Causes of Revolution
1. Pitt's New Empire
Read in Chapter 4:
- Proclamation of 1763 - Pontiac, J. Stuart, W. Johnson, M. Brant
- Grenville's plan to pay war debt
- Sugar Act of 1764 - for revenue, not trade
- Currency Act prohibits paper money
- Quartering Act - Gen. Thomas Gage
- Stamp Act of 1765 - internal tax
Response of 1765:
- Benjamin Franklin's petitions to Parliament
- Patrick Henry's Virginia Resolutions May 29
- Ebenezer Mackintosh's Kilby Street riot Aug. 14
- James Otis and Stamp Act Congress Oct. 7-25
- John Adams and Braintree Resolves Sept.
- Sam Adams and Mass. Resolves Oct. 25
2. Rights of Englishmen
- 1215 Magna Carta - interpreted by Coke's Institutes
Sir Edward Coke was Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas against James I and Charles I
- no unlawful imprisonment
[5th Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the U. S. Constitution]
- 1628 Petition of Right - assembly rights vs. prerogative rights
- no unlawful taxation, quartering [3rd Amendment]
- right of petition and redress [1st Amendment]
- 1689 Bill of Rights - creates independent judiciary
- no unlawful search & seizure [4th Amendment]
- jury trial, habeas corpus [6th Amendment]
- article on new British Bill of Rights replacing "negative rights" with positive rights, conforming to the European Convention on Human Rights
- 1689 Act of Toleration - allows religious dissent
- no unlawful prior restraint [1st Amendment]
- 1700s - growth of the common law vs. Parliament
- written precedent - not abstract, but specific, concrete
- 1761 - James Otis lawsuit vs. writs of assistance
- checks and balances vs. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson
- 1765 - Braintree Resolves - proposed a written constitution by elected representatives of the colonial legislatures
- "every body must have its charter"- written protection
- opposed traditional concept of "virtual representation" by Parliament as defined by Edmund Burke: "Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole, where, not local purposes, not local prejudices ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole."
3. Corruption & Conspiracy
- 1766 - Declaratory Act - Rockingham & Pitt's Whigs
- 1767 - Townshend Acts
- import taxes, revoke civil list, suspend New York assembly, new Customs Bd.
- 1768 - Lord North; Tory Privy Council control Parliament
- customs racketeering in Boston, Charleston
- Henry Laurens' Ann seized by Daniel Moore
- John Hancock's Liberty seized by Gov. Bernard
- 1768 May 10 - St. George's Field "Massacre"
- Whig John Wilkes claimed conspiracy - 5 killed
- 1768 Sep 30 - Hillsborough's troops land in Boston
- 1769 - South Carolina Wilkes Fund, but suspended
- 1770 Mar 5 - Boston Massacre - Sam Gray vs. Cpt. Preston
- prints by Henry Pelham, Paul Revere, Jon Milliken
- John Adams fears "savage beast" of the mob
4. Organized Resistance
- Sam Adams leads Sons of Liberty
- origin in The Loyal Nine of 1765 - printer Benj. Edes and merchant John Avery
- Boston Caucus, Faneuil Hall, Boston Gazette, Long Room Club, Green Dragon Tavern, Brattle St. church, St. Andrews Lodge
- connected by committees of correspondence, Daughters of Liberty
- J. Warren, J. Gill, P. Revere, N. Hurd, A. Jones
- 1773 Tea Act - monopoly to East India Co.
- Dec. 16 "party" of "Indians" dump 342 chests into harbor
- 1774 Intolerable Acts:
- Boston Port closed, troops must be quartered
- "Murder Act" trials in England
- Government Act abolished juries
- Quebec Act threat of a bishop
- Sep. 1 - Powder Alarm
- Sep. 26 - Concord town meeting:
- "that said company stand at a minutes' warning in case of alarm."
- Oct. 11 - 1st Continental Congress
- Peyton Randolph, J.Adams' Dec. of Rights & Resolves
- dominion theory denied authority, only supervise trade
- Suffolk Resolves - military preparations
- 1775 Feb. - New England Restraining Act closed fishing
- Apr. 15 - Congress adjourned, Gage decides to strike 1st
- Apr. 18 - Col. Francis Smith leads brigade to Concord
- Apr. 19 - Cpt. John Parker defends Lexington and Col. James Barrett defends Concord
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