AQA A Level History American Revolution Summary Notes & Essay Plans - Ending Colonial Relationship & Independence

3) ENDING THE COLONIAL RELATIONSHIP 1774-1776

Coercive/Intolerable Acts:

1) Boston Port Act June 1774 – closed port of Boston until cargo was paid for
2) MA Gov Act May 1774 – legislature appointed by King, no elections, no meetings without Governors
permission
3) Administration of Justice Act may 1774 – royal officials omitting capital offences tried in London – more likely
to be let off
4) Quartering Act June 1774 – colonists had to provide shelter and supplies for British troops on demand
5) Quebec Act – disbanded representative assemblies in Canada, revoked right to trial by jury, expanded
Quebec boundary – fear this would spread to America
 American Reaction
- June 1774 – Boston Committee of Correspondence drafted Solemn League and Covenant committing to
boycott
- May – June – VA and 7 other assemblies denounced acts and were dissolved, continued to meet in extra-
legal conventions
- Jefferson’s ‘Summary of the Rights of British America’ and John Adams under ‘Novangulus’
- Committees of Safety/Inspection set up to enforce boycott and non-importation
- Militias drilled and arms stockpiled from Sept 1774 – MA, NH and RI

First Continental Congress

 Met Sept 1774, only GA absent
 Radical– Paul Revere and Suffolk Resolves endorsed by 50 citizens of Boston, ordered non-importation
enforced by Committees of Safety and militias to be drilled
 Loyalist – Galloway’s Plan of Union only rejected 6 votes to 5, equal British-colonial relationship
 Agreed – Dec 1774 non importation and non-exportation from Sept 1775, oct 1774 declaration of rights and
grievances
 Another congress arranged for May 1775

British Response

 Nov 1774 – North requested repeal of Coercive acts and 20,000 more troops, only sent 4000, Pitt and
Burke’s attempts to repeal Coercive acts ignored
 Conciliation plan – Britain would not tax any colony paying for own administration and defence
 March 1775 – New England Restraining Act colonies in state of rebellion, Dartmouth ordered Gage to act
against rebellion



Prep for War:

 British aware of Dutch gunpowder being smuggled to American ports
 RI militiamen took military equipment and arms from Newport Forts, same in NH
 Dec 14th 1774 – 400 militia attacked Fort Williama and Mary, took guns and cannons
 Oct 1774 – MA set up Committee for defence and safety, spent £20000 on arms
 Formation of minutemen
 Nov 1774 – CT assembly ordered towns to double stocks of musket balls, gunpowder and flints
 MA and RI formed own state militias
 George III pro war speech 1774
 Feb 1775 – Gage tried to seize arms cache in Salem MA but forced to retreat

Lexington & Concord

 18th April 1775 – Gage sent 700 troops to Concord, militia alerted by Revere and Boston Committee of Safety
 70 minutemen barred path at Lexington, stalemate, shot heard around the world, 8 colonists killed and 8
wounded, 1 British solider wounded

,  Onto Concord under heavy fire, arms cache evacuated, and rebel leaders had fled
 Retreat to Boston, Lord Percy late to support, 273 British killed, 92 colonists killed
 British besieged in Boston by 20,000-30,000 militia

Second Continental Congress

 10th May 1775 Philadelphia – 63 delegates from 13 colonies, 50 had served in 1774
 June 1775 – assumed responsibility for war, impressed quota on colonies for 20,000 men Continental Army
issuing $2mil paper money
 GW appointed commander – experience from 7 years war, wealthy Virginian planter, colonial unity from
Southern leader for a predominantly New England army
 6th July 1775 – Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking up Arms – after Bunker Hill
 8th July 1775 – Olive Branch Petition – signed by 48 delegates, urged reconciliation with King George III
 24th July 1775 – seized letter of John Adams, detailed plans of war, printed in British newspapers
 23rd Oct 1775 – King George III called loyal subjects to supress rebellion, Oct 27 th speech to Parliament

War up to 1776

 Battle of Bunker Hill June 1775 – Generals Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne made up British troops to 6500,
militia men occupied Breeds/Bunker Hill, Howe attempted to dislodge them, double British casualties than
American
 GW held back from attacking Boston – town destruction, outbreaks of typhoid and dysentery
 Howe replaced Gage – inertia
 Invasion of Canada – Montgomery led 1200 men to capture Montreal 13 th Nov, Arnold lost 300 men on
route, met in Dec, launched unsuccessful attack on Quebec
 War in South – Lord Dunmore and 500 loyalists launched cache raids in coastal towns, freedom promised to
any slaves freeing rebel owners to fight for British, patriots defeated loyalists
 Evacuation of Boston – 4th March 1776 Dorchester Heights captured by 17000 rebels, 11,000 British and
1000 loyalists evacuated on 17th March to Halifax Nova Scotia
 Nov 1775 – Committee of Secret Correspondence to maintain foreign relations to aid war effort
 Royal governors all replaced with rebel government, congress operated with sovereign power
 Draft declaration written by Jefferson, Sherman and Franklin

Ideas & Influence

 Ideology (Natural Right of Englishmen, taxation without representation, mercantile system) v economic (fear
of EIC monopoly, anti-smuggling laws, mercantilism, taxes)
 Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published Jan 1776 – sold 500,000 copies, not copyrighted, GW made army
read it, simple language
 Thomas Hobbs – traditional view – all people naturally evil and selfish so a King is needed to govern them
 Jefferson – principal writer of Declaration of Independence, used Locke, Sam Adams and Paine’s ideas
 Sam Adams – led Sons of Liberty, opposed taxation without representation, called for non-cooperation
 Voltaire – separate church and state to allow religious tolerance
 Locke – no Divine rights of Kings, natural rights – life, liberty, property, people can overthrow government
when it does not protect these rights
 Montesquieu – separation of powers of executive, legislative and judiciary with checks and balances against
each other
 Rousseau – social contract between people and gov
 Wilkes – defender of liberty, criticised Parliament openly, influenced independent thinking
 James Otis – no taxation without representation, Petition of Lechmere, defence of inalienable rights



Declaration of Independence

 NJ’s gov did not want independence – overthrown 12 th June