Chapter 5 The Strains of Empire The American People, 6 th ed.

I.The Climactic Seven Years’ War

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.  Besides warmongering, the English Parliament designated a long list of colonial exports that had to pass through English ports before sale.

Outbreak of Hostilities  English encroachment into the western territories of the French continued unabated into the 1740s with the establishment of the first English outpost on the Ohio River.  Resistance by the French was swift; a line of French forts appeared along the river to Lake Erie.  The European powers reinforced themselves in preparation for a final conflict in the New World.

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.  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.  The wartime economy and English victory strengthened the colonies and assured their continued growth

II. The Crisis with England

Sugar, Currency, and the Stamp Act Riots  Sugar Act of 1764: increased the list of items that could only be exported from the colonies via English ports.  Currency Act of 1764: Parliament prevented any of the colonies from printing their own currency.  Stamp Act of 1765: Parliament imposed duties on a wide range of items within the colonies such as playing cards, legal documents, or college degrees.  Violent protests within the colonies followed.  Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766 but reserved power to subjugate colonies to British law under the Declaratory Act.

Gathering Storm Clouds  Townsend Duties of 1767 on paper, lead, pigment and tea.  New York assembly dissolved for defiance of Quartering Act of 1765 mandating colonial support for British garrisons.  Protest against the Townsend duties gradually took the successful form of economic boycott of English goods.  Growing tensions led to the Boston Massacre, increased boycotts and the Boston Tea Party.

 In response to the boycotts and wanton destruction of English tea in Boston’s harbor, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) closing the port of Boston and prohibiting most town meetings.  This action prompts the call for a First, and then Second, Continental Congress to deliver colonial grievances to an unsympathetic king.  By 1774, most of the colonies had defied the crown and appointed new assemblies.

III.The Ideology of Revolutionary Government  Gradually, the colonists constructed a political worldview constructed from English political thought, the constructs of the Enlightenment, and aspects of their own unique experiences as colonists.  Every despised Act of Parliament became viewed as an attack on traditional English liberty and colonial economic independence.

IV.The Turmoil of a Rebellious People  Although cities contained only five percent of the total colonial population, they were the birthplaces of revolutionary theory.  Patriot women facilitated meaningful boycotts of English goods.  Rural rebellion from farmers under the guise of the Regulators demanded the attention of English troops on the colonial frontier.