Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
I
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
Introduction
1. "No taxation without representation!" was the cry. The colonists were not merely griping
about the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act. They intended to place actions behind their words.
One thing was clear — no colony acting alone could effectively convey a message to the king
and Parliament. The appeals to Parliament by the individual legislatures had been ignored.
With that, the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York in October 1765.
2. The Congress seemed at first to be a failure. In the first place, only nine of the colonies sent
delegates. Georgia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and the all-important Virginia were not
present. The Congress became quickly divided between radicals and moderates. The moderates would hold sway at this time. Only an extreme few believed in stronger measures against
Britain than articulating the principle of no taxation without representation. This became the
spirit of the Stamp Act Resolves. The Congress humbly acknowledged Parliament's right to
make laws in the colonies. Only the issue of taxation was disputed.
3. Colonial and personal differences already began to surface. A representative from New Jersey
stormed out during the proceedings. The president of the Congress, William Ruggles of Massachusetts, refused to sign the Stamp Act Resolves. In the end, however, the spirit of the Congress prevailed. Every colonial legislature except one approved the Stamp Act Resolves.
4. In the end, the widespread boycotts enacted by individual colonists surely did more to secure
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
II
III
A.
the repeal of the Stamp Act than did the Congress itself. But the gesture was significant. For
the first time, against all odds, respected delegates from differing colonies sat with each other and engaged in spirited debate. They discovered that in many ways they had more in common than they originally had thought. This is a tentative but essential step toward the unity
that would be necessary to declare boldly their independence from mother England.
Summary
1. This is how the colonist responded and how they stood up to the British?
2. Meeting establishing committees for communications
3. Publishing articles in papers and handing out leaflets
4. Boycott
5. Mass protests
6. Organized representative meetings
7. Stockpile weapons, ammunition and gunpowder
8. Spies
Colonial Reaction
Reaction to the Tea Act
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
B.
1. The Tea Act of 1773 was one of several measures imposed on the American colonists by the
heavily indebted British government in the decade leading up to the American Revolutionary
War (1775-83). The act's main purpose was not to raise revenue from the colonies but to bail
out the floundering East India Company, a key actor in the British economy. The British government granted the company a monopoly on the importation and sale of tea in the colonies.
The colonists had never accepted the constitutionality of the duty on tea, and the Tea Act rekindled their opposition to it. Their resistance culminated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, in which colonists boarded East India Company ships and dumped their loads of
tea overboard. Parliament responded with a series of harsh measures intended to stifle colonial resistance to British rule; two years later the war began.
Boston Tea Party 1773
1. Angry and frustrated at a new tax on tea, American colonists calling themselves the Sons of
Liberty and disguised as Mohawk Native Americans boarded three British ships (the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver) and dumped 342 whole crates of British tea into Boston
harbor on December 16, 1773. Similar incidents occurred in Maryland, New York, and New
Jersey in the next few months, and tea was eventually boycotted throughout the colonies
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
C.
D.
Reaction to the Stamp Act
1. In 1765, the British Parliament enacted the Stamp Act as a means of raising colonial tax revenues to help defray the cost of the French and Indian War in North America. The Colonists
reacted immediately, asserting that the Stamp Act was an attempt to raise money in the colonies without the approval of colonial legislatures. Resistance to the act was demonstrated
through debates in the colonial legislatures, written documents (including legislative resolves,
prints, and songs), and mob/crowd actions such as tarring and feathering tax collectors. In
this lesson, students will analyze several eighteenth-century documents to determine colonial opinions of Great Britain's attempts to tax the colonists in the 1760s
Reaction to the Townsend Acts:
1. The Townshend Acts was a series of acts that occurred during the 18th century and it placed
duties on imported glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. It was passed on June 1767 by the Parliament. The acts were named after Charles Townshend, who proposed the program. The
Revenue Acts, Indemnity Act, Commissioners Act, New York Restraining Act, and the Vice Admiralty Court Act were the series of acts passed in the Townshend Acts. The purpose of the
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
Townshend Acts was to raise revenue to be used in part to support colonial governors, judges, customs officers and British army in America. Also, to create a more effective means of
enforcing agreement with trade regulations, to establish a law that the British Parliament had
the right to tax the colonists. The Townshend Acts affected the colonists in many ways and
the colonists reacted in variety of way.
2. The Boston Massacre was at least partly a result of the tensions caused by British military
presence in Boston. The reinforcement troops were sent by the Parliament to back the Britain’s latest attempt of increasing the tax burden on American colonies. The tax policy in question was called the Townshend Acts of 1767. In summary the Acts were to impose more taxes
on common products imported into the colonies, such as paper, glass and of course tea.
3. The law was named after Charles Townshend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was designed as a smarter way to raise revenue as opposite to the heavy-handed Stamp Act passed
a year earlier The new law introduced a series of duties on common imports (such as paper,
paint, glass, etc.) rather than taxing income. The law also directed the proceeds from the new
duties to governors rather than colonial assemblies. But despite the new tactics the Act was
also extremely unpopular causing widespread protests and the subsequent response by the
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
Britain dissolving Massachusetts legislature. One of the most famous protest was the Boston
Massacre of 1770.
E.
The Boston Massacre Case
1. The Boston Massacre case demonstrates John Adams's deep and abiding respect for a legal
system based on the “Rule of Law”. In this case, John Adams was requested to - and did - defend British soldiers who had fired into a mob of unruly colonists.
2. The rule of law is an ambiguous term that can mean different things in different contexts. In
one context the term means rule according to law. No individual can be ordered by the government to pay civil damages or suffer criminal punishment except in strict accordance with
well-established and clearly defined laws and procedures. In a second context the term
means rule under law. No branch of government is above the law, and no public official may
act arbitrarily or unilaterally outside the law. In a third context the term means rule according
to a higher law. No written law may be enforced by the government unless it conforms with
certain unwritten, universal principles of fairness, morality, and justice that transcend human
legal systems.
3. Events began on March 5, 1770, when tensions were high between the colonists and the
armed British soldiers stationed in Boston. That evening, a dispute between a British sentry
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
4.
5.
6.
7.
and a colonist led to the gathering of a disorderly crowd of colonists which, eventually, confronted Captain Thomas Preston and eight British soldiers.
When the volatile crowd refused orders to disperse and threw objects at the soldiers, the soldiers shot into the crowd, killing five colonists, including Crispus Attucks. Captain Preston and
the soldiers were arrested.
The following day, John Adams was asked to defend Captain Preston and the soldiers from
anticipated indictments. Adams agreed. Though committed to freedom from British tyranny,
he believed that those accused deserved a proper defense. Adams's decision to defend the
accused was particular noteworthy as other patriots, including his cousin Samuel Adams and
Paul Revere, who invoked what they now named the "Boston Massacre" to inflame antiBritish sentiments.
Captain Preston's trial was held first, from October 24-30, 1770. Adams's strategy was to
challenge the prosecution's claim that Preston had ordered his soldiers to fire. Adams succeeded, and the jury acquitted Preston.
The subsequent trial of the eight soldiers was transcribed and published. After calling over
forty witnesses, Adams gave an "electrifying" closing argument in which he argued that the
soldiers had acted in self-defense when facing a mob. He further contended that because the
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
F
evidence was unclear as to which soldiers had fired, it was better for the jury to acquit all
eight defendants than mistakenly to convict one innocent man. "The reason is, because it's of
more importance to community, that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt
should be punished."
8. The jury acquitted six soldiers and found two guilty of manslaughter; those two had been
clearly proved to have fired shots.
Reaction to the Intolerable Acts:
1. In passing the acts, Lord North had hoped to detach and isolate the radical element in Massachusetts from the rest of the colonies while also asserting the power of Parliament over the
colonial assemblies. The harshness of the acts worked to prevent this outcome as many in
the colonies rallied to Massachusetts’s aid. Seeing their charters and rights under threat, colonial leaders formed committees of correspondence to discuss the repercussions of the Intolerable Acts.
2. These led to the convening of the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia on September 5.
Creating the Continental Association, the congress called for a boycott of all British goods. If
the Intolerable Acts were not repealed within a year, the colonies agreed to halt exports to
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
G.
H.
Britain as well as support Massachusetts if it was attacked. Rather than exact punishment,
North's legislation worked to pull the colonies together and pushed them down the road towards war.
First Continental Congress 1774
1. Two groups of people from all over the 13 Colonies who came together to discuss liberty. The
First Continental Congress was a group of 56 delegates from 12 colonies (all except Georgia)
who met in Philadelphia in September of 1774. They came together to act together in response to the Intolerable Acts. They met in secret because they didn't want Great Britain to
know that they were united. The Second Continental Congress met in 1775, when the Revolutionary war had started. Things were going badly, and the armed forces were disorganized.
The Continental Congress created the Continental Army and named George Washington as
commander-in-chief. The Congress continued through the summer. Out of the discussions
came the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Marines Corps.
Concord and Lexington 1775
1. First shots fired between American and British troops, on April 19, 1775. The British chose to
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
march to Concord because it was an arms depot. This meant that the Americans had stockpiled weapons there. British troops had occupied Boston and were marching on Concord as
they passed through Lexington. No one is still sure who fired first, but it was the "Shot Heard
'Round the World." Both sides opened fire, and the Americans were forced to withdraw. But
they had slowed the British advance. By the time the Redcoats got to Concord, the Americans
were waiting for them in force. The weapons depot was saved, and the British were forced to
retreat, harassed by militiamen along the way. The skirmishes were preceded by Paul
Revere's famous ride, warning the countryside: "The British are Coming!"
2. The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the first battle of the American Revolutionary War,
marking the "shot heard around the world."
The engagement took place on April 19, 1775, when 700 British regulars, mainly from the
flank and grenadier companies, marched from Boston to Lexington and Concord. The British
drove the 70 Minutemen from the towns but were ambushed during their return march, beginning the Siege of Boston.
3. The British Army had occupied Boston for years and was now augmented by naval forces and
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
additional troops. The contest between colonial governors, the army, and the rebel and Tory
militias to control arms and ammunition had been escalating for some time. With martial law
declared in Massachusetts, the governor General Gage had ordered Samuel Adams and John
Hancock arrested for treason.
On the night of April 18 Gage ordered a forced march to Lexington and Concord. Adams and
Hancock had escaped Boston and were staying at Lexington. The majority of the colony's militia supported the rebel cause and had been gathering a stock of weapons, powder and supplies at Concord. The British regulars, 700 strong, were led by Colonel Francis Smith and were
drawn from the elite flank and grenadier companies in Gage's occupying regiments. But most
were marching without their own officers. While Colonel Smith had the good fortune to designate Major John Pitcairn from the Royal Marines to head his advance party, the rest of his
officers were those too junior to avoid the duty, or subalterns out for the adventure.
4. The Americans meanwhile were aware of the expedition. Express riders were ready to warn
those along their route and at Lexington. Joseph Warren sent William Dawes, who covered
the longer southern route by land across the Boston Neck through Roxbury, and Paul Revere,
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
I.
who watched the northern route by ship across the Back Bay and through Charleston. Later in
the night, Warren rode, too. The British began to awaken their troops at 10:00 P.M., and by
10:30 the signal was given to send the riders out, a half hour before the regiments marched
sharply to their boats.
5. In terms of accomplishments and casualties this was not a major battle. With 1,800 men engaged, the British losses were 73 dead, 26 missing, and 174 wounded or 273 total casualties.
Estimated rebel losses for 4,000 men were 49 killed, 5 missing and 41 seriously wounded for
a total of 95 casualties. But, the Revolutionary War had begun. And the British assumption
that they had enough force at Boston to overwhelm the rebels was questioned. The next
battle, at Bunker Hill would shatter that assumption completely.
The Army of resistance continued to grow as surrounding colonies sent men and supplies.
The Continental Congress would adopt and sponsor these men into the beginnings of the
Continental Army.
Declaration of Independence July 4th 1776
1. The Declaration of Independence was a desperate cry for freedom. The British colonists living
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
in America had grown used to being their own bosses in many ways. They thought that the
British Parliament and its King, George III, were making too many laws that took away too
many of their freedoms.
2. Some examples of these are the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act. Both put very high taxes on
things that the American colonists used every day: paper and sugar. The Americans hadn't
voted for these taxes. They hadn't even elected the members of Parliament who had passed
the laws that created those taxes. To the Americans, this was "taxation without representation." They thought they had no say in what their government did to them. People who lived
in Britain could protest and even choose not to re-elect lawmakers who voted for such taxes.
But the Americans didn't have that option. They had to accept the taxes.
3. Or so Britain thought. The Americans weren't about to accept such high taxes. Each new Act
brought more outrage in America. In one serious set of acts, which the Americans called the
Intolerable Acts, the British closed the port of Boston and made it OK for British soldiers to
stay in American houses without the owners' permission. The British government thought
that by coming down hard on Massachusetts, it could isolate the colony and keep the rest of
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
the 13 Colonies from following the example of Massachusetts. (After all, Massachusetts
seemed to be always stirring up trouble: the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party...)
4. But the Intolerable Acts had the opposite effect. American colonists everywhere were angry.
The following months saw the first meeting of the Continental Congress. Among other things,
this group of delegates from all 13 colonies wanted to boycott British goods throughout the
colonies. Not even a year later, the Revolutionary War had begun. The Battles of Lexington
and Concord and Bunker Hill were just the beginning. British and American troops fought all
over the 13 colonies and even in Canada. Many people thought the Americans needed a rallying cry, something they could all fight for. People like Patrick Henry were calling for independence. Early in 1776, while the troops were fighting in the field, more delegates were meeting
in Philadelphia, at the Second Continental Congress. This Congress went on for months, and
out of it came the Declaration of Independence. The American people had had enough. The
delegates decided that they wanted to declare themselves independent from Great Britain.
They appointed a committee of five people to write a document to that effect. Those five
people were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, R.R. Livingston, and Roger
Sherman. The main author was Thomas Jefferson. On June 28, the committee presented the
Declaration to the Continental Congress. After a series of debates, the Congress approved it.
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
On July 4, John Hancock, president of the Congress, signed it. The document itself was not
signed by all 56 signers until much later. But Congress declared it in effect on July 4. This was
in the middle of a war, of course. The Americans had forced the British to leave Boston, but
many bad losses were to follow. The Americans had to fight long and hard to keep their independence. Still, the signing of that document gave them all a common cause, something they
could fight for and defend with their very lives.
IV
A.
American ~ British Relations
American Overconfidence
1. In considering America’s place in the transatlantic economy, the colonial leaders of 1775 exhibited a sense of self-importance and overconfidence. Not only did the mainland colonies
boast a fast-expanding population and a large agricultural surplus, but their growth and
seemingly vital importance to the future of the British Empire was recognized across the European continent.
2. Twice during the decade before 1775, the British government had backed down on taxing the
colonies after the colonies moved to boycott British manufactured goods. The rising dependence of some British industries on colonial North America resources was well recognized.
Transatlantic buyers took over half of a growing list of exports.
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
3. As a result, boycott advocates in North America became convinced of their ability to force
England to retreat on unpopular policies. Then in late 1774, push came to shove over Congress’s Continental Association and its unprecedented trade ultimatum. Colonial pressures
had counted in the retreats of 1766 and 1770. In the former year, the hated Stamp Act had
been retracted after colonial buyers’ tactics appeared to cause a 15 percent decline in exports to America. In 1770 Parliament scrapped its Townshend levies of 1767—except for the
one on tea—after a second display of boycott damage. British exports to the colonies had fallen 38 percent between 1768 and 1769,
4. In America, as news of Parliament’s multiple coercions arrived the rebels coined their own
irate description: the Intolerable Acts. By late May the Continental Congress agreed to retaliate with an immediate non-importation and non-exportation measure. Even so, economic
warfare was about to begin.
B
The New Calendar of Economic Mobilization
1. With faster communications between Britain and America, fighting might well have begun
more quickly. Boycotts and local implementing committees were familiar enough. Nonimportation had been tested in the 1760s; it was non-exportation that had barely gone beyond
conversation. The bolder commitment reflected how many Patriot leaders had been discour-
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
aged by experiences with merchants and soured by problems of inter-colonial collaboration.
Stalwarts now relied on two new components. First, an unprecedented mandatory boycott of
British imports by American consumers. A bigger bet would then be placed on the nonexportation to Britain of the thirteen colonies’ most valuable enumerated commodities: tobacco, rice, and indigo. These new strategies would be implemented by Patriot-led enforcement committees able to orchestrate—foes said coerce—public compliance and acceptance.
2. In contrast to the previous boycotts, the Association of 1774 would be much less dependent
on the economic interests and uncertain politics of merchants. Many of them had soured on
Patriot politics during disagreements over nonimportation policy in 1769 and 1770. Burdensome costs had been part of merchant disillusionment. By 1774, artisans, mechanics, and
yeomen itched to play a much greater part, especially in promoting local manufactures. They
would be enlisted for more prominent roles. Stunned British officials and American Loyalists
who called Congress’s measures revolutionary were absolutely right. However, the implications for social as well as economic upheaval took a while to sink in because the Continental
Congress initially projected an image of unity and moderation.
3. The emergence of tobacco as a Patriot weapon particularly incensed Britain. In the summer
of 1774, even before the Continental Congress met, the tobacco colonies, Maryland, Virginia,
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
and North Carolina, had led in promoting a new non-exportation policy. Once Congress’s deliberations turned to trade issues, Marylanders and Virginians focused on the date when nonexportation would begin. That reflected the drawn-out calendar of the 1774 tobacco crop,
which would not be cured and readied for sale until 1775. Non-exportation, growers argued,
had to be stretched out accordingly. A year’s proceeds were involved. Despite considerable
impatience, the delegates had acquiesced. Virginia, being so important, had effective veto
power.
4. Non-exportation, of course, represented the hitherto untried direct assault on Britain’s imperial system. We will examine several pages hence the decisions made in 1774 and 1775 with
respect to all three major enumerated crops—principally Chesapeake tobacco but also South
Carolina rice and indigo. The purpose, for the moment, is simply to place the southern colonies front and center in the great drama that unfolded first at the Congress and then between its adjournment in October and the convening of the new Congress in May 1775.
These three enumerated crops, worth roughly £2 million in 1772, were the prime fruit of
mercantilism in British North America.
5. This is critical history. To underscore the political attention and pressure imposed by the Association and its relentless calendar specified by the First Continental Congress.
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
C.
The Calendar of the Continental Association, 1774–1775
1. September 1774 Merchants in the colonies were advised to stop ordering British goods because nonimportation would shortly be imposed.
2. October 1774
Beginning immediately, no sheep were to be exported to anywhere. (Wool
was to be retained in the colonies to make clothing.)
3. December 1774 No importation of any merchandise from Britain or Ireland; no East India
tea from anywhere; no molasses, sugar, syrups, et al., from the British West Indies; no wine
from Madeira; no foreign indigo. For any such car
goes arriving between December 1
and January 31, recipients had three options for disposal:
1) reshipping the goods;
2) storing the goods
3) authorizing the local committee to sell the
goods.
4. February 1775 Any cargoes from Britain arriving in the colonies after this date had to be returned to their point of origin; no other option was allowed.
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
5. March 1775 No consumption (purchase or use) of tea, or of any merchandise known or suspected to have been imported after December 1, would be allowed, but with certain specified
exceptions.
6. September 1775 No export of any commodity would be allowed to Britain, Ireland, or the
British West Indies.
D.
The Export Weapons: Tobacco and Rice
1. If any of Virginia’s leading tobacco planters predicted in 1774 what non-exportation was likely
to bring about by 1776 or 1777, their answers have not come down to posterity. But in 1774
tobacco as a crop arguably profited Britain’s monopoly more than it profited Old Dominion
growers, and it was those circumstances that made cured leaf the colonies’ prime trade
weapon.
2. Indebtedness, a fact of commercial life in the plantation colonies, became a second preoccupation. Growers did not want to shut off their tobacco, rice, or indigo shipments to British
merchants while local courts still remained “open to creditor suits for debt recovery. To backstop non-exportation, then, various degrees of simultaneous court closure would be necessary in Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Conservatives were wary, but in practice a con-
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
siderable amount of court closing was achieved, often indirectly through failure to pass judicial enabling legislation or under the Association by Patriot enforcement committees forbidding most debt recovery cases.
3. Through 1775 and into 1776, tobacco non-exportation was a political and financial success.
By the eve of Lexington and Concord, prices in Virginia had risen 60 to 80 percent from their
1774 lows, through a convergence of favorable circumstances. Growers unwilling to ship their
leaf in many cases could not be sued in closed or unwilling courts. Buyers in Europe pushed
up prices, assuming that the shipments in the spring and summer of 1775 would be the last.
E.
The Perils of Treasonomics
1. The assumption of mercantilist and imperial thinking was that colonies existed to support the
political economy of the mother country. Such a viewpoint underpinned the Coercive Acts.
Even the best-known American sympathizers in Parliament—William Pitt, Lord Rockingham,
and Edmund Burke—accepted the necessarily subordinate nature of the colonial relationship.
Whatever new theories Adam Smith might publish in 1776 in The Wealth of Nations, the
views of George III, Lord North, and the Cabinet in 1774 and 1775 remained old school. The
king himself believed that the North American colonies were critical to the British Empire,
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
much as American “domino” theorists of the 1960s believed defeat in Vietnam threatened
America’s world position.
2. Against this psychological backdrop, a belligerent Continental Congress was demanding huge
and implausible concessions: no British taxation in America, an end to duties on everything
from wine and tea to sugar and molasses, repeal of the Quebec Act (and its bar to American
westward expansion), and little or no London control over colonial trade save where Americans might consent. Only if these demands were agreed to would Congress drop its agenda of
nonimportation, non-consumption, and non-exportation. To British Cabinet members, this
amounted to criminal rejection by Americans of their colonial status. However, Britain being
a nation that abided by its own laws, the Crown’s legal officers faced recurring difficulty in
identifying workable circumstances for individual treason prosecutions. The necessary evidence would be hard to obtain.
3. Even so, Congress’s declaration ending American commercial subservience arguably justified
a royal decision to vacate the imperial relationship and to name the wayward colonies outlaws. The Association was not just a tougher replay of the colonies’ two earlier importation
boycotts. To echo the words of historian Merrill Jensen at the beginning of this chapter, the
Association was an unprecedented mechanism for economic coercion.
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
4. By contrast, during these same months, Patriot spokesmen could not have been declared in
rebellion or called outlaw for insisting that Britain had no authority to lay taxes on them.
Many Britons, including William Pitt, said the same thing because Americans had no voice in
Parliament—their “virtual representation” being a joke. As for London’s fury over large-scale
smuggling during the French and Indian War, and the consequent treason like allegation that
American provisions shipped to the French Caribbean islands had prolonged the conflict, an
obvious retort existed: “Britons themselves had traded illicitly on a large scale with the
French during that same war.
5. So why were the thirteen colonies, and New England in particular, the designated whipping
post during the decade and a half before 1775? Why were 20 or 30 ships of the Royal Navy
ordered to collect customs duties off the American coast instead of concentrating their force
off smugglers’ coves in Kent, Sussex, Dorset, or Cornwall? Was it because British policy makers feared the American colonies—their ballooning population, their shipbuilding capacity
(between one quarter and one third of British ships were American built), their markets, their
western lands, their large numbers of skilled seamen and their growing capacity to manufacture many of Britain’s own specialties? No such disaffection-cum-breakaway was possible
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
along England’s southern coast, or for that matter in such smuggling centers of the British
Caribbean as Jamaica and St. Kitts. London’s discriminatory treatment was not misplaced.
6. The American population, doubling every twenty-five years, was indeed expected to exceed
Britain’s in two or three generations. Benjamin Franklin had said the Americans could learn to
make most of what Britain manufactured in a short time. Edmund Burke had saluted Americans’ skill in their pursuit of fisheries. In France, foreign ministers from Choiseul to Vergennes
privately discussed how splitting off America and its benefits to the empire was their surest
way to dethrone Britain. In 1775 William Pitt, now Lord Chatham, took to the floor of the
House of Lords to offer a caustic economic analysis: “the profit from the trade of the colonies,
through all its branches, is two millions a year. This is the fund that carried you triumphantly
through the last war…this is the price that America pays for her protection.
7. Besides overconfidence in the political and commercial muscle of nonimportation, too many
Americans believed that the colonies’ importance to Britain would compel the huge concessions demanded. In reality, the more than 300 Commons seats won by supporters of Lord
North in the October 1774 elections ensured support for hardline policies at least through
1775 and 1776. North, much liked by the king, was in little danger of being dropped for another Whig ministry, especially one under the aging Pitt, a royal bête noire.
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
8. Back in 1774, when most Americans could contend with personal conviction that independence was not a goal, many moderates and future Loyalists demonstrated a different naïveté.
At the First Continental Congress, Pennsylvania’s Joseph Galloway had participated and proposed the alternative course of seeking an American Parliament, even though he would later
describe Congress’s proceedings as “a declaration of war.“ His belief probably reflected a
confidence in the British Empire and an assumption that the king and Parliament would do
their best on Americans’ behalf if approached reasonably and loyally. Indeed, many hopeful
Loyalists went along with the Continental Association to promote an image of American unity
in order to support hard economic bargaining—at least until January and February 1775,
when escalating skepticism shattered the facade briefly constructed in Philadelphia.
9. By this point, of course, elements of the British government and much of the Patriot leadership in New England were preparing for combat, however much poor winter communications
assured an information lag. When the details of Congress’s October slap in the imperial face
reached London in December 1774, they quickly ended Cabinet uncertainty, convincing the
Crown to reply in kind. To paraphrase Lord North, the American colonies want to cut off commerce with us, so we’ll cut off their access to the North Atlantic fisheries and stop their trade
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
outside the empire—and naval enforcement will start in July. More than a few would-be Loyalists were left in the lurch.”
10. In another twelve to eighteen months, British talk of prosecutions for treason had become
less topical as both sides realized that the conflict had become a civil war, which demanded a
different etiquette. The colonial economic ultimatums that led to British countermeasures
had been a new kind of casus belli.
F.
The Vital Role of the Continental Association and Its Committees
1. The scope of their economic activity, already hinted, ranged from clearing ship departures to
setting prices, investigating merchants, and deporting malefactors. In many places, regulation
of the economy impinged on cultural practices; and elsewhere it edged toward military procurement and munitions management. In decrying purchases of unnecessary luxuries, extravagant clothing, cheap gewgaws, and types of conspicuous ceremony like costly funerals, the
Association sought to harness Puritan morality to reduce wasteful spending and debt. George
Washington and other supportive Virginians perceived a covert benefit. Patriotic boycotts of
luxuries, including expensive clothing, would give debt-burdened gentlemen a face-saving
way to cut outlays they could no longer afford. In the new cultural milieu, even planters ac-
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough
Discussion 6-3
US History ~ Chapter 6 Topic Discussions
E Lundberg
Topic of Discussion – Colonial Reaction and The Rule of Law
Chapter Information ~ Ch 6 - 4 sections; 33 pages
The Road to Revolution (1763 - 1776)
Section 1 ~ Tighter British Control
Section 2 ~ Colonial Resistance Grows
Section 3 ~ The Road to Lexington & Concord
Section 4 ~ Declaring Independence
Pages 156-159
Pages 160-167
Pages 168-175
Pages 176-188
Key Ideas
The Colonist did react to the political aggressiveness of
the British
The Colonist organized and sought to control the money system>
Whoever controls the money controls the power
Related Topics
British economic Mercantile system
The British practice of Salutary Neglect
British Political Aggressiveness
The colonial response (cause and effect)
The Rule of Law
Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes
1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups.
2. Taking the land.
3. The individual versus the state.
4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc.
5. Sectionalism.
6. Immigration and Americanization.
7. The change in social class.
8. Technology developments and the environment.
9. Relations with other nations.
10. Historiography, how we know things.
Talking Points
cepted committee rulings against dancing classes, balls, entertainments, billiards, and their
beloved horse races.
2. Bluntly put, the effectiveness of the new committee structure confirmed the First Continental
Congress’s positioning of the Continental Association as a “counter-coercive” response to
Britain’s spring 1774 Coercive Acts, albeit neither friend nor foe used that characterization at
the time. One unhappy appreciation came from Virginia’s Dunmore, who observed that Virginians gave “the Laws of Congress…marks of reverence which they never bestowed on their
legal Government, or the laws proceeding from it.”
In terms of the unfolding American Revolutionary economy, the year 1775 was a period of fortunate and
necessary optimism, yet these hopes were in many ways unjustified. Without that brave confidence,
without that clutch of illusions—naïve assumptions based on a supposedly unstoppable North American
reservoir of manpower, an expected great surplus of grain and livestock, and a predicted flood of trade
and support from Europe despite a British blockade—the ambitious rebels who launched the Revolution
in 1774 and 1775 might not have dared. By 1779 and 1780, Britain’s naval chokehold together with rampant inflation had left the new nation’s economy at a nadir. However, this book is entitled 1775, not
1780. The Revolution succeeded, luckily, because several years of economic bravado preceded the era of
disillusionment.
Questions to Think About
What would have happened if the British were able to
sustain the colonial reactions?
What would have changed if England had recognized
and worked with the colonist to allow representation?
What if another country came into the picture?
Supporting Materials
1775, A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation, By Deci
1776, by McCullough