies? How many did he station in the colonies? [2]

Answer 3

It was the Earl of Bute. He decided to station 10,000 men in the colonies.

Question 4

What happened in Pontiac’s Rebellion? What was this an example of? [4]

Answer 4

• Natives in the Ohio Valley feared that, post-war, the colonists would expand westward and take their land.
• As a result they, in a series of attacks killed or captured around 2,000 colonists.
• They besieged Detroit until the British recaptured it in August.
• This was an example of the British helping the colonists at their own expense,which they became tired of.

Question 5

When was the Proclamation Act brought in and what did it do? [2]

Answer 5

Proclamation Act brought in October 1763. It made crossing the line drawn along the Appalachians illegal, and any property beyond it null and void.

Question 6

From a colonist point of view, why were they angry at the Proclamation Act? [3]

Answer 6

• They had a rapid growing population and thus felt like the westward land was necessary to facilitate this.
• They saw the act, enforced by a standing army, as military despotism which prevented their self-determination.
• They saw this Act as a flagrant violation of their policy of salutary neglect.

Question 7

By the time the Proclamation Act had emerged(inclusive), what complaints did colonists have?[2]

Answer 7

• The inability to move westward due to the British Army and the Proclamation Act.
• The fact that they were now being taxed to fund this British Army in America
• The further fact that they had no representation in the Commonsto protest this tax.

Question 8

What was the anti-smuggling legislation passed? [3]

Answer 8

• Colonial customs officials had to live in the colonies and were not allowed to just delegate work; they had to do themselves.
• Colonial courts had rights to handle smuggling cases removed as they were often very lenient with their fellow colonists.
• These cases were passed onto a Vice-Admiralty Court, which had no jury and a British, Crown-appointed judge who was much harsher on the colonists. The colonists under trial had to make their own way in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and had to pay for the proceedings regardless of the outcome.

Question 9

What was the outcome and significance of the anti-smuggling legislation? [2]

Answer 9

• They felt very disrespected by the fact that their rights to jury duty had been removed.
• It implied that they were being treated as second-class citizens; marked slight shift from salutary neglect to more active approach. It did, however, slightly discourage smuggling.

Question 10

Talk to me about the Sugar Act 1764. [4]

Answer 10

• 5th April 1764
• Tried to amend the issue of smuggling by halving the tax to 3d/gallon to funding the British Army in America
• Rigorously enforced.
• Any official caught accepting a bribe was fined £500 and barred from serving in any govt. post again.
• Supposed to allegedly raise £78,000/year if done right.

Question 11

Talk to me about the Currency Act. [2]

Answer 11

• It was passed on the 1st September 1764.
• The Currency Act made only British currency legally usable in the colonies, which directly attacked money printing in colonies like Virginia.
• Led to a severe economic depressionwhich threatened many colonists with financial ruin.
• By this point colonists began to look towards John Wilkes, who attacked the king, calling his ministers “tools of despot and corruption”.

Question 12

Talk to me about the Stamp Act. [8]

Answer 12

It was announced on the 22nd March 1765
* Internal tax
* The British saw this as reasonable, as they believed making the colonists pay for their own land was completely fair.
* The Stamp Act taxed any formally written piece of paper (some 50 items), such as a legal document, that circulated in the colonies
* Marked the end of salutary neglect and was the first direct tax levied on all colonists.
* Attacked in the Virginia House of Burgesses (Assembly); Virginia Resolves brought in by Patrick Henry asserting rights by Royal Charter
* Would have raised £60,000 a year
* October 1765 27 delegates from 9 colonies met at the Stamp Tax Congress to condemn it.
* Boycott of British goods arranged there
* Andrew Oliver’s effigy hung and house attacked

Question 13

Talk to me about the Townshend Duties. [5]

Answer 13

• The Townshend Duties were passed 1767-68.
• Pitt needed to recover from the Depression, the War, and the 1765 boycotts.
• He also needed British soldiers in America.
• External taxation, not internal so technically acceptable by colonial parameters
• Townshend then created the American Board of Customs Commissioners in Boston, which enforced the duties by paying the officials with the money collected. Weakened assembly power. NY resisted, so 1767 New York Restraining Act suspended assembly until they complied 1767 [+Quartering Act (NO IT WAS 1765) mandated people to provide food and accomodation for soldiers if they entered their house]
• John Dickinson, 1768 wrote Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer
• Boston organised a boycott of British goods; all but New Hampshire involved by 1769
• It would only have raised £40,000 anyway had the colonists paid in full

Question 14

Who were the Sons of Liberty? What was their involvement in opposition to the 1760s Acts passed? [4]

Answer 14

• They were a semi-secret society run by Samuel Adams.
• Mainly in the Northern colonies; little Southern control.
• Disunited and not widespread; only 5% of the population were townspeople.
• Thus their role in this action can often be overstated.
• They also ensured that political consciousness was kept high.

Question 15

Talk to me about the Declaratory Act. [2]

Answer 15

• In March 1766, Rockingham repealed the Stamp Act
• Passed the Declaratory Act, which stated that Parliament had not abandoned its rights to tax or legislate the colonies+reasserted parliamentary sovereignty

Question 16

What ideological issues did the Stamp Act raise? [2]

Answer 16

• People were also calling back to Lockean ideas from the Enlightenment, that property was a natural right; used to show that the government could govern as long as they didn’t abuse their power.
• If they accepted this, it would pave the way for an unbearable long trail of further taxation.

Question 17

Why and when were British troops deployed in Boston? How did their presence affect the city? [3]

Answer 17

• Colonial Secretary ordered the Massachusetts Assembly to rescind the Circular Letter (which criticised the Townshend Acts), but this didn’t happen and the governor shut down the Massachusetts Assembly.
• They refused to submit to British authority and he ordered 4000 British troops to reassert order in Boston in October 1768.
• Newspapers spread fake news about the soldiers being brutal and violent and this built up into tension that culminated in the next few weeks.

Question 18

What were the actual events of (and just before) the Boston Massacre? [2]

Answer 18

• The Sons of Liberty were informed that an 11 year old boy was killed during a riot; 5,000 people attended his funeral.
• On the 2nd March 1770,rope factory workers attacked some soldiers seeking jobs
• On the 5th March 1770 British troops under extreme pressure opened fire, killing 5 Bostonians and creating the impression that it was a deliberate massacre.

Question 19

What was the Committee of Correspondence? When was it created? [3]

Answer 19

• First created in 1764 in opposition to the Currency Act, and invigorated with the 1765 Stamp Act
• Following the Boston Massacre, Samuel Adams reestablished the Committee of Correspondence in the 1772 Boston Town Meeting:
• This was so networked that by mid-1773, 50 Massachusetts towns had their own committees
• While they didn’t take action, it was useful in spreading correspondence between colonies

Question 20

What did Lord North(elected 1770) do to try and improve colonial relations? [2]

Answer 20

• He did this by removing Hillsborough and replacing him with a more moderate man, the Earl of Dartmouth in 1772.
• He believed in accommodation as opposed to confrontation.
• He also repealed all of the Townshend Duties in March 1770 except the duty on tea.

Question 21

What did Lord North pass that further frustrated colonists? [3]

Answer 21

• In 1773, North passed the Tea Act in order to keep colonial trading company The East India Company from bankruptcy by allowing it to export cheap tea directly to the colonies.
• This gave the EIC a monopoly on the tea trade
• It also threatened colonist smugglers from the Dutch West Indies who were importing tea.
• Attack on liberty

Question 22

What happened at the Boston Tea Party? [2]

Answer 22

In Boston, November 1773 Samuel Adams organised the Sons of Liberty to throw 342 chests of tea, worth about £10,000, into the harbour.

Question 23

What was the British response to the Boston Tea Party?

Answer 23

They saw the Boston Tea Party as a flagrant act of disrespect. North, thinking they were challenging British security and prosperity, saw Boston as the centre of the chaos, so he introduced the Coercive Acts between 1774 and 1775

Question 24

What 5 acts formed the Coercive Acts?

Answer 24

• The Boston Port Act (closed until £10,000 repaid)
• The Massachusetts Government Act (North replaced the Governor of Massachusetts, Hutchinson, General Gage - much harsher + banned town meetings)
• The Imperial Administation of Justice Act (allowed British officials to be tried in Britain not the colonies)
• The New Quartering Act (now extended to private property)
• The Quebec Act (angered colonists at Canadian Catholic treatment – double standards)

Question 25

What was the influence of media and press in the colonies? [2]

Answer 25

* More than 30 newspapers existed by 1763 * Furthermore, opposition was continued through Thomas Paine, who argued that colonists should be independent in a pamphlet, *Common Sense*, in 1775-76. * This was the largest sale of any book in American history

Question 26

What was the influence of John Locke on the colonial response and intellectual perception of the colonies? [3]

Answer 26

* He believed that humans had fundamental “natural” rights those being life, liberty, and property, which strongly appealed to colonists looking for autonomy. * His idea of liberalism went against the political structure of the Dark Ages, that being absolutist, tyrannical, divine right monarchic rule. * While not monarchic rule, the colonists saw similar ideas of tyranny and oppression in the British imperial rule and the Dark Ages, which led many to strongly gravitate towards Lockean, liberal ideas. * Contributed to growth of American Whiggism: Uphold individual rights, protect representative institutions, and defend freedom

Question 27

What was the influence of John Wilkes on political thought in the colonies? [3]

Answer 27

* John Wilkes received a lot of support from Americans through his criticism of the King and describing his ministers as ‘the tools of despotism and corruption’ * When Wilkes returned from jail in May 1768 due to these comments, he was elected to the Commons 3 times, but expelled for libel each time until a replacement was illegally appointed to ensure he wasn’t present. * To highlight his influence in America,in 1769 South Carolina donated £1,500 to him. * Wilkes therefore showed Americans how there was oppression in both Britain and America of liberties; his speech was also being suppressed in the Commons. ## Footnote So John Wilkes is a political radical.

Question 28

Who was Samuel Adams and how was he important in the growth of colonist opposition? [4]

Answer 28

* It was Samuel Adams who realised that colonial leaders couldn’t challenge British policy without popular support. * He was from Boston and was key in the development of opposition here * He was a radical and an idealist who believed that the British ruling elite were corrupt. * He was one of the Loyal 9 who attacked Stamp Tax supporters. * Helped form the Sons Of Liberty * He was the one who called the 1771(or 2) Boston Town meeting during which the Committees of Correspondence were formed. ## Footnote So Sam Adams is a radical leader.

Question 29

Who was John Dickinson in the growth of colonist opposition? [4]

Answer 29

* A moderate lawyer from Pennsylvania who opposed British measures but wasn’t a radical. * Rose to prominence in 1768 with his Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer which attacked the Townshend Duties. * Argued that while Parliament could regulate trade, it had no right to tax colonists without their consent * Made the case that these taxes were not just economic oppression but also a threat to the liberties of the colonists. * Was v. important in framing political arguments against Britain but sought reforms rather than outright revolution, making him a significant figure in the pre-revolutionary dialogue. ## Footnote So Dickinson is the Moderate; the Reformer.

Question 30

Who was Thomas Jefferson and how was he important in the growth of political colonist opposition? [3]

Answer 30

* A wealthy Virginian and intellectual, Jefferson became one of the most important voices for independence. * Criticised the king and British policies, arguing that colonists, now with 100k men, were entitled to self-governance. * A Summary View of the Rights of Americamarked the beginning of Jefferson’s role in the intellectual shift toward independence, helping to popularise the idea that severing ties with Britain was the only logical path forward. ## Footnote So Jefferson is another radical leader.

Question 31

Who was John Adams and how was he important in the growth of colonist opposition? [5]

Answer 31

* Gained prominence by offering a legal defence for British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, a deeply unpopular but principled move that showcased his dedication to justice. * Represented Massachusetts in the Continental Congress where he played a leading role in pushing for independence. * Known as a radical by his peers, Adams was essential in persuading Congress to declare independence. * Unlike some contemporaries, Adams worked behind the scenes to ensure that the movement for independence was based on solid legal arguments and strategic political actions * Adams was a strategic thinker; helped turn revolutionary ideas into action; important behind the scenes. ## Footnote So John Adams is the Radical Thinker.

Question 32

Who was Thomas Paine and how was he important in the growth of colonist opposition? [4]

Answer 32

* English radical who published ***Common Sense*** in 1776; selling **over 500,000 copies in the first year** * ***Common Sense*** was written in simple, forceful language,making it accessible to the general public and galvanising support for independence. * In Paine’s pamphlet he made it clear thatbreaking with Britain was the only way to safeguard American liberties. * His work was v. important for turning public opinion in favour of independence, shifting the conversation from whether separation was possible to why it was absolutely necessary Paine also encouraged Americans to establish a republic. ## Footnote So Paine is a radical author for the masses.