Fatal+Show+of+Force--The+Final+Provocation

__**Fatal Show of Force**__

1768: the British withdrew troops transferred 4,000 regular troops from Nova Scotia and Ireland to Boston to save money.

At this, Boston civilians: - became suspicious of why the Redcoats were there in the first place, became sick of the brutal martial law that the Redcoats applied to themselves, were offended by the Redcoats’ attitude towards them, had to compete for jobs, with Redcoat men who worked at the docks in their spare time, started to produce pamphlets questioning the British and voicing the violation of their liberty.

March 5, 1770: a few boston civilians threw rocks and snowballs at the soldiers. Though exact details are obscure, it seems that the mob grew, and panicked Redcoat soldiers fired their guns, leaving five Bostoners dead.

This incident: became known as the Boston Massacre, was much over-exaggerated in the pamphlets and press in order to arouse a unified spirit against the British, appealing EMOTIONALLY: “take heed, ye orphan babes, lest, whilst your streaming eyes are fixed upon the ghastly corpse, your feet slide on the stones bespattered with your father’s brains,” appealing LOGICALLY: by well thought out responses pointing out to the issued of liberty, representation, and justice.

1770: Following Townshend’s death, Lord North is appointed as the new minister.

He: somehow manages to keep his office and position throughout most of the American crisis by keeping a good relationship both with George III and the Parliament majority. takes down the Townshend acts which have unnecessarily angered the colonists and hurt the British manufacturers at the same time.

__**Last Days of Imperial Rule, 1770-1773**__

Though for a few years Britain and the colonies started to get back on better terms (after all, a better trade helped both sides), problems rose yet again as: customs commissioners whom Townshend had appointed to collect his duties remained in the colonies long after the Revenues Act had been repealed (this was due to dishonesty and corruption on the commissioners’ part), SAMUEL ADAMS (1722-1803) refused to accept the notion that the repeal of the Townshend Act had secured American liberty, reminded the people of the TAX ON TEA and the Boston Massacre, and organized public events for the repeal of the Stamp Act.

November, 1772: Adams suggests the formation of a Committee of Correspondence to “communicate the grievances to villagers throughout Massachusetts,” and thus creates a structure of political cooperation completely independent of the royal government.

__**The Final Provocation: The Boston Tea Party**__

Parliament passed the Tea Act (May 1773) Purpose: Wanted to save the East India Company from possible bankruptcy Make Americans buy for British products instead of the smuggled Dutch products Supposed effect: Allowed the company to sell directly to American colonies, lowering the price of tea However…the Americans: Tax on tea -> seemed like a devious scheme to win popular support for Parliament’s right to tax the colonists without representation The act threatened to undercut powerful colonial merchants who did good business with smuggled Dutch tea In Philadelphia and New York the colonists turned back the ships loaded with British tea back before they could unload In Boston: Not so easily resolved Governor Hutchinson would not permit the vessels to return to England Local patriots would not let them unload Ships sat at Boston Harbor, waiting for the colonists to make a decision December 16, 1773: A group of men disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded the ships and pitched 340 chests of tea worth ￡10,000 overboard Samuel Adams may have been the organizer “This Destruction of the Tea is so bold, so, daring, so firm, intrepid, and inflexible, and it must have so important consequences, and so lasting, that I can’t but consider it as an epocha in history.” – John Adams So in London…: Stunned Passed a series of laws called the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) (1) Closed the port of Boston until the city was fully compensated the East India Company for the lost tea (2) Restructured the Massachusetts government by transforming the upper house from an elective to an appointed body and restricting the number of legal town meetings to one in a year (3) Allowed the royal governor to transfer British officials arrested for offenses committed in the line of duty for England, where there was little likelihood to be convicted (4) Authorized the army to quarter troops wherever they were needed, even if this required the compulsory requisition of uninhabited private buildings. King George the third supported Appointed General Thomas Gage as the colony’s new royal governor “Nothing can be done but by forcible needs.” Back in America: Seemed as if Britain really intended to enslave the American people Colonial moderates are shaken by the vindictiveness of the Coercive Acts Quebec Act (June 22, 1774): Parliament announced plans to establish a new civil government for the Canadian providence of Quebec Failed to create an elective assembly Awarded French Roman Catholics a large voice in local political affairs Quebec extended all the way to the Mississippi River -> made the colonists feel that England was getting in the way of westward expansion The others…: The rest of the colonies felt nervous at the consequences Boston was suffering Sent food and money to Boston Thought back at what means to be a colonist of a British empire