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November 12, 2020 History NotesTHE ENGLISH VICTORY IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR should have been GREAT NEWS FOR THE ENGLISH COLONISTS. However, ENGLAND TOOK ACTIONS DURING AND AFTER THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR THAT CREATED GREAT CONFLICT WITH HER COLONIES!During the French and Indian War, under William Pitt’s leadership, England alienated her American colonists by 1) FORCING American men to serve in the English army and navy (IMPRESSMENT) and2. By instructing English soldiers to TAKE (steal) food and equipment from colonists when short of supplies England eventually paid for what they had taken from colonial citizens, but their impressment of American men, their treatment of civilians, and the war experience in general would play a major role in motivating Colonists to fight the next war …THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE—THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR At war’s end, most Americans 1. Thought that British soldiers were inferior to the American soldiers*2. Were more united in their quest for political, religious, and economic freedom***British officers purchased their commissions; regular soldiers had little chance of advancement.British soldiers generally fought for pay, not to protect their homes and families. **Americans were economically blessed, well fed, healthy, and were the envy of Europe.Our country had not had to suffer through famines in the way Europe had experienced famine.Americans were also well educated—the most LITERATE people on earth. The following describe the conflict between England and her colonies. It will be these specific events that caused Americans to be willing to go to war in order to gain their INDEPENDENCE I. TRADEEngland’s King George insisted upon exercising control over the colonies, especially over colonial trade and industry.English policy with respect to trade made most Americans angry. Americans believed that they were being treated unfairly because English trade policy restricted colonial economic freedom. Colonists believed the government was showing favoritism to English citizens who actually lived in England. Ultimately, Americans quickly realized that English trade policy was COSTING THEM MONEY! This trade policy was called ‘mercantilism’.MERCANTILISMEngland’s leaders believed that the colonies existed just to serve England. Colonists thought that their rights were rarely ever considered. England needed our natural resources for use in her industries. English industrialists and merchants made money by selling their manufactured goods, so they wanted to restrict colonists’ ability to sell these resources to other countries. Page 2England wanted to sell her manufactured goods to her American colonists. England did not want colonists purchasing manufactured goods from any other country! In fact she did not want Americans to trade with other countries at all.England also wanted to restrict our industry. The more products colonists were able to manufacture, the less they would buy from England. (England, however, was ok with our shipbuilding industry. There was no competition with America in this industry. England did NOT have all the materials required to construct ships, but the colonists did…and they built good ships!) So, England saw the colonies as a way to profit—to make money $--and they could make more $ if they controlled colonial economic activity. Their idea was for the colonies to send England raw materials, the English would then manufacture products from those raw materials and then sell those manufactured products back to us for a profit.MERCANTILISM was a sweet deal for England; it was a raw deal for Americans.Mercantilism, England’s economic policy for the colonies, was enforced in part by the use of ‘tariffs’. TARIFFS Tariffs are taxes levied (placed) on trade goods between countries.Tariffs make the cost of buying trade goods higher (more expensive).If other countries wanted to buy or sell products in the colonies, the English government could just levy tariffs to make foreign goods so expensive that colonists couldn’t afford them.England did not want American colonists to manufacture goods. Therefore, when colonial manufacturers did try to sell their goods in England or any other country, the English would place a tariff on those products. Americans hated these tariffs (taxes) and thought they were very unfairEngland was really interfering with our ECONOMIC FREEDOMSMUGGLINGAmericans began to search for ways to avoid paying these tariffs. If merchants brought in goods LEGALLY through the ports of cities like Boston or New York, the tariffs would have to be paid…but if products could be brought in secretly—without the English knowing—then the tariffs could be avoided. American merchants became very good at by-passing these tariffs. The practice of illegally bringing in goods in order to avoid the tariffs was called SMUGGLING. Now it was England’s turn to be upset. Smuggling greatly angered King George and cost the English government a lot of money in uncollected tariffs. Page 3II. TAXES England thought that Americans should pay for (or at least help pay for) the expenses resulting from the French and Indian War AND to help pay for keeping 10,000 soldiers in the colonies. THE STAMP ACT was the first tax levied (placed) on Americans in order to pay this debt. Page 3The Stamp Act required colonies to purchase stamps that had to be affixed to legal documents such as deeds, licenses, and contracts.Americans hated this tax because it cost them money…but there was a bigger issue involved: it was the idea that the stamp tax had been enacted by Parliament which contained NOT one single Colonial American. Colonists did NOT have a choice in this matter. The slogan for angry Americans became NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!To make matters worse, people accused of not paying the tax were tried WITHOUT A JURY. Angry Americans were so angry that they threatened physical violence against the tax collectorsSONS OF LIBERTY, an organized group of protestors in BOSTON, hung an effigy (a sculpture or model of a person used in a protest) of the Boston tax collector on a gallows (a wooden structure used to hang people), then burned the effigy, burned the building where taxes were collected, then went to the tax collector’s house to get him—but thankfully, he was not home. This gallows became known as the LIBERTY TREE. THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS (THE COLONISTS’ RESPONSE)The protests by the colonists against the STAMP ACT was so strong and widespread that each colony selected delegates (representatives) to attend THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS which met in New York City during the month of October, 1765. THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE COLONIES UNITED IN THEIR OPPOSITION TO ENGLAND!The Stamp Act Congress did the following: 1) officially petitioned (a formal, written request) King George and Parliament to repeal (withdraw, cancel, revoke) the Stamp Act, and 2) to repeal the PROCLAMATION OF 1763 (this proclamation is explained below.)The petition also contained a request that King George and Parliament NOT levy any other taxes on colonial citizens without giving the colonists a voice in the decision making process (NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION). III. THE PROCLAMATION OF 1763This proclamation (law) made it illegal for settlers to claim land west of the Appalachian Mts. The proclamation angered Americans whose DREAM it was to claim land in the west. Many farmers with a pioneer spirit moved west anyway—they knew that there was little England could do to enforce this proclamation. The 10,000 English soldiers were all stationed in cities along the east coast, hundreds of miles from the frontier. Page 4WHY did England want to prevent colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains? England feared a large scale Indian rebellion against the pioneer farmers and did NOT want to deal with the expense of sending soldiers that far west. Therefore, England officially made it illegal for colonists to move west of the mountains. THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS was partially successful. King George and Parliament did repeal the Stamp Act, much to the delight of the colonists. HOWEVER…There was 2 other laws passed by England that id not ‘sit well’ with the American colonists:QUARTERING ACTKing George and Parliament further angered the colonists by passing this law which forced Americans to provide shelter (housing) and food for English soldiers.THE DECLARATORY ACTShortly after the Stamp Act was repealed, however, the DECLARATORY ACT was passed.This act ‘declared’ that the King and Parliament had the power to pass whatever laws they wanted to pass where the colonies were concerned…and WITHOUT colonial approval.So, a fragile (easily broken or damaged) peace would exist for awhile, but that peace would not last! Interestingly, there were a few English leaders—Pitt and Edmund Burke—who spoke in support of the colonists. They did their best to get King George and Parliament to listen to the concerns of the colonies and to act accordingly. But Pitt’s and Burke’s efforts on behalf of the colonists were largely unheeded. LET’S REVIEW AGAIN THOSE ACTIONS TAKEN BY ENGLAND THAT ANGERED THEIR AMERICAN COLONISTS AND PAVE THE WAY FOR THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:Mercantilism-England wanted to control American trade so that THEY (NOT US) could make $ Tariffs-taxes on trade goods were passed as a way of controlling our tradeStamp Act-tax was passed by Parliament to raise money to pay for the Fr & I War Americans protested the tax, arguing for ‘NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION’ Page 5Proclamation of 1763-made it illegal for American pioneers to move west of the mountainsQuartering Act-required American colonists to feed and shelter English soldiersAS A RESULT OF THESE ENGLISH ACTIONS…colonists UNITED by convening the Stamp Act Congress.The STAMP ACT was eventually repealed but the other grievances (complaints) of the colonists basically went unheeded. ................
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