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 5 C O LU N IAL L I H . IN A ."lLRI CA

.i pI"",,,,;,,,, p"n in Ch"s.lp.." k.. Bar .

Governors and assemblies

All th e Eng lish colon ies In America sha red a
tradition of represent ative govern m..nt . This
means that in all of them peo ple had a say in ho w
they w er e governed. Each colo ny had its own
gov ernmen t . At th e head of th is governme nt was
a go vernor, chosen in most cases by th e En glish
king . T o rule effectively , these govern o rs de-
pended upo n th e cooperat ion of assemblies elected
by th e colo nists .
In most o f th e colo nies all white male s who o w ned
some land had the right to vote, Sinc e so m any
colon ists owned land. this m eant that far more
peo ple had the vote in America th an in England
itself-or in any other European country at thi s
run e.

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 6
TH E R O OTS OF R EV OLU TI ON

In the: eighteenth cen tury Britain and Prance fough t T he first o f't hcsc explorer'> was Samuel de
several m aj or wars. T he struggle betwee n th em W l '!H Champlain. From 1603 onwards , ChJ.tIIp1J.in
a ll in Europe. Asia and N o rth Am erica. explored the lands on both sides o f th e St. Lawrence
River and set up trading posts there. T he two most
In North Amer ica. France claim ed to O W II Ca nada
impo rtant of these poses late r grew into the cities of
and Lo uisiana. Ca nada. or N ew Fralin ', ex ten ded
Q uebec and Montreal.
no rth fro m th e Sf. L J. \ \'f CIl CT Ri ver and so ut h
towards th e frontie r areas ofth e En gl ish co lo n ies 0 11 The o ther French e xplo rer was Ik nr: La Salle. La
the Atlantic coas t. Lo uisiana. nam ed for th e Frenc h Salk' was J. fur. trade r, explorer and em pire builder all
king, Lo uis X IV. stretched across th e cen ter of the III o ne. ln th e 1670s he ex plo red th e valley of the
continent . It includ ed all th e land s drained by the Mississippi. " lr is ucar fy all so beaut iful and so
Mi ssissippi River and its rnburatic s. fertile," he wrote. "So full of meadows. brooks and
rivers: so abo unding III fish and veniso n that one can
In th e middle of the eig hteent h n ' lH u ry most of the
find here all Chat is needed to support flo ur ishin g
for ests and plains of bot h o f thcsc vas t areas we re still
col on it's. Th e soil w ill produ ce everyt hi ng tha t is
un expl or ed by Europeans. 'n it' French claim to
g rown in France."
own rhcm was based upon journeys ma de in the
previo us cen tury by tw o fam ous ex plo rers. TI,,· HririlJ. "'M"~· <'11 Qu<lH-i.
 (, T ill, n oo n 01 REVO L U T IO N

La Salk' paddled for thousands of mi les down the

Mississip pi. At last he reached th e Gulf of M exico . Trade laws and "sleeping dogs"
where the g n·ar nvcr em pties into the sca. Some
Until th e 1760s most A m erican s see med q uite
year s later the French set up a tradin g post th ere. In
co nte nt to be ruled by Bri tai n. An llu p0rtant
future years thi s became the city of N ew Orleans.
reason for th is w as th e presen ce of rhc Fren ch in
N orth Am erica. So lon g as Fran ce held Canada
The French claim th at Louis iana belon ged to them
and Loui siana. rhe colonists felr tha t they need ed
worr ied both the British government and the
th e British na\'y and so ld iers to protect the m.
American co lo nists. A glance at a map explains why .
Suppose France sent sol diers to occupy the Another re aso n th e coloni sts accep ted British rul e
Mississip pi valley. They would be able to kee p lilt' wa s that rhc British govern me nt rar ely interfered
co lonists to the cast ofthe Ap palachian M ount ains in co lonial affairs.
an d stop th em fro m m oving westwards.
A cent ur y earlier the B rit ish Parliamen t had passed
Aft er several wars earl ier in the eig hteenth centur y, some laws called Navigat io n Act s. These listed
III 175(, Bri tain and France bega n figh ting the Seven certa in products called "enu m era ted co mmodities"
Years War . This is known to Am erican s :IS the th at the co lo nies we re forbi dden to e xpo rt to allY
f-rench and Ind ian Wa r. count ry ex cept Eng land, It w as easy for the
colonists to avo id obeying th ese law s, The long
Led by their forcefu l Prim e Mi nister . Williant Pitt the
American coa stline made sm uggling easy,
Elder , the British sent m oney an d soldiers to N orth
America. In 1758 Hrinsh and co lon ial fo rces cap tu red T he co lonists di d not care m uch eithe r ab o ut
the Fren ch strongholds of Lo uisbur g 0 11 th e Gulf of import taxes , or duti es . that they wer e supposed
SL Law ren ce and Fort D uq uesne 011 the Ohio River. to pay 011 goods from abroad, T he d ut ies we re
In 1759 th ey took Quebec. In 17(,0 M ont real fell to light and carclcsslv collected . Few merchants
them . TtK' war w as ended by the Peace o f liaris, bothe red to pay them . And agai n. smuggling w as
whi ch wa s signed in 1763. Fra nce ga\'t' up its claim to eJ.s}" . Ships could unload th eir carg oes o n h un-
Canada an d to all ofNorrh Am erica east of the dr eds of lo nclv wharves wi tho ut customs o ffi cers
Mississippi River. kno wi ng.
Britain had wall an Em pire. But its victory led When a Uritish Prim e M inister named Ho bert
directl y to conflict wi th its American co lo nies. Even Wa lpok was asked why he did not do more to
befo re rhc final defeat of the French. colonists in enforce the tr ade laws. he replied: " Let slee ping
search of better land began to m o ve over the do gs lie. " He knew the independent spi rit o f the
App alach ian M o unt ains into the Oh io valley. T o British co lonists in America and w an ted no
prev cm wa r with th e Amerindian tr ibes w ho live d III trouble with them. The trouble began w he n late r
the area. th e Eng lish king . Geo rge 111. issued a British politicians forgot his ad vice and aw o ke the
procla m ation in 1763. It fo rbade co lonists to set tle "sleeping dogs."
west of'thc Ap palachians unt il propl'r treaties had
been m ade wi th th e Am erindians.
The king 's pr oclam at io n angere d the co lonists. They Bur the colonists di d o bject. M erch an ts believed th at
became ang rier still when the British govern me nt the new im po rt taxes w ou ld m ake it more diffi cu lt
told them that they must pay new tax es on im ports fo r the m to tude at a pr ofit. Other co lon ists bel ieved
ofsuga r, co ffee. textiles, and other go ods. The th at the tax es would raise th eir cos ts ofliving. T hey
gove rnm en t also told them rhar the y m ust feed and also feared that if British troops stayed in Amer ica
find sh elt er for British so ldiers it planned to keep III th ey mi gh t be used to for ce them to obey rhc Uritish
the colonies. Thes e o rders seem ed perfectly fair to govern me nt. This last o bjectio n was all carlv
Brit ish politician s. It had cos t Bri tish taxpayt"rs a lor example o f 3 belief that became an import ant
of money to defend the colo nies during th e French rradir io n in American political life-that peopl e
and Ind ian War. Surely. th ey reasoned. th e co lonists sho uld !lot allow governments to become too
could no r o bjecr ro repa yin g: SOl11 l' oft his money? powe rfu l.
In 17(,5 the British Parliament passed ano ther new
law called the Stamp Act. T his too w as intended ro
rai ~l' money to pay fo r the dcf..use of th e colo nies. It
said that the col oni sts had to buy special ta x stam ps
and attach rhem to newspapn s, licenses, and legal
paper s suc h as wills and mortg ages.
Ever since the earlv yea rs of th e Vir ginia settlement
Americans had claimed till." right to elect
rcp rcscut aeivcs to dec ide the taxes they paid. Now
they insisted that as "freeborn Englishmen" th ey
could be taxed only by their own colonial assem blies.
We hav e no rcprcscntanvcs in the Uritish Parliament ,
they said, so what right do cs it have to tax LIS? "N o
taxation without representation' bec ame their
dema nd.
In 1765 representat ives from nine colonie, met in
N ew York . They fo rmed the " Stam p Act Cong ress"
and o rganized o ppos ition to the Stamp Act. All over
rhc colonies merchant s and shopkeepe rs refused to
sell British goods until the Act w as wi thdrawn . In
Boston and other cities ang r y mobs attacked
government officials selling the stamps. Most
colon ists SImp ly refused to use them .
T ile /1"-,,,,.. Tea 1'.trty.

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 (, T ill. HOOTS OF H EVOLFIION

Samuel A da ms a n d the Boston

Massacre
Samuel Ad ams w as a polit ician and writer who
organized op position in M assachusetts TO the
British tax laws. He believed in the idea of "no
tax ation w itho ut rep resentation ." In articles and
speeches he attac ked rhc Brit ish govern me nt 's
claim that it had the righ t to tax the col onis ts.
On March 5. 1no, a Boston mob began to shou t
insult s at a group o f British sold iers. Angry words
w ere e xchanged. St icks and STOnes beg an to fly
through the air at the so ldiers. One of the crowd
tried to rake a soldie r's gu n and the soldier shor
him. Without any o rde r fro m the officer in charge.
more shots were fi red and rhree mo re members o f
the crowd fell dead . Seve ral others we re wounded. convincin g. he asked a Boston silve rs mith na med
Paul Rever e to make a d ramatic pictu re o f the
Samuel Ad ams used this "Boston Massacre " to
"Massacre. " H un dreds of co pies were printed.
stir up A merican opinion against the British. H e
w ro re a letter w hic h inaccur ately described the Adams' letter and Rever e's picture were seen by
happeni ng as an unprovoked attack on a peaceful thousands of people throughout the colonies.
grou p of citizens. H e sent om copies of the lette r T ogcrhcr they did a great deal to strengthen
to all the colon ies. T o make his account mo re o pposition to B ritish rule.

All this o pposi tion forced the British governm ent to T he Brit ish reply to this " BOSlOlI Tea Part y" was to
withdraw the Stamp A ct . But it was determined TO pass a set oflaws to pu nish Massachusett s. Col onis ts
show the colo nists that it had the right TO tax them. soon began calling these laws the " Intolerable Acts."
Parliament passed another law called the D eclaratory Boston har bor was closed to all trade until the tea
Act. This stated that the British governme nt had w as paid for . More soldiers were sent there to keep
"fi.11I power and aut hori ty (o ver) the colonies and order. T he po wer s of the colo nial assembly of
people of Am eri ca in all cases whatsoever; " Massachusett s wac greatly reduced.
In 1767 the British plac.-d new taxes 0 11 tea, paper, O n june 1, 1774, llritish warships rook up position at
paint, and various othe r goo ds that the colonies the mout h of BOSTOn harbo r to make sure that no
imported from abro ad. A special customs office w as ships sailed in or o ut. A few months later, in
set up in Bosron to collect the ne w duties. Again the Septem ber 1774, a gro up of colonial leaders came
colonists refused to pay. Riot s broke out in Boston to geth er III Philadelphia. T hey fo rmed the First
and the Briti sh sent so ldiers to kee p order. It was no t C on tinental Congress to 0 ppOSt' w hat the y saw as
until 1770 , w hen the British removed all the duties British oppression.
C'xcept for the one on tea, that there was less t rouble.
The Continent al Cong ress claimed to be loya l to the
But some co lonists in M assachusett s wer e British kin g. But it called upon all Americans to
determined to keep th e qua rrel go ing. In December support the peop le o f M assachu setts by refusing to
1773, a group of them disguised them selves as buy British goods. M any colonis ts we nt furth er than
Mohawk Am erindians. T hey boa rded British this. T hey began to organize themselves into grou ps
merchant ships in Boston harbor and threw 3-12 cases of part-time so ldiers. or "militias," and TO gather
of tea mro the sea. "l hope that King Geo rge like s salt together w ea.pons and am m unition.
In his tea;" said one of the m.

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 7
FI GHT IN G FO R I N D EP E N D E N C E

O n the night of Ap ril 18. 1775. 700 British soldiers The British soldier s reached C o nco rd <I few hours
m arched silently out o f Bosto n. Their order s we re to later and destroyed so me of th e we apo ns and
.scizc w eapons and am m unitio n that rebellious g un po w der there. But by th e time they set off ro
colo nists had stored III Conco rd. a nearb y [O\ ",T I. retur n to Hosron hund reds more M inut em en had
gathered. Fro m th e th ick woods o n each side o f the
13m th e colo n ists w e re warne d th at th e so ld iers were
Boston road they sho t do wn. on e b y one, 273 British
co rning. Sig nal ligh ts were hung fro m th e spire o f
soldiers. T he soldiers we re still und er arrack w hen
Bosto n's ralles r church and rwo fast ride rs, Paul
they arrived back in Bosto n. A ring ofarmed
Revere and Willia m Dawt"S.jum pcd m ro thei r
A meri cans gathered rou nd the city.
sad dles and galloped o ff wi th the n ew s.
T he next month. May 1775, a second Conti nent al
In th e village of Lexingto n th e British fo und scvc lHy
Cong ress m et in Philadelphia and began to an as an
American m iliti am en, farmers and tradesm en .
A meri can natio nal government. It set up an arm y of
barri ng th eir way. These par t-ri m e so ldie rs w ere
17,000 m en under the comma nd of George
known as "Minu rcm cn.v- Tbis was because th ey had
Washi ngton. Wash ington w as a Virginia landow ne r
prom ised to rake up ar ms im mcdiarcly -c in a
and sur veyo r wi th "ex perience of fightin g in the
m inutc- w he ne ver rhl')' we re need ed.
French and Indian War. T he Cont inenta l C ongress
T he British co mma nde r ordered the M inut em en to also sent rep resent atives ro SC1.,k aid from friendly
return to th eir homes. T hey refused. T I1l'n so meone, European na tion s - especially fro m France, Britain's
no bod y knows w ho , ti red a shot. O ther sho ts carne old enem y .
fro m the lin es of British so ldiers. Eight M inut emen
fell dead. The fi rst sho ts had been fin-d III w hat was itr;,i,l, joIJ ;.-n firi..g " " ,II.. .\f;ru'lno,m " I l1.>:i".I:'"'' i .. l iiS. :\
to beco m e the A me rican War of lndcpcnd cncc. (ourm 'pomry mgr" ";".1: Nsd orr" , ktub by a" tyt· ..·;,,,..u,
 IN COXG RESS, JULY 4, '716.

The Ilc cb u u Ol1 of

Indrp<Tuk1K..-.

By the following yea r th e fig hting had spread beyo nd J oh n H anco ck o f M assach usett s. Hanco ck picked up
Massach usetts. It had gro w n in to a fu ll-scale w ar. the pen and w rot e his name in large. clear letters-
" large enough," he said, "for King George to read
On July 2, 1776, the Continen tal C o ng ress finally
wi thout his spectacles."
took th e step that mall YAmericans believed w as
inevi table . It n it all po litical tics w ith Britain and The D cciaratiou of JlldCI'ClldCJ1(Cw as m o re than a
declared that " these U ni ted C o lonies an.', and of rig ht statem ent th at the co lo nies we re a ne w nation. It abo
ough t to be, free and independent states." ·1\ v 0 da ys set our the ideas behind th e chan ge that w as bein g
later. on J uly ~, it issued the [)a larati" " of made. It claimed [hat all m en had a natural right to
Independence, " Life, libert y and the pursui t of happiness. " It also
said that govern me nts can only justly claim th e TIght
Th e D edaronon ,~f lndependcnc c is the m ost un po n anr
to rule if they have th e agreement of those they
document in American histo ry. lt was w ritten by
govern - "the consent of the governed . "
Tho ma s j eff erso n. a Landowne r and law yer fro m
Virg inia. Aft er repea ting that th e colonies were now Ideas such as the se were a central part of the-po litical
"free and ind ependent sta tes." it officially na med traditions that the co lon ists' ancesto rs had brought
them the United Slates of America . w it h th em from England. Colonial leaders had also
studied them in the writings ofa n Engli sh political
One o f th e first m embers o f the Conrincnral
thinker named j o hn Locke. M enlike J etTerso n
Cong ress to sign th e D cdaratio n oj bJdl'pmdmlt' w as
co m bined Lo cke's ideas with their o w n l'xpcn encc o f
29
A Nt.w WOR LII

Thomas Paine, the voice of read pans of it to their troops. George Washington
revolution descr ibed its arguments as "sound and un answ er -
able.''
O ne of th..: most influc urial vo ices calling for
American indepe ndence was tha t of an En glish- Later in 1776, as Washin gt on's discouraged ar my
man . H e W;(S a Republican named T homas Paine, retreated from the advancing British, Paine rallied
who immigrated to America in 1774. the Americans wi th a new pamp hlet called The
T w o years later. in a brilliantly written pamphlet Crisis. Its words ate still remem bered in times o f
called CommOIl Sense. Paine beca me om: of the difficulty by Americans today. 'These arc the
first to persuade Americans to make a co m plete times th at rry men' s souls," Paine w rote. "The
break with Br itain . "Ever yt hing that is right o r sum me r sol dier and the sunsh ine patriot w ill, m
reaso nable cries fo r separa tion." he claimed. '''T is this crisis, shri nk fro m the service of his count ry;
time to part! " bu t he that stands /l OW dese rves the love and
thanks of man and woman ." In one of the darkest
eMl l lIIOII S Cl/St' made Paine famous. It had an hours of the war Paine's words hel ped to save
eno rm ous effect on Am erican op inion and pre- Washin gto n 's armie s from melt ing aw ay and
pared people's minds for independence. It was inspired new suppo rters to join th e American
read on fronnc r farms and on city street s. Officers cause.

life in America to produce a new defi nition o f After some early successes . the American s did bad ly
democra tic government. T his new definition said in the w ar against the Bri nsh. Wash ington's army
that governments should cons ist of represent atives w as more o f all armed mob than an effective fighting
elected by the people. It also said that the main reason fo rce. Few of the men had any mili tar y tr aining and
that govern men ts existed w as to protect the rights of many obeyed onl y those orders rhar suited them .
individual citizens. O fficers quarr eled cons tantly ove r th eir rank and

.-Imn;("" gOln,,1 .' ·"11,,,,,

Heard
u ddi".1: lilt lJ<-dudtion of
In.kpm<knu ,,, his " ""ps.

"
.
 7 r i Gl ITINC f O il l r.:l ll f't N D EN C L

authority. Washington set to work to tr ain his me n

and turn them into disciplined soldie rs. Our thi s took The Marquis de Lafayette
time. and meanw hik the Americans suffered dcfca r
after defeat. In September 1776, only tw o 11I0mhs In 1777 the M arquis de Lafayett e, a rwc nt y- vcar-
aft er the Dedaration of independence. the British old French aristocrat. landed in Am erica. He carne
captured New York City. Wdshington wrorc to Ius partly to fight for a new and free society, Bu r he
brother that he feared that the Am ericans w ere very came also to avenge the death of his father. w ho
close to losing thr- w ar. had died figh ting the Brit ish in the French and
Ind ian War.
Success began to come to rhc Americans in O ctober
1777. They rrapped a British army of almos t ("OOO Lafayette served without Pay in (he American
men at Sara tog a in northern New York . The British arlllY and became a major-general on the sta ff o f
com man der was cur otffrom his supplies and his George Washin gton , In the next four years he
men we re facing starvation. lie was forced to fough t in nlJny batt les. provmg himself to be J
su rrender. The Am ericans marched their prisoners to brave and dcrcrrnmed so ldier. H e won Washing-
Boston . H ere. after swea ring never again to fight ton's respect and fnendship and played a part in
agains t the Americans. rhc prisoners were pur o n the final defeat of the British at Yorktown in 1781.
board ships and sent back to En gland.
When the wa r ended Lafayett e returned to Prance.
Uenj ami n Frank lin. the American ambassado r to Th ere he continued to su ppo rt Am erican int erests.
France, w as delighted w hen he received t he news of Whl'll the French revolution brok e our in 1789,
the vicro r v at Saratoga, l ie used it to persuade the political 0PPOlll'lltS had Lafayette imprisoned and
French go vern ment to j oin in the Stru ggle again st cook aw ay his estates. But LafJyeu l"s American
Britain. In Februar y 1 77~ , the French king, Lou is friend s di d not forget him . In 1794 Congress
X V l. signed an alliance w ith the A mericans, Frenc h vot ed him his unclaimed general's pay of S24, 424.
ships, sold iers and mo ney we re soon playing all A few years later it granted him land in Louisi ana .
impo rtant part in the war.
In 1824 the now agin g Lafavene returned to visit
From 1nH onwa rds most of the figh ting rook place the U nited Stares. The Ameri can peo ple greeted
in the sou thern colonies . It was here that the wa r him JS a hero, J living sy mbol o f the birth o f their
came to an end. In Sept em ber 1781. George nation.
Washington. leadin g a com bined American and
French army. surrounded 8,000 British troop s under
Gl'neral Cornwallis at Yo rktown, 0 11 the coast o f
Virgi nia, C ornw allis was worried. bur he expected
Bnrish ships to arrive and rescue or reinforce his
army , When shi ps arrived off Yorktown , however,
the y were French ones. Com wnllis was trap ped.
O n October 17, 178 1, he sur rendered his ar my to
Washin gton. Whe n the news reached Lo ndon the
British Prim e MlIlister. Lord North. thre w up his
hands in despair. ..It is all over!" he cried.
No rth was righ t. T he Briti vh star red to withdraw
(heir forces from Ame rica and Brit ish and American
representatives began to discuss peace term s. In ti ll'
Treaty of Paris. which was signed in September
1783, Britain officiall y recognized her former
colonies as an ind ependent nation. T he treaty granted
the new U nite d Stares all of North America from
Canad a in the nort h to Florida ill the sou th, and from
the Atlantic coas t to rhc M ississippi River

31