KDash Study Guides

 North and South America were discovered thousands of years before Columbus was born

o Some archaeologists believe it may have been first settled 40,000 years ago

o Immigrants traveled from Siberia into Alaska (land bridge)

 The population estimation ranges from under a million to over 10 million

o Most Native Americans lived in groups smaller than 300 in semi permanent homes.

 Some tribes were nomadic (Sioux and Pawnee followed herds)

 Few tribes were large and complex (thousands lived together)

o Pueblos lived in multistoried buildings and developed irrigation systems

o The Iroquois tribes formed a political confederacy, The League of Iroquois (Stood attacks from Europeans and Native Americans during the 1700 – 1800’s)

 South America had a larger population than North America in 1490

o Aztecs in central Mexico (Tenochtitlan was equal in size and population to the largest cities of Europe)

 Vikings around the year 1000 went to Greenland and North America (no impact)

o Gradual increase in scientific knowledge and technological change

 Europeans used gunpowder (Chinese), sailing compasses (adopted from Chinese by Arab merchants)

 The printing press (1450) aided the spread of knowledge across Europe

 During the later years of the Renaissance The Roman Catholic Church was threatened by:

o Protestant revolt against the pope’s authority (Europe)

o One stronghold remained where Queen Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand, king of Aragon, united their separate Christian kingdoms.

o In 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand defeated the Moors of Granada.

o The uniting of Spain by Isabella and Ferdinand was a sign of new leadership, hope and power for European believers in the Roman Catholic faith

 In the early 1500’s certain Christians in Germany, England, France, Holland, and other northern European countries revolted against the authority of the pope in Rome.

o Conflicts between the Protestants and Catholics led to many wars

o Each religious group sought to spread their religion to non-Christian peoples in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

 Economic motives for exploration grew out of a fierce competition among European kingdoms for increased trade with Africa, India, and China.

o In the past trade traveled from Venice (Italy) and Constantinople (Byzantine) to the capital of the Chinese empire by foot.

o The land route was blocked in 1453 when the Ottoman Turks seized Constantinople.

 Sailing around Africa (the latter possibility) seemed better than traveling westward

o Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator opened a sea route around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. In 1498 Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India by this route.

 Monarchs were building Nation-States in Spain, Portugal, France, England, and the Netherlands.

o The Nation-States depended on trade to bring the revenues and the Church to justify the right to rule.

 In 1492 he got Isabella and Ferdinand to support him with 3 small ships

o He sailed from the Canary Islands (September 6) and landed in the Bahamas on October 12th

 Spaniards considered Columbus a failure at the time of his death because he didn’t find a route for trade

 Some people scoff at Columbus for giving Native Americans the name “Indians”

 He named the land after Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian sailor

 Spain and Portugal were the first countries to claim land in the New World

 The Catholic monarchs thought it their duty to claim the land from the “heathens” (non-Christians)

o In 1493 the Pope drew a line separating the land for Spain and Portugal.

o In 1494 both kingdoms signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which moved the line further west.

 Portugal was then able to claim Brazil as its territory

 Numerous conquerors helped Spain obtain all of their land in the Americas:

o Vasco Nunez de Balboa – crossed the isthmus of Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean (1513)

o Juan Ponce de Leon – while searching for the legendary fountain of youth discovered Florida (1513)

o Ferdinand Magellan – sailed around the tip of South America (1520) and crossed the Pacific ocean; one of his ships was the first ever to circumnavigate the globe

o Hernan Cortes – conquered the Aztec empire in Mexico (1521)

o Francisco Pizarro – conquered the Inca empire in Peru (1532)

o Hernando de Soto – explored from Florida westward as far as the Mississippi River (1539-1542)

o Francisco Vasquez de Coronado – explored a vast territory in North America from present-day New Mexico into Kansas (1540-1542)

 The conquistadors sent back gold and silver to Spain, increasing the gold supply by over 500%.

o Spain was the richest and most powerful nation in Europe

o Other nations wanted to go to the Americas for wealth

o The Spanish turned into an encomienda system, with the king of Spain giving grants of land and Indians to individual Spaniards

 When the Indian population decreased African Americans were brought over as slaves

 The asiento system made the Spanish pay a tax for each African American they imported into the country to their king

 In 1497 John Cabot explored the coast of Newfoundland under contact with England’s King Henry VIII

 England did not follow up on any of Cabot’s explorations

 England’s monarchy was concerned with matters like Henry VIII breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church.

 In the 1570’s –1580’s Queen Elizabeth I had England attacking Spanish ships and settlements on the coast of Peru.

 Sir Walter Raleigh tried to create a settlement at Roanoke Island in 1587 but his venture failed.

 In 1524 French first showed any desire to colonize with explorer Giovanni da Verranzo.

o He hoped to find a northwest passage leading to Asia. He explored part of North America’s eastern coast, including New York harbor.

 Jacques Cartier (1534-1542) explored the St. Lawrence River extensively.

 During the 1500’s the French monarchy was preoccupied with internal wars of the Catholics vs. the Protestants as well as with European wars

 The first French establishment was in 1608 at Quebec by Samuel de Champlain.

 In 1673 Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette explored the upper Mississippi River.

 In 1682 Robert de La Salle explored the Mississippi basin, which he named Louisiana after King Louis XIV

o In 1609 Hudson sailed up a broad river, named later the Hudson River and claimed areas around New Amsterdam and later New York.

o The Dutch West Company (a private joint-stock company) took control of the region for economic gain.

 In 1588 The English conquered the Spanish Armada and gained respect as being a superior naval command

 England was going through a time of high population and low income, a perfect opportunity for colonies to rise in the New World

 England pooled the stock of people a moderate amount of money to create new colonies

 In 1607 England’s King James I established the first permanent colony of Jamestown

 Indian attacks, famine, disease, and their own mistakes made the first settlers face many hardships

 Located along the James River in a swampy area dysentery and malaria were fat to many.

 Many men were unaccustomed to work and thus refused to hunt or farm…the colonists nearly starved

 Captain John Smith and the establishment of the tobacco industry by John Rolfe Jamestown survived.

 Rolfe and Pocahontas, his wife, developed a new popular tobacco for Europe.

 In 1619 indentured servants and African American indentured servants filled the task force for the tobacco industry

 In 1624 the company’s charter was revoked and the colony, now known as Virginia, became directly controlled by King James I.

 Religious motivation was the motive for the two English colonies explained next

 The colonies were founded by Henry VIII in the early 1500’s

o The Anglican Church was Protestant and under the control of the English monarch, not the pope in Rome

 In the early 1600’s during the reign of King James I many wanted to change the rituals and “purify” the church…. thus making them Puritans. James felt that they were a threat to both his religious and political authority and had some of them arrested and jailed.

 The Separatists, one of the groups of Puritans, wanted to organize a completely separate church that was independent of royal control.

o The Pilgrims as the Separatists were called, first migrated to Holland.

o Economic hardship and cultural differences led the Pilgrims to North America to settle in a colony established by the Virginia Company of London.

o In 1620 a small group of Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower.

 After a harsh winter the Native Americans help show the Pilgrims ways to adapt.

o In 1621 they celebrated the first thanksgiving feast.

 Puritans were further prosecuted in England under the rule of Charles I.

 A group of non-separatists gained a royal charter for a new colonization, the Massachusetts Bay Company (1629)

 In 1630 about 1000 Puritans led by John Winthrop sailed and found Boston, Massachusetts.

 A civil war in the 1630’s drove another 15,000 more settlers to the colony, the Great Migration occurred.

 From the start England allowed the colonies a degree of self-rule.

 Aboard the Mayflower in 1620 the Pilgrims signed an agreement to make decisions under the will of the majority. The Mayflower Compact represented an early form of written constitution.

 They guaranteed residents the same rights as they had in England, including the right to representation

 In 1619 the civilians created a representative assembly known as the House of Burgesses.

 All free men in the Massachusetts Bay Company were given the right to vote for the colony’s governor, his assistants, and a representative assembly.

 Only male property owners could vote for representatives

 Many colonial governors ruled with autocratic or unlimited powers, answering only to the king or others in England who provided the colonies’ financial support

 Because of limited mineral sources and strong opposition from the Native Americans it took a while for Spanish settlements to develop

 The Spanish in 1565 established a permanent settlement in St. Augustine, the oldest city in North America

 They tried to Christianize the Native Americans, however it led to a revolt in 1680.

 They were drive from the area until the early 1700’s

 The Spanish settled in Texas after they were driven from New Mexico

 Settlements grew in the 1700’s despite the French efforts to explore the lower Mississippi

 Because of the Russian exploration from Alaska, the Spanish settled in San Diego (1769) and San Francisco (1784)

 The Spanish chose to deal with the Native Americans by conquer, rule, and intermarry with the Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas

 The English occupied the land and forced the small, scattered tribes they encountered to move away from the coast to inland territories

 The French tended to treat the Native Americans as economic and military allies

 Spain incorporated Central and South America into a highly organized empire

 The explorers and adventurers intermarried with Indians as well as Africans

 The latter group were captured in Africa and forced to provide slave labor for Spanish colonists

o This system was run completely by pureblooded Spaniards.

 In Massachusetts the English and Native Americans traded, coexisted, and shared ideas

o The Native Americans saw the English taking the land

 Maintained relatively good relationships with the Native Americans

o The French helped fight the nearby tribes enemy the Iroquois

 The French opened many posts and traded French goods for Indian furs

• Corporate colonies – operated by joint-stock companies (Jamestown)

• Royal colonies – (Virginia after 1624) under direct authority and rule of the king’s government

• Proprietary colonies – (Maryland and Pennsylvania) under the authority of individuals granted charters of ownership by the king

o 1632 King Charles I subdivided the once Virginia colony

o He chartered a new colony on either side of the Chesapeake Bay and gave it to George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) for his loyal service to the crown

o Cecil Calvert, George’s son, (the new Lord Baltimore) took over for his father when he died

 Implemented his father’s plan in 1634 which was twofold:

o To avoid the persecution and intolerance of Puritan enemies a large amount of wealthy English Catholics moved to Maryland to farm

o They were, however, outnumbered by Protestant farmers.

o Calvert persuaded the assembly to adopt the Act of Toleration which granted religious freedom to all Christians but called for the death of anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus

o Late 1600’s the Protestants revolted against a Catholic proprietor

o Brief civil war in which the Protestants won occurred

o Catholics lost their right to vote for the Maryland assembly

o Struggled with a number of problems in the late 17th century including a rebellion against the colonial government

o Price of tobacco dropped due to overproduction; however, they raised the prices in England to make more profit.

o England higher the price of goods exported to Virginia

• Royal governor of Virginia that adopted policies that favored large planters and used dictatorial powers to govern on their behalf

• Antagonized backwoods farmers on Virginia’s western frontier because he failed to protect them from Indian attacks

o Nathaniel Bacon was a poor farmer that just arrived from England that wanted to revolt against Berkeley’s government

o Raised an army of volunteers and in 1676 conducted a series of raids and massacres against Indian villages on the Virginia frontier

o Bacon’s army succeeded in defeating the governor’s forces and burned the Jamestown settlement

o After Bacon died Berkeley brutally suppressed the leftovers of the rebellion

o Under contract with a master or landowner who paid for their passage, young people from the British Isles agreed to work for a specified period – usually between four and seven years – in return for room and board.

 Any plantation owner who paid for an immigrant’s passage

o 1st African Americans arrived on a ship operated by a Dutch trader

o At first they had about the same responsibilities of the indentured servants (time wise)

o In the 1660’s the rules changed and all African Americans were held for life as slaves unlike the indentured white servants

o Puritan leaders proved to be intolerant of those who questioned their religion and thus banished them from the Bay colony from which they went to either Rhode Island and Connecticut

o Roger Williams was a Puritan minister that went to Boston in 1631

o He was banished because he believed that the individual’s conscience was beyond the control of any civil or church authority

o He and some followers founded the settlement of Providence (1636)

 Providence citizens respected the Indians and paid for the use of their land

o Dissident who believed in antinomianism – the idea that faith alone, not deeds, is necessary for salvation.

o Founded Portsmouth (1638) and a few years later migrated to Long Island and was killed in an Indian uprising

o In 1644 Roger Williams was granted a charter from the English Parliament to unite Providence and Portsmouth to form Rhode Island…a colony that allowed religious freedom for all

o Led a group of Boston Puritans to form the colony of Hartford in 1636

o Established a representative government that included a legislature elected by common vote and a governor chosen by that legislature

o In 1665 New Haven joined with Hartford settlers to form the colony of Connecticut.

 The royal charter for Connecticut grated a limited degree of self-government, including election of the governor

o King Charles II, hoping to increase royal control over the colonies, separated New Hampshire from the Bay colony in 1679 and made it a royal colony, subject to the authority of an appointed governor

o In the 1660’s people started becoming less interested in religious faith and more in materialistic subjects

o People could now take part in church services and activities without a formal declaration of their total belief in Christ

o In 1643 the New England colonies (Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven) formed a military alliance known as the New England Confederation to protect themselves from Native American attacks.

o Lasted until 1684 when colonial rivalries and renewed control by the English monarch brought it to an end

o Chief of the Wampanoag, Metacom – “King Phillip”, united many tribes against the New England colonies

o The confederation fought against the Indians and managed to prevail after thousands of deaths on both sides and the destruction of numerous villages

o New American colonies were formed during the Restoration (the restoration of power to King Charles II in 1660 after the ruling of Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell)

o In 1729 two royal colonies, North and South Carolina, were formed

o In the middle of the 18th century rice plantations became popular as compared to the old ways of furs and providing food for the West Indies

o Charles II wished to consolidate the crown’s holdings along the Atlantic Coast and close the gap between the New England and Chesapeake Bay colonies

o The Dutch needed to give up their colony of New Amsterdam

o 1664 the kind granted his brother, Duke of York (future James II) the lands between Connecticut and Delaware Bay

o Ordered new taxes, duties, and rents without seeking the consent of a representative assembly

o In 1683 James allowed New York’s governor granted broad civil and political rights, including a representative assembly

o James divided a section of New York into two pieces and gave them to two friends

o 1702 the crown decided to connect the two Jerseys and form New Jersey, a new royal colony

o Believed that each person private soul and not the Bible or any other source provided the religious authority.

o Because his father was a victorious admiral to the king after he died he received Pennsylvania as compensation

o Penn wanted his new colony to provide a religious refuge for Quakers and other persecuted people, enact liberal ideas in government, and generate income and profits for himself.

o Guaranteed a representative assembly elected by landowners, and a constitution, the Charter of Liberties (1701) which guaranteed freedom of worship for all and unrestricted immigration

o Treated the Indians fairly, established a grid system of street names, and also moved to the Americas to govern over land

o Advertised throughout Europe his colony to attract people

o 1702 Penn granted the lower three counties of Pennsylvania their own assembly which became Delaware

o 1732 the last colony was formed using British funding

o Freed many prisoners from overcrowded jails in Europe

o In 1752 the British government took over and dropped the bans and allowed the colony to grow slowly

o According to a mercantilist doctrine, a government should regulate trade and production to enable it to become self-sufficient.

o Colonies were to provided raw materials to the parent country for growth and profit of the mother country

1. Trade was only possible with English or colonial ships

2. All goods imported except for some perishables should be shipped through the ports in England

o English military forces protected colonies from potential attacks from French and Spanish

o Chesapeake farmers received low prices for their crops

o Colonists had to pay high prices for manufactured goods from England

• In 1684 England revoked the Massachusetts Bay charter because of the smuggling of goods and disobedience of the Acts

o In 1686 King James II combined New York, New Jersey, and the various New England colonies into a single unit called the Dominion of New England.

o He levied taxes, limited town meetings, and revoked land titles

o 1688 James was replaced with two new sovereigns, Mary and William. The colonies operated again under separate charters

 Reduced migration due to higher incomes in England

o In 1661 Virginia enacted legislation that stated children automatically inherited their mother’s slave status for life

o In 1664 Maryland stated that no white woman could marry an African American

o Rum was brought to West Africa which was traded for slaves that were brought to the West Indies for sugarcane

o Trip from West Africa to West Indies that was horrendous for African slaves that survived

o Came from all over including Great Britain, France, and Germany

o Came to escape religious persecution and wars, sought economic opportunities

o In the 18th century few went to New England to settle because it was both limited in extent and under Puritan control

 English – continued to come over however less than other countries

• Maintained their language, customs, & religion (Lutheran)

• No respect for British government (pressured them into leaving Ireland)

• Settled in the western parts (Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia)

 Took up a large part of the population and 90% lived in the southern colonies living in a state of lifelong bondage

 Majority of the population in South Carolina & Georgia

 Minority of the population in North Carolina, Virginia, & Maryland

 Laws were formed against African Americans in each colony

o Great majority of people were English in origin, language, and tradition

o Each colony had a representative assembly that was selected by eligible voters (white male property owners)

 Elected in Rhode Island and Connecticut by the people

 Appointed by a proprietor in Pennsylvania and Maryland

o Each colony permitted the practice of different religions but with difference degrees of freedom

 Massachusetts was the least tolerant and excluded non-Christians and Catholics

 Rhode Island and Pennsylvania were the most liberal

o Wealthy landowners at the top, craftspeople and farmers took up the majority of the common people

o With the exception of African Americans every one had an opportunity to improver their standard of living and social status by hard work

o People were getting married younger and bearing more children

• English law gave the husband almost unlimited power in the home, including the right to beat his wife

• Cooked, cleaned, made close, and took care of medicines

o England prohibited industries such as textiles and also limited kinds of manufacturing, such as flour or rum

 Subsistence farming was very popular – the farms were usually under 100 acres due to the rocky land

 The descendents of the Pilgrims profited from logging, shipbuilding, fishing, trading, and rum-distilling

 Produced an abundance of wheat and corn for West Indies and Europe

 Farms were usually up to 200 acres and operated by indentured servants and hired laborers

 Cities such as Philadelphia and New York arose from trading

 Farming ranged from small subsistence farming to large plantations of over 2,000 acres

 Cash crops were mainly tobacco in the Chesapeake and North Carolina colonies

 Plantations used many slaves and were often self-sufficient

 Carolinas exported large amounts of timber and naval stores (tar and pitch)

 England limited the colonies to using only gold and silver for imports

 Many colonies issued paper money, however, it led to inflation

 The government in England vetoed colonial laws that might be harmful to English merchants

• Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston are major trading centers

• Horse travel also became popular…taverns and a postal service was made

 Certain colonial governments had taxed the people to support one of the Protestant denominations

• Congregational Church in Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut

o A period of time characterized by fervent expressions of religious feeling among masses of people (Strongest during 1730’s to 1740s)

o Argued that God was rightfully angry with human sinfulness

o Each individual who expressed deep penitence could be saved by God’s grace, but the souls who paid no heed to God’s commandments would suffer eternal damnation

o Stressed that God was all-powerful and would save only those who openly professed their belief in Jesus Christ

o Taught ordinary people who had faith and sincerity could understand the Christian Gospels without depending on ministers to lead them

o Ministers lost some of their former authority among those who now studied the Bible at home

o Great Awakening caused a major division between those who supported its teachings (the “New Lights”) and those who condemned them (the “Old Lights”)

o If the people didn’t have to rely on ministers why should they rely on the great landowners and merchants?

 Brick and stucco homes, Georgian Style, were built in the style characterized by a symmetrical placement of windows and dormers and a spacious center hall flanked by two fireplaces (Common on eastern seaboard)

 Benjamin West and John Copley went to England where they acquired the necessary training and financial support to establish themselves as prominent artists

 Most authors wrote on serious subjects, religion and politics mainly

 Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards were famous for religious tracts

 After the American Revolution many authors wrote about political essays

 Benjamin Franklin wrote the best selling book Poor Richard’s Almanac.

 Phillis Wheatley wrote poetry that was know for her triumph over slavery and the quality of her verse

 Created the first tax-supported school system (emphasized on learning the Bible)

 Either church sponsored or private, teachers often lived with families

 Tutor’s provided instruction for the owner’s children on plantations

 Harvard, William and Mary, and Yale were the first 3 colleges in the colonies

 Sectarian = exist to promote the doctrines of a particular religious sect (Harvard, Yale, William and Mary)

 Nonsectarian = no religious sponsors (College of Philadelphia)

o During the first 100 years of life in the colonies chemistry was the only widespread profession

o Smallpox cures were made that actually did worse than leaving it alone

o The first medical college was begun as part of Franklin’s idea for the College of Philadelphia

o As trade expanded and legal problems became more complex, the need for expert assistance in court became apparent

o During the 1760’s and 1770’s the fought for colonial rights

o Expanded from 4 to 40 and included month old news from England, ads, essays giving advice for better living, and eventually a cartoon was made in the Philadelphia Gazette by Ben Franklin

o Was accused of libelously criticizing New York’s royal governor

o Zenger’s lawyer (Andrew Hamilton)argued that he printed the truth in the newspaper

o English law says that if anything is published injuring a governor’s reputation then it is a crime

o The jury acquitted Zenger and thus encouraged criticism of the royal government

o The Americans were restless, enterprising, practical, and forever seeking to improve their circumstances

 8 royal colonies with governors elected by the kind (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia)

 3 proprietary colonies with governors were appointed by the proprietor (Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware)

 2 colonies elected their governors by popular vote (Rhode Island, Connecticut)

 The lower house of legislators were elected by eligible voters

 The upper house was elected by either the king or the proprietor unless it was Rhode Island or Connecticut who elected both houses

 People of the town would regularly come together to vote directly on public issues

 In southern colonies local government was carried on by a law-enforcing sheriff and other officials who serve a unit called a county

o Was limited or maybe even partial during the colonial era

o White women, poor white men, slaves of both sexes, and most free blacks were barred from voting

o The barring was beginning to be removed during the 18th century

o Voters were required to own a certain amount of property

o Privileged people usually made the decisions for the community as compared to the common people

o Stakes were high because the winner gained supremacy in the West Indies and Canada, and would dominate colonial trade

o The first two wars were King Williams War (1689-1697) and Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713)

o In both the English launched attempts to capture Quebec, however, in both cases they failed

o Native Americans supported by the French burned English frontier settlements

o In Queen Anne’s war the English forces did prevail and gained both Nova Scotia from France and trading rights in Spanish America

 James Oglethorpe in Georgia managed to repulse Spanish attacks

 The New Englanders captured Louisburg, a major French fortress

 Britain agreed to give Louisburg back to the French in exchange for political and economic gains in India (New Englanders were very upset)

o Began in the colonies, England and France didn’t trust it’s young colonies so they sent over troops to protect

o From British viewpoints the French provoked the war by building a chain of forts in the Ohio River Valley

o French did this to prevent westward growth of the British colonies

o Governor of Virginia set a small militia led by George Washington to stop the growth of Fort Duquesne and win control of the Ohio River Valley

o After a small victory the British lost to the force of the Frenchmen and Native American allies

o A new war began and at first went badly for the British

o In another attempt by the British, Edward Braddock, ended in the defeat of more than 2,000 British regulars, and colonial troops were routed by a smaller force of French and Native Americans near Ft. Duquesne

o British invasion of French Canada in 1756 and 1757 was repulsed

o British government called for the representatives from several colonies to meet in a congress at Albany, New York

o The delegates from 7 colonies adopted a plan, the Albany Plan of Union, that provided intercolonial government and a system for recruiting troops and collecting taxes from various colonies for their common defense

o Never went into effect because each colony was too jealous of its own taxation powers to accept the plan

o After retaking Louisburg, the surrender of Quebec to General James Wolfe, and taking of Montreal made Britain concentrate on conquering Canada

o They signed a peace treaty and the British extended their control of North America and French power on the continent virtually ended

o Through the peace treaty (the Peace of Paris), Great Britain obtained French Canada and Spanish Florida.

o France gave up to Spain its western territory, Louisiana, and claims west of the Mississippi River in compensation for Spain’s loss of Florida.

o Established North America as the dominant naval power in the world

o Changed the ways Great Britain and the colonies view each other

o Thought that the colonies militia was weak and felt that the colonists were unwilling to defend the new frontiers

o Thought that they could provide for their own defense

o They were not impressed with the British troops and how they defended America’s densely wooded terrain

o Salutary neglect – Britain had exercised little direct control over the colonies and had generally allowed its navigation laws regulating colonial trade to go unenforced

o Britain decided to go and adopt more forceful policies for taking control of their expanded North American dominions

o The wars had been extremely costly and the British were pressuring them to reduce the heavy taxes imposed on them

o King George III and the dominant political party in Parliament (the Whigs) pursued a colonial policy aimed at solving Britain’s domestic financial problems

o Made the American colonies bear more of the cost of maintaining the British empire

o Chief Pontiac led a major attack against colonial settlements on the western frontier

o Pontiac’s alliance of Native Americans in the Ohio Valley destroyed forts and settlements from New York to Virginia

o British sent regular troops to deal with the “rebellion”

o Prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian mountains to avoid another attack by the Native Americans

o Thousands streamed beyond the boundary line after being angered of their hard work during the French and Indian War

 Placed duties on foreign sugars and certain luxuries to provide more profit for the crown

 Made colonists provide food and shelter for British soldiers stationed in the colonies

 Lord Grenville turned to a tax that required a stamp to be put on certain documents

o Patrick Henry, a Virginian lawyer, went to the House of Burgesses to demand that the King’s government recognize the rights of the citizens including no taxation without representation

o James Otis called for representatives from nine colonies to meet in New York and form the so called Stamp Act Congress (they would decide what taxes to approve)

o The protest against the Stamp Act took a violent turn with the formation of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, a secret society organized for the purpose of intimidating tax agents

o Boycotts took place against the British, (wouldn’t buy British papers)

o Declaratory Act was formed and stated that the Parliament had the right to tax and make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”.

o Charles Townsend, new appointed chancellor of the exchequer proposed duties to be collected on tea, glass, and paper.

o The extra money would be used to provide the salary for the British soldiers in the colonies

o Provided the right for officials to search homes for smuggled goods

o All that was necessary was a writ of assistance (a general license to search anywhere)

o Another Townsend Act suspended New York’s assembly for that colony’s defiance of the Quartering Act

o At first the colonists were not to upset about the taxes because they were indirect and being paid by the merchants at the ports

o John Dickinson wrote in his Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania how Parliament could regulate commerce but duties could not be levied on the colonies without consent

o James Otis and Samuel Adams jointly wrote the Massachusetts Circular Letter and sent copies to each legislature

 Urged colonies to repeal against the Townsend Acts

 British officials demanded a retraction, threatened to dissolve the legislature, and increased number of British Troops in Boston

 Colonists had more boycotts against British goods and smuggled more to avoid the offensive Townsend duties

o The new prime minister in London, Lord Frederick North, urged Parliament to repeal the Townsend Acts because it damaged trade and there was minimal profit

o The colonies entered a time of economic prosperities

o Colonists resent the British soldiers that quartered in their houses

o In 1770 a group of colonists harassed the guards outside the customs house who preceeded to fire and kill 5 people including an African American Crispus Attucks

o At the trial the soldiers were defended by colonial lawyer John Adams and acquitted

o Samuel Adams later denounced the event as a massacre

o Samuel Adams founded the Committees of Correspondence, a group that would meet and discuss any letters about any suspicious or potentially threatening British activities

o The House of Burgesses took it a step further and organized intercolonial committees

o This British boat was very successful in catching a number of smugglers

o A group of colonists disguised themselves as Native Americans and destroyed the boat

o British ordered a commission and brought the guilty to court in Britain

o Colonists refused to but British teas due to the taxes

o Parliament sold the tea finally for lower than the price of the smuggled Dutch tea

o A group of Bostonians disguised themselves as Native Americans and before the shipment of tea was brought ashore they boarded the ships and dumped all the tea into the harbor

o The Boston Tea Party angered the King, Lord North, and thus enacted a series of acts (the Coercive Acts), together with a separate act dealing with French Canada (the Quebec Act)