Northern and Southern Colonies

War and the Management of Empire Four times between 1689 and 1763, England and France engaged in wars that had far-reaching effects on their colonial governments in America.

Outbreak of Hostilities English pushed into the western territories of the French; continued into the 1740s with the establishment of the first English outpost on the Ohio River French responded by building line of forts along the river to Lake Erie The European powers reinforced themselves in preparation for a final conflict in the Americas

Tribal Strategies and Consequences of the Seven Years’ War Native tribes, especially the Iroquois, understood that their best chance for survival was to play the European powers against each other. Ultimately, the British side (British regulars, colonial residents, and native allies) defeated the French and their allies

The 1763 Treaty of Paris gave Britain control of Florida; Spain got New Orleans and French territory west of the Mississippi; the Indians got nothing.

Seven Years' War

The huge debt from fighting this war led to British attempts to create measures that would force colonists to help pay for these costs and their defense To prevent further conflict with the natives and to more efficiently tax colonial residents, a royal proclamation created a boundary line where colonial residents were not allowed to settle (see map on the next screen) Why did this create resentment among some colonists?

Imperial/colonial relationship

The Crisis with England Sugar, Currency, and the Stamp Act Riots Sugar Act of 1764 Currency Act of 1764 Stamp Act of 1765 Violent protests within the colonies followed… why? England’s Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766 but reserved power to control colonies under the Declaratory Act

Crisis with England continued Townshend Duties of 1767 Protest against the Townshend duties took the form of economic boycott of English goods New York assembly dissolved for defying Quartering Act of 1765 mandating colonial support for British garrisons Boston Massacre

Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party, 1773 Parliament responded with Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) closing the port of Boston, prohibiting most town meetings Led to call for a First, and then Second, Continental Congress to deliver colonial grievances to an unsympathetic king By 1774, most of the colonies defied the crown and appointed new assemblies

Taxing the colonies

Growing colonial resistance

The Ideology of Revolutionary Government Colonists built political views based on English political thought, the Enlightenment, and aspects of their own experiences as colonists Acts of Parliament viewed attacks on traditional English liberty and colonial economic independence

The Turmoil of a Rebellious People Cities only five percent of the total colonial population, centers of revolutionary ideas Patriot women facilitated boycotts of English goods Rural rebellion from farmers such as the Regulators, 1765-1771