Chapter 2 The Birth of a Nation

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Chapter 2 The Birth of a Nation
From An Outline of American Literature by Peter
B. High
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Lack of Government Representation

• While continuing to enforce their control of the
  colonies, the British refused to allow the
  colonies government representation in England.
  The British believed that their own appointed
  government officials adequately represented the
  colonies. The colonies resented British control.
  The colonies created their own laws, and ignored
  the British laws they did not like. This created
  considerable tension between Britain and the
  colonies.

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Taxation

• When England colonized America, it had no master
  plan on how the colonies would be governed. Some
  colonies governed themselves. Other colonies were
  governed by the King's officials. The King
  insisted on his right to create laws governing
  the colonies. British parliament also created
  laws that governed the colonies. The British
  passed laws that were in the best interest of
  England, not the colonies. For example, They
  prevented colonists from selling their goods to
  countries other than Britain, even if the country
  was willing to pay a higher price than the
  British. Britain made it difficult for the
  colonies to trade with the French and the
  Spanish.

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The Boston Massacre Monument
George III, King of Great Britain before and
during the American Revolution
The Boston Tea Party
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British Stamp Act (1767)

• In 1767, the British passed new taxes on glass,
  paper, teas, paints and other goods shipped to
  the colonies from Britain. Prime Minister Charles
  Townsend wanted to raise money to cover the cost
  for defending the colonies, and pay the salaries
  of governors and judges in the colonies. These
  were known as the Townsend Acts. The colonists
  reacted by refusing to buy British goods. The
  colonists argued that they shouldn't be taxed
  since they had no representation in the British
  government. The colonists rallied behind the
  phrase, "No Taxation without Representation."
  Again Britain was forced to remove the taxes, all
  except for the tax on tea.

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The Boston Massacre (1770)

• On the evening of March 5, 1770, Private Hugh
  White was on guard in front of the Customs House
  on King Street in Boston. A crowd of people had
  gathered and began harassing the soldier. His
  calls for help brought nine soldiers led by
  Captain Thomas Preston. The crowd continued to
  harass the soldiers with insults, and were
  throwing snowballs at them. In the commotion,
  someone yelled, "Fire!" and soldiers began
  shooting. Three townspeople were killed and eight
  more were wounded, two of which died later. No
  one knew who gave the order to fire.

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The Boston Massacre (1770)

• After the shooting, the people of Boston were
  demanding the soldiers be tried and executed for
  the shootings. The governor ordered Captain
  Preston and eight soldiers be put in prison
  pending a trial. As a result of the trial,
  Captain Preston and six soldiers were set free.
  Two of the soldiers were found guilty of
  manslaughter. They were branded as convicts and
  then released.

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Customs House on King Street in Boston
The Boston Massacre
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The Tea Act (1773)

• The British East India Company had controlled all
  tea trading between India and the British
  colonies. As a result of the tea tax, the
  colonies refused to buy the British tea. Instead,
  they smuggled tea in from Holland. This left the
  British East India Company with warehouses full
  of unsold tea, and the company was in danger of
  going out of business. The British government was
  determined to prevent the British East India
  Company from going out of business. It was going
  to force the colonists to buy their tea.

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The Tea Act (1773)

• In May 1773, Prime Minister North and the British
  parliament passed the Tea Act. The Tea Act
  allowed the British East India Company to sell
  tea directly to the colonists, bypassing the
  colonial wholesale merchants. This allowed the
  company to sell their tea cheaper than the
  colonial merchants who were selling smuggled tea
  from Holland. This act revived the colonial issue
  of taxation without representation. The colonies
  once again demanded that the British government
  remove the tax on tea. In addition, the
  dockworkers began refusing to unload the tea from
  ships. The Governor of Massachusetts demanded
  that the tea be unloaded. He also demanded that
  the people pay the taxes and duty on tea.

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The Boston Tea Party

• On the evening of December 16, 1773, a group of
  men calling themselves the "Sons of Liberty" went
  to the Boston Harbor. The men were dressed as
  Mohawk Indians. They boarded three British ships,
  the Beaver, the Eleanor and the Dartmouth, and
  dumped forty-five tons of tea into the Boston
  Harbor.

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Colonists dressed as Indians throw tea  into the
water to protest the tax on tea during what came
to be known as "the Boston Tea Party"
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Quest for Independence

• By 1776, the population of the colonies had
  reached 2.5 million people. This was about one
  third the population of Britain. There were now
  many roads connecting the individual colonies,
  and newspapers kept them informed about each
  other. The colonies were beginning to think of
  themselves as Americans, not as separate
  colonies. Many colonists were split over the
  issue of independence. There were both rich and
  poor colonists on both sides of the independence
  issue.

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Quest for Independence

• Large landowners like George Washington, and
  wealthy businessmen like John Hancock were in
  favor of independence. There resented British
  control over their lives, and British
  interference in their business. On the other
  hand, some rich colonists were afraid they would
  lose their wealth if the revolution succeeded.
  Their wealth was heavily connected to British
  trade and the British government. Some poor
  colonists didn't want to be controlled by the
  wealthy colonists. They either believed the King
  of England treated them well, or just didn't want
  to cause trouble. Over time, support for
  independence grew as issues like taxation without
  representation angered the local population.

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Founding Fathers

• Men who led the Revolution of 1775-1783 and wrote
  constitution of 1789 (p.15)
• influenced by the European Age of Reason or
  Enlightenment human intelligence could
  understand both nature and man
• man could improve himself, no longer consider man
  as a sinful failure
• wanted to create a society/nation based on
  justice and freedom

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Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

1. a non-fiction writer, printer of books and
   newspapers, inventor
2. felt that writing should always have a practical
   purpose
3. Poor Richards Almanac (1732-1757) contains
   useful info for farmers and sailors, the reading
   material besides the Bible and the newspaper
4. stories about Poor Richard as well as his family

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Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

1. invented many sayings about saving money and
   working hard (p.16-17)
2. invented one type of short prose, hoax or the
   tall tale (a funny lie) which greatly
   influenced the development of a story-telling
   form in America
3. Autobiography (1771, 1784), his only real book,
   the first part is an entertaining description of
   his life up to early manhood, the second part was
   written in more serious style
4. write about himself for the improvement of others

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Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

• The greatest pamphlet-writer of the American
  Revolution
• Common Sense (1776) helped unite the feelings
  against England, There is something absurd in
  supposing a continent (America) to be perpetually
  governed by an island (Britain) p.18
• The Rights of Man (1791-92) a famous defense of
  French Revolution

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Thomas Paine

• On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine published a
  pamphlet called Common Sense.
• In the pamphlet, he spoke openly of independence
  from Britain and urged a government in which the
  people ruled through their elected
  representatives.
• The booklet was widely circulated and was very
  influential

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Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

1. Declaration of Independence the most important
   document of the United States (p.19)
2. Style free from emotional appeals, a clear and
   logical statement of why America wanted its
   independence
3. It was signed on July 4, 1776.
4. Notes on the State of Virginia (1784-85)
   attacked the slavery system, Nothing is more
   certainly written in the book of fate than that
   these people are to be free

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Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

1. an Enlightenment thinker, believed all humanity
   is naturally good and men can do the improving by
   themselves
2. afraid that the commercial pressure of city life
   could destroy this goodness
3. another threat to American democracy was in the
   thinking of the Federalists who wanted a strong
   central government for the new American republic
   Jefferson felt that people should be able to
   change the form of their society whenever they
   thought it necessary

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J. Hector ST. John de Crevecoeur (1735-1813)

1. Letters from an American Farmer (1782) p.24
2. What is this American, this new man?
3. individuals of all nations are melted into a new
   race of men
4. Sketches of Eighteenth Century America (not
   published until 1925)
5. His ideal American a social man who cooperates
   with his neighbors while earning his own living
   from farming