Reason and Revolution
The American Dream - A New Nation
Events and Philosophies leading up
to the American Revolution and
American Independence
• April 5, 1764 Britain's Sugar Act
lowers previous taxes on colonial
trade, however, this act goes farther
in the enforcement of the collection
of the tax, and the economic impact
of taxation without representation,
became the main focus for the
Americans.
• March 22, 1765 Britain
passes Stamp Act
• ( required all legal
documents, permits,
commercial contracts,
newspapers, wills,
pamphlets, and playing
cards in the colonies to
carry a tax stamp. Once
in effect, the tax met
with great resistance in
the colonies.).
• October 7, 1765 Stamp
Act Congress approved
Declaration of Rights
and Grievances by John
Dickinson "the penman
of the Revolution"
arguing that colonial
taxation is to come from
their own assemblies,
not the British.
• March 18, 1766 Stamp
Act is repealed.
• June 29, 1767 Townshend
Acts impose new taxes on
colonies "...The troops to be
kept up in America should
be paid by the Colonies
respectively for whose
defense & benefit they were
employed” (placed a tax on
common products imported
into the American Colonies,
such as lead, paper, paint,
glass, and tea, while giving
revenues from these taxes
to the British governors and
other officials that were
normally paid by town
assemblies.)
• February 11, 1768 Sam
Adams calls for colonial
unity in Circular
Letter. Britain sends
troops to enforce order in
Boston.
• March 5, 1770 The
Boston Massacre. Five
colonists killed.
• December 16, 1773 The Boston Tea Party
• The Sons of Liberty thinly disguised as either Mohawk or
Narragansett Indians and armed with small hatchets and clubs
Swiftly and efficiently, brought up casks of tea from the hold to
the deck, opened them and dumped the tea overboard; the
work, lasting well into the night, was quick, thorough, and
efficient. By dawn, over 342 casks or 90,000 lbs (45 tons) of
tea worth an estimated $1.87 million USD in 2007 currency)
had been dumped into the waters of Boston harbor.
• September 5, 1774— The
First Continental Congress
meets in Philadelphia.
Called in response to the
passage of the Coercive
Acts by the British
Parliament, the Congress
was attended by 56
members appointed by the
legislatures of the Thirteen
Colonies, except for the
Province of Georgia, which
did not send delegates. The
Congress met briefly to
consider options, organize
an economic boycott of
British trade, publish a list
of rights and grievances,
and petition King George for
redress of those grievances.
• March 23, 1775 Patrick Henry gives stirring speech at
the Virginia Assembly. (We will come back to this.)
• April 18, 1775 British soldiers
are sent to Concord to destroy
the colonists' weapons
depot. That night, Paul Revere
sets out from Boston to warn
colonists. He reaches
Lexington about midnight to
warn Sam Adams and John
Hancock who had been hiding
out there.
Listen my children and you
shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul
Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in
Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous
day and year.
• from The Midnight Ride of Paul
Revere by Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow
• April 19, 1775 The first battles of the American
Revolution, Lexington and Concord.
• It is believed that the enemy fired the first shot.
Known as “The shot heard round the world.”
• July 4, 1776 - More
than a year later,
the Second
Continental
Congress officially
signed
the Declaration of
Independence.
• October 19, 1781 - Five years later, British General,
Charles Lord Cornwallis, surrendered to American and
French forces at Yorktown, Virginia, bringing to an end
the last major battle of the Revolution.
• September 3, 1783 - with the signing of the Treaty of
Paris with Britain in 1783, the United States formally
became a free and independent nation.
The Age of Reason
The 18th century “Enlightenment”
was a movement marked by:
• an emphasis on rationality rather than tradition
• representative government in place of monarchy
• scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religion
• thinkers and writers were devoted to the ideals of
justice, liberty, and equality as the natural rights of man
Natural Rights
• The Enlightenment: Using reason, man could
discover God’s laws.
• Natural Laws: God created the universe and
established the rules by which the universe
operates (Deism). It’s our job to figure out the
laws. Example: Things fall down. The natural
law? Gravity.
– Deism is the belief that a supreme God exists and
created the physical universe, and that religious
truths can be arrived at by the application of
reason alone, without dependence on revelation.
Natural Rights
• When a person is born, God endows him or
her with certain natural rights.
• Man’s laws should never conflict with natural
laws.
• John Locke took this a step further: Politics is
a science. Using reason, man could discover
God’s rules for government. It would be
morally wrong to disobey God’s natural laws.
Philosophers of the Enlightenment
John Locke
1632-1704
In 1690, leading British philosopher
John Locke published a
document that maintained that
government was founded on a
“social contract” based on
“government with the consent of
the governed” to protect the
individual’s rights to “life, liberty
and estate.”
Almost 90 years later, Thomas
Jefferson referred to Locke’s
work when he wrote the
Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Hobbes
All men pursue only what they perceive to be in their
own individually considered best interests – they
respond mechanistically by being drawn to that which
they desire and repelled by that to which they are
averse. Given that men are naturally self-interested, yet
they are rational, they will choose to submit to the
authority of a Sovereign in order to be able to live in a
civil society, which is conducive to their own
interests. People in a state of nature give up their
individual rights to a strong power in return for his
protection, so social contract evolved out of selfinterest.
Social Contract
In order to live in society, human beings agree to an
implicit social contract, which gives them certain
rights in return for giving up certain freedoms. Each
person will enjoy the protection of the common
force whilst remaining as free as they were in the
state of nature.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Charles de Montesquieu
1689-1755
Charles de Montesquieu was one
of the most influential legal
theorists and political
philosophers of the 18th century.
His ideas about the separation of
powers and checks on the power
of the executive also had a
profound impact on the architects
of the American constitution.
Age of Reason
Late 1770s to Early 1800s
This period was a time when authors were focused
more on their own reasoning rather than simply taking
what the church taught as fact. During this period there
was also cultivation of patriotism. The main medium
during that period were political pamphlets, essays,
travel writings, speeches, and documents.
Also during this period many reforms were either
made or requested, for instance during this time the
Declaration of Independence was written.
Authors of the Age of Reason
Abigail Adams (1744-1818)
An avid letter writer, she wrote letters
that campaigned for women’s rights.
Her grandson, Charles Francis Adams,
published The Familiar Letters of John
Adams and His Wife Abigail During the
Revolution. Her letters--pungent, witty,
and vivid, spelled just as she spoke-detailed her life in times of revolution.
They tell the story of the woman who
stayed at home to struggle with
wartime shortages. She was a
remarkable patriot and First Lady, wife
of one President and mother of
another.
Authors of the Age of Reason
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
His accomplishments as a scientist, publisher
and statesman are remarkable. Franklin began
as an apprentice to his brother who was a
printer. Because his brother would not allow
him to write for his newspaper, Franklin wrote
letters to the paper in the persona of a
middle-aged woman named “Silence Dogood.”
By 1730, Franklin created “The Pennsylvania
Gazette” where he was able to publish articles
and essays on his thoughts. From 1732 to
1757, Franklin created a yearly almanac called
Poor Richard’s Almanack. Franklin adopted
the name “Richard Saunders” while he was
writing for the almanac. From quotes within
the almanac, he created “The Way to
Wealth.”He dedicated himself to the
improvement of everyday life for the widest
number of people and, in so doing, made an
indelible mark on the emerging nation.
Authors of the Age of Reason
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
American president, philosopher, and
statesman Jefferson is best known for
writing the Declaration of Independence.
He was also the first secretary of state,
the second vice president, and the third
president of the United States. As
president, Jefferson successfully
negotiated, or bargained for the terms
of, the Louisiana Purchase, which nearly
doubled the country's size. A man of
broad interests and activity, Jefferson
remains an inspiration, for both his
political accomplishments and his vision
for America.
Authors of the Age of Reason
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Throughout most of his life, his writings
inspired passion, but also brought him
great criticism. Known as the most radical
of the Age of Reason writers, he
communicated the ideas of the
Revolution to common farmers as easily
as to intellectuals, creating prose that
stirred the hearts of the fledgling United
States. Most famous for : Common Sense
and The Crisis, No.1, he had a grand
vision for society: he was staunchly antislavery, and he was one of the first to
advocate a world peace organization and
social security for the poor and elderly.
But his radical views on religion would
destroy his success, and by the end of his
life, only a handful of people attended his
funeral.
Second Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress met again on May 10, 1775.
June 7, 1776
Lee Resolution
Richard Henry Lee, a delegate
from Virginia, read a
resolution before the
Continental Congress "that
these United Colonies are, and
of right ought to be, free and
independent States, that they
are absolved from all
allegiance to the British
Crown, and that all political
connection between them and
the State of Great Britain is,
and ought to be, totally
dissolved."
The Drafting Committee
June 11, 1776
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R.
Livingston were appointed to a "Committee of Five” to draft the Declaration of
Independence.
Did you know that while Jefferson and Adams were
friends, they were also political enemies. Despite
their close friendship, Jefferson wrote that he and
Adams were often separated by "different
conclusions we had drawn from our political
reading."
July 4, 1826, Jefferson and Adams died within
hours of each other. Their deaths occurred -perhaps appropriately -- on the fiftieth anniversary
of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Unaware that his friend had died hours earlier,
Adams' family later recalled that his last spoken
words were, "Thomas Jefferson survives."
June 28, 1776
The committee draft of the Declaration
of Independence is read in Congress.
During this period the "Committee of
Five" (John Adams, Roger Sherman,
Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston,
and Thomas Jefferson) drafted the
Declaration of Independence. Thomas
Jefferson drafted it, Adams and
Franklin made changes to the
document.
Jefferson’s rough draft
of the Declaration
June 12-27
Jefferson, at the request of the
committee, drafts a declaration,
of which only a fragment exists.
Jefferson's clean, or "fair" copy,
the "original Rough draft," is
reviewed by the committee.
Both documents are in the
manuscript collections of the
Library of Congress
July 1-4
Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence.
July 2
Congress declares independence as the British fleet and army arrive at New York.
Independence is Declared!
July 4, 1776
Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence.
July 4, 1776
King George III wrote
in his diary,
"Nothing of
importance today."
Declaration of Independence
Three parts
1. Description of the rights of man
2. Grievances against the king
3. Official declaration of war
Part 1
Description of the rights of man
Declaration of Independence 1a
Allusion to Deism
Section 1.
When in the Course of human events, it
becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands which have connected
them with another, and to assume among the
powers of the earth, the separate and equal
station to which the Laws of Nature and of
Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect
to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them
to the separation.
Explanation to the World
Declaration 1b
We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.
Allusion to John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government
Declaration 1b (continued)
--That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among
Men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed,
Reference to Social Contract – governments are justified
only because they protect the natural rights of the men
who established them.
Declaration 1b (continued)
--That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,
and to institute new Government, laying its
foundation on such principles and organizing
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness.
This is the right of revolution.
If a government does not protect its citizen’s natural
rights and give them liberty, then it may be abolished.
Declaration 1b (continued)
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that
Governments long established
should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shown, that
mankind are more disposed to suffer,
while evils are sufferable, than to
right themselves by abolishing the
forms to which they are accustomed.
Declaration 1b (continued)
But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the
same Object evinces a design to reduce
them under absolute Despotism, it is
their right, it is their duty, to throw off
such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future security.-abuses and usurpations = Sugar Act, Stamp Act,
Coercive Acts, Intolerable Acts, etc.
Despotism = tyranny; repression
If a government demonstrates repression of natural
rights, then the people can and should rebel.
Declaration 1b (continued)
Such has been the patient sufferance of these
Colonies; and such is now the necessity which
constrains them to alter their former Systems
of Government. The history of the present
King of Great Britain is a history of repeated
injuries and usurpations, all having in direct
object the establishment of an absolute
Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let
Facts be submitted to a candid world.
Part 2
Grievances against the king
George III
Declaration 2a
•
•
•
•
Section II.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate
and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation
till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he
has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish
the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right
inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public
Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into
compliance with his measures.
Declaration 2b
• He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of
the people.
• He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to
cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers,
incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large
for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time
exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and
convulsions within.
• He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these
States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for
Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to
encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions
of new Appropriations of Lands.
• He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing
his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
Declaration 2b (continued)
• He has made Judges dependent on his Will
alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the
amount and payment of their salaries.
• He has erected a multitude of New Offices,
and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass
our people, and eat out their substance.
• He has kept among us, in times of peace,
Standing Armies without the consent of our
legislatures.
• He has affected to render the Military
independent of and superior to the Civil
power.
Declaration 2c
• He has combined with others to
subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to
our constitution, and
unacknowledged by our laws; giving
his Assent to their Acts of pretended
Legislation:
He = King George
Repetition of “he” reinforces the long list of abuses
committed against the colonies by the king.
others = Parliament
Acts = Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Coercive Acts, Intolerable
Acts, etc.
Declaration 2c (continued)
• For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
• For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for
any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants
of these States:
• For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
• For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
• For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by
Jury:
• For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended
offences
• For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a
neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary
government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it
at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the
same absolute rule into these Colonies:
Declaration 2c (continued)
• For taking away our Charters, abolishing our
most valuable Laws, and altering
fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
• For suspending our own Legislatures, and
declaring themselves invested with power to
legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
Declaration 2d
• He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his
Protection and waging War against us.
• He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
• He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign
Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and
tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty &
perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and
totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
• He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the
high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the
executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall
themselves by their Hands.
• He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
Allusion to Piracy; a pirate is a criminal
Declaration 2e
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress
in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been
answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus
marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the
ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We
have warned them from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We
have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and
settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and
magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our
common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would
inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too
have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind,
Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
Part 3
Official declaration of war
Declaration 3
Plea to God for
support
Section III.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United
States of America, in General Congress,
Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of
the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do,
in the Name, and by Authority of the good People
of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare,
That these United Colonies are, and of Right
ought to be Free and Independent States; that
they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the
British Crown, and that all political connection
between them and the State of Great Britain, is
and ought to be totally dissolved;
Richard Henry Lee’s resolution
Declaration 3 (continued)
and that as Free and Independent
States, they have full Power to levy
War, conclude Peace, contract
Alliances, establish Commerce, and
to do all other Acts and Things which
Independent States may of right do.
Declaration 3 (continued)
relying on God
And for the support of this
Declaration, with a firm reliance on
the protection of divine Providence,
we mutually pledge to each other
our Lives, our Fortunes and our
sacred Honor.
Everything they have.
Declaration of Independence
John Hancock
Virginia
• Virginia presents an interesting paradox in the
years leading up to the War for Independence.
The colony produced some of the most
effective revolutionary leaders, writers, and
orators, such as George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson and Patrick Henry, but the general
populace was not radical in the manner of
Massachusetts, nor were they convinced that
war was the best choice.
Virginia
• Tension between opposing sides in Virginia was
clearly evident in the response the
assembly made to the Boston port closure in
1774. The burgesses (first legislative assembly of
elected representatives in North America)
declared a day of fasting and prayer, an action
that offended the governor, Lord Dunmore. He
reacted by dissolving the assembly, but the
legislators defied his order by holding sessions in
other locations. This illegal Virginia Convention
later elected delegates to the First Continental
Congress.
• At this convention, Patrick Henry initiated a
program for defensive action and presented
his celebrated "Give me liberty or give me
death" speech, which inspired the colonists to
follow the cause.
• This illegal Virginia Convention later elected
delegates to the First Continental Congress.
Patrick Henry
•
Born May 29, 1736 in Hanover County, Virginia
•
Homeschooled by his father, John Henry
•
Studied law on his own, and obtained law license in 1760
•
He was twice married, to Sarah Shelton, and to Dorothea Dandridge.
•
Lawyer, patriot, orator, and willing participant in virtually every aspect of
the founding of America.
•
Protested British tyranny
• He argued that a king who would veto a law passed by a locally elected
legislature was "a tyrant who forfeits the allegiance of his subjects." This was
the beginning of his struggle to ensure independence for the 13 Colonies.
• Delivered the famous "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech at the
Second Virginia Convention
Patrick Henry
• Symbol of the American struggle for liberty
• Wrote numerous other speeches throughout
his lifetime
• Henry served in the Virginia House of Burgesses; he was
a member of the Virginia committee of
Correspondence, a delegate to the Virginia Convention,
and a delegate to the Virginia Constitution Ratification
Convention
• Five-term governor of Virginia
• Died June 6, 1799 at Red Hill Plantation, Virginia
The date is Thursday, March 23, 1775.
The place: St. John's Church in Richmond Virginia.
The event: A meeting of Virginia's colonial leaders at the Second
Virginia Convention.
Henry was the delegate from Hanover County at the meeting to
discuss the recent proceedings of America's First Continental
Congress. Peyton Randolph was President of the Convention
attended by 120 delegates, including such notables as George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee.
In fact, the meeting turned into a series of debates over whether
or not to arm the colony of Virginia as a defense against possible
incursions by the British army.
Henry's reputation as a fiery and passionate orator preceded
his appearance at the convention. Ten years earlier in 1765
his Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions before the House of
Burgesses were met with angry cries of treason. Henry's
reply: "If this be treason, make the most of it."
At the end of the four-day meeting in Virginia, Patrick Henry
rose to deliver his speech, facing his fellow delegates. Many
at the meeting were loathe to oppose the mother country,
instead favoring conciliatory measures. But Henry's stirring
and persuasive call to arms won the day, and the delegates
voted to support his resolutions.
Thomas Jefferson described Henry as the man who "set the
ball of Revolution rolling" in Virginia. Patrick Henry's immortal
words have been described as "the most famous cry for
freedom in the world."
The following is the speech he gave that day.