American Revolution Podcast

Today I begin the American Revolution Podcast.

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Background on the American Colonies. For more text, pictures, maps, and sources, please visit my site at AmRevPodcast.Blogspot.com.

Background on the American Colonies. For more text, pictures, maps, and sources, please visit my site at AmRevPodcast.Blogspot.com.

Britain and France had spent the prior century in almost continuous fighthing.  In American, Native tribes attempted to play off the two European powers against one another, while engaging in their own power struggles with neighboring tribes.  Today's episode looks at the power dynamics in play before the outbreak of the French and Indian War. 

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Virginia sends a young man named George Washington into the Ohio Valley to challenge the French. There, he starts a world war.

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Britain sends Gen. Braddock to America to recapture the Ohio Valley in 1755.  He meets the French and Indians at the Battle of the Monongahela.

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The British expel the French inhabitants, of Acadia.  The French and British fight over Lake George.  Britain gets a new Prime Minister, the Duke of New Castle.  Lord Loudoun arrives in America as the new British miltiary commander.

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The French go on the offensive, capturing Forts Ontario and Oswego.  The British retreat, ceding much of upper New York to the French and their Indian allies.  Various tribes also move aggressively to push British colonists out of the Ohio Valley.

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The French offensive continues in 1757 as Gen. Montcalm takes Fort William Henry.  France's Indian allies massacre part of the British and colonial garrison.  In London, the King gives William Pitt a chance to turn around the war with new strategies.

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After continuing defeats, Britain changes leaders.  It also adopts a new strategy for encouraging British colonial support for the war in North America.  Gen. Abercromby's army assaults Fort Carillon at Ticonderoga.

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Gen. Amherst captures Louisbourg in Britain's first major victory of the French and Indian War.  The British follow up with a successful raid on Fort Frontenac.  In Pennsylvania, the British sign the Treaty of Eastong.  This ends most of the military opposition of Indians in the Ohio Valley.

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After convincing most Indians to abandon the French in the Ohio Valley, the British take Fort Duquesne at the end of 1758.  Gen. Amherst takes command of British forces for the 1759 fighting season, capturing Forts Niagara and Carillion as well.  Fort Duquesne becomes Fort Pitt.  Fort Carillion becomes Fort Ticonderoga.

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British Gen. Wolfe defeats French Gen. Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham in 1759.  The British capture the key city of Quebec.

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The British Army in America captures the final concentration of French forces at Montreal in 1760.  This effectively ends major combat operations in North America.  With the death of his grandfather, 22 year old King George III claims the throne.

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The Cherokee go to war against the settlers in the Carolinas who are encroaching on their land.  Britain captures French colonies in the West Indies (what we today call the Caribbean).  Newcastle and Pitt leave the government as the Earl of Bute takes charge.  Spain finally joins France in the war against Britain, only to lose some of its own colonies.

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The French try for one last land claim in North America at the Battle of Signal Hill.  Following the end of combat, the British army in America shrinks, removing men and money from the colonies.  Britain finally ends the Seven Years War with France and Spain through the Treaty of Paris in 1763.  British politician John Wilkes learns the hard way that although the King has gotten involved in politics, you cannot criticize the King like any other politician.  He goes on to become a hero for the cause of British liberities.

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As the Seven Years War comes to an end, Britain and her colonies begin bickering over issues unrelated to the war.  In Virginia, a new lawyer named Patrick Henry convinces a jury not to pay ministers the wage required under the law.  The Archbishop of Canterbury is thwarted in his attempts to force New England to accept an Anglican Bishop.  James Otis Jr. becomes an early advocate against the enforcement of trade tariffs through the use of general warrants.

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By 1763, France has left Canada after losing the the French and Indian war.  British soldiers and colonists continue to occupy land west of the Allegheny mountains in violation of promises.  To save money, Britain stops making annual gifts to the tribes. The Indian tribes unite and rise up against these continuing violations of treaties.  The tribes sieze mulitple forts and besiege others.  Soldiers and colonists hunker down in forts, flee the region, or die horrible deaths.

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In 1764, in response to the Native American attacks known as Pontiac's War, the colonists strike back at the Indians, killing the guilty and innocent alike.  Gen. Amherst approves use of smallpox against the Indians. He proposes a campaign of terror and slaughter against the tribes.  At the insistence of Indian agent Sir William Johnson, London recalls Amherst, leaving Gen. Thomas Gage in charge.  Gage follows through on Amherst's attack plan, sending out two expeditions to destroy Indian villages and kill anyone they find, taking no prisoners.

By the time the expeditions leave in the summer of 1764, the leaders find almost all tribes ready to settle.  Indian attempts to bring the French back into the fight have failed.  Most Chiefs realize they cannot continue the war.  The Treaty of Niagara returns the Seneca to peace.  Other tribes request diplomatic negotiations, eventually resulting in the Treaty of Fort Ontario in 1766.  This Treaty recognizes British rule as far west as the Mississippi River.

Meanwhile, King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, requiring all British colonial settlements to remain east of the Allegheny mountains, thus forbidding westward colonial expansion.  The colonists strongly oppose this restriction.

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In 1764, with Britain under a massive debt from the Seven Years War and with increased costs of maintaining its new colonies, the Grenville Ministry passes the Sugar Act to raise revenue from the colonists.  The Act itself actually cuts tariff rates, but also institutes enforcement measures to ensure the colonists cannot evade the taxes as easily as they did in the past.  Parliament also passes the Quartering Act, to make colonies pay for the quartering of British Regulars within their borders, whether they are there to protect the colonists or to enforce tariff and trade laws.

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Following the passage of the Sugar Act in 1764, the British colonies in North America begin to organize opposition.  The new taxes and trade enforcement policies hits the colonies just when they are experiencing other economic problems.  Brtiain's removal of war subsidies leads to growing unemployment and a general lack of jobs.  The Currency Act contributes to exisiting money shortages.   The Wheelwright Scandal makes all of this worse.  British restrictions on western lands cuts off a traditional economic resource.

The colonies send petitions to London protesting the changes.  They also begin writing editorials and circulating pamphlets among themselves as they start to orginaize colonial opposition.  British customs officials face opposition at all levels as they attempt to enforce the law.

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In 1765 Prime Minister Grenville led passage of the Stamp Act through Parliament.  He designed the tax on newpapers, legal documents and a host of other paper to collect revenues from the colonies.  Although some radical whigs like William Pitt opposed the new taxes, the law sailed through Parilament with relative ease.  Parliament wanted to pay off its war debt and thought the colonies needed to contribute more.  To help with enforcement, Parliament also passed the Quartering act, forcing colonies to pay for housing for soldiers in their colonies.

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Colonists at all levels of society protested the Stamp Act of 1765.  Newspapers railed against it.  Mobs marched in the streets, and destroyed the  homes of tax agents and other supporters.  Colonial politicians not only spoke out against the Act but organized the Stamp Act Congress to coordinate a unified response to this tax.  At issue was "taxation without representation."  Parliament, for the first time, was imposing a direct tax on the colonists, even though they had no representation in Parliament.  

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The Stamp Act took effect on November 1, 1765.  But colonial opposition prevented the use of any stamps.  Protesters forced newspapers, courts, and ports to operate without stamped paper.  Creditors could not go to court to collect on debts and trading vessels stop going to England.  As a result, English merchants joined in opposition to the Act.

Prime Minister Rockingham replaced Grenville and immediately set about to repeal the law.  The problem was, Parliament did not want to look like it was backing down in the face of mob violence, or sending the message that it accepts colonial assertions that Parliament cannot impose taxes on the colonies.  After months of wrangling and infighting, King George let it be known that he supports the repeal.  Parilament passed the repeal, but on the same day also passes the Declaratory Act which says Parliament still has the authority to pass such laws whenever it wants.  

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Following the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766, colonial protests stopped and trade resumed.  Parliament is not happy about the pushback and seems determined to find a way to put the colonies in their place.  The colonies are unhappy about the Declaratory Act and Parliament's assertion of complete tax authority over the colonies, despite a lack of colonial representation in Parilament.  The colonists and the English people begin to view their interests as in competition with one another.

During this time, many small issues push colonial interests further from those in England.  The death of John Robinson in Virginia reveals a major financial scandal that creates a colonial cash shortage.  Parliament passes the Free Port Act, attempting to give trade advantages to London over the colonies.  A New York assault case Forsey v. Cunningham threatens the right of jury trials.  Bostonians get into a big fight over search warrants.  New Yorkers refuse to pay Quartering Act costs for British regulars in the colony.

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William Pitt, champion of colonial rights, finally becomes Prime Minister in 1766. Illness however, keeps him from active participation in the government. His Lord of the Exchequer Charles Townsend tries to boost revenue by increasing tariffs on a wide variety of colonial imports. While avoiding direct taxes, the new laws are designed to extract money from the colonies as well as increase enforcement actions. Townshend hopes to introduce colonial compliance to Parliament slowly with this first step.

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Prime Minister William Pitt's illness prevents him from running his administration.  The Duke of Grafton becomes acting Prime Minister for over a year and eventually take the office officially when Pitt resigns in 1768.  Although Grafton is a moderate on colonial issues, he moves hardliners like Lord North and the Earl of Hillsborough into his cabinet.  The Ministry also adds to the Townshend Acts by creating several new Admiralty Courts in America to enforce the Townshend Acts and other customs laws.  With tough enforcement, they hope the colonies will fall in line.

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Following passage of the Towshend Acts in 1767, the colonists are unsure how to respond. These are import tariffs, not taxes, which was the line they drew over the earlier Stamp Act. They don't want to pay but have trouble articulating a good argument that everyone accepts.

John Dickinson writes a series of 12 letters, purportedly from "a farmer in Pennsylvania" explaining why these new laws are just as objectionable. His letters push the colonists into real opposition to the new laws. British attempts to shut down the protests by force, only make things worse.

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The American Board of Customs arrives in Boston in 1767 ready to enforce the new Townshend duties.  With the backing of the British Navy, the Board tries to show who is boss by seizing a ship belonging to the wealthiest merchant in Boston and a leader of the tax protests, John Hancock.  The seizure of Hancock's ship Liberty results in a riot and the beatings of several customs officials.  The Board learns that they are not the boss and must flee to Castle William, an island in Boston Harbor, to avoid further attacks.  Tough enforcement of customs laws comes to a halt.

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With officials in Boston unable to control the people and enforce the law, Secretary of State Hillsborough decides enough is enough and orders four regiments of British regulars to occupy the town.  Radical colonists debate resisting the troops by force of arms, but decide in the end to back down.  Instead, they simply send protests to London.  Locals harass the soldiers at every opportunity, and make the occupation as difficult as possible.  The Navy attempts to impress (force) local sailors into the fleet, leading to the death of a British officer from those resisting impressment. Gov. Bernard is recalled to London and will never return, leaving Lt. Governor Hutchinson in charge.  Leading radical James Otis suffers an attack that leads to mental instability and his eventual withdrawal from politics.

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Radical John Wilkes returns from France in 1768 to face the charges for seditious libel.  He would spend the next two years in prison, during which time he would be elected to Parliament, which refused to seat him, as well as other goverment positions.  As much as the King and Parliament hated Wilkes, the people of England loved him as a defender of liberty.  The colonists also took up Wilkes as a hero of the fight for liberty. 

As the sides harden between Parliament and the colonies. Prime Minister Grafton sees no route for a compromise that will resolve the disputes and resigns.  Lord North, a hardliner, becomes the new Prime Minister.

During this same period, different Sons of Liberty organizations are attempting to maintain nonimportation agreeements against London and prevent customs enforcment.  They begin using the practice of tarring and feathering customs informers or low level customs officials in order to prevent effective enforcement of British trade laws.

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During the winter of 1769-70, New Yorkers fight with British Regulars.  When New York failed to come up with sufficient money to quarter the soldiers, British Regulars destroy the Liberty Pole.  Isaac Sears, a leader in the local Sons of Liberty Chapter tries to make a citizen's arrest of several soldiers a few days later.  Both sides quickly escalate the event into a massive street brawl involving thousands of soldiers and civilians.  Dozens are wounded.  Both Sears and Alexandar McDougall who gets arrested for a pamphlet opposing a tax to pay for the quartering of Regulars in the city, see their profiles rise as leaders of the colonial resistance.  The Sons of Liberty build a new bigger liberty pole.

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Over the winter of 1769-70, locals in Boston make life as uncomfortable as possible for the British Regulars occupying the city.  Fights break out regularly.  The local courts would not punish locals and the army would not punish soldiers for fighting.  Street brawls become more frequent.  A mob chases customs informer Ebenezer Richardson into his house and threatens his life.  He fires into the crowd, killing a young boy.  

A few weeks later, a British soldier on guard at the Customs House strikes a boy for being insolent.  A mob soon forms, threatening the soldier.  Another squad of soldiers attempts to rescue the guard, but soon finds itself surrounded.  The situation flies out of control and the soldiers fire on the crowd, killing five and wounding several others.

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After British Regulars kill five colonists and injure others at what becomes known as the Boston Massacre, local radicals force the government to relocate the soldiers to Castle Island, out in Boston Harbor.  The Massacre becomes an example for why standing armies should not be maintained among a free people.

For months following, both sides prepare for trials, in which John Adams, among other patriot lawyers, represents the British soldiers.  A jury acquits Captain Preston and five of the seven soldiers involved in the shooting.  The Jury finds two soldiers guilty of manslaughter and had the court brands their thumbs as punishment.

Even before word of the Massacre reaches London, Lord North begins a partial repeal of the Townshend Acts, eliminating most taxes on the colonists.  However, to make a point about Parliament's tax authority, North retains a tax on tea.

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In both North and South Carolina, colonists on the western frontier run into conflicts with the east coast dominated government.  Westerners in each state form Regulator movements to enforce the law locally as they see fit.  In North Carolina, this leads to open warfare with the colonial government.  Regulators and militia do battle in 1771 near Alamance Creek.

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Rhode Island colonists, like just about all other colonists, greatly resented the new tough enforcement of trade laws by British officials.  It made profitable trade virtually impossible.  The HMS Gaspee and its commander Lt. Dudingston developed a reputation for being one of the worst in terms of strict enforcement and poor treatment of civilians.

One night in 1772, the Gaspee ran aground on a sandbar in Naragansett Bay.  That night, locals rowed out to the ship, shot Dudingston, removed the crew, and burned the ship to the waterline.  Officials tried to get tough and ship some of the attackers back to London for a treason trial.  But the colonial code of silence prevented the government from being able to prosecute any of the attackers.

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As events quiet down after 1770, London tries to make many minor behind the scenes changes to the colonial power structure, making it harder for the colonies to resist the next confrontation.  Samuel Adams works with others to set up Committees of Correspondence, so Patriots can keep track of these changes across the colonies and develop strategies to resist.

Also, land speculators attempt to set up a new colony in western lands, reserved by the King for native American tribes.  The attempted land grab leads to the resignation of Lord Hillsborough as Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs and the appointment of Lord Dartmouth to replace him.

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After New Hampshire issues thousands of land grants in a disputed region, New York gets the King to declare the land part of the New York colony.  New York then declares all the property owners living on land grants from New Hampshire to be illegal squatters who need to buy their land again or leave.  After legal and political efforts lead nowhere, the land owners with New Hampshire grants form a militia that becomes the Green Mountain Boys.  Ethan Allen becomes the best known leader of the group, using violence and intimidation to force out New York claimants.

Several New York Governors attempt to resolve the problem, but let their own greed in land speculation prevent any fair resolution.  New York attempts to crush the resistance, but events leading to the outbreak of war between England and the colonies prevents any final showdown.  The fight moves into the war itself.

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After several years of calm in the colonies, Parliament changes the way tea is distributed and taxed throughout the Empire.  Mostly, this is an attempt to bail out the East India Company which had too much tea and not enough cash.  The Tea Act of 1773 reduced or eliminated almost all taxes on tea, and also allowed the East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonies, rather than having to go through expensive middlemen.  The result would be a massive drop in the price of tea. 

With all duties eliminated accept for a small 3 pence per pound tarriff, tea in the colonies would be much cheaper than ever before.  But the Sons of Liberty feared this was an effort to break the back of the already failing non-importation agreements.  Once colonies accepted this tiny tariff, the precedent would be set to tax the colonies whenever Parliament wanted.

In late 1773, seven ships loaded with tea headed for Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.  The colonist had barely learned about hte new system before the tea would arrive.  This left everyone guessing what their next step would be.

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Parliament tries to win the fight over tariffs by greatly reducing the cost of tea, and maintaining only a nominal three pence per pound tax on tea.  Officials hope the lower prices will end the tea boycott. Radical colonial leaders see this, correctly, as London's attempt to establish that tariffs on imports to raise revenue are legal.

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Despite the open destruction of private property, the colonies generally seem to approve of Boston's reaction to the tea ships.  When another tea ship arrives a few months later, locals dump its chests in Boston Harbor as well.  Other towns up and down the coast destroy or force the removal of tea.  Soon, even drinking untaxed tea becomes unacceptable.  Colonists hold tea burnings and refuse to allow anyone to sell or possess tea. 

The immediate reaction in London is that this is completely unacceptable.  It requires more than a criminal investigation.  Rather, the entire colony needs to be punished.  In a stroke of bad timing, London learns of Franklin's release of private letters to Boston radicals months earlier.  The Privy Council summons him and attacks him relentlessly for hours, destroying his reputation in England.

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In response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament gets tough by passing several acts designed to punish Massachusetts. The Boston Port Act closes Boston Harbor until the city compensates everyone for damages related to the destruction of tea.  The Government Act gives power to the Crown appointed Governor to fill most government positions and bans town meetings to discuss issues.  The Administration of Justice Acts takes away the colony's right to try soldiers or other officials for murder.  The Quartering Act permits soldiers to take over colonial buildings for their use.  Parliament also passes the Quebec Act, giving Canada control over all disputed lands in the Ohio Valley.

Parliament hopes these laws will show the colonists that they cannot get away with flouting the authority of the King and Parliament.  Colonists must accept Parliament's control or suffer serious economic and political consequences.

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Gen. Gage travels to Boston to replace Hutchinson as the new Governor of Massachusetts.  The tough talking Gage had assured officials in London he could use firmness to enforce colonial compliance with the Coercive Acts, most of which were still under debate when he left London.  Gage soon discovers that the threat of force only goads the heavily armed colonsits to threaten force of their own.  Gage soon finds himself behind barricades in Boston, having lost control of the rest of the colony.  The Port of Boston is closed, but other changes mandated by London cannot be enforced outside of Boston.

Over the summer and fall of 1774, Massachusetts and the other colonies only hear more news of intolerable acts passed in London.  Calls for cutting off all trade with England entirely leads to the call for a Continental Congress to discuss colonial options in developing a united response.

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In late 1774 Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore leads militia into Western Virginia.  He hopes to stop local tribes who are attacking colonists.  Tribes are upset that colonists are moving into their lands in violation of the King's Proclamation of 1763.

After the Battle of Point Pleasant, Gov. Dunmore forces Chief Cornstalk to sign the Treaty of Camp Charlotte, giving up all claims to land east of the Ohio River.

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Governor Gage moves the colonial government to Salem and begins enforcing his policy of firmness, ignoring colonial protests and implementing the Coercive Acts.  When the colonists refuse to obey, he attempts to use regulars to shut down a town meeting Salem.   He arrests several leaders who held an illegal town meeting anyway.  When the militia takes up arms to release those arrested, Gage realizes his soldiers could be overwhelmed by the shear numbers of armed militia.  He is shocked by the colonists' refusal to back down in the face of armed regulars.

Gage decides he cannot enforce the law unless London sends him a larger army.  He retreats to Boston and begins writing letters calling for reinforcements.  Meanwhile, patriots shut down the courts and force government officials to resign.  Royal authority in Massachusetts is limited to the isolated town of Boston.

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On September 1, 1774, Gen. Gage sends a regiment to secure gunpowder stored at a powder house several miles from Boston.  The regulars also seize several cannons, returning to Boston with the guns and ammunition.

Rumors spread that the regulars had shot and killed several colonists during the raid.  By the following day, thousands of armed militiamen have gathered outside Boston demanding answers.  The militia eventually go home after learning that no one was killed.  But the event reinforces Gen. Gage's belief that the colonists are ready to start a war at a moment's notice.  The colonists learn they needed a better early warning system to get militia into the field faster.  Both sides continue efforts to secure more arms and ammunition for the coming fight.

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Gov. Gage decides he does not have a large enough army to control the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  The armed colonists who confronted his regulars in the summer of 1774 are too numerous.  Gage barricades his army in Boston and sends frantic letters to London calling for reinforcements.

With that, royal authority over the colony is limited to Boston itself.  Patriots control everything else.  The Suffolk Meeting under Joseph Warren produces a series of resolves on how to handle the current crisis.  The Resolves essentially announce that the Patriots have taken control of the colony and would only return control to London after repeal of the Coercive Acts.

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Visit my site at https://blog.AmRevPodcast.com for more text, pictures, maps, and sources on this topic.

Visit my site at https://blog.AmRevPodcast.com for more text, pictures, maps, and sources on this topic.

Visit my site at https://blog.AmRevPodcast.com for more text, pictures, maps, and sources on this topic.