American Revolution: 155 Year Path to War

The seeds of self-governance began in America with the first splash of the Mayflower’s anchor in 1620, nearly seventy years before the idea of self-rule was encouraged in England.  Great Britain’s Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the 1689 Bill of Rights established that the British Parliament, and not the king, had the ultimate authority in government. But by then, self-rule and independence to govern oneself was well established in America.  It ultimately went far beyond what mother England had in mind. And when she decided to begin reining in her most wealthy colonies, it was too late. Like trying to tether a raging bull with yarn; it was doomed to failure.

From the time European ships first plied the North Atlantic to settle America, the English knew they were incapable of maintaining direct control and policing this vast new land. A different culture in America emerged as those who pioneered to start a new life three thousand miles from home quickly learned that if they wished to prosper and remain safe, they must take matters in their own hands.  They had to organize their own local government and rely on their own magistrates as well as establish a military that took the form of local and regional militias.

The Mayflower Compact was the first such plan. It was set forth in 1620 by those colonials who, being separated from Britain by an ocean and having founded an entirely new society, believed this gave them the right to govern themselves.  This form of self-government eventually led to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. That model soon expanded all along the coast of English settlements as Great Britain obtained control from Dutch and Swedish claims.  Colonies were led by a governor and legislature elected by a local oligarchy; the governor was appointed by the colonial power rather than the English Crown. Oligarchy means that power effectively rests with a small number of people who might be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, education, or corporate, religious, or military control.  At first, religion was boss; however, wealth soon became the key in America in which rich landowners welded power and determined the laws and course of each provincial government. These wealthy colonial leaders followed a form of self-government popular amongst the growing number of colonial settlers. 

So too, for protection, these early colonials were left to their own for there was no British military for whom they could turn. England helped as far as providing the weapons while encouraging communities to establish militias. All able-bodied men assembled on a regular basis and trained in weaponry to defend the colony against Native Americans and foreign countries.  This created an armed populace who were willing and able to defend that which they deemed their legal and God-given rights.

England saw little cause to interfere in colonial affairs as they were soon reaping the wealth from America’s natural resources. So too, by 1642, Great Britain was embroiled in Civil War. The Parliamentarians or ‘Roundheads’ became quite busy bashing the heads of the Royalists or ‘Cavaliers’. Over the next nine years, war raged across England that consumed Britain’s attentions. They were only too happy for the early settlers to sort out their own means of survival – as long as they kept adding to the coffers of the embattled forces.

British settlements emerged into three distinct types as far as its self-governing relationship to the crown:  Charter Colony, Colonial Charter, or Royal Colony.   Royal Colonies belonged to the Crown in which all legislative matters and governance was in direct accord to Crown’s regulations.  Proprietary and Charter Colonies were granted by the Crown to private interests.

• Charter Companies were independent of royal authority and operated as republics where property owners elected the governor and legislators. These included Virginia (until 1624 when it became a Royal Colony due to bankruptcy) Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
• Proprietary Colonies were owned and governed by individuals. To attract settlers, however, proprietors agreed to share power with property owners. These were Maryland, S. Carolina, N. Carolina, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
• Royal Colonies were under direct jurisdiction of the Crown: Virginia was the first in 1624 and by the time of the American Revolution, all but five colonies were considered Royal Colonies: Rhode Island and Connecticut continued as Charter or Corporate Colonies. Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware remained Proprietary Colonies.

A new generation of Americans became united, capable in self-government, and were more than able to handle any emergency affording their protection. This enjoyment of individual freedom developed the country’s resources to a remarkable degree which increased its commercial and political importance. Americans were making money, a lot of it.  The colonies moved from a cooperative society to an oligarchy of wealthy landowners under whose direction America thrived. They ultimately attained the highest life-style of any colony and any nation in Europe.  This progress led to apprehension in England.  America’s colonial industrial enterprise could, if allowed, compete too successfully with that of the mother country. It was feared this rising importance would invite Americans to assert political independence.

Colonel Robert Quarry’s Memorial to the Lord of Trade in 1703 on the state of American Provinces was a warning to his peers in England. He had just returned from among the rich planters of the Commonwealth of Virginia. “Commonwealth notions,” he wrote, “improve daily; and if it not be checked, in time the rights and privileges of British subjects will be thought by them to be too narrow.”  Various measures were recommended to check American’s ideals of self-governance and draw the colonies back to the fold. It was advised that British authorities should interfere with the towns and adopt a policy of centralization; i.e. that England should take a firmer hand in selecting who ran local administrations and devised legislation.  Recommendations were also discussed regarding commercial regulations that addressed American’s rising manufactures and trade. To further this, it was advocated that the Navigation Acts that had been put into law some fifty years earlier be better enforced.

As foreseen by Colonel Quarry, the colonists, in the enjoyment of so large a measure of individual freedom, developed in a remarkable degree the resources of the country, and increased surprisingly its commercial and political importance. This progress, for many of England’s citizens, was met with jealousy and apprehension.  Whereas many English subjects in Great Britain lived in squalor and shouldered a large tax burden, colonial subjects were, per capita, far better off both financially while paying a mere pittance in comparison.

This was the beginning of colonial grumbling who thought their rights as English subjects were being tread upon.  More and more colonials began to ignore English laws and regulations, particularly the Navigation Acts that were issued by Parliament at the end of England’s Civil war; in 1651. During the previous ten years, many colonists traded directly with the Dutch and French because of England’s preoccupation with the war.  Afterwards, England wished to halt this slippage of wealth to other European powers.

• All goods shipped to and from England and North America had to travel on English ships.
• All goods had to first be processed through an English controlled port.
• Colonial resources could only be exported to England.
• The acts also restricted the profits colonists could receive for their products.
• They also hindered or restricted manufacturing of goods in the colonies.
• Colonists ended up paying a higher cost for goods because of duty fees and cost of shipment.

The colonists, however, had enjoyed their social and political advantages too long to relinquish them so easily.  Small manufacturing plants became more common which produced finished iron, clothing, and other domestic goods that Americans depended upon.  Also, smuggling goods not only from England, but throughout Europe became common place.  Much of European manufactured goods were shipped to the West Indies where American ships readily docked before unloading duty free goods all along the American coast.  Throughout the early 1700’s, right up to mid-century, Parliament basically turned a blind eye to colonial infractions towards paying their fair share in revenue.  Many English administrators and custom officials who were tasked with collecting duty revenue and insuring goods were transported on English ships accepted bribes to look the other way.

Starting in the 1730’s, England began to enforce its trade laws and asserted the principle of British supremacy, though not very aggressively.  British naval ships began to stop and search both American and foreign ships plying the coast of America. Smuggling continued, but at a much higher risk which increased the cost of smuggled goods onto the American consumers.  There were two Acts passed by Parliament that were insisted by an interest to strengthen England’s power of trade in the Americas:

• The Molasses Act of 1733.  It was not issued to raise revenue (many years it barely passed 80 £ per year). It was designed as a trade barrier – to protect British West Indies exports to the American colonies from the more fertile French and Spanish islands of Martinique and Santo Domingo.
• The Currency Act of 1751 was enacted to prohibit the issue of new bills of credit and to control currency depreciations against silver and sterling, ensuring its value for payments of debt to British merchants.

Both of these acts were basically ignored by British regulators. Even Prime Minister William Pitt opposed strict adherence to governing the American colonies. This all drastically changed in 1764.  The Seven Years War, 1756 – 1763 (French and Indian War in the colonies) was a game changer and may be pointed to as that which drove Americans to ultimately seek independence from England.  A war whose fuse was ignited in America (by none other than militia Colonel George Washington), ended up depleting England’s treasury. Parliament decided that it was high time that they begin asserting their rights over the American colonies by demanding that Americans, whose life style was far better than those residing in Great Britain, had to start paying their fair share of the war debt. Pitt resigned at the conclusion of the war, after criticism for his lenient terms for France, and his ministry was replaced by George Grenville’s ministry.  Grenville decided that a firm hand was needed in dealing with America and enacted laws that only added to the growing discontent among colonialists.

England also began asserting its authority by transforming Company Colonies into Royal Colonies – as stated all but five colonies of the thirteen became royal colonies.  Whereas company colonies exerted power over their legislature and elected local officials to assume governmental duties, Royal Colonies had direct British intervention:

• Governors were officials who were appointed by the British monarch or cabinet to oversee the colonies and be the heads of the colonial administration.
• The governor had the power of absolute veto and could prorogue (i.e., delay) and dissolve the assembly.
• Colonial assemblies were made up of representatives elected by the freeholders and planters (landowners) of the province; they were also called the House of Delegates, House of Burgesses, or Assembly of Freemen.
• The assembly’s role was to make all local laws and ordinances, ensuring they were not inconsistent with the laws of England. They also dealt with budget, taxes, and militia issues.

It can be argued that by 1775, an American empire was on hand. This all can be attributed to increased population in the colonies, America’s great natural resources and expanding manufacturing abilities, active ship building facilities which was a positive offshoot of the Navigation Act, the free spirit of its people that had been nourished over the past several decades, well placed smuggling operations, and final deliverance from danger with France.  When England finally adopted a restrictive policy towards the colonies, it was far too little too late.

In 1765, the ministry determined to enforce the supremacy of Parliament by a system of internal taxation. Hence the stamp act, and the opposition to it; its repeal, and the wild joy of the colonists. But the claim was still asserted, that Parliament had the right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever; and, to enforce it, other acts were passed.  This only confirmed a determined spirit by a group of rising ‘rock stars’ among the wealthy and in some cases, like Samuel Adams, not so wealthy ‘patriots’.  They became skillful in the use of propaganda to enflame the colonial masses, proclaiming ‘enough is enough’.  Words were freely bandied to propel the people towards accepting violence as a means in itself, such as – ‘enforced slavery’, ‘taxation without representation’, and ‘don’t tread on me’. Symbolism, like the Boston Tea Party, and martyrs, such as the Boston Massacre or Boston Port Act, became catalysts in the move towards total separation.  Pamphlets were devoted to the numerous injustices that burdened loyal colonial subjects of England, forcing them to take extreme measures.

And throughout the declining years that led directly to open hostilities, England stumbled upon one mistake after another until there was literally no going back.  The mother country had to make good on her threat of using force to reel the rebellious colonies back in line to comply with English Law.

The following is a list of British Acts with brief description that forced the decline of England and her thirteen colony’s relationship resulting in an explosion of violence one April spring morning in 1775 in Lexington, Massachusetts.

1764 Sugar Act:  It amended the existing 1733 Molasses Act. The Act increased the duty of molasses from 2d to 3d of gallon of imported molasses. It enforced the Navigation Acts by prohibiting vessels to directly transport cargo to the colonies. Vessels had to unload its cargo in Britain, pay duties and reload its cargo before sailing to the colonies. The Sugar Act imposed a £7 a ton on wine imported from Madeira, the Azores and Canary Islands. It added hides, skins, potash and other products to the list of commodities that could be legally exported. The act was strictly enforced through the Vice-Admiralty Courts.

1765 Stamp Act:  The Stamp Act intended to raise revenue by requiring the purchase of stamps to be placed on public documents, there were 55 documents subject to the duty. Violators were to be prosecuted in the vice-admiralty courts. For the first time the British had levied an explicit tax on the colonist for the purpose of raising revenue, previous taxes were seen as trade taxes and tolerated by colonial residents. Opposition to the tax was widespread as it represented an infringement on their rights. Opposition groups such as the Sons of Liberty sprung everywhere.  The Act was nullified in March 1766.

1765 Quartering Act:  The act required colonial assemblies to provide housing, food and drink to British troops stationed in their towns with the purpose of improving living conditions and decreasing the cost to the crown. Soldiers were to be housed in barracks or empty public buildings and not in private residences. It was the duty of local legislatures to fund the expenses. In 1766 the New York assembly refused to raise the money and in 1767 Parliament passed the New York Suspending Act on July 1767 which suspended the assembly until they complied with the new law.

1766 Declaratory Act:  The Declaratory Act was passed on March 18, 1766, at the same time as the repeal of the 1765 Stamp Act. The act was used as a justification for the repeal of the Stamp Act and as a face-saving action. The 1766 Declaratory Act stated that the colonies are subordinate and dependent on the Imperial Crown and Parliament of Britain and that Parliament had the authority to pass laws.

1767 Townshend Acts:  The Act imposed import duties on 72 items including paint, tea, glass and paper. The revenue raised from it was to provide for the salaries of colonial officers and its administration. It also authorized the Supreme Court to issue writs of assistance for violators, established the American Customs Board and expanded Admiralty Courts. Protests against the Townshend Acts led to the Boston Massacre.

1773 Tea Act:  The Tea Act of 1773 granted the East India Company exclusive license to import and distribute tea to the American colonies. Tea was sold in America at 10s per pound, half its previous price and less than the cost of smuggled tea. Despite the economic benefit to end consumers of tea, the law damaged the position of independent shippers, smugglers and local shopkeepers. On December 1773 Bostonians dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor in an event known as the Boston Tea Party.

1774 Coercive or Intolerable Acts:  As retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, Britain imposed the Coercive Acts in 1774. The Coercive Acts were a package of five laws: Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act and Quebec Act.

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RESOURCES

Allison, Robert.  The American Revolution, A Concise History. 2011: Oxford Univ. Press, NY, NY.

Breen, T. H.  The Marketplace of Revolution, How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence. 2004: Oxford University Press, NY, NY.

Frothingham, Richard.  History of the Siege of Boston and the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. 1872: Little Brown and Company, Boston, MA.

Harvey, Robert.  A Few Bloody Noses.  2001: John Murray Publishers, London, UK.

Middlekauff, Robert.  The Glorious Cause, 1763 – 1789. Oxford University Press, NY, NY.

Norton, Mary Beth.  1774, The Long Year of Revolution.  2020:  Penguin Random House, NY, NY.

Parkinson, Robert G.  The Common Cause, Creating Race and Nation in the American Revolution.  2016: The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC.

Phillips, Kevin.  1775, A Good Year For Revolution.  2012: Penguin Books, NY, NY.

Taylor, Alan.  American Revolutions, A Continental History 1750 – 1804.  2016:  W. W. Norton., NY, NY.

Woodburn, James A.  Causes of the American Revolution.  1892:  John Hopkins Press, Baltimore, MD.

INTERNET

Self-Government in the Colonies.  https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/self-government-in-the-colonies/

Stamp Act.   http://www.stamp-act-history.com/british-taxation-colonial-america/list-of-british-acts/