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34 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Salutary Neglect
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Initiated by Sir Robert Walpole, first British Prime Minister, it was a system where the actual enforcement of external trade relations was lax. He believed that this enhanced economic freedom for the colonists would stimulate commerce. The colonies were not at the top of Britain's list of priorities, and therefore, were ignored for a time; however, the result was ultimately positive for the colonists. The American people discovered that they were capable of governing themselves and did not need Britain to rule over them. This policy from 1690 to 1763 allowed the colonies to govern themselves politically and economically. These essentially autonomous colonies soon became accustomed to the idea of self-rule. The effects of such a prolonged period of isolation eventually resulted in the emergence of a collective identity for the colonies that considered themselves separate from England. Ending "salutary neglect" was one of the causes for the impending American Revolution as the British abandoned it after the Seven Years' War (or the French and Indian War) and the colonies ultimately revolted.
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Political Development
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Although the British Crown chose the governor of each colony, his authority was often curtailed by the colonial assembly that held the "power of the purse." By controlling revenues and expenditures the assembly held the ultimate political power in the colonies and could bend the governor's wishes to their will. Moreover, many of the governors were incompetent and inept political "hacks" and this contributed to their own undoing. Colonial leaders developed a strong sense of political efficacy as they often dueled with and controlled the Crown-appointed officials. The colonies learned to govern themselves without interference from the "mother country."
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Zenger Case
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In 1733, printer and editor John Peter Zenger of The Weekly Journal published numerous articles critical of New York Governor Cosby who retaliated by having Zenger arrested and jailed for ten months. Zenger was brought to trial and charged with seditious libel. The prosecution argued that the sole fact of publication was sufficient to convict and excluded the truth as relevant evidence. Alexander Hamilton (not the one who became Secretary of the Treasury in Washington's administration), Zenger's attorney, admitted that Zenger published the offending stories, but denied that it was libel unless it was false. By arguing both the facts and the law, Hamilton gained an acquittal. This finding of not guilty established truth as a defense against libel that still stands today and was a landmark victory for freedom of the press. It also set a precedent against judicial tyranny in libel suits.
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Tidewater and Piedmont
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The Tidewater is the area along the Atlantic coast east of where the rivers first rich the tides. It became the richest area often associated with an aristocracy that controlled the colonies politically, especially in Virginia. The Piedmont was the interior region that was at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains and sometimes called the upcountry or backcountry. Featuring small farmers, often Scots-Irish, they were politically at odds with the ruling Tidewater elite.
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Domininion of New England
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After James II came to the throne in 1685 an attempt at colonial unification was tried as the Middle Colonies of New York and New Jersey were combined with New England in what became known as the Dominion of New England. This attempt was short-lived as the governor sent from England, Sir Edmund Andros, alienated the colonies by his taxation, land title, and town meeting limitation policies. With the removal of James II in the Glorious Revolution, the Dominion also fell apart and the colonies were once again governed according to their individual colonial characters.
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Gloucester Rebellion
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Following early attempted uprisings in Mexico, Brazil, and the island of St. Kitts, the first documented slave uprising in the English colonies occurred in 1663 at Gloucester, Virginia. This uprising was a combination of black slaves and indentured servants, and one account depicted the "white servants" as being Irish slaves who had been captured and sold during the heyday of the Irish slave trade (1649-1657) under control of Cromwell. In any case, as would happen with slave revolts, the conspiracy was betrayed from within. The betrayer was an informant who received a reward of five thousand pounds of tobacco plus his freedom for his efforts on behalf of the slave owners. An unfriendly account states that the "uprising was led by mutinous and rebellious followers of Oliver Cromwell, 'soldiers that were sent thither as servants' when King Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660." One account says the conspirators were beheaded while another says the heads of the ringleaders were impaled in the public square. In either case the rebellion was short-lived but would pave the way for numerous other rebellions by slaves leading up to the Civil War.
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Stono Rebellion
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After the Gloucester Rebellion of 1663 the first major slave uprising occurred in 1739 at the Stono River area in South Carolina. Several factors contributed to this uprising including a yellow fever epidemic that had weakened the power of the slaveholders, talk of a war between Britain and Spain, and accounts of slaves who had obtained their freedom by escaping to Spanish-controlled Florida. About 20 slaves led by Jemmy or Cato, a literal slave described as Angolan (i.e. Kongo Empire in Central Africa) met near the Stono River 20 miles south of Charleston and marched down the roadway holding a banner that said "Liberty," chanting that word as they marched. Their goal was to reach Florida as the Spanish governor had allegedly promised liberty to all fugitive English slaves. At the Stono Bridge they seized weapons from a store, killing the two storekeepers and raising their banner flag as they headed towards St. Augustine. Along the way they burned the houses of slave owners as more recruits joined them. Their number grew close to 100. According to one account "the rebels destroyed everything in their path, killing about 30 whites" along the way. Plantation owners and other slave-holders formed a posse to seek out Jemmy/Cato and his liberty-seeking followers. Planters on horseback caught up with the procession and a battle ensued in which 20 white Carolinians and 40 of the slaves were killed before the rebellion was suppressed. A few of the slaves managed to escape but the captured ones were decapitated. The Stono Rebellion resulted in South Carolina enacting a harsher slave code, which banned slaves from earning money and receiving an education. A 10-year moratorium on slave imports through Charleston was also passed, removing it from the main depository of slaves coming in from the West Indies for a time.
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Bacon's Rebellion
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Farmers of the Piedmont, stressed by economic factors beyond their control which included declining tobacco prices, growing commercial competition from Maryland and the Carolinas, an increasingly restricted English market, and the rising prices from English manufactured goods because of the Navigation Acts and mercantilism, took it upon themselves to make the local Indians their scapegoat. Nathaniel Bacon led the popular uprising against the Tidewater gentry and the Governor Sir William Berkeley. Berkeley had refused to do anything about claims that the Indians were committing murder and theft on the frontier. The colonial governor was making a good profit from trading with the Indians, and was not willing to disrupt that business by triggering open war. Bacon took command of two unauthorized but successful expeditions against the tribes, often attacking friendly tribes like the Susquehanna instead of the alleged enemies. Bacon triggered civil war in 1676 by demanding a military commission that would authorize him to further attack the Indians. Berkeley refused and Bacon threatened to act without authorization. Trying to restore some order, Berkeley declared him a rebel. The response was a public wave of support for Bacon, frightening Berkeley enough to force him to finally schedule an election for a new House of Burgesses. Bacon was elected, and Berkeley let him briefly take his seat on the Council. Bacon quickly left Jamestown, rallied a mob, and attacked innocent Occaneechi, Tutelo, and Saponi Indians. The Baconites marched back to the capital, forcing the governor into exile on the eastern shore (across Chesapeake Bay). The House of Bugesses, intimidated by the mob, passed election reform laws demanded by Bacon. Berkeley returned to the capital at Jamestown but was forced to flee again as Bacon's forces captured and burned the town. Both men marshaled their forces but before they could meet in battle, Bacon abruptly died of the "Bloody Flux (dysentery)" and "Lousey Disease (body lice)." Shortly after Bacon's death, Berkeley regained complete control and hanged the major leaders of the rebellion. He also seized rebel property without going to court. Overall, 23 were hung for their part in the rebellion. Later, after an investigating committee from England issued its report to King Charles II, Berkeley was relieved of the Governorship and returned to England where he died in July 1677.
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Culpepper's Rebellion
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Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia had reverberations in Albemarle (North Carolina) as some of Albemarle's residents had been active in the Virginia revolt. In Albemarle disagreement between the early settlers who bought their lands from the Indians and those who had received land patents from the Lord Proprietors was one underlying cause of the dispute. In addition, there were conflicts between Quakers and non-Quakers. The government's attempts to restrict the exports of tobacco by enforcement of the Navigation Acts sparked the uprising. The newly elected Anti-Proprietary Parliament chose John Culpepper as Governor and Customs Collector. He went to London and was arrested upon his arrival and tries for treason. In his defense, Culpepper was aided by an address by Lord Shaftesbury; his testimony resulted in the acquittal of Culpepper on charges of rebellion. He was found guilty only of rioting. He pleaded for mercy from King Charles after admitting committing the crime of custom's embezzlement and King Charles II freed him. This event was the first of many uprising against what was considered to be unfair taxation, especially in regard to the mercantilist provisions of the Navigation Acts. Most accounts call Culpepper a minor figure in the revolt, which was really masterminded by George Durant and other more prominent individuals.
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Mercantilism
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This system of political/economic thought dominated Western Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was essentially an effort to achieve economic unity and political control to keep the state prosperous by economic regulation. The leading powers relied on strong central governments in order to direct their economies. This philosophy of economic nationalism had its goal of acquiring gold and silver by exporting more than it imported so the trading partner would have to make up the difference in hard money (gold and silver). The British system was not as strict as Spain or France but the goal was to have the colonies provide raw materials or products that did not compete with British products in order to bring about self-sufficiency of the "mother country." On the other hand, the colonists were expected to buy surplus British manufactured goods. Features of mercantilism included: a nation's wealth was determined by the amount of gold and silver it possessed; economic self-sufficiency; a favorable balance of trade; tariffs should be high on imported manufactured goods and low on imported raw materials; colonies would provide captive markets for manufactured goods and sources of raw materials; etc.
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Navigation Acts
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British implementation of mercantilism was through a series of laws starting in 1651 that required all goods in colonial trade to be carried on English ships and that certain goods (enumerated goods such as sugar, tobacco, indigo, and rice) had to be shipped directly to England. English and colonial ships were given a monopoly on trade and British merchants a monopoly on selling colonial products. Other acts extended these restrictions to include the principle that required all foreign goods be shipped to the American colonies through English ports. In return for restrictions on manufacturing and the regulation of trade, colonial commodities were often given a monopoly of the English market and preferential tariff treatment. The Molasses Act of 1733, which raised duties on French West Indian sugar, angered Americans by forcing them to buy the more expensive British West Indian sugar. Extensive smuggling and loopholes meant the laws were not rigidly enforced (the policy of "salutary neglect") but were an annoyance and the antithesis of free trade.
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Woolen Act
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It was passed by Parliament in 1699 to prohibit the export and inter-colonial side of certain textiles in an attempt to protect the British wool industry from colonial manufacturers. Colonists were only supposed to supply raw materials and the British would make the woolen finished products.
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Iron Act
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A 1750 mercantile law to stop the development of colonial manufacturing in competition with the British home industry by restricting the growth of the American iron industry to the supply of raw metals. To meet British needs, pig iron and iron bar made in the colonies were permitted to enter England duty free, but any finished iron product was prohibited.
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Hat Act
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A British law of 1732 restricting colonial manufacturing and export of hats (primarily beaver) in direct competition with English hat makers. As a result of this part of the mercantile system, London hatters were able to capture markets in other colonies and southern Europe formerly supplied by New England and New York manufacturers. The hat industry would revive after the Revolution.
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Triangle Trade
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This item is used to describe international trade primarily between Africa, the West Indies, and New England during the 17th and 18th centuries. New England ships carrying rum and guns went to Africa where slavers were captured and brought to the West Indies. The West Indies sent sugar and molasses back to New England to make rum. The rum was then shipped to Africa for the slaves as the process repeated itself. Other variations of the trade were manufactured goods from England for colonial tobacco, fish, grain, and naval stores (mast, rosen, pitch, tar, and turpentine), and foodstuffs and lumber traded from the colonies for sugar, molasses, and slaves from the West Indies.
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Political Conflicts
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From 1689 to 1763 four major wars were fought between England and the other European powers including France, Spain, Prussia, Austria, and others. For the most part these wars were fought throughout the world from Europe to the Americas and to Asia. All of these wars were fought, in part, over who would rule North America. At the end of these wars England reigned supreme in North America and was the most powerful country in the world. England usually names the wars after their ruling monarch -- a different name is used by other countries.
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War of the League of Augsburg (King William's War), 1689-1697
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A coalition of European countries worked to stop Louis XIV designs in Europe. In the Americas, the French disrupted trade, combined with Indians to harass English settlements on the frontier, and turned back an assault on Quebec led by Governor Phips of Massachusetts. The Iroquois, wary of the French, strengthened their alliance with the British and this would be important in future wars. In the New World the French got the best of most of the battles. The Peace of Ryswick ended the conflict to give the combatants a breathing spell before the next outbreak of war.
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War of Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War), 1702-1713
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Taking advantage of unsettled politics in Spain, Louis XIV put his grandson on the throne and this move was opposed by England under King William III and Queen Anne. The war played havoc on Massachusetts and the Carolinas but ultimately France and Spain were defeated which weakened their hold in the New World. At the Peace of Utrecht, France had to recognize the Iroquois as British subjects, give up Acadia (Nova Scotia), and lose prized Caribbean islands like St. Christopher (St. Kitts). Britain received commercial concessions from France and Spain that enhanced both American and English trade.
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War of Austrian Succession (King George's War), 1739-1748
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A third war, also over dynastic succession, resulted in the colonies capturing the mighty fortress Louisburg that France had constructed at the entrance t the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Cape Breton Island. At the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle the fortress was returned to France so the British could receive Madras in India. Colonists who had fought and died for England were incensed at this giveaway.
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Seven Years' War - American Beginnings
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Unlike the others this war actually started in North America as General Braddock with George Washington as his aide was sent to halt the French entry into the Ohio River Valley where they were defeated at Fort Necessity just south of Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh).
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Seven Years' War - Albany Plan
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Under the leadership of the Crown and drawn up by Benjamin Franklin this Albany Plan of inter-colonial union was an attempt to unite the colonies under a grand council for the purpose of making peace with the Indians and gaining support from the Iroquois in the coming war with France. It would also administer the western lands and frontier territories and levy taxes for a colonial army.
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Seven Years' War - Plan Defeated
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Both the Crown and the colonial government opposed it and land speculators, especially in Virginia, would not allow the distribution of the Ohio lands to an inter-colonial congress. Also, every colonial assembly jealously guarded its own right to tax.
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Seven Years' War - British Defeats
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In both North America and the West Indies (Caribbean) the French were victorious which exposed the western frontier to Indian and French attacks in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
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Seven Years' War - New Leadership
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After William Pitt became leader of Great Britain a new strategy was tried. Emphasizing sea power to bottle up the French fleet, and by moving the war from the Caribbean to Canada, this resulted in a series of victories. Once again Louisburg was captured and Wolfe defeated Montcalm at Quebec on the Plains of Abraham, which resulted in the British taking all of Canada.
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Seven Years' War - Treaty of Paris (1763)
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It gave all of North America east of the Mississippi except New Orleans to the British. The French also turned over their claims of New Orleans and the lands west of the Mississippi to Spain, as compensation for Spain's surrendering Florida to the British. Primarily for military reasons the British chose to keep Canada instead of the two captured French islands of Guadalupe and Martinique. France retained fishing rights on the banks of Newfoundland and the small islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in Canada.
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Seven Years' War - Results and Implications
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The removal of both the French and Spanish threats resulted in the colonials no longer having a need for British protection. This would lead to the movement toward independence.
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Writs of Assistance
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In 1761, James Otis resigned as Advocate General of the Vice-Admiralty court in opposition to the issuing of the writs of assistance (general search warrants) by the Superior Court of Massachusetts, which authorized customs officials to search for smuggled goods. New England merchants were trading with the French in Canada while the war was on. Arguing before the court, Otis claimed that the writs violated the natural rights of the colonials as Englishmen and that any act of Parliament violating those rights was void. Otis lost the case but soon became the leader of the radical wing of colonial opposition to British measures and the enemy of the Hutcheson political machine in Massachusetts.
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Pontiac's Rebellion
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With the change in power from the French to the British, the Ottawa Chief Pontiac with his allies led a rebellion that lasted from 1763-1766. The cause was colonial encroachment on Indian lands and it was eventually put down by the British after the frontier had become inflamed. A treaty was concluded in 1766 with Pontiac receiving a pardon from the British.
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Proclamation of 1763
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In order to lessen tensions between colonial settlers and Native Americans this British proclamation forbid settlement west of the Appalachians and was bitterly resented by the colonial land speculators, squatters, frontiersmen, and others wanting to settle in the west.
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Parson's Cause
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The colony of Virginia traditionally paid the Anglican clergy in tobacco, but when the price of tobacco increased, they switched to paying them in a currency at about one-third of the market price of tobacco. The crown vetoed this act by the House of Burgesses and James Maury, clergyman, sued for back wages. Patrick Henry first emerged as a notable figure in fighting for the rights of colonists in defending Virginia against Maury in court. He argued for the vetoed Two-Penny act, saying "that a King, by disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant and forfeits all rights to his subjects' obedience." The court found in favor of Maury, but he was rewarded one penny in damages, effectively nullifying actions of the Crown.
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Paxton Boys
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During the Pontiac Rebellion, warfare on the frontier inflamed the Scots-Irish against the Native Americans, peaceful or warlike. In 1763, 20 peaceful and defenseless Conestoga Indians, who lived by selling handicrafts, were massacred by 57 rangers from Paxton. Proclamations were issued to bring the culprits to trial but were not served as justices and juries were sympathetic to their cause. Much of this sympathy stemmed from the fact that the East controlled the government due to a system of unequal representation and the government was blamed for allowing the frontier to become inflamed. Six hundred backcountry armed inhabitants marched on Philadelphia intent on destroying their political opponents and violence was only averted by the skillful diplomacy of Benjamin Franklin and others.
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Regulator Movement
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From 1764 to 1771 a long struggle took place in North Carolina between the back country settlers and the oppressive apprehension of the laws by the ruling officials in the coastal areas. This Piedmont animosity toward the Tidewater government was particularly strong in Anson, Granville, Halifax, Orange, and Rowan counties. Efforts to reform the assessment of taxes and fees were unsuccessful; the courts and assembly were not responsive and seemed to favor the causes of the wealthy Tidewater elements. Regulator groups arose to close down local courts (county commissions) and suppress tax payments; rioting broke out in several counties. In 1771, Governor William Tryon led a militia force of 1200 against the 2,000 Regulators (many of whom were unarmed) and defeated them at Alamance Creek. Most of the rebels were pardoned, but seven of the leaders were hanged. Sixty five hundred Piedmont settlers were forced to take an oath of allegiance to the government. The movement was over but tensions between east and west remained high.
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Financial Problems & Revenue Needs
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Although the British won the Seven Years' War and acquired an even larger empire, the country added 58 million pounds of debt for a total British debt of 130 million pounds. British landowners were paying a third of their incomes in taxes and the cost of the new expanded empire would be even greater. Naturally, the British thought that the American colonials should pay part of the cost of the new expanded empire.
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Enlightenment
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European thinkers and writers, primarily in London and Paris, believed that human reason could be used to combat ignorance, superstition, and tyranny to build a better world. In their reliance upon both thought and science they attack what they saw as the twin evils of the Catholic religion and a hereditary aristocracy. The intellectual leaders of the American colonies were drawn to the Enlightenment rationalist way of thinking. Many of the most distinguished leaders of the American Revolution -- Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine -- held strongly to the concept of separation of church and state. The God in the Declaration of Independence is the same deist God Rousseau worshipped, not the one venerated in the traditional churches that still supported and defended monarchies all over Europe. Jefferson and Franklin both spent time in France absorbing the influence of the French philosophes. The language of natural law, inherent freedoms, and self-determination, which all became part of the American belief system was the language of Enlightenment. Of all the ideas of the Enlightenment, the natural rights doctrine was the most important to the Americans. They readily used these ideas to support their views in their quarrel with Great Britain.
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