Originally posted by robbie carrobie
whatever. . . .
Here is a little backgroud that lead up to the American Revolution:
Being far moved from the English throne by the Atlantic Ocean, the colonists
couldn't depend upon regular guidance from London, and so out of necessity,
formed self-governing bodies to deal with their daily business affairs. As
many decades passed, American colonists set their own principles, quite
distinct from those of the Mother Country.
The growing French presence in "The Ohio Country" and Canada led to a war
between Great Britain and France beginning in 1754. At stake was the
dominance of northeastern North America. By 1763 the British had soundly
defeated their longtime rival, adding a huge chunk of territory to an
already rapidly expanding empire.
The British government looked to the American colonists to start shouldering
a heavier burden of the empire's finances, in the form of higher taxes.
The Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 were some of the more
infamous attempts by the British to extract additional revenue from the
Americans, and were rigorously enforced.
Other laws, including the Proclamation of 1763 and the Quartering Act of
1765, were enacted to establish greater administrative control in the
colonies. These "reforms" were met with strong opposition from the colonists,
who seethed in resentment over the fact that all these new demands were being
imposed by a Parliament in which they were not represented.
Relenting to pressure, the Stamp Act was eventually repealed, but tensions
increased yet again with the passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767, which
assessed import duties on articles entering American harbors.
"Writs of Assistance" were codified by Parliament, authorizing British
government officials to search for smuggled goods anywhere and at anytime.
Colonists protested their rights as Englishmen were violated by the hated
Writs.
The Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770. Crispus Attucks, a runaway slave, is
believed to be the first man killed in the American quest for independence
from Great Britain. Five civilians were shot dead in the fracas, which
greatly escalated anti-British sentiment throughout the colonies.
In early March, 1770, an angry demonstration against British troops
quartered in Boston got out of hand. As the mob grew more fierce, the
Redcoats fired into the crowd, killing three and mortally wounding two
others.
As news of the "Boston Massacre" spread, the people of the city were filled
with rage. Some months later, the soldiers involved in the incident were
put on trial for murder.
In one of history's strangest ironies, the legal defense team for the
British included John Adams, who later became the second President of the
United States. It was Adams' belief that everyone deserved a fair trial,
even unpopular defendants. When the verdict was read, all but two of the
soldiers were acquitted, and these two ended up serving minimal time on
manslaughter convictions.
Following the Boston Massacre, earnest attempts were made to reconcile
differences between the American colonists and the British government.
For a few years, at least, bad feelings indeed subsided. However, when
Parliament enacted the Tea Act of 1773, a measure designed to promote the
interests of the privately owned British East India Company and in effect
monopolize the tea trade, the final chain reaction of events were set in
motion that would eventually result in an armed rebellion against the
British Crown.
The colonists viewed the Tea Act as a slap against American-based
enterprise. What industry would be the next to be monopolized?
On the evening of December 16, 1773, a group of colonists led by Samuel
Adams, dressed themselves as Native Americans and boarded three British
East India Ships in Boston Harbor. In what history has dubbed the
"Boston Tea Party", the men destroyed 342 chests of tea by tossing it
overboard, to dramatically protest the Tea Act of 1773.
When word of the incident reached London, British officials responded
furiously by passing four measures in 1774 to broaden government control
in America. The colonists defied the new demands by calling them
"The Intolerable Acts".
On September 5, 1774, delegates from all but one of the thirteen colonies
(Georgia did not participate) met in Philadelphia for the purpose of
deciding what could be done to appropriately respond to what they
perceived as increasing hostility heaped against them by the British
government.
The meeting, known as the First Continental Congress, ended seven weeks
later with the adoption of resolutions demanding the restoration of
British policies that existed prior to 1763. The colonists reasserted
their liberties as free Englishmen, but went further and claimed the
right to maintain self-governing legislative bodies.
Finally, the delegates declared their mutual support of one another,
and agreed to meet again in the spring of 1775 if London had not
addressed their list of grievances.
From the inception of the first American settlements onward, Great
Britain failed to seriously consider the coinage problems mounting
in her colonies across the Atlantic.
Since the British Parliament evidently was not going to provide more
coins for the hard-pressed colonists, some of the more industrious
Americans opted to take the matter into their own hands. By law, the
British Crown possessed sole authority over coinage. Without seeking
permission, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony contracted
John Hull to begin minting coins. Hull set up a mint in Boston and began
producing the well-known "NE" [New England] coins in 1652, the
denominations being three pence, six pence, and one shilling.
The design simplicity on the NE coins was an easy target for
counterfeiters, leading to the better known "Pine Tree" coinage, minted
from 1667-1682, though all bore the date 1652. This was to deceive the
British, who had raised objections about the "NE" coins of 1652, into
believing that colonial coins were discontinued beyond that year.
As the 17th century gave way to the 18th century, other coins and tokens
of various types were introduced and used by the colonists regularly, to
circulate alongside coinage originating in other nations, in what was
clearly a coin-starved America.
In the midst of the rapid fire round of new taxation in the 1760's,
Parliament also invoked the Currency Act of 1764, agitating the
colonists to a higher degree still. The regulation prohibited colonies
from printing paper money. Worse yet, all taxes were to be paid to the
King in gold or silver coins. With coinage already scarce, the Currency
Act made it even more difficult for American merchants to find money for
conducting their daily business transactions. The escalating tempers
resulting from the Currency Act provided yet another wedge to widen the
gap between Great Britain and her colonies.
The American Revolution
11 Oct '11 20:19
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