Unit 35.1 - Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763-1914
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Summary The loss of the American colonies, 1770-83 revision notes
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Unit 35.1 - Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763-1914
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In-depth and A* quality notes on everything you need to know about America for the empire section of the A-Level History course. Perfectly summarised with important facts to include in high level essays
Unit 35.1 - Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763-1914
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British Empire: America Revision Notes
The Settlement of America
Emulate Spain and pre-empt France.
First colony in Virginia established in 1607. Expected to be profitable (tobacco).
Royal charter passed to establish continuous English settlement in America.
The Mayflower sailed to Massachusetts and established the second settlement there in 1620.
Georgia was the last of the thirteen colonies, founded in 1732.
Agricultural economies, e.g. southern colonies - tobacco (dependent on slavery)
Most settlers were Protestant, coming from a variety of religious sects. (A significant percentage were Puritans)
Most white men worked and owned their own land.
The Political Nature of Colonial Society
Salutary neglect: Trade regulations laxly enforced and imperial supervision of internal colonial affairs was loose
as long as loyal and contributed to profitability of Britain.
Each colony was governed by a governor and legislative assembly.
The legislative assembly was responsible for money bills and controlling expenditure.
Raise revenue for local services, payment of local officials and passing of local legislation.
Opposition to Sugar Tax
Wide franchise of between 50 and 80% of the adult male population.
Links with Britain: 25,000 Americans fought 7YW; English language and British culture; no desire for
independence.
BUT by 1763 colonies to a large extent ran their own affairs and British control was drifting. Ideas of liberty,
economic tensions, impact Peace of Paris.
1763 Peace of Paris: French ceded lands (driven out of Canada, ceded all land east of the Mississippi and most of
the French Carribbean islands)= Empire grew = people to govern and defend= renegotiation of settlement with
colonies.
Stamp Act
Cost of colonial administration and defence: 1748 £70,000 1763 £350,000
National debt: 1754 £75 million 1763 £133 million
Debt interest repayments £4.4m out of annual income of £8m.
British believed 10,000 troops would be needed to defend the American territories.
Belief colonists should contribute to defence and governance.
From the initial axiom that the peoples on both sides of the Atlantic formed a single nation there followed a train
of secondary assumptions: that all George III's subjects came under the rule of a single sovereign authority; that
all enjoyed privileges of British nationality; that all in consequence owed obligations to the community in general,
the nature and extent of which could only be determined by the supreme authority. (Christie)
Stamp Act, 1765 –tax on printed documents, various licenses and other stated goods. First direct tax. Projected
revenue £110,000.
October 1765: Delegates 9 colonies met in NY (Stamp Act Congress): Parliament right to regulate colonial trade,
not to tax them because unrepresented.
Influence of Enlightenment ideas. No taxation without representation.
Tarring and feathering of Agents of the Crown for their attempts to carry out the duties.
March 1766 Stamp Act abolished. Declaratory Act – full legislative power over colonies.
When the American colonies united in opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765, which was the first attempt to
impose an internal tax on the colonies by parliamentary legislation in order to raise revenue to help meet the
costs of imperial defence, Pitt supported its repeal on the grounds that Parliament could not tax the colonies
without the consent of the colonists themselves. He endorsed the American protests in support of the demand for
, 'no taxation without representation', regarding it as a principle enshrined in the British constitution and even in
the law of nature. (Dickinson)
Townshend Duties and Boston Massacre
1767 Townshend Duties: duties on wine, glass, china, lead, paint, paper and (most controversially) tea. £40,000
p.a.
Could be argued that the British had listened to and respected the colonists’ arguments that Britain only had the
right to regulate trade. Colonists didn’t see it this way.
Massachusetts Assembly published a denunciation endorsed by several assemblies – violation of ‘no taxation
without representation’
10th June 1768, customs officials seized a sloop owned by leading Boston merchant John Hancock, on allegations
that the ship had been involved in smuggling. Hancock was prosecuted in a highly publicised trial by an admiralty
court, but the charges were eventually dropped.
British response: Townshend Duties not repealed; NY Assembly suspended; decided to act and order British
regiments to Boston to stamp out the trouble. People in Massachusetts learned in September 1768 that troops
were on the way to protect the Customs Commissioners. By October there were four regiments of British troops
in Boston.
Samuel Adams organised an emergency and illegal convention of towns and passed resolutions against the
imminent occupation of Britain.
Sons of Liberty (paramilitary organisation) revived and clashed with British troops, e.g. Battle of Golden Hill 19 th
Jan 1770.
‘Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer’.
Masachusetts Assembly wrote a circular (Samuel Adams and James Otis) sent to other colonies calling for
common action. 1769 all but New Hampshire had organisations pledged to boycott British goods. Committees of
Inspection enforced non-importation using threats.
Boycotts were not very effective. British exports to the colonies declined by 38% in 1769, but there were many
merchants who did not participate in the boycott. The boycott movement began to fail by 1770, and came to an
end in 1771.
22nd Feb 1770, a man loyal to the British and suspected on informing trapped by mob, fired on the crowd, killing
11 year old boy. 5000 attended the funeral.
2nd March 1770, rope factory workers attacked British soldiers and running street battle ensued.
Boston Massacre: 5th March 1770, a crowd of about 50 people began to throw hard-packed snowballs at a sentry
guarding the Customs House. One soldier was struck by a club and fired. Other troops guarding Customs House
fired into the rioting crowd and killed 5. An investigation was begun the next day and eight soldiers were
arrested and accused of murder.
In the days and weeks that followed, a propaganda battle was waged between Boston’s radicals and supporters
of the government. Both sides published pamphlets that told strikingly different stories. The Boston Gazette
portrayed it as a massacre that was part of an ongoing scheme to “quell a Spirit of Liberty”.
In September 1771 the Boston Town Meeting formally created a committee of correspondence, which would
spread colonial grievances around the towns of the colony.
The Years of Calm
Boston Massacre not start of War of Independence: Lord North proposed the repeal of the Townshend Duties on
5th March 1770 (passed by Parliament April 1770); significant number of loyalists in the colonies; lack of unity
between the colonists.
Fundamental British position that the American colonies should pay taxes remained, while the colonists were
alert for any infringement of their liberties.
In March 1773, the Virginia House of Burgesses recommended that each colony establish a committee of
correspondence which would serve as a means of spreading propaganda. By February 1774, every colony except
North Carolina and Pennsylvania had a Committee of Correspondence.
Patriots 40-45%
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