Colonial Resistance to Reorganization

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Colonial Resistance to Reorganization
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Overarching Themes

• English attempts to increase control over the
  colonies led to increasing efforts by Americans
  to resist that control.
• These efforts led to increased coordination
  between the colonies that ultimately led to
• growth of a feeling of American identity
• creation of institutions that gave representative
  structure to the revolution.

Broadside created by Sons of Liberty after the
Boston Massacre
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Organized Response 1 Committees of
Correspondence

• Response to the Stamp Act of 1765
• Colonies each formed committees which
  communicated with each other through letters to
  coordinate activities
• Activists selected to keep open communication
  within and between colonies
• Devised by Samuel Adams, after MA Gov. Hutchinson
  dismissed colonial assembly

Fanuiel Hall in downtown Boston, where the first
Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence met
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Organized Response 2 Sons of Liberty

• Began after Stamp Act
• Traditionally said to have been founded by Samuel
  Adams
• Loosely organized resistance across colonies.
  Reality collection of groups
• Primarily active in New England and New York
  existed in all colonies
• Took direct action to intimidate and frighten
  English representatives

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Boston Massacre

• Boston crowd protested against customs officer
  who had shot a child
• Crowd led by Crispus Attucks protested British
  soldiers defending customs office
• British opened fire killing 5 and wounding 6.
  Dubbed a massacre by colonial press to foment
  distrust of English (See Paul Reveres engraving)
• John Adams represented soldiers at trial
• British soldiers were later acquitted or punished
  lightly

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Response to Tea Act Boston Tea Party

• East India Company (colony) could only pay its
  own operations by selling tea
• Americans purchased smuggled Chinese tea,
  avoiding taxes
• Tea Act of 1773 reduced tax on English Indian tea
  to make Indian tea cheaper than smuggled tea in
  America
• American agitators feared that Tea Act would lead
  to Americans accepting precedent of paying
  British tax
• Boston Sons of Liberty staged Tea Party by
  dumping tea into Boston Harbor

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Intolerable Acts

• (AKA Coercive Acts)
• Collection of Acts that responded to Boston Tea
  Party, seeking to punish Massachusetts.
• Revoked MA charter, abolishing its assembly.
• Closed Boston Harbor.
• British soldiers charged with murder to be tried
  in England, not America

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Organized Response 3 First Continental Congress

• Response to Intolerable Acts
• All colonies but Georgia sent delegates
• Adopted Suffolk Resolutions which stated
• Colonies did not have to obey Intolerable Acts,
• MA set up a provisional government to collect
  taxes, etc,
• Boycott British goods and cease exporting goods
  to England.

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Organized Response 4 Second Continental
Congress

• Drafted Olive Branch Petition which asked
  George III for
• cease fire in Boston, repeal of the Intolerable
  Acts
• negotiations to establish basic American rights.
  
• Held out hope that past policies were from
  Parliament, not from King George III
• Established continental Army with Washington as
  leader.
• Second meeting, 1776,
• After George rejected petition
• Drafted and passed the Declaration of Independence