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A. The American Revolution
From HCO Jr
| Part 4. British North America 1760-1830 → A. American Revolution → B. Coming of the Loyalists → C. Colony of Lower Canada → D. Colony of Upper Canada → E. War of 1812 |
| American Revolution - Gallery | Stories & Texts | Web Links | Vocab | Student Activities | Class Projects |
Background
One of Canada's most important allies today is the United States. In the past, however, Canada did not have good relations with the US. There was a time when the US was a collection of English colonies. In the 1770s and 1780s these colonies (known as the Thirteen Colonies) rebelled against Great Britain. This was known as the American Revolution.
The Americans won the revolution, and combined to form the United States. It is important to understand how the revolution started, and why some people joined the revolution. This chapter will help you understand the different events that led to the American Revolution.
After the Seven Years War
After the Seven Years War both Canada (then called Quebec) and the United States were English colonies. This situation did not last very long. In 1776 the Thirteen Colonies began to rebel against British rule. This led to warfare in the colonies. By 1783 the American Revolution was over. The Thirteen Colonies won their independence from Great Britain. From that year onwards the Thirteen Colonies were called the United States.
The American Revolution and the creation of the United States had a large impact on Canada's history. It is important to understand what the Thirteen Colonies were like before the American Revolution, why the revolution started, and what happened to Canada after the Revolution.
The Thirteen Colonies
In 1775 there were thirteen colonies in what is today the United States. All of these colonies were on the Atlantic Coast of America. These colonies were:
- District of Maine
- New Hampshire
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Baltimore
- Virginia
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Georgia
All of the colonies were independent of each other. There was no central government like there is today in the United States. Each colony had its own colonial legislature, a governor, and local politicians. This was a form of local government. Colonial governments had fewer powers that modern state governments have today.
Each of the colonies was under the control of the British government in London, England. In London was a government department called the Colonial Office. It oversaw all of Britain's colonies around the world. The colonial governors, for example, were all appointed by the British government. This helped Britain maintain control over what happened in its different colonies.
Causes of the Revolution
Many different factors led to the American Revolution. Some of these happened years before the American Revolution began in 1776. Some of these causes might not seem related to the American Revolution. However, all of these led to the American Revolution.
Pontiac's Resistance and the Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Seven Years War ended in 1763 when Britain and France signed the Treaty of Paris. France gave up all of New France to the British. New France was renamed Quebec. As you learned in the last chapter, the colony of Quebec was much larger than today's modern province of Quebec. It extended south through the centre of North America to the Gulf of Mexico.
France was defeated. However, their First Nations' allies were not defeated by the British. After the Seven Years War the British treated Native peoples in the Ohio Valley as conquered people. They also put new policies into place that angered the First Nations. This anger became so great that First Nations began to resist the English.
French fur traders and military leaders treated Native leaders and people better than the English. For example, French fort commanders gave presents every year to First Nations. These gifts allowed the French to keep their forts in the Ohio Valley. These gifts also kept the First Nations as allies against the English. General Jeffrey Amherst, the new British commander, ordered that all gift giving should stop. Amherst did not have a very good opinion of First Nations. He did not think they deserved presents. Amherst believed that the Natives were conquered in the Seven Years War, and should not resist English soldiers or settlers. Other English leaders tried to convince Amherst this was a bad policy, but Amherst would not listen.
Many First Nations supported Pontiac. There was even a religious movement amongst many First Nations that led many to want to drive out all Europeans. A religious leader named Neolin preached that First Nations had become weak by relying too much on European trade goods. Neolin wanted all First Nations to abandon European things and return to a traditional way of life. Pontiac did not agree entirely with Neolin. Pontiac believed that the French and First Nations could be good alies and friends.
In 1762 Pontiac put together his coalition to get rid of the English in the Ohio Valley. Many First Nations joined this coalition. Pontiac and the other Native leaders planned their strategy. The English controlled all of the French forts in their territory. They planned to attack all of the different forts at different times. This would allow them to conquer the English quickly.
Pontiac's Resistance Begins
The attack begain in May, 1763. In that month a number of English forts were attacked. First Nations warriors were very clever when they attacked the forts. The most interesting attack was at Fort Michlimackinac. A number of First Nations warriors started playing lacrosse outside the fort. One of the warriors threw the ball over the walls of the fort. The players all ran into the fort to get the ball back. Once they were inside they pulled out weapons they had hidden under their clothes. They killed all of the English soldiers and traders inside the fort. There were a few French traders inside the fort, but the warriors did not harm them. They stood by and watched the British soldiers and traders be killed. When one British trader asked a French trader for help the French trader simply said "what am I supposed to do?"
In one month Pontiac's forces captured nine British forts. Between mid-May and mid-June 1763, nine British forts were captured by Pontiac's confederacy. Only three forts remained: Fort Detroit, Fort Pitt and Fort Niagara. Pontiac's warriors lay siege (i.e.: surrounded and attacked) Fort Detroit for five months, but could not get inside the walls. British soldiers from Fort Detroit led one sneak attack on Pontiac, but were defeated. This was the Battle of Bloody Run. During this same period about 2000 settlers were killed or taken captive by other First Nations raids.
General Amherst was shocked by Pontiac's success. He did not think that First Nations could co-operate like this. At first he did not believe the reports that he received from his soldiers. Amherst became so worried that he used a horrible weapons against the First Nations: smallpox. Smallpox is a disease that can kill people. It is very contagious, and spreads quickly from one person to another. Amherst gave traders smallpox infected blankets to give to the First Nations. Soon a smallpox epidemic started and killed many people.
Pontiac's resistance ended in the autumn of 1763. Winter was approaching, and the First Nations warriors needed time to hunt and gather enough food for their families. Other warriors did not think they would ever capture the last three British forts. In 1764 an English negotiator, William Johnson, signed a peace treaty with Pontiac and the other First Nations. The resistance had stopped.
English leaders were still afraid of Pontiac. They thought he might create another confederacy to fight the English. In 1769 the British bribed a Native warrior from the Illinois tribe to assassinate Pontiac. This warrior snuck up behind Pontiac and hit him in the back of the head with a war hatchet. Pontiac was killed.
Royal Proclamation of 1763
Pontiac's Resistance was not a failure. British colonial leaders did not want to face another First Nations' uprising. To prevent this they passed a new law called the Royal Proclamation. It was created in 1763. The proclamation created an Indian Territory. All of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains was set aside. No settlers were allowed into this territory without the permission of the British government. British leaders wanted to avoid another conflict with First Nations.
The Royal Proclamation angered many American colonists. They had fought in the Seven Years War to get access to land in the Indian Territory. When the British government denied them access to this land they thought it was very unfair.
The Royal Proclamation did other things as well. It created the new Colony of Quebec. Quebec was smaller than it was when it was a French colony because the new Indian Territory was created.
If there had not been a First Nations' resistance in the Ohio Valley the British government would not have created an Indian Territory. A chain of events (the defeat of the French, Pontiac's Resistance, then the Royal Proclamation) led many American colonists to resent the British. This was only the first of several laws created by the British that angered the American colonists.
An American Consciousness
What does the title "American Consciousness" mean? Between the 1760s and the 1770s many American colonists started to think they were different compared to people living in Britain. By the 1770s many American families had lived in the colonies for over 100 years. Settlers in the 1700s rarely returned home to Britain. Today people can emigrate to Canada, but return home sometimes to visit their family. This type of travel was not possible in the 1700s.
American colonists started to think that their way of life was better than life in Britain. Colonists could own land more easily, they could hunt and fish when they wanted, and they had greater opportunities to work. In small towns and villages colonists had more input into local laws and how their communities operated. Slowly this became a feeling of superiority. Colonists thought that life in Britain was inferior to life in the colonies. When the British government started trying to change life in the colonies they discovered that many colonists did not want these changes. This finally led to the American Revolution.
Taxation: The Sugar Act and the Stamp Act
Colonists did not want to pay these taxes. A new slogan, "No taxation without representation," became very popular. This meant the colonists refused to pay taxes because they did not have a voice in the British government. Britain, like Canada, has a parliament. People elected Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent them. Colonists in the 1700s did not send MPs to Britain's Parliament. British politicians did not ask the colonial politicians for any advice about these taxes.
The first tax was created in 1764 when the British government created the Sugar Act. Colonists now paid a tax on sugar. This tax was unpopular, but not as disliked as the second tax: the Stamp Act created in 1765. Many things had stamps on them besides letters that people mailed to each other. Official government documents needed stamps. Newspapers had stamps on them. This new tax affected many people. It was also hated by many colonists. Groups of people began to form in cities such as Boston. The Boston group called themselves the Sons of Liberty. They attacked tax collectors.
In 1765 colonial leaders from nine colonies met in New York. They created a petition to convince the British government to repeal (get rid of) the Stamp Act. Faced with this opposition the British government agreed to take away the Stamp Act. However, this would not be the last tax that the British government created.
The Boston Massacre
These new duties (called the Townshend Duties after Charles Townshend who created them) were hated by the colonists. Eventually the British government agreed to get rid of most of them. Before this news reached the colonies, however, a disaster took place on March 5, 1770. British soliders were put in Boston to help deal with the mobs attacking the tax collectors. A group of colonists surrounded a group of British soldiers protecting a tax collecting building. They threw rocks and snowballs at the soldiers. Soon a fight broke out. Several soldiers shot into the crowd killing five colonists.
The Boston Massacre was a mistake made by British soldiers. When it happened, however, the people who opposed the British took advantage of this accident. Paul Revere, a silversmith, created an engraving of the Boston Massacre. It shows the event as a planned attack by British soldiers on the colonists. This was a lie, but many people at the time (and since) believe that this is true.
The Boston Tea Party
Another important event that led up to the American Revolution was the Boston Tea Party. There was already a tax on tea (it was one of the duties that Charles Townshend created). However, colonists could buy cheaper kinds of tea if they wanted to save money. Tea was a very important drink for people at this time. It was a new drink, and people enjoyed it a great deal. Tea shops existed all of the colonies (and in England) in much the same way that there are coffee shops all around Canada. People did not want to price of their tea to increase.
One of the biggest tea companies in England was the East India Company. In 1773 it had too much tea in its warehouses. It could not sell the tea fast enough because there were so many other companies selling to people. The East India Company was going to go bankrupt soon. To save the company the British government passed the Tea Act in 1773. This new act allowed the East India Company to sell its tea in the American colonies, but not pay any of the duties that other tea companies paid.
People began to boycott all tea. They thought it was unfair to allow one company to avoid paying the tea duty when other companies and merchants had to. People stopped buying tea to hurt the East India Company. Finally, on December 16, 1773, a large group of men boarded some ships in Boston Harbour. These were East India ships. They went on board, and threw all of the tea into the harbour. This event became known as the Boston Tea Party.
The Intolerable Acts
After the Boston Tea Party the British government passed a new law to punish the colonists. British naval ships closed Boston Harbour. No merchant ships were allowed in our out of the harbour until the destroyed tea was paid for. More British troops were sent to Boston. A new law, called the Quartering Act, was passed. People living in Boston had to allow soldiers to stay on their property.
Another act was passed that made the colonists very angry. It did not affect them, but they resented the British government passing this act. This was the Quebec Act of 1774. The Quebec Act made the colony of Quebec larger. It would now stretch as far south as the Mississipi River and as far west as the Ohio River. People in the American colonies were outraged. They had fought for this land in the Seven Years War. They were angry when the Royal Proclamation kept them out of this territory, but now it was being made part of Quebec.
People in the American colonies did not completely understand the Quebec Act. French settlers would not enter into this area. It was made part of Quebec because the fur trade was still an important part of Quebec's economy. This did not matter to many American colonists. They thought the Quebec Act was unfair to them and their desire to find land to settle on.
There were also religious reasons why American colonists did not like the Quebec Act. Most people in the American colonies belonged to a Protestant religion. Most people living in Quebec were Catholic. At this time in history Protestants and Catholics did not get along. There were religious differences between both groups. In Britain there were even laws that discriminated against Catholics. For example, Catholics in Britain could not have government jobs or become politicians.
The British government realized that these laws did not make sense in Quebec where the majority of the people were Catholic. In order to keep the people of Quebec content the British made some special exceptions for them. These were:
- The Quebec Act allowed Catholics to have government jobs and become local politicians.
- Some French laws, called the Custom of Paris, were allowed to stay in Quebec. The Custom of Paris was a form of civil law. It dealt with contracts, selling land, and disputes between people.
- Criminal law, laws that deal with people who commit crimes such as theft, remained British.
Colonists in America were very angry about the Quebec Act. They did not understand why they had lost the land in the west, and why the British government was giving people in Quebec greater freedom.
Paul Revere and The Battle of Lexington
Nothing improved in the American colonies. Britain ordered one of its generals, Thomas Gage, to stop colonists from preparing for a revolution. General Gage knew that some colonists were storing weapons and gun powder in the town of Lexington, near Boston, in case of war with Britain. Gage sent troops to Lexington to destroy these supplies.
Two men, Paul Revere and William Dawes, learned that the troops were marching on Concord. On the night of April 18, 1775, Revere and Dawes rode off on their horses to warn the people that the British were coming. Men in the town of Concord (which was very close to Lexington) grabbed their muskets to meet the soldiers. These men were known as Minute Men because they could be ready for battle in only a minute.
They met the British troops (1000 of them) in Concord. It is not clear which side fired first. However, a batttle soon started. The British troops lost and fled the area. This was the first battle of the American Revolution.
The Declaration of Independence
Even though there was a battle between British soldiers and American minutemen the revolution did not really start until the colonies announced that they wanted to form their own country. Another continental congress was held June, 1776. During this meeting a Declaration of Independence was created.
The Declaration of Independence started with the following statement:
"That these United Colonies are, and, of right, out to be, free and independent states; [and] that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown..."
By making this declaration the colonies could not avoid a war with Britain. Very soon British troops arrived in the colonies in large numbers. The war lasted for seven years. Families in the colonies divided over the issue of independence. Some colonists wanted to remain a part of Britain. Other colonists did not. Eventually, with the help of France, the Americans defeated the British. In 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed, and the British gave up their colonies in America. Only Quebec and the Maritime colonies were left.
The Invasion of Quebec
When the American Revolution began it was not clear which side Quebec would join: the British or the Americans. In 1775, George Washington tried to convince the people of Quebec to join in the revolution. Washington was from a wealthy plantation family in Virginia. In 1775 the Continental Congress appointed him commander in chief of all the rebel forces.
Washington told the people of Quebec that an army would be sent to their colony. This army would not harm them, but free them from British rule. However, the people of Quebec decided that life was better being part of the British empire. The Quebec Act convinced a number of French colonists that they would be better protected living under the British than with the Americans.
When the American army entered Quebec they turned many French colonists against the revolution. As the army marched towards Montreal it destroyed farms and Catholic shrines along the rode. People fled from the American army. The army captured Montreal. The governor of Quebec, Guy Carleton, retreated to Quebec City.
In the spring the British sent troops and supplies to Quebec. The American Army, which was starving because it did not have enough food for the winter, left Montreal. Quebec was not invaded again for the rest of the American Revolution.
| American Revolution - Gallery | Stories & Texts | Web Links | Vocab | Student Activities | Class Projects |
| Part 4. British North America 1760-1830 → A. American Revolution → B. Coming of the Loyalists → C. Colony of Lower Canada → D. Colony of Upper Canada → E. War of 1812 |
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