The Path to Conflict

1. The Path to Conflict 1765-1775

2. Introduction • Initially, the colonists believed that Parliament’s new laws were misguided but justifiable attempts to manage British imperial interests • That perception, however, began to change in 1765 as new parliamentary measures challenged colonial assemblies and threatened to undermine the reciprocal benefits Americans received for remaining part of the British Empire • Consequently, a growing number of colonists began to question the appropriateness of British rule and by 1774, a new consensus began to emerge that characterized such measures as part of a larger conspiracy designed to deprive them of their natural rights

3. The Stamp Act • Beginning in 1765, the Grenville ministry turned to the collection of a stamp tax as the best means to pay for the housing of British troops being quartered in America • As applied in America, The Stamp Act, levied taxes on legal documents, contracts, playing cards, dice, land titles, newspapers, and most other printed documents.

4. Reaction to the Stamp Act • The colonists presented an organized resistance to this particular measure, as groups of prominent individuals throughout the colonies sponsored mass demonstrations - the Sons of Liberty • Repealing of Stamp Act (March 1766) • Passage of the Declaratory Act

5. Townshend Duties • The failure of the Stamp Act forced a new British ministry, under the direction of Charles Townshend, to find alternative sources of revenue • In 1767, Parliament passes the Townshend Duties • Colonial Resistance • John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania • Actions by the Sons of Liberty • In addition to these efforts, other colonists organized a Non-importation movement

6. Colonial Resistance • As the resistance to the Townshend Duties gained momentum, British policymakers became increasingly concerned about restoring imperial authority in America • The North ministry and partial repeal of the Townshend Duties • North’s efforts, however, were thwarted by an unexpected outbreak of violence on March 5, 1770, dubbed the “Boston Massacre,” resulting in the deaths of five colonists

7. Attempts to Reduce Tensions • Following the bloodshed, tensions were somewhat reduced as Parliament agreed to repeal all of the Townshend Duties (except the tax on tea), allow the Quartering Act to expire without any attempt to renew it, and repeal portions of the 1764 Currency Act • Renewal of tension with the Gaspee incident and the emergence of“committees of correspondence”

8. Passage of the Tea Act • Parliament unintentionally compounded its problems in May 1773 when it passed the Tea Act • The legislation gave the British East India Company a monopoly on selling tea in the American market and waived its obligation to pay import duties on the tea shipped to America • Merchants who sold tea, however, were removed from the process and, in the heightened ideological climate of 1773 the more radical elements depicted the Tea Act as a conspiracy to abolish their economic and political rights

9. Reaction to the Tea Act • Consequently, as the tea ships began to arrive in Boston, the Sons of Liberty resolved to take action • The Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773) • Similar episodes took place in Annapolis, Maryland, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, New York City, and several other American coastal cities • The infamous Boston Tea Party attracted more attention because the estimated value of the destroyed tea was a staggering £10,000.

10. The Coercive or Intolerable Acts • Parliament responded by passing four Coercive Acts designed to punish and make an example of Boston • Boston’s harbor was closed until the tea was paid for • Colonial charter was annulled • New Quartering Act • Administration of Justice Act • The effort backfired as an outpouring of sympathy materialized from the other colonies, followed by new outbreaks of violence in northern cities

11. The Quebec Act • Southerners were angered by the passage of an unrelated bill known as the Quebec Act • The Quebec Act also outraged land speculators in Virginia and Pennsylvania • The combined opposition to the Coercive Acts and the Quebec Act solidified the idea that Parliament was intent on depriving them of their “true English liberties,” and they prepared to take action

12. First Continental Congress • By the fall of 1774, political relations between the king and the North American colonies had reached a new stage • Meeting in Philadelphia of the First Continental Congress (September 1774), the convened, and the delegates soon fell into opposing • Emergence of “radical” and “conservative” camps

13. First Continental Congress • Delegates prepared a Declaration of Rights and roundly condemned the actions of Parliament while at the same time acknowledging their loyalty to King George III • Afterwards, Congress made another Non-importation agreement and once again launched a boycott of British-made goods

14. Continuing Tension • Once the First Continental Congress had completed its business, tensions between crown and colony increased as the crown began dismantling provincial governments in early 1775 • Consequently, various colonies began forming parallel governments or “provincial congresses” which had dual authority and existed alongside the governments managed by the royal governors

15. Tensions in Massachusetts • As these events transpired, colonial leaders debated whether or not, as Americans, they could live happily within the British Empire, while Parliament and the king’s ministers debated over how to handle these recalcitrant subjects • Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, the Committee of Safety organized a militia that would be prepared to take action in defense of hearth and home should events warrant such action

16. Events in Massachusetts • Governor Thomas Gage observed these events with trepidation and finally ordered a detachment of 700 British soldiers to seize armaments and supplies stored in Concord, just a few miles outside of Boston • As soon as the soldiers departed, Paul Revere and William Dawes rode out to warn inhabitants in the vicinity of the approaching British • Conflict at Lexington and Concord

17. Lexington & Concord:Open Conflict • As news of the confrontation spread, thousands of colonists streamed out, weapons in hand, and gave chase • By the end of the day, seventy-three British soldiers lay dead and over 200 were wounded • Ninety-five out of nearly 4,000 colonial militiamen were killed during the course of the fighting

18. Resistance or Independence? • The tensions between crown and colony now entered into a new phase • The question that remained unanswered was whether or not the resistance would become a full-scale push for independence.