THE CAUSES OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 1763-1775

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THE CAUSES OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 1763-1775
New England militiamen prepare to meet the
oncoming British regulars at the Battle of
Breeds Hill, just outside Boston, Massachusetts,
June 17, 1775.
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THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR A STRONG BRITISH
COMMITMENTTwo years after the outbreak of the
French and Indian War, British Prime Minister
William Pitt the Elder decided to send a
substantial number of Redcoats to win a decisive
victory against the French in North
America.(Left) Two privates of the 77th
Highlanders visit a comrades grave in western
Pennsylvania.(Below) British infantry in line
of battle.
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A STRONG BRITISH COMMITMENT(Left) A grenadier
of the 1st Regiment of Foot, also known as the
Royal Regiment. (Below center) Grenadiers from
the 22nd, 45th, and 40th Regiments of Foot.
(Below right) A battalion man of the 36th
Regiment of Foot.
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SCOTTISH HIGHLANDERS IN NORTH AMERICAThree views
of the 42nd Regiment of Foot, the famous Black
Watch, during its service in North America.
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THE BRITISH BLUNDER BRADDOCKS DEFEATMajor
General Edward Braddock lost 977 out of 1,400
Redcoats and Provincials to a much smaller force
of French and Indians in a catastrophic defeat in
western Pennsylvania on July 9, 1755.
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THE BRITISH ADAPT TO INDIAN WARFAREContrary to
myth, the British Army did not remain a
spit-and-polish organization more comfortable on
a European parade ground than an American forest.
(Below) An officer, drummer, and private of the
60th Royal American Regiment of Foot in their
regulation uniforms. (Left) A private of the
same regiment ready for frontier campaigning.
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ROGERS RANGERS THE BRITISH ARMYS BEST IN THE
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR(Left) Contemporary print
of Major Robert Rogers. (Right right) Two
rangers in green confer with the sergeant of a
British line infantry regiment.
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LEARNING FROM THE RANGERSA British officer (in
red at left) assigned to Rogers Rangers learns
about wilderness warfare from his Provincial
allies. The dog is Sergeant Beaubien, which
belonged to Captain John Stark, was listed on the
rolls as a duly enlisted Ranger.
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WOLFE AT QUEBEC, SEPTEMBER 13, 1759Contrary to
myth, British regulars learned to adapt to
campaign conditions in North America, and their
traditional European discipline and tactics were
most useful on several crucial occasions, such as
Wolfes crushing victory over the French on the
Plains of Abraham just outside Quebec. (Above)
Wolfes troops climb an undefended path to engage
the French on the Plains of Abraham. (Right)
Two likenesses of Wolfe made during the campaign.
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THE QUEBEC CAMPAIGN A PERIOD MAP
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WOLFE AT QUEBECBenjamin Wests epic canvas of
Wolfes death at the very moment of victory on
the Plains of Abraham.
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COMPLETING THE CONQUEST OF CANADAFollowing
Wolfes death at Quebec, General Jeffrey Amherst,
shown here in full armor, completed the British
conquest of French Canada.
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THE BRITISH ADAPT TO INDIAN WARFAREBy combining
light infantry tactics with their traditional
discipline, British Redcoats learned to master
Indians in wilderness warfare. Here the 42nd
Black Watch Highland Regiment drives home an
attack at Bushy Run, Pennsylvania, August 5, 1763.
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THE BRITISH ADAPT TO INDIAN WARFAREAnother view
of the 42nd Regiment of Foot at Bushy Run. In
the years leading up to the American Revolution,
the colonists would forget the British Armys
success at adapting to North American conditions
during the French and Indian War.
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BRITAIN WINS THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARAmerican
artist Benjamin West glorified the death of Major
General James Wolfe, the brilliant British
commander who captured Quebec from France in 1759.
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THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN NORTH AMERICA, 1763-1775
(Right) A private or fusilier of the 23rd
Regiment of Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers), circa
1768.
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• THE BOSTON
• MASSACRE,
• MARCH 5, 1770
• Paul Reveres
• sensationalized engraving
• shows how quickly the
• soldiers colonists hailed as
• their defenders during the
• French and Indian War
• (1754-63) came to be
• seen as a threat to
• American liberties.

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PONTIACS REBELLIONA bloody Indian uprising from
western Pennsylvania and across the Old Northwest
dramatically raised the cost of Britains new
North American empire. Here Black Watch
Highlanders from the 42nd Regiment of Foot defeat
the Indians at the Battle of Bushy Run, August 5,
1763, near Pittsburgh.
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THE STAMP ACT RIOTS Englands rulers were
unprepared for the vehemence and the violence
with which Americans would protest taxes not
approved by their own colonial legislatures.
Colonial mobs intimidated royal officials and
destroyed public and private property.
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THE SONS OF LIBERTY TAR AND FEATHER AN AMERICAN
TORY

• Beginning with the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765,
  colonial opponents of British tax policy used
  intimidation and mob violence to nullify British
  authority.

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DEFENDING THEIR RIGHTS AS ENGLISHMEN

• Colonists upset about Parliaments taxes force
  local merchants to sign a pledge to boycott
  British goods.
• Using economic sanctions as a political weapon is
  a hallowed American tradition.

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PATRICK HENRY AND THE VIRGINIA RESOLVESWith a
deft use of the press, Patrick Henry created the
illusion that Virginias House of Burgesses
openly opposed the Stamp Act.
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A British cartoon marking the repeal of the
Stamp Act in 1765. High officials of the British
government carry the short-lived law in a babys
casket. The united and effective character of
colonial resistance to the Stamp Act shocked
London into backing down.
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THE COLONIES FINALLY UNITE AGAINST A COMMON ENEMY
MOTHER ENGLANDBenjamin Franklins cartoon
advocating greater colonial unity and cooperation
was resurrected during the Stamp Act Crisis. It
pointed the way to the future.
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THE INTOLERABLE ACTSThis engraving by Paul
Revere captures the mindset of American Whigs.
British North America, depicted as a
bare-breasted maiden, is forcibly fed boiling tea
by evil and rapacious British ministers, while
Dame Britannia weeps in the background, and
France and Spain leer at left.
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SUSPICIOUS OF STANDING ARMIESWith their
susceptibility to conspiracy theories, many
colonists believed that the 10,000 British troops
who remained in North America after the French
and Indian War were intended to reduce them to
slavery. (Left) Light infantry officer, 4th
Regiment of Foot. (Right) Battalion company
officer, 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers.
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BLOODSHED ON LEXINGTON GREEN, DAWN, APRIL 19, 1775
A confrontation between British light infantry
and the Lexington town militia early on April 19,
1775, triggered the shots that signaled the start
of the Revolutionary War.
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• GEORGE III
• AMERICAS LAST KING
• By all accounts, George III was a good king who
  tried to rule wisely, but by 1776 American
  republicans viewed him as a bloody and corrupt
  tyrant.

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PARTNERS IN RADICALISM(Left) Samuel Adams
quickly emerged as the leader of anti-British
agitation in Boston, the most radical city in the
Thirteen Colonies from 1763 to 1775. (Right)
John Hancock, a wealthy Boston merchant,
enthusiastically supported Adams.
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THE POWER OF THE PRESSDuring the final years of
the colonial period, newspapers played a vital
role in mobilizing public opinion against British
tax policies.
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WOMEN REVOLUTIONARIESThis British cartoon, A
Society of Patriotic Ladies, lampoons the
colonial women who joined in economic boycotts to
protest British tax policies.
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THE MAN WHO PROPOSED INDEPENDENCEActing on
behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Richard
Henry Lee introduced a resolution calling upon
the Second Continental Congress to declare the
Thirteen Colonies free and independent states.
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DRAFTING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCEThis
painting shows (left to right) Benjamin Franklin,
John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson reviewing an
early draft of the document. Jeffersons
language, which stressed the need for good
government to be attentive to the needs of the
people, was an explicit statement of republican
thought.
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THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCEWhile a seated
John Hancock watches right of center, John Adams,
Roger Sherman, John Livingston, Thomas Jefferson,
and Philadelphias Dr. Benjamin Franklin present
the Declaration of Independence to the Second
Continental Congress for signing.
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THE REVOLUTIUON EMBRACES REPUBLICANISM(Right)
The Pennsylvania State House, known today as
Independence Hall because the Declaration of
Independence was adopted there. (Bottom left)
The Declaration of Independence. (Bottom right)
The Assembly Room where the Second Continental
Congress met.
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• REPUBLICANISM TRIUMPHANT
• American Whigs celebrate during a public reading
  of the Declaration of Independence, July 1776

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AN APPEAL TO REASON AN APPEAL TO ARMSThe
Declaration of Independence is read to General
George Washingtons Continental Army at Boston in
the summer of 1776. While Congress could declare
independence, it was up to these Rebel troops to
win it.
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And the Redcoats were coming . . . .