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Lecture 1: American Discovery & Early Settlement

Who discovered America? Maybe Leif Erickson, or John Cabot, but not Columbus. Norse explorers discovered the New World at least 500 years before Cristoforo Colombo and Giovanni Caboto established Spanish and English claims to American territory, but nothing came of these early encounters. Why was Europe unable to rise to the challenge of the newfound world? What changes in Europe (e.g., developments in science and technology, communication, government, religion, and socioeconomic conditions) encouraged and enabled exploration and colonization? What factors explain the success of England in establishing colonies along the Atlantic coast? How did England emerge predominant in the rivalry between European powers for control of North America?

LECTURE SUMMARY:
        Around the year 1000, Scandinavians established a colony in Greenland and eventually made contact with Newfoundland ("Vinland"). At that time, Europe was unable to meet the challenge of the new world across the Atlantic. Neither England, France nor Spain had the economic or technical resources, the political and social cohesion, or even the interest to do so. Most of Europe was poor, politically divided, and preoccupied with local wars and civil disorder. Moreover, the people were largely illiterate and unfree. Merchants were beginning to develop an interest in the "spice trade" through the Mediterranean to the Orient, but they had little economic power or political influence. Five hundred years later, when Christopher Columbus returned from the Caribbean to report on his voyage to "the Indies," Europe was ready to react aggressively. What had changed? First, the demise of feudalism and the the rise of the strong nation-state provided political stability and aided the growth of cities and the emergence of a strong merchant class; second, the Renaissance sparked renewed interest in history, philosophy, literature and science; third, the printing press made it possible to mass-produce books, advancing literacy and knowledge of geography, foreign culture and potential trade; and fourth, advances in ship design and navigation instruments (such as the compass) made long-distance voyages safer and more practical. So, by the time Columbus made his fateful journey across the Atlantic, Europe was ready to begin the exploration and eventual colonization of the New World.
        Ironically, Columbus made four voyages to America but died in 1506 without realizing that he opened the door to a vast new continent. Also, contrary to a popular misconception, he neither knowingly "discovered" America nor proved that the earth is round. (Columbus was a good seaman but a poor geographer. He miscalculated the circumference of the planet to be approximately 25 percent smaller than it is, estimating that Asia was about 2,500 miles to the west when in fact the distance was 11,000 miles. Leaving Spain on August 12, 1492, he stopped at the Canary Islands to refit his small fleet of ships; then on September 6 he set sail for the Indies. Five weeks later, on October 12, he reached San Salvador island in the Bahamas. In subsequent voyages, still searching for Japan, he explored Cuba and Hispaniola.) In a final twist of fate, Amerigo ("Americus") Vespucci, a Florentine navigator and associate of Columbus, voyaged to the "New World" in 1499 (sailing along the coast of what is now Venezuela); in 1507 a German geographer named Martin Waldseemüller inexplicably credited Amerigo, not Columbus, with the "discovery" of a new continent: America. A Papal decree in 1493, followed by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, officially established the Spanish claim on America. As for Columbus's dream, it was achieved by Fernando Magellan and Juan Sebastián del Cano, who set sail on behalf of Spain in September 1519. Beginning with five ships and 250 men, they navigated around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America and into the Pacific in 1520, reaching the East Indies in 1521 (where Magellan was killed by Filipinos). By the time the expedition reached the Spice Islands, they were down to two ships. In the end, just one ship (the Victoria) with eighteen men made it around the Cape of Good Hope and back to Spain in September 1522. And so, del Cano (not Magellan) circumnavigated the globe in a terrible three-year journey that proved Christopher Columbus had it all wrong; it was much easier to reach the Far East by traveling east, not west.
        An assortment of Spanish explorers followed up on Columbus's unknowing discovery: Juan Ponce de León reached Florida in 1513; that same year, Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean; Hernán de Soto explored what is now the Southeastern United States (1539-42), and Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed along the coast of California (1542-43). Spanish conquistadors (conquerors) such as Hernán Cortés, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, and Francisco Pizarro, traveled throughout the New World, enslaving the Mayas, Aztecs and Incas, and acquiring immense treasures of gold and silver. While the Spanish were concentrating on conquest and conversion of "heathen" natives, French explorers doggedly pursued a northwest passage to the Pacific while establishing posts for trapping and trading along the vast network of inland waterways from the St. Lawrence seaway, through the Great Lakes, and down the Mississippi. On behalf of France, Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed along the Atlantic coast in 1524, and Jacques Cartier probed the St. Lawrence River in 1534. (Refer to the essay on Spanish and French exploration of America for additional information.)

Approximate Date and Event

[ ? ]    Settlers from Asia cross land bridge from Siberia to Alaska during last Ice Age

[1000]    Leif Ericsson establishes "Vinland" in Newfoundland

1492    Christopher Columbus reaches "India" (actually the Caribbean islands) and stakes a claim for Spain [first of his four trips].

1497    John Cabot reaches Newfoundland (like Columbus, searching for shortcut to India) and stakes a claim for England

1498    Vasco da Gama reaches India (the real India) by sea around Africa

1520    Juan Sebastian del Cano circumnavigates the world; Hernando Cortes conquers the Aztec empire in Mexico

1524    Giovanni da Verrazano explores the Atlantic coast of North America on behalf of France

1532    Francisco Pizarro conquers the Inca empire in Peru

1534    Jacques Cartier explores St. Lawrence River in search of a "northwest passage"

1565    Spain establishes first permanent North American settlement at St. Augustine, Florida

1610    Henry Hudson explores the Hudson Bay on behalf of England

1718 French found New Orleans, capital of Louisiana in "New France"

Lecture 2: The Evolution of British Colonies in America

How valid is the conventional paradigm that religious freedom was the driving force in the migration from England to colonial America? To what extent did economic opportunity also play an important part in the story of colonial development in America? How did Old World culture change in America? In what ways, and for what reasons, did American colonists become something other than merely transplanted Europeans? How did tensions between theocratic, democratic and aristocratic elements evolve into a more-or-less unified "American" culture that was increasingly cohesive... and increasingly distinct from England?

Lecture Summary:
        The European most deserving of credit for "discovering" North America was another Italian mariner, Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), sent by King Henry VII of England in 1497. (Perhaps we should be celebrating Cabot Day rather than Columbus Day). While the Spanish were busy conquering Indian empires and searching for gold in Mexico and South America, and the French concentrated on exploring the inland waterways of North America in search of a waterway to the Pacific (the elusive Northwest Passage), England directed its resources to the establishment of colonies along the Atlantic coast.   The first attempt at establishing an English colony in America was Sir Walter Raleigh's ill-fated settlement at Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, in 1587. Bad planning and apparently a confrontation with Indians resulted in the mysterious disappearance of the Roanoke colony. Then in 1606 a group of English investors founded the Virginia Company of London and established a colony named Jamestown a year later. They hoped to profit from the sale of stock, but their business venture got off to a bad start. The early Jamestown colonists were little more than adventurers seeking glory, excitement, and quick personal profit. Most were young "gentlemen" deluded by an image of America as a land of abundance and easy riches. They were merely transients in the wilderness, with neither the knowledge nor desire to build a permanent and stable community, intending instead to return to England with their new-found fortunes. They argued, shirked work, and ran after fantasies (e.g., searching for "fool's gold"). Many succumbed to disease or starvation, or, having antagonized the Powhatans shortly after their arrival, Indian attacks. Eventually the discovery of a profitable cash crop--tobacco--and the importation of servile labor to grow it, turned the colony around.
        John Rolfe, husband of Pocahontas (the so-called "Princess of the Powhatans") is credited with establishing the tobacco industry in Virginia around 1612. (Pocahontas, according to legend, saved Captain John Smith from a perilous Indian ceremony in 1607 and became sort of an ex-officio intermediary between the Indians and Englishmen at Jamestown. The main source of this legend is Smith himself [see Research Brief]. In 1995 a popular Disney cartoon fictionalized the legend of Pocahontas and Smith.) Tobacco was a mixed blessing for the struggling colony. Though profitable, the popular but addictive and deadly "Virginia leaf" was ruinous to the soil; it did nothing to help feed the struggling colony (one of the earliest laws passed by the Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619, compelled colonists to devote at least a little bit of their effort into growing corn lest everyone starve); and it led to the plantation system that bred a socio-economic cancer, chattel slavery, insidiously threatening to the body politic. A steady stream of indentured servants came from England during the seventeenth century to meet the demand for cheap labor in the Virginia colony. Blacks imported as slaves from Africa first appeared sometime around 1619, but slavery did not become widespread, for economic reasons, until the eighteenth century. (By 1670, the supply of English indentured servants was nearly depleted, and the mortality rate was sufficiently reduced, to the point that Virginia planters increasingly turned to black slaves for their labor needs.) Note: Slavery was eventually eradicated by the American Civil War, while the tobacco industry survived. It is noteworthy that far more Americans die each year from tobacco than were killed in all the battles of the Civil War combined.
        Meanwhile, back in seventeenth century England, political events led to the emergence of religious separatists such as the Puritans, who viewed America as a holy refuge (a "city upon a hill"). Thousands of Puritans swarmed to Massachusetts from 1629 to 1642. Perhaps one of the most persistent myths of early American history is the mistaken notion that the Great Migration from England to America in the seventeenth century was primarily a quest for religious freedom. It is true that many Protestant Separatists (most notably the Puritans) fled England out of frustration with the "corrupt" Church of England, and to a lesser extent to escape persecution, but the Puritans were also fleeing economic depression. They were attracted to America by the economic opportunity afforded by unbounded virgin land with abundant natural resources.
        In short, escape from religious persecution and political oppression often went hand in hand with economic motivation. America offered the promise of high wages and cheap land, and an escape from creditors, unemployment, low wages and a rigid class system which controlled property ownership, wealth and power. Mercantilists recognized America as an attractive source of profitable imports (consumer goods like sugar, furs, tobacco and timber) as well as a market for surplus manufactured products. [Note: Because of the scarcity of lumber in England and the demand for wood--for shipbuilding, construction, furnishing, plus charcoal for cooking, heating, and manufacturing iron--timber was the number-one import from the American colonies in the 17th century.] In addition to trade, there were fortunes to be made in transporting colonists to and from the colonies, land speculation and other investments.
       Comparing the Virginia and Massachusetts Bay colonies, clearly from the beginning two very different societies developed in the Chesapeake and in New England. Early Virginians were mostly young unmarried men; the Puritans came in families, and many were skilled and literate artisans, merchants and farmers. The Virginians struggled to survive, while the Puritans and their descendants lived much healthier lives in Massachusetts. Due to a lower mortality rate and higher birth rate, the Puritans lived twice as long and doubled their population; the Virginians struggled to maintain a level population mostly through continued immigration. The Virginians focused on planting a profitable cash crop (tobacco); the Puritans sought stability, order, piety, and self-sufficiency. Once disease and Indian attacks subsided, the Virginians scattered across the Chesapeake in isolated plantations; most New Englanders established tightly knit communities. Many Virginians eventually became prosperous planters (on the backs of imported servile labor); in New England the stony soil and long winters barely supported food for subsistence and the towns offered few opportunities for anyone to get rich.
        Early settlers in the Middle Colonies--New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware--enjoyed more secure lives than the Chesapeake planters (and their servants) and more comfortable, prosperous lives than the Puritans. They also experienced significantly more social and cultural diversity than either the New England or Chesapeake colonists.

          Colony Founded Type     ECONOMY

Virginia 1607 Corporate Tobacco

Massachusetts 1620 Corporate/Puritan Mixed farming

Maryland 1634 Proprietary/Catholic Tobacco, grain

Connecticut 1635 Corporate/Puritan Mixed farming

Rhode Island 1636 Corporate/Separatist Mixed farming

Carolina 1663 Proprietary/Royal Mixed farming

New Jersey 1664 Proprietary/Royal Wheat

New York 1664 Proprietary/Royal Wheat

Pennsylvania 1681 Proprietary/Quaker Wheat

Georgia 1732 Royal Rice

New Hampshire     1739 Royal Mixed farming

ORIGINS OF AMERICAN CULTURE
        Two factors--a different physical environment, and a different mixture of people--largely explain the development of a distinct American society. Eighteenth century Europe consisted of ancient cities, well-tilled fields, vineyards and orchards, and established roads. Most European communities were homogenous, and despite periodic political and religious upheavals, most institutions were deeply-rooted in traditions that governed every aspect of social life. In America, except for a few young cities there was mostly forested wilderness. The rural county was the primary political and social unit for most settled areas. Transportation and communication were slow. Rules were frequently created or modified on the spot to deal with the challenges and necessities of survival. While it is true that New England towns were relatively homogenous, streams of new immigrants converged on America, including French Huguenots, Germans, Scotch-Irish Catholics and other Europeans who poured into New England (where the Puritans often made them unwelcome and they moved on to Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas).
         As the dangers of disease, famine and Indian attacks subsided, the mortality rate declined and the abundance of land gave rise to better health, larger families and a more democratic system than existed in Europe. Political power was more widely diffused in the colonies than in Europe, and the colonies grew increasingly democratic. (Back in England, less than a third of the adult males had the right to vote for elected officials; in the colonies three-fourths of the free adult white males could vote. This disparity is mainly because owning property, a basic qualification for suffrage, was far easier in America.) By the early 1700s all thirteen colonies had an elected assembly that passed laws, raised and spent revenue, and frequently squabbled with the governor (appointed by the Crown). True, most government officials were men of relatively high status and wealth, appointed rather than elected; but a broad electorate chose the colonial lower houses, and once elected, representatives were expected to act in the best interests of their constituents. Even the governors learned that their success usually depended on public support. In short, it is a myth that the colonies long suffered under the tyranny of despotism (although they certainly did grow increasingly frustrated by bothersome trade restrictions).
        Organized religion in the colonies also evolved under the special conditions of the American physical and social environment. The sparse population and relative isolation of settlements encouraged the growth of self-governing congregations. Many communities were forced to do without an officially ordained spiritual leader. The Great Awakening further diversified religion in America. An unfortunate consequence of the Puritans' spiritual zeal was persecution of countless religious dissenters--e.g., Anne Hutchinson in 1638 and Mary Dyer (a Quaker) in 1659--and the execution of a score of Salem "witches" in 1692. The Salem witch trials were not religious persecution, per se, but nonetheless an example of social intolerance based partly on religious beliefs. The traditional version of the story is well-known: it all started as sort of a game played by several girls, pretending to be under a witch's spell; then they began making wild accusations, with some degree of encouragement from church elders, as superstitious fears combined with social pressures, spiritual beliefs, and general hysteria until the court had sentenced dozens of "witches" to be hanged [see Research Document]. Finally the madness was stopped by Governor William Phips at the urging of local ministers (including Reverend Increase Mather, father of Cotton Mather, one of the more zealous prosecutors). More recent scholarship has revealed that underlying social divisions between rival churches, between farmers in Salem Village and merchants in Salem Town, and even between conservative men and independent women, may have played a role in the infamous witch trials. To put it succinctly, the dangers of church/state unity were tragically demonstrated in 17th century Massachusetts, where "sinners" were severely punished and "heretics" were banished (if lucky) or hanged.
        Aside from sporadic and scattered episodes of theocratic excess, for the most part Americans developed a remarkably fluid, tolerant and democratic society largely because no one individual or group could maintain control over such a diverse and dynamic country. The seeds of independence, democracy, equality, and American nationalism eventually gave rise to rebellion from British mercantilism and continued to spread across the continent.

Approximate Date and Event

1587    Sir Walter Raleigh founds England’s first American settlement: Roanoke Island

1607    Jamestown colony established by John Smith for the London Company [Virginia was named in honor of Elizabeth, "the Virgin Queen."]

1609 Henry Hudson establishes Dutch claim to the Hudson River

1612 John Rolfe develops profitable tobacco crop in Jamestown, Virginia (in 1614 he marries Pocahontas; see Research Brief)

1619 Black slaves purchased by Jamestown colonists from a Dutch trader

1620 Pilgrims land at Plymouth (Cape Cod Bay)

1624 London Company dissolved and Virginia becomes a royal colony

1626 The Dutch found New Amsterdam at the mouth of the Hudson River (Manhattan)

1630 Puritans establish colony at Boston, Massachusetts

1660 Parliament passes the first of the Navigation Acts

1662 Connecticut and Rhode Island granted royal charters

1681 Willam Penn receives proprietary rights for Friends (Quaker) colony, Pennsylvania

1688 Bloodless coup d'etat in England known as the Glorious Revolution established the supremacy of Parliament as the supreme governing authority in England

1692 Salem witch trials result in 20 executions before they are finally stopped by the governor [see Research Document]

1719 South Carolina established as a royal colony

1733 James Oglethorpe leads settlement of Georgia as a refuge for English debtors

1740 Start of the "Great Awakening" throughout the colonies.

Lecture 3: Roots of Rebellion & Independence

What was the political and economic relationship between England and the American colonies prior to 1763? How did the colonies benefit from this relationship? Why and in what ways did British policies change after 1763, frustrating colonial Americans and fueling the fires of independence?

Lecture Summary:
        The American Revolution is often portrayed as a struggle for independence from a tyrannical despot (King George III), but in fact, ever since the Glorious Revolution (1689), England and the British provinces were mostly governed by Parliament, not the Crown. And in the American colonies, as noted above (lecture 3), a considerable amount of self-rule and representative democracy had evolved by the mid-eighteenth century. Much attention, then and to this day, has also focused on the supposed burden of British taxes.
        From the British point of view, the American colonies were always meant to serve the interests of the empire first and foremost. A modest amount of political and economic self-management in the colonies was generally accepted as healthy for their development and a practical necessity given their distance from England, size, diversity and decentralized nature. Periodic internal political struggles between the crown and Parliament, and a succession of wars against France and Spain, further served to distract England from the internal affairs of the American colonies. Nonetheless, as far back as 1650, Parliament enacted a series of "Navigation Acts" designed to maintain the economic subservience of the colonies through various commercial restrictions. (Basically they banned trade with Dutch and French merchants and restricted what could be legally imported and exported between England and the American colonies. Over a period of 20 years, a dozen Navigation Acts were passed; historians have estimated that a third of these laws were mostly obeyed, a third were partially obeyed, and a third were mostly ignored.) England did more than just exploit the colonies; the British army and navy provided protection from France and the constant threat of Indian attacks.
        By discouraging free enterprise within the colonies and prohibiting free trade, the inevitable result of the Navigation Acts was growing frustration and tension. Prior to 1763, however, the Navigation Acts were rarely mentioned by colonists as a grievance. The colonial economy thrived and British rule was generally considered by most colonists to be fair. As for the common myth that oppressive British taxes were crippling the colonial economy, this is simply not true. For sure, British fiscal and monetary policies imposed upon the colonies were often frustrating, a common complaint of prominent men as different as Virginia planter George Washington and Massachusetts merchant Sam Adams, but economic growth and prosperity in America benefited London, too. Parliament simply wanted to control the American economy, not harm it. Still, the mercantile system was primarily for the benefit of Great Britain, and the interests of the Americans, by definition, were secondary. Therein lay the source of the conflict.
        The roots of American rebellion from England go back at least as far as 1763. Friction between "New France" and "New England" in North America coincided with four major European wars, starting with King William's War (1689) and culminating in the Seven Years War (1754-63), also known as the French and Indian War (which actually lasted nine years in America). Throughout this period, the French sought to extend and fortify their territory and to halt the westward expansion of English America. During the French and Indian War, Americans defied British authority (at a most inopportune time) by flouting trade restrictions. They also resisted paying their fair share of the war's expenses. This "misbehavior" and the eventual British triumph against the French laid the groundwork for an inevitable crisis that led to independence. At the end of the war in 1763, American traders flooded across the Appalachians. A major Indian uprising ("Pontiac's Rebellion") convinced the British that the west needed to be controlled. The Proclamation of 1763 banned colonists from the western "Indian Reserve" until an orderly system of settlement could be developed that would minimize further Indian problems and resolve conflicting land claims. The Proclamation of 1763 reasonable--and remarkably similar to the policy later adopted by the American government itself in the 1780s--but Americans denounced and defied it. Virginians were especially outraged. They resented interference in colonial expansion coming from distant rulers (King George and Chancellor Grenville). For example, George Washington, a major land speculator, stood to earn a fortune from settlement of frontier territory he owned plus much more that he had been promised during the French and Indian War. For Washington it was not simply greed or lust for power, it was a matter of principle. He resented the fact that America's fate rested so much in the hands of faraway royal officials. As the years passed, Washington and other Americans grew increasingly agitated.
        There was another problem that ultimately led to rebellion. Britain was in control of most of the North American continent west of the Mississippi River, but also deeply in debt from the war. In the past, Parliament had imposed duties to regulate trade, but taxing the colonists for the purpose of raising revenue was something else! Parliament thought it was not only necessary, but just, that the colonies should support defense costs from which they directly benefited. The Sugar Act (1764) was followed by the Currency Act (1764), the infamous Stamp Act (1765), the Quartering Acts (1765-66), the Revenue Act (1767), the Tea Act (1773), and finally the so-called Intolerable Acts (1774). What began as a reasonable attempt to raise revenue grew into a foolishly conceived and poorly executed effort by King George and Parliament to assert British control, an effort that ultimately backfired.
        The Stamp Act was the first serious provocation of colonial protest. It required that a revenue stamp (like one today would see on a pack of cigarettes) fixed to all kinds of printed matter and legal documents: newspapers, pamphlets, broadsides, almanacs, bonds, leases, deeds, licenses, even college diplomas and playing cards. The tax was insignificantly small, but propagandists exaggerated the "tyranny" of "taxation without representation." Throughout the colonies, Americans began to seriously contemplate their political and economic status within the British empire with a new sensitivity and clarity. (John Adams and other knowledgeable observers later concluded that the Stamp Act crisis marked birth of American independence.) Excited colonists vented their anger in mass meetings, parades, bonfires and other demonstrations. More effective was a boycott of British goods, organized by the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765. By its effective date of November 1, the Stamp Act was a dead. Stunned by the unexpected backlash, Parliament repealed the infamous Stamp Act in early 1766. At the same time, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, which seemed like merely a face-saving measure at the time; but then in 1767 Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, including the Revenue Act of 1767, which levied duties on a wide range of colonial imports.
        More British troops were deployed to maintain order, and the presence of the "lobster back" Redcoats became an increasing source of conflict, especially in Boston. On March 5, 1770, five Boston citizens were killed in a riot known as the Boston Massacre. There is still some question about exactly what happened on that fateful evening, due to conflicting accounts, but this much is known. After several days of small-scale brawling, on March 5th around 8 p.m., a crowd of 300-400 men gathered at the Custom House. Hotheads in the mob shouted taunts, threats and curses at several soldiers on duty, then began throwing snowballs, chunks of ice, rocks and bricks. Some men with torches and clubs advanced within a few feet of the Guard, a soldier was knocked down, a musket discharged (apparently by accident), and the soldiers spontaneously fired into the crowd. The British captain in charge repeatedly shouted: "Do not fire!" Realizing that several men lay seriously wounded, the crowd backed away, and the soldiers withdrew without further incident. (In the trial that followed, John Adams successfully defended the British soldiers, demonstrating that they fired in self-defense.)
        In 1772 a secret communication network known as "committees of correspondence" was established throughout the colonies to mobilize opposition in the event of further British efforts to crack down on the radicals. Next came the Tea Act of 1773 and the famous "Boston Tea Party." The Committees of Correspondence played a key role in the most widespread and effective protest since the Stamp Act was repealed. Mismanagement had led the East India Company to the brink of bankruptcy. The Tea Act granted the British company a monopoly on the American market with a duty that would simultaneously enrich the crown. The tea tax itself was not new, nor was it burdensome (in fact the duty on tea was reduced by the act); but radical propagandists made the most of it, arguing that it would surely lead to other trade restrictions and taxes. As 600,000 pounds of East India Company tea headed for America, the Committees of Correspondence efficiently organized coordinated efforts to combat the Tea Act at each major port. At Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia, the tea was either confiscated and stored in warehouses or not unloaded at all. Then the last load arrived at Boston in November. Protesters demanded that the ship and its cargo return to England, also threatening to forcibly prevent any attempt to unload the tea. Fearing violence but determined not to back down, Governor Hutchinson ordered customs officials to wait. A tense standoff continued until the fateful night of December 16. Unlike the Boston Massacre, a spontaneous tragedy caused by an out of control mob, the "Boston Tea Party" was carefully planned by Sam Adams' Sons of Liberty. As word spread, 2,000 noisy protesters crowded to the docks at Griffin's Wharf. Approximately 30 men, disguised as Mohawk Indians, joined by at least 100 others, quickly boarded the tea ships. In less than four hours, they quietly and efficiently tossed 342 broken tea chests, nearly 10,000 pounds of tea (worth about $1 million dollars in today's monetary value) into the dark waters of Boston harbor.
        Similar acts of protest spread throughout the colonies, and Parliament struck back with the draconian Coercive Acts (quickly dubbed the "Intolerable Acts" by colonists) in 1774. Believing that Boston was the "head of the serpent," Parliament passed four acts directed there: Boston harbor was closed as punishment for the Tea Party, town meetings had to be approved by the Massachusetts Governor, more invasive quartering of British soldiers was mandated, and trials of British soldiers accused of offenses were to be transferred to England. The so-called Intolerable Acts were the proverbial "last straw" in the series of events pushing Americans toward war. [See: American Revolution Chronology.]

Approximate Date and Event

1754 Beginning of the Seven Years War (French & Indian War in America)

1763 Proclamation of 1763 issued to contain British colonials east of the Alleghenies.

1764 Sugar Act and Currency Act, followed by Stamp Act (1765), Quartering Act (1765)...

1770 Five citizens fatally shot by British soldiers in the so-called "Boston Massacre"

1773 Tea Act passed; Boston Tea Party led by Sam Adams' Sons of Liberty

1774 "Intolerable Acts" passed by Parliament; First Continental Congress convened

Lecture 4: The Revolutionary War

How did war break out, and how were the underdog Americans able to win their independence from the world's most powerful nation?

Lecture Summary:
        With the passage of the Intolerable Acts, the British closed Boston Harbor, removed trials involving royal officials out of New England, and granted broad authority to the royal governor to suppress assemblies and peaceful protests. They also authorized "quartering" (temporary housing) of British troops in colonists' homes, and extended Quebec's boundaries south. A military governor, General Thomas Gage, replaced Governor Hutchinson in Massachusetts and assumed command of British forces. In response, on September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. Twelve colonies (all but Georgia) were represented by fifty-five delegates. They boldly presented the government of George III with a Declaration of Rights and Grievances (rejected outright by the Crown as absurdly impudent). As British military forces attempted to seize control of colonial seaports, militia began to organize armed resistance.
        In April 1775 British troops marched out of Boston to seize the arms and ammunition stored by the Massachusetts militia in Concord. As legend has it, Paul Revere and William Dawes rode across the countryside, ahead of the marching Redcoats, with the famous announcement: "The British are coming!" Outside Lexington, on the road to Concord, a group of about 70 militiamen confronted the British troops. Outnumbered 10 to 1, they quickly scattered as two volleys of shots were fired by the British, killing eight Americans ("the Shot Heard 'Round the World'). At dawn, the British searched in vain for the stockpile of arms, only to find that hundreds of militiamen had swarmed to the area. The British hastily retreated, suffering nearly 300 casualties along the road leading back to Boston. Soon over 20,000 New England militia had converged on Boston and the British were under siege. The war was on.
        The Second Continental Congress convened at Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. Since the war was well underway, Congress need a military commander, and George Washington was the obvious choice. He accepted the appointment with a solemn oath to do his best and to accept no salary, just reimbursement for necessary personal expenses. Congress also needed to establish what the war was about. Half-hearted efforts from both sides failed to restore peace, and on June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution calling for a vote on the issue of independence. After considerable debate, on June 11 a committee was appointed to draft a Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, another Virginian who was highly regarded as a gifted writer with a sharp mind, was the principal author. (He completed the assignment in just a couple of days, thanks in part to his use of the Virginia state constitution and its Declaration of Rights, written by fellow Virginian George Mason.) After a bit of editing--during which an awkwardly hypocritical attack on the slave trade was deleted--the final version was adopted by the Congress on July 2, 1776. The famous document was then formally transcribed and dated July 4, and subsequently signed over the next several weeks, since most of the signers were scattered around the colonies. John Adams wrote to his wife that the 2nd of July would be celebrated for generations as the day of Independence, with parades, bonfires, fireworks, and such. He had the right idea, but the wrong date.
        Declaring independence was one thing, but achieving it was something else. The British were determined to subdue the rebellion. With a large well-trained army, a powerful navy, and ample financial resources, Britain was a formidable opponent. Moreover, the Americans had serious weaknesses, including the lack of an effective central government, limited funds, and virtually no organized military forces. To make matters worse, historians estimate that 25-30 percent of the colonial population remained loyal to England. But the Americans also had some distinct advantages. Led by a determined and inspiring commander, George Washington, the Continental Army was largely composed of local militia who knew the terrain and were skilled at hit-and-run tactics. Engaging the redcoats head-on would prove disastrous. Indeed, in the early years of fighting, and throughout the war, the British redcoats won most of the battles. In August 1776 Washington's army was trapped in New York and the war nearly ended then and there, but fate (in the form of bad weather), indecision, overconfidence, and poor communication slowed the British momentum and allowed Washington's army to regroup. Prolonging the war through a series of skirmishes, followed by strategic retreats and evasions, eventually would enable the Americans to prevail against superior British forces. (General Nathanael Greene, the "fighting Quaker" from Rhode Island, would later put it succinctly: "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.")

REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLE TACTICS
        Before outlining the military strategies of the British and American commanders, it might be good to describe how the armies fought. The British had a well-trained, disciplined, experienced army that employed traditional tactics developed mainly over many years of battle against the French. Lines of bright Redcoats would march into battle with drums beating, emboldening the troops and intimidating the enemy. Then the artillery would "loosen up" the enemy lines and the infantry would advance within firing range, in tight formation, stand and fire, line after line, as each line reloaded. (It took about 30 seconds to reload and fire an 18th century army musket... a complicated three-step process: insert powder, insert ball, ram it down, open a firing charge and insert it, aim, cock, and fire). The muskets were not especially accurate, but the infantry lines made up for that with the heavy volume of fire. As men fell, the lines would begin to break, and often the enemy [in this case, the Americans] would turn tail and run. Then the Redcoats would charge with bayonets. The cavalry was mostly used for reconnoitering (riding around to check things out) but also they would charge with sabers and pistols in battle, typically in a flanking (side) maneuver or to follow up an infantry advance.
        Most American officers with any formal military training and experience also were inclined to use traditional European tactics, but they tended to be more creative and flexible, having lived and fought in the wilder territory of the west. Using muskets with longer, rifled (grooved) barrels, American "riflemen" could pick off Redcoats from a much longer distance than the British could return fire. Pennsylvania riflemen were famous for long-range sniping from behind protective walls and trees. Most of the fighting, however, was done in open fields, face to face.
        George Washington had served as a staff officer assigned to the British commander in the French and Indian War, Major General Edward Braddock, where he learned about logistics (supply, movement) and the staff work of command (ordering supplies, organizing troops, training, issuing orders, etc.). His experience in the backwoods (he was a surveyor) taught him how to study the landscape, maneuver, live off the land... and this was essential to his success as the American commander in chief. Washington was NOT a military genius by any stretch--he lost far more battles than he won due to mistakes as well as his underdog status--but he had tremendous courage, strength and resolve. He inspired his men by example, and he was unbending in his determination and devotion to the cause of American independence.

Military STRATEGY... HOW THE WAR PLAYED OUT
        The main British strategy, in essence, was to capture major ports and cities and thereby crush American resistance. Having been forced out of Boston (Breeds Hill and Bunker Hill), the British concentrated on the strategic center of the American resistance: New York and Philadelphia. First in the North, General Howe tried to control the mouth of the Hudson River (Hudson Bay), illustrated by the battles at Brooklyn Heights near Manhattan, Harlem Heights, and White Plains (all British victories in the summer of 1776; Washington's army barely escaped New York without being captured or destroyed). Howe also launched a separate attack by sea, down the coast to Hampton Bay and up the Chesapeake through Maryland back toward Philadelphia (the Battle of Brandywine was fought west of Philadelphia). The British occupied Philadelphia in September 1777, but General Howe again failed to destroy Washington's army. (For more information on how the Americans won the war, but might have lost, see What if...? essay.)
        Meanwhile, Gen. "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne led a separate invasion force down the St. Lawrence River from Canada, through Lake Champlain in upstate New York, South to Fort Ticonderoga, intending to reach the Hudson River and intersect with Howe. He was stopped and defeated at Saratoga in October 1777, an important American victory and a key turning point in the war. At that point the French, who had been sitting on the sidelines cheering for the Americans but reluctant to get involved, decided to form a treaty of alliance. So not only did Saratoga mark the failure of an important part of the British strategy; it also marked the entry of France as an American ally, bringing badly needed finances, weapons, troops, and warships. (In fact, since the beginning of the war the French had been secretly providing the Americans with arms, munitions, loans and volunteers.) Within a year after France officially entered the conflict in 1778, Spain added its support to the Americans, and the British found themselves in another major European war. General Howe (who had replaced General Gage) was replaced by General George Clinton.
        The British still hoped that a series of strategic victories would encourage more Loyalists to support the Crown and demoralize the Patriots. Facing a stronger enemy, the Americans' strategy, under General Washington's leadership, was to keep the Continental Army intact, engage the larger enemy forces only when necessary or by surprise (in "hit and run" battles, as he did at Trenton and Princeton NJ in the winter of 1776-77), and avoid getting boxed in and destroyed (as had almost happened in New York.)
        Washington also had to fend off threats from conspiring political rivals, such as generals Horatio "Granny" Gates and Charles Lee. The case of Lee merits elaboration here. Shortly after the nearly disastrous defeat at Brandywine, near Philadelphia, Washington's army engaged the British again in the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse. General Clinton had pulled out of Philadelphia and was headed east to consolidate with the British forces in New York. American forces facing Clinton were under the direction of Lee, now second in command under Washington, and previously a rival for the position of commander in chief. Unknown until many years later, Lee was a closet-Loyalist (in effect, a traitor), having submitted to Howe a plan for British conquest of the colonies back in 1776. Lee so badly mishandled the American forces at Monmouth (perhaps by design) that Clinton had victory within his grasp. Just in time, Washington arrived on the scene, and (reportedly cursing in a rare outburst of rage) ordered Lee to the rear to be placed under arrest. (Lee was subsequently court-martialed, convicted, and resigned.) Washington put "Mad Anthony" Wayne in charge, the Americans regrouped and stood firm, and Washington then led a counterattack that won the battle. Stunned by the abrupt turnabout and heavy casualties suffered at Monmouth, Clinton withdrew to New York. Another betrayal, nearly fatal to Washington and the cause, involved one of Washington's most trusted and valued generals, Benedict Arnold. The frustrated hero of the Battle of Saratoga, Arnold nearly enabled the British to break out of their box--and capture Gen. Washington in the process--but his plan to surrender the forts at West Point was discovered just in the nick of time (September 1780). Arnold escaped and joined up with Lord Cornwallis.
        The British, meanwhile, also had a Southern strategy. Landing at Savannah GA, then and Charleston SC a year later, British troops marched up through the Carolinas, fighting battles at Augusta, Camden, Charlotte, Cowpens [an important American victory and apparent setting for the big battle in Mel Gibson's movie, The Patriot] in January 1781, and Greensboro/ Hillsboro. The main force of American troops in the South were led by General Gates. (Supposedly the hero of Saratoga, the cowardly and incompetent Gates actually hid in his tent while Benedict Arnold, the real hero of Saratoga, led the troops to victory.) Gates was badly beaten in the Carolinas and replaced by Greene ("the Fighting Quaker"). Pursued by Greene, Cornwallis withdrew to Wilmington for supplies and reinforcements, then marched up to Virginia. Hoping to hook up with Clinton (who was in New York) for more reinforcements and supplies, he withdrew to Yorktown. There he was trapped by land (Washington's combined force of nearly 17,000 Frenchmen, Continentals, and militia) and by sea (the French fleet led by the Marquis de Grasse in the Chesapeake). Cornwallis surrendered on October 10, 1781. The Treaty of Paris made it official on September 3, 1783, and the Americans had finally won their independence. (See: American Revolution Chronology.)

Approximate Date and Event

1775 British troops clash with Minutemen at Lexington and Concord; Fort Ticonderoga captured by Ethan Allen; Battle of Bunker Hill ends in costly stalemate

1776 British forced out of Boston by big guns dragged down from Ticonderoga; Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense; Congress approves Dec. of Independence; Washington defeated at New York and retreats to New Jersey

1777 British occupy Philadelphia; Continental Army wins important victory at Saratoga Washington, La Fayette and the Continental Army endure the winter at Valley Forge

1778 France agrees to a military alliance with America

1781 British commander Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown.

1782 Parliament votes to end the war and negotiations for peace commence.

Lecture 5: Founding the New Republic

To what extent did the American fight for independence result in a true revolution? What led to the establishing of a new Constitution in 1787? What conflicting interests were evident during the construction of the new federal government, and how were they resolved (at least for the purpose of ratification)?

Lecture Summary:
        By challenging the "divine right" of King George to govern them, the Americans who declared their independence in 1776 articulated a revolutionary political philosophy. However, the proclamation that "all men are created equal" and entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" did not apply to 18% of the population: nearly 700,000 African Americans living as slaves [see 1790 census]. Their status, and that of women, did not improve significantly for a very long time. (Native Americans were dismissed as "merciless savages.") Moreover, concerns for property rights often figured more prominently than civil liberties in the political discussions that immediately followed the Revolutionary War. For example, the framers of the Constitution were careful not to disturb slavery [see note*] but they added the Bill of Rights later as amendments in order to attain ratification. Indeed, few if any major shifts in social and economic standing occurred between 1776 and 1783. Some historians have even concluded that the American Revolution, and the Constitution, actually strengthened the dominant position of the "haves" over the "have-nots." Nonetheless, for all the similarities between representative government in Britain and America at that time, a major political revolution did occur.
        The Treaty of Paris (1783) confirmed American independence but left open important questions about the new nation. What were its boundaries? How would the vast territories to the west be settled (refer to the Land Ordinances of 1784, 1785 and 1787)? How would the diverse economies of the various regions be developed? What should be done about the vast war debt? How would authority be shared by the central government and the states? How would the people be represented, and how would their rights be protected? How would the new nation be protected from internal and external threats, and how would foreign powers treat the new nation?
        The immediate challenge was the need to establish a stable and effective national government with the power to enforce its authority and to raise funds, at a time when many Americans were openly hostile toward government and taxes. In light of the historical context, it is easy to understand why the Articles of Confederation (1781) provided only a semblance of national authority. By creating a legislature without the power to raise revenue, and with no federal executive or judiciary, the Articles left most real power decentralized in the individual state legislatures. This was a serious handicap during the revolution and in the early years that followed. In Massachusetts the state legislature seemed powerless to protect property rights in the face of growing discontent over taxes, debts, and similar matters. When a former Continental Army officer named Daniel Shays led a group of farmers in a march to Springfield, it sent a chill through the country and illustrated the need for a strong government-backed militia to maintain order. These inadequacies spawned a Constitutional Convention, ostensibly to revise the Articles of Confederation, but Washington and other leading nationalists were intent upon framing a new American government. In May 1787 George Washington called to order the convention in Philadelphia. Delegates from twelve of the thirteen states (Rhode Island refused to participate) met in secret to decide the fate of the Confederation. (The proceedings were not made public until Madison’s notes were published fifty years later.) Most of the fifty-five delegates were prominent and prosperous men—lawyers, merchants, or planters—of social standing. Absent were two of the most intellectually gifted and politically astute founding fathers: Thomas Jefferson, serving as ambassador to France, and John Adams, serving as ambassador to England. Also absent were Sam Adams, Tom Paine, and Patrick Henry, who opposed any revision of the Articles of Confederation (Henry “smelled a rat”).
        The ensuing debate over complex and controversial issues involving federal power, state control, and individual rights resulted in compromises that left fundamental differences unresolved. Still, their success is truly remarkable. Some features of the new republic are beautifully balanced and logical--the separation of powers with "checks and balances" to guard against tyranny; and the bicameral legislature, with the upper house representing each state equally and the lower house providing proportional representation. Other features seem peculiarly perplexing--the electoral college system for selecting a president, and the "three-fifths compromise" (see below*). It should be remembered that the framers were not only struggling to accommodate various competing interests and conflicting ideals, they were charting a course where no nation had gone before: a democratic republic. (Refer to "Founding a New Republic") for a more thorough explanation.)
        Between December 1787 and July 1788, as "Federalists" and "Ant-Federalists" waged an intense war of words to win popular support, eleven states voted for ratification of the Constitution. Within the span of a single generation, in less than forty years, Americans had helped win a war to remove the threat of a major foreign power (France), declared their independence from England and won another war to affirm it, then established a national government with authority independent of the states. But just as declaring independence was one thing and convincing the British to acknowledge it was another, constructing a federal government was just the beginning of the new American nation. By the last years of the eighteenth century, intense and often bitter disagreement over some of the differences aired during the construction and ratification of the Constitution led to the formation of the first national political parties and threatened to fracture the new republic. President Washington decried this emerging "factionalism" in his farewell address, warning that the "baneful effects" of partisanship and sectionalism would "distract . . . and enfeeble" the government.

*Note on the issue of slavery in the Constitution:
      While not mentioning "slavery" as such, the authors of the Constitution discretely acknowledged its existence for purposes of representation through the population census (i.e., for taxes and Congressional seats) in the "three-fifths compromise" [Article I, Section 2]; importation of "such persons" was allowed until 1808 [Article I, Section 9]; and "Persons held to Service or Labour" escaping to another state were to be returned upon claim [Article IV, Section 2]. The largest concentration of slaves was in Virginia--nearly 300,000 out of a total state population of 747,550 (39%)--according to the 1790 census.

Approximate Date and Event

1781 Articles of Confederation ratified

1783 Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War

1784 Land Ordinance of 1784, followed by Land Ordinances of 1785 and 1787, provided for the orderly settlement of territories, civil rights, and progression to statehood.

1787 Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts; Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

1788 Constitution ratified by eleventh state

1789 First national elections; George Washington elected President

1791 Bill of Rights adopted