6 From Empire to Independence, 1750-1776

The Removal of the French from North America
In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, the French lost all its North American mainland possessions.
Bibliography
Douglass Adair & John A. Schutz editors, Peter Oliver's Origins & Progress of the American Revolution (1781) Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (1967) & The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson (1974) John Ferling, A Life of John Adams (1992) Eric Foner, Tom Paine and Revolutionary America (1976) Robert Gross, The Minutemen and Their World (1976) Stephen Kurtz & James Hutson editors, Essays on the American Revolution (1973) Barbara W. Tuchman, The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam (1984) Gary Wills, Inventing America (1978) Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution (1991)
The impending war involved Indian peoples of the interior. The Iroquois Confederacy and Creeks successfully played the European powers off one another.
“A great empire and little minds go ill together.” Edmund Burke, March 1776
Chapter Review Questions
1. How did overwhelming British success in the Seven Years’ War lead to an imperial crisis in British North America? 2. Explain the changes in British policy toward the colonies from 1750 to 1776. 3. Trace the developing sense of an American national community over this same period. 4. What were the principal events leading to the beginning of armed conflict at Lexington and Concord? 5. How were the ideals of American republicanism expressed in the Declaration of Independence?
Frontier Warfare
The defeat of General Braddock in 1755 was followed by the outbreak of war between Britain and France in 1756. 1756. The French achieved early victories in New York. The British harshly treated French-speaking Frenchfarmers of Acadia by expelling them from their homes. Many moved to Louisiana where they became known as "Cajuns."
Chronology
1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1770 1772 1773 1774 Sugar Act Stamp Act and Stamp Act Congress Declaratory Act Townshend Revenue Acts Treaties of Hard Labor and Fort Stanwix Boston Massacre First Committee of Correspondence in Boston Tea Act; Boston Tea Party Intolerable Acts; First Continental Congress; Congress; Dunmore's War 1775 Fighting begins at Lexington and Concord; Second Continental Congress 1776 Americans invade Canada; Thomas Paine's Common Sense; Declaration of Independence
The Conference resulted in:
The Iroquois leaving without an agreement; and adoption of Benjamin Franklin's Plan of Union, though this was rejected by colonial assemblies.
considering a collective colonial response to the conflict with New France and the Indians of the interior; and negotiation of a settlement with the Iroquois Confederacy, who had become unhappy with colonial land-grabbing. land-
The Conquest of Canada
William Pitt became British Prime Minister promising to win the war. Pitt's plan called for the conquest of Canada and the elimination of all French competition from North America. The British gained Iroquois Confederacy and Ohio Indians and committed over 50,000 British and colonial troops to the Canada campaign. British forces captured Louisburg, the French forts on the New York border, Quebec, and, lastly, Montreal in 1760.
Chronology
1713 1745 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1763 France cedes Acadia to Britain New Englanders capture Louisburg French begin forts - Lake Erie to Ohio R Albany Congress British General Edward Braddock defeated by a combined force of French and Indians Seven Years War begins in Europe William Pitt becomes prime minister Louisburg captured by the British for the second time British capture Quebec Treaty of Paris; Pontiac's uprising; Proclamation of 1763 creates "Indian Country"; Paxton Boys massacre
A: The First Continental Congress Shapes a National Political Commental Congress
In 1774, delegates from 12 colonies met for seven weeks in Philadelphia at the First Continental Congress forging a community of national leaders. The Congress took the first step toward creating a national political community.
Colonial Aims and Indian Interests
The 3 principal flash points of conflict in North America were:
1. The northern Atlantic coast where British Nova Scotia and French Louisburg faced each other. 2. The border region between New France and New York from Niagara Falls to Lake George where competition for the Indian trade was fierce. 3. The Ohio country was the primary focus of British and French attention due to competition over land.