Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, Part I
Wood’s opening section on the “Origins” of the American Revolution quite fittingly takes us back to the 1760s, to the end of the “French and Indian War,” which was actually a small part of a global war for empire between Britain and France and their respective allies.
As Wood shows us, that war may have ended with British victory in 1763, but rest of the decade was tumultuous both in British America and in the British Isles. In British North America, the war was followed by Pontiac’s Rebellion, the Paxton uprising, and the creation of the Proclamation Line, which assuaged American Indians but offended colonial land speculators and would-be trans-Appalachian settlers. Meanwhile, the colonial population was growing rapidly, and new settlements were being created at an astonishing pace. Conflicts between eastern and western colonists became a problem not only in Pennsylvania (the site of the Paxton uprising) but also in the Carolinas, where vigilante “Regulator” movements challenged established authority. (pp. 11-12.)
In the midst of this colonial tumult, a disordered imperial administration began imposing new taxes and regulations upon the North American colonies in an attempt to raise desperately needed funds. As the aggrieved colonists petitioned and protested against these new measures, it became clear that they had developed their own ideas about how they fit into the British empire, and their conception did not fit with Parliament’s vision of the how the empire should work.
The colonists began collectively expressing their understanding in 1765 with the “Declaration of Rights” of the Stamp Act Congress, which had been attended by delegates from 9 colonies. They spoke just as loudly (to British officials) via mob action that prevented the Stamp Act from going into effect. They also exerted economic pressure through consumer boycotts. These combined measures succeeded in swaying Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act, but Parliament also declared its right to legislate for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever” — leaving little doubt of their self-conceived supremacy. (pp. 28-30)
I see several important questions to ask about this section of the book:
If you would like to read another primary source on this subject, take a look at John Dickenson’s Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767), which was very influential. (See especially letter two.)
January 21st, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I just finished reading the first section and I was really impressed. After the French and Indian War, Britain was in bad shape and it needed to pay off its debts. They looked to the colonists across the Atlantic, but many of them refused to pay the taxes imposed upon them by the crown. Many thought the taxing policies were outrageous because they were not equally represented in Parliament like their British counterparts. As a response, organizations were formed and a number of different pamphlets were circulated. Furthermore, the 1760’s marked a time of backlash in the colonies which would soon lead to a battle for independence.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:38 pm
The Crown was in a sorry state and the only way they could think to solve the money problem was to tax the Colonists. The only problem with this was that the colonists had become its own little country without anyone really realizing it. They didn’t act like their British counterparts and they certainly didn’t live like them, so in their minds why should they be taxed like them, especially without representation. They had been getting along fine without major regulation from Britain before 1763, so why should they listen or follow along now.
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:56 pm
It is important to note the costly Seven Years War, the military costs to maintain defense and order, and the cost of governing their colonies left the British in dire need of revenue and forced to reform the empire. The colonists, who were proud to be British, expected to live like British and to enjoy the same rights as British. However, the colonists paid only a percentage of taxes paid by the British. The rebellion began not about taxes but about taxes of which were not approved by the colonists through representation. The colonists believed they owed duty only to the king and nothing to the British Parliament, for they had their own parliaments.
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:24 pm
England in the mid to late 18th century had a lot on their plate to deal with and with the Seven Years War taking it’s toll on the Parliament to pay off debts, the colonies of England’s empire were the last resort. Taxes were raised and laws enforced to make sure those taxes were getting collected, Stamp Act 1765, but the colonist’s were not going to settle for it. With out a government to unite and represent the whole of the colonies, there was no voice in Parliament. No solution to the problems of a rising, soon-to-be nation. Mother England’s child was growing up and wanted to manage their own bank account without any interference.
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:04 pm
One thing I forgot to add was that the playground of the colonies was allowed to grow without any real enforcing power from England simply due to the fact that it was too far away. Land was handed out freely not only to English settlers but from settlers from all over Europe. England’s interest in colonial reformation came way too late. The mile was given and to try and ask for two back was not going to happen.