The Colonies Become Angry

 England had engaged in 4 wars in the colonies and in Europe since 1689, and it is now  War is expensive, and the French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War cost Britain heavily.  Britain had borrowed money (from British and Dutch bankers) to pay for the war, and there was no money to pay back the loans.  Britain’s National Debt in 1754 was 75 million British Pounds – by 1763 it was 133 million.

 When you have a loan (to buy a house, car, or college tuition, etc)– it is best to pay off the loan quickly because of interest rates.  Let’s say Britain borrowed the difference between the 133 million debt they had in 1763 and the 75 million they had in  133 million – 75 million = 58 million borrowed.  But what about the interest rates?  Let’s say Britain pays 2% interest a year on what they borrowed.

 58,000,000 Pounds Borrowed X.02 Interest Rate Percentage ___________ 1,160,000 Pounds of Interest per year  That Interest is added to the debt so that Britain now needs to pay back 59,160,000 British Pounds by 1764.

 Like Britain was worried about its national debt back then, we are worried about our national debt today.

 Today, we have tossed around the idea of higher taxes to pay off the debt.  Britain tried to increase taxes – and just like now; the people don’t want higher taxes back in the 1760s.

 The British thought that the colonies should help pay for the war because the British were fighting for the colonists to gain land and protecting them from the French and Native Americans.  The British also thought that the colonists should listen to them, especially if it could prevent another costly war from developing.

 The Native Americans in the Ohio River Valley were angry at being on the losing side of the French and Indian War.  Their allies and friendly fur traders (the French) were expelled, and instead they now had to deal with greedy English brutes who thought they were savages and wanted their land.  The Delaware Prophet wanted the Native Americans to return to traditional ways and to expel the English brutes – and Chief Pontiac listened.

 Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa Native Americans decides to go to war against the British, along with several other Native American tribes in  The Ottawa, Delaware, Shawnee, and Seneca Native Americans inflict heavy losses in New York and Pennsylvania.

 The British incur heavy losses, like in battles at Bloody Run.  The Native Americans are unable to take Fort Pitt, Fort Niagara, and Fort Detroit. The Native Americans do manage to take other forts, though.  A string of losses leads to Pontiac losing influence and allies, so eventually he signs a peace treaty in 1766 with the British.

 The Colonists did not have much of a role to play in Pontiac’s rebellion, besides being attacked by the Native Americans.  The British considered the Colonists to not be good fighters, especially after their poor performance in the French and Indian War – so they were mostly excluded from fighting against Pontiac’s forces.

 The British increase their national debt.  The Colonists are also in ‘debt’ (in Britain’s opinion) to the British for defeating Pontiac’s forces from taking and destroying every colonial fort and settlement they came across.  Pontiac’s Rebellion also led to the Proclamation Act of 1763.

 King George III drew a line from North to South along the Appalachian Mountains - and colonists were not supposed to settle west of that line without permission.  The Proclamation Act was to prevent more broken treaties with the Native Americans, another Native American Rebellion, more war debt and deaths, and a disruption to the fur trade.  But…. the Colonists lusted for that land.

 Britain told the colonists they couldn’t settle west, which would make them richer with farmland and land speculation.  Britain now increases the amount of taxes on trading and enforces those taxes, which affects merchants and anyone who buys goods.

 1763, George Grenville becomes Prime Minister and first lord of the Treasury.  He wants to get rid of Britain’s national debt and pay for the British troops stationed in the colonies (all 10,000 of them).  Grenville can help pay off the debt if he can get rid of smuggling in the colonies because these smugglers are not paying their customs duties (the tax on imports and exports).

 Grenville persuades Parliament to pass a law so that smugglers are now tried in a vice-admiralty court instead of colonial court.  The colonial courts had juries who were sympathetic and lenient on the smugglers.  The vice-admiralty court, however, would be harsh because a British naval officer passes judgment instead of sympathetic colonists.  The vice-admiralty courts also infringed on the Colonists’ rights because they were not being given a jury by their peers or have the right to a speedy trial since the court was all the way in Nova Scotia, Canada.

 John Hancock was one of these smugglers who was caught and tried in a vice-admiralty court.  Hancock made a fortune by participating in the Triangular Trade – getting sugar and molasses from the Caribbean to New England.  John Adams is Hancock’s lawyer, and he argues that the vice-admiralty court leads to colonists having their English rights infringed upon.  Hancock pays a 9,000 British Pound fine and loses the ship and its goods that were used in smuggling when he was caught.