The Coming of Independence

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• The Coming of Independence
• Chapter 22

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mercantilism

• economic policy where a nation tried to export
  more products than it imported
• followed by many European countries in the 1600s
  and 1700s

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American colonies

• established by England to supply raw materials
  for her industry
• also served as a market for finished goods
  exported from England

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Examples of pre-Independence colonial
self-government

• Virginia House of Burgesses
• Mayflower Compact

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House of Burgesses(est. 1619)

• first representative body in America
• was formed at the request of the king

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Mayflower Compact

• Pilgrim leaders agreed to join together in a
  civil body politic with the other passengers in
  order to enact just and equal laws for the good
  of the colony

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Pilgrims establish political traditions that have
endured

• government based on the consent of the governed
• majority rule
• laws enacted should treat all people fairly

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Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

• first written constitution in America
• based on the following ideas
• -consent of the governed
• -majority rule
• -protection of minority rights

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bicameral legislature

• two-house legislature (made up of an assembly and
  a council)
• modeled after the two houses of the English
  Parliament
• only one colony was not organized this way by 1750

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Colonial Assembly

• akin to the House of Commons
• elected by the male property- owners
• was supposed to represent the common citizens
  interests

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Colonial Council

• similar to the House of Lords
• members usually appointed by the colonial
  governor
• supposedly acted as a balance to the assembly
  (theoretically had the power to veto laws passed
  by the assembly)

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Monarchs view of Colonial Assemblies

• assemblies were conveniences
• -made it easier to operate colonies at long
  distances

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Colonists view of Colonial Assemblies

• saw assemblies as necessities
• -were a fulfillment of the social contract
• -performed functions that kept the colonies
  running smoothly
• raised taxes
• organized militias

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• I never heard in any conversation from any
  person . . . the least expression of a wish for
  separation from England.
• - Benjamin Franklin

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French and Indian War(1754-1763)

• between England and France
• lasted nine years

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• England won an enormous amount of land.

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salutary neglect

• means healthy neglect
• conscious policy of not over-regulating the
  colonies as long as they supply England with raw
  materials and markets

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Parliaments new policies

• passed acts designed to shift the burden of
  empire from English taxpayers to the American
  colonists
• provided for strict enforcement of existing laws

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- James Otis

• Taxation without representation is tyranny!

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Declaratory Act of 1766

• Parliament claimed full power to tax and rule the
  colonies
• sent two regiments of soldiers to Boston to
  enforce their will
• imposed new taxes on paper, glass, paint, and tea

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Colonial response to the Declaratory Act

• simple disobedience
• formal protests
• boycotts of English goods
• violence

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Events in New York

• New Yorkers protested the quartering of troops in
  their homes
• England suspended the New York legislature

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The Boston Massacre.
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Bostonians protested the tea tax by dumping 342
chests of tea into Boston Harbor.
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First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in
September 1774.

• It advised the colonies to organize militias
  and stockpile supplies.

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Causes of the AmericanWar of Independence

• social
• economic
• political

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Social Causes

• colonists had developed an American
  consciousness
• sense of independence due to isolation from the
  mother country
• felt their legislatures were equal to Parliament

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Economic Causes

• Parliament tried to enforce mercantilist policies
• colonists chafed under the following
• -burden of taxation
• -enforcement of trade and manufacturing
  restrictions

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Political Causes

• colonists questioned who should be doing the
  taxing
• -felt they had both the right and understanding
  to tax themselves
• -argued that Parliament had violated their rights

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• The Colonists Declare Independence

Declaration of Independence
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Second Continental Congresssends mixed signals
- profess loyalty to king and a desire to end
hostilities
- asks colonies for war supplies and troops
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England mobilizes

• withdraws protection from the colonies
• hires German mercenaries
• authorized the Royal Navy to seize American ships

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Divided Colonial America1775
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• Everything that is right or reasonable pleads
  for separation. The blood of the slain, the
  weeping voice of nature cries Tis Time To Part!
• - Thomas Paine

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• These United Colonies are, and of right ought to
  be, free and independent States.
• - Richard Henry Lee,
• Delegate from Virginia
• 7th June 1776

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Congress appointeda committee to writea
declaration
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John Adams,Massachusetts
Ben Franklin, Pennsylvania
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Philip Livingston,New York
Roger Sherman, Connecticut
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Thomas Jefferson,Virginia
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(No Transcript)
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The signing of the Declaration.
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Purposes of theDeclaration of Independence

• 1. a theory of government
• 2. a list of grievances
• 3. a declaration of independence

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The Declaration as a theory of government

• people have inalienable from God (i.e. life,
  liberty, and the pursuit of happiness)
• governments were organized to protect these
  rights
• just governments rule with the peoples consent

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The Declaration asa list of grievances

• contained 27 grievances against the English crown
• -was trying to list the reasons for separating
  from England
• -was trying to gain support in Europe for our
  independence

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The Declaration as a Declaration of Independence

• argued that the colonists had done everything
  possible to preserve peace
• independence was inevitable in light of Englands
  intransigence
• was viewed by England as a declaration of war