1.
Patriot (American Revolution)
–
Patriots were those colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution and in July 1776 declared the United States of America an independent nation. Their rebellion was based on the philosophy of republicanism, as expressed by spokesmen such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams. They were opposed by the Loyalists who instead supported continued British rule, as a group, Patriots represented a wide array of social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. The critics of British rule called themselves Whigs after 1768, identifying members of the British Whig party. The Oxford English Dictionary third definition of Patriot is A person actively opposing enemy forces occupying his or her country, a member of a resistance movement, originally used of those who opposed and fought the British in the American War of Independence. The earliest citation is a 1773 letter by Benjamin Franklin, in Britain at the time, patriot had a negative connotation, and was used, says Samuel Johnson as a negative epithet for a factious disturber of the government. During the Revolution these persons became known primarily as Loyalists, afterward, many emigrated north to the remaining British territories in what is now modern Canada. There they called themselves the United Empire Loyalists, many Patriots were active before 1775 in groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are referred to today by Americans as the Founding Fathers, the Patriots came from many different backgrounds. Among the most active of the Patriots group were highly educated, however, without the support of the ordinary men and women, such as farmers, lawyers, merchants, seamstresses, homemakers, shopkeepers, and ministers, the struggle for independence would have failed. With a white population of about 2.5 million, that makes about 380,000 to 500,000 Loyalists, the great majority of them remained in America, since only about 80,000 Loyalists left the United States 1775–1783. They went to Canada, Britain, Florida or the West Indies, to understand how people made the choice between being a Patriot or a Loyalist, historians have compared the motivations and personalities of leading men on each side. Labaree has identified eight characteristics that differentiated the two groups, psychologically, Loyalists were older, better established, and more likely to resist innovation than the Patriots. Men who were alienated by physical attacks on Royal officials took the Loyalist position, most men who wanted to find a compromise solution wound up on the Loyalist side, while the proponents of immediate action became Patriots. Some Loyalists were procrastinators who believed that independence was bound to some day, but wanted to postpone the moment. Loyalists were cautious and afraid of anarchy or tyranny that might come from mob rule, Patriots made an effort to use. Finally, Labaree argues that Loyalists were pessimists who lacked the Patriots confidence that independence lay ahead, the Patriot faction came to reject taxes imposed by legislatures in which the tax-payer was not represented. No taxation without representation, was their slogan, referring to the lack of representation in the British Parliament, the British countered there was virtual representation, that is, all members of Parliament represented the interests of all the citizens of the British Empire
Patriot (American Revolution)
–
The Spirit of '76, originally entitled
Yankee Doodle, painted by
Archibald Willard in the late nineteenth century, an iconic image relating to the
patriotic sentiment surrounding the
American Revolutionary War
2.
Parliament of Great Britain
–
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. This lasted nearly a century, until the Acts of Union 1800 merged the separate British and Irish Parliaments into a single Parliament of the United Kingdom with effect from 1 January 1801. Following the Treaty of Union in 1706, Acts of Union ratifying the Treaty were passed in both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland, which created a new Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts dissolved both parliaments, replacing them with a new parliament, referred to as the Parliament of Great Britain and it was not even considered necessary to hold a new general election. While Scots law and Scottish legislation remained separate, new legislation was thereafter to be enacted by the new parliament, after the Hanoverian King George I ascended the British throne in 1714 through the Act of Settlement of 1701, real power continued to shift away from the monarchy. George was a German ruler, spoke poor English, and remained interested in governing his dominions in continental Europe rather than in Britain. Reformers and Radicals sought parliamentary reform, but as the French Revolutionary Wars developed the British government became repressive against dissent and progress towards reform was stalled. During the first half of George IIIs reign, the still had considerable influence over Parliament. Most candidates for the House of Commons were identified as Whigs or Tories, reformers like William Beckford and Radicals beginning with John Wilkes called for reform of the system. In 1780 a draft programme of reform was drawn up by Charles James Fox and Thomas Brand Hollis and this included calls for the six points later adopted by the Chartists. Pitt had previously called for Parliament to begin to reform itself, proposals Pitt made in April 1785 to redistribute seats from the rotten boroughs to London and the counties were defeated in the House of Commons by 248 votes to 174
Parliament of Great Britain
–
Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
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Royal coat of arms of Great Britain, 1714–1800
3.
Boston Tea Party
–
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16,1773. The demonstrators, some disguised as Native Americans, in defiance of the Tea Act of May 10,1773 and they boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The British government responded harshly and the episode escalated into the American Revolution, the Tea Party was the culmination of a resistance movement throughout British America against the Tea Act, which had been passed by the British Parliament in 1773. Protesters had successfully prevented the unloading of taxed tea in three colonies, but in Boston, embattled Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to allow the tea to be returned to Britain. The Boston Tea Party was a significant event in the growth of the American Revolution, Parliament responded in 1774 with the Coercive Acts, or Intolerable Acts, which, among other provisions, ended local self-government in Massachusetts and closed Bostons commerce. The crisis escalated, and the American Revolutionary War began near Boston in 1775, the North Ministrys attempt to resolve these issues produced a showdown that would eventually result in revolution. As Europeans developed a taste for tea in the 17th century, in England, Parliament gave the East India Company a monopoly on the importation of tea in 1698. When tea became popular in the British colonies, Parliament sought to eliminate competition by passing an act in 1721 that required colonists to import their tea only from Great Britain. The East India Company did not export tea to the colonies, by law, British firms bought this tea and exported it to the colonies, where they resold it to merchants in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. Until 1767, the East India Company paid an ad valorem tax of about 25% on tea that it imported into Great Britain, Parliament laid additional taxes on tea sold for consumption in Britain. To help offset this loss of government revenue, Parliament also passed the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767, instead of solving the smuggling problem, however, the Townshend duties renewed a controversy about Parliaments right to tax the colonies. Controversy between Great Britain and the colonies arose in the 1760s when Parliament sought, for the first time, some colonists, known in the colonies as Whigs, objected to the new tax program, arguing that it was a violation of the British Constitution. Britons and British Americans agreed that, according to the constitution, in Great Britain, this meant that taxes could only be levied by Parliament. Colonists, however, did not elect members of Parliament, according to Whigs, colonists could only be taxed by their own colonial assemblies. When new taxes were levied in the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767, merchants organized a non-importation agreement, and many colonists pledged to abstain from drinking British tea, with activists in New England promoting alternatives, such as domestic Labrador tea. Smuggling continued apace, especially in New York and Philadelphia, where tea smuggling had always been more extensive than in Boston. Parliament finally responded to the protests by repealing the Townshend taxes in 1770, except for the tea duty and this partial repeal of the taxes was enough to bring an end to the non-importation movement by October 1770. From 1771 to 1773, British tea was once imported into the colonies in significant amounts
Boston Tea Party
–
Source: W.D. Cooper. "Boston Tea Party.", The History of North America. London: E. Newberry, 1789. Engraving. Plate opposite p. 58. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (40)
Boston Tea Party
–
This iconic 1846 lithograph by
Nathaniel Currier was entitled "The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor"; the phrase "Boston Tea Party" had not yet become standard. Contrary to Currier's depiction, few of the men dumping the tea were actually disguised as Native Americans.
Boston Tea Party
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Plaque affixed to side of the Independence Wharf building (2009)
Boston Tea Party
–
This 1775 British cartoon, "A Society of Patriotic Ladies at Edenton in North Carolina", satirizes the
Edenton Tea Party, a group of women who organized a boycott of English tea.
4.
Massachusetts
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It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named for the Massachusett tribe, which inhabited the area. The capital of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England is Boston, over 80% of Massachusetts population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution, during the 20th century, Massachusetts economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance. Plymouth was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, in 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of Americas most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. In 1777, General Henry Knox founded the Springfield Armory, which during the Industrial Revolution catalyzed numerous important technological advances, in 1786, Shays Rebellion, a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention. In the 18th century, the Protestant First Great Awakening, which swept the Atlantic World, in the late 18th century, Boston became known as the Cradle of Liberty for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution. The entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts has played a commercial and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before the American Civil War, Massachusetts was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, in the late 19th century, the sports of basketball and volleyball were invented in the western Massachusetts cities of Springfield and Holyoke, respectively. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the state, including the Adams, both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Massachusetts public school students place among the top nations in the world in academic performance, the official name of the state is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. While this designation is part of the official name, it has no practical implications. Massachusetts has the position and powers within the United States as other states. Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family such as the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett. While cultivation of crops like squash and corn supplemented their diets, villages consisted of lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses, and tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems. Between 1617 and 1619, smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans, the first English settlers in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims, arrived via the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620, and developed friendly relations with the native Wampanoag people. This was the second successful permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, the event known as the First Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World which lasted for three days
Massachusetts
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A portion of the north-central
Pioneer Valley in
Sunderland
Massachusetts
–
Flag
Massachusetts
–
Many coastal areas in Massachusetts provide breeding areas for species such as the
piping plover
Massachusetts
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The
Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by
William Halsall (1882). The
Pilgrims were a group of
Puritans who founded
Plymouth in 1620.
5.
Thirteen Colonies
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The Thirteen Colonies were a group of British colonies on the east coast of North America founded in the 17th and 18th centuries that declared independence in 1776 and formed the United States. The Thirteen Colonies had very similar political, constitutional, and legal systems and they were part of Britains possessions in the New World, which also included colonies in present-day Canada and the Caribbean, as well as East and West Florida. However, the Thirteen Colonies had a degree of self-government and active local elections. In the 1750s, the colonies began collaborating with each other instead of dealing directly with Britain, Colonial decisions were subject to approval by the governor and the home government. There were also substantial populations of African slaves in some of the colonies, especially Virginia, the Carolinas, the names of the colonies were chosen by the founders and proprietors, subject to royal approval, and given in the founding charters. Nine of the thirteen chose to include in their names the term Province of, later residents tended to drop the ambiguous terminology, as in the map shown in the article Province of New Jersey, which is labeled simply East Jersey and West Jersey. In July 1776, they formed a new nation called the United States of America, the new nation achieved that goal by winning the American Revolutionary War with the aid of France, the Netherlands, and Spain. The American flag features thirteen horizontal stripes which represent these original thirteen colonies, besides these thirteen colonies, Britain had another dozen in the New World. Those in the British West Indies, Newfoundland, the Province of Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Bermuda, and East and West Florida remained loyal to the crown throughout the war. The British crown had recently acquired those lands, and many of the issues facing the Thirteen Colonies did not apply to them, especially in the case of Quebec. Contemporary documents usually list the thirteen colonies of British North America in geographical order, the consolidation collapsed after the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89, and the nine former colonies re-established their separate identities in 1689. Massachusetts Bay Colony Settled in 1630 by Puritans from England, the colonial charter was revoked in 1684, and a new charter was issued in 1691 establishing an enlarged Province of Massachusetts Bay. Province of Maine Settled in 1622, the Massachusetts Bay Colony claimed the Maine territory in the 1650s, then limited to present-day southernmost Maine. Parts of Maine east of the Kennebec River were also part of New York in the half of the 17th century. These areas were made part of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691. Plymouth Colony Settled in 1620 by the Pilgrims, plymouth was merged into the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691. Saybrook Colony Founded in 1635 and merged with Connecticut Colony in 1644, New Haven Colony Settled in late 1637. New Netherland Extensive region centered about New Amsterdam at the tip of Manhattan Island
Thirteen Colonies
–
Join, or Die by
Benjamin Franklin was recycled to encourage the former colonies to unite against British rule.
Thirteen Colonies
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Map of the thirteen original colonies as published for the US Centennial in 1876
6.
American Revolution
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The British responded by imposing punitive laws on Massachusetts in 1774 known as the Coercive Acts, following which Patriots in the other colonies rallied behind Massachusetts. Tensions escalated to the outbreak of fighting between Patriot militia and British regulars at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the conflict then developed into a global war, during which the Patriots fought the British and Loyalists in what became known as the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress determined King George IIIs rule to be tyrannical and infringing the rights as Englishmen. The Patriot leadership professed the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism to reject monarchy and aristocracy, Congress rejected British proposals requiring allegiance to the monarchy and abandonment of independence. The British were forced out of Boston in 1776, but then captured and they blockaded the ports and captured other cities for brief periods, but failed to defeat Washingtons forces. After a failed Patriot invasion of Canada, a British army was captured at the Battle of Saratoga in late 1777, a combined American–French force captured a second British army at Yorktown in 1781, effectively ending the war in the United States. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 formally ended the conflict, confirming the new nations complete separation from the British Empire. The United States took possession of all the territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, with the British retaining control of Canada. Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a new Constitution of the United States. Historians typically begin their histories of the American Revolution with the British victory in the French and Indian War in 1763, the lands west of Quebec and west of a line running along the crest of the Allegheny mountains became Indian territory, temporarily barred to settlement. For the prior history, see Thirteen Colonies, in 1764, Parliament passed the Currency Act to restrain the use of paper money which British merchants saw as a means to evade debt payments. Parliament also passed the Sugar Act, imposing customs duties on a number of articles, none did and Parliament passed the Stamp Act in March 1765 which imposed direct taxes on the colonies for the first time. All official documents, newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets—even decks of playing cards—were required to have the stamps, the colonists did not object that the taxes were high, but because they had no representation in the Parliament. Benjamin Franklin testified in Parliament in 1766 that Americans already contributed heavily to the defense of the Empire, stationing a standing army in Great Britain during peacetime was politically unacceptable. London had to deal with 1,500 politically well-connected British officers who became redundant, in 1765, the Sons of Liberty formed. They used public demonstrations, boycott, violence, and threats of violence to ensure that the British tax laws were unenforceable, in Boston, the Sons of Liberty burned the records of the vice admiralty court and looted the home of chief justice Thomas Hutchinson. Several legislatures called for united action, and nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York City in October 1765, moderates led by John Dickinson drew up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances stating that taxes passed without representation violated their rights as Englishmen. Colonists emphasized their determination by boycotting imports of British merchandise, the Parliament at Westminster saw itself as the supreme lawmaking authority throughout all British possessions and thus entitled to levy any tax without colonial approval
American Revolution
–
John Trumbull 's
Declaration of Independence, showing the
Committee of Five presenting its work to Congress
American Revolution
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Notice of Stamp Act of 1765 in newspaper
American Revolution
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Burning of the
Gaspee
American Revolution
–
This 1846
lithograph by
Nathaniel Currier was entitled "The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor"; the phrase "
Boston Tea Party " had not yet become standard.
7.
British Parliament
–
It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the boroughs of the British capital, the parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The Sovereign forms the third component of the legislature, prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster in London, most cabinet ministers are from the Commons, whilst junior ministers can be from either House. The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The UK parliament and its institutions have set the pattern for many throughout the world. However, John Bright – who coined the epithet – used it with reference to a rather than a parliament. In theory, the UKs supreme legislative power is vested in the Crown-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the Prime Minister, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801, by the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union. The principle of responsibility to the lower House did not develop until the 19th century—the House of Lords was superior to the House of Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons were elected in an electoral system. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, many small constituencies, known as pocket or rotten boroughs, were controlled by members of the House of Lords, who could ensure the election of their relatives or supporters. During the reforms of the 19th century, beginning with the Reform Act 1832, No longer dependent on the Lords for their seats, MPs grew more assertive. The supremacy of the British House of Commons was established in the early 20th century, in 1909, the Commons passed the so-called Peoples Budget, which made numerous changes to the taxation system which were detrimental to wealthy landowners. The House of Lords, which consisted mostly of powerful landowners, on the basis of the Budgets popularity and the Lords consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party narrowly won two general elections in 1910. Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, introduced the Parliament Bill, in the face of such a threat, the House of Lords narrowly passed the bill. However, regardless of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and reduced the representation of both parts at Westminster
British Parliament
British Parliament
–
Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
British Parliament
–
Parliament at night, with the
London Eye visible at right
British Parliament
–
Leading 17th century Parliamentarian
John Hampden is one of the
Five Members annually commemorated
8.
Province of Massachusetts Bay
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The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in British North America and, from 1776, one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7,1691, by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The charter took effect on May 14,1692, and included the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Plymouth Colony, the Province of Maine, Marthas Vineyard, Nantucket, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The modern Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the successor, Maine has been a separate U. S. state since 1820. The name Massachusetts comes from the Massachusett, an Algonquian tribe, the name has been translated as at the great hill, at the place of large hills, or at the range of hills, with reference to the Blue Hills, and in particular, Great Blue Hill. Colonial settlement of the shores of Massachusetts Bay began in 1620 with the founding of the Plymouth Colony, over the next ten years there was a major migration of Puritans to the area, leading to the founding of a number of new colonies in New England. By the 1680s the number of colonies had stabilized at five, in addition to Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay was the most populous and economically significant, housing a sizable merchant fleet. The colonies at times struggled against the Indian population, which had suffered a decline in population prior to the arrival of the first permanent settlers. In the 1630s the Pequot tribe was destroyed, and King Philips War in the 1670s resulted in the expulsion, pacification. The latter war was costly to the colonists of New England. Massachusetts and Plymouth were both somewhat politically independent from England in their days, but this situation changed after the restoration of Charles II to the English throne in 1660. Charles sought closer oversight of the colonies, and to introduce and enforce economic control over their activities, the Navigation Acts passed in the 1660s were widely disliked in Massachusetts, where merchants often found themselves trapped and at odds with the rules. These issues and others led to the revocation of the first Massachusetts Charter in 1684, when James was deposed in the 1688 Glorious Revolution, Massachusetts political leaders conspired against Andros, arresting him and other English authorities in April 1689. This led to the collapse of the Dominion, as the other colonies then quickly reasserted their old forms of government, the Plymouth colony had never had a royal charter, so its governance had always been on a somewhat precarious footing. Massachusetts, however, was placed into constitutional anarchy by the uprising, provincial agents traveled to London where Increase Mather, representing the old colony leaders, petitioned new rulers William and Mary to restore the old colonial charter. When King William learned that this result in a return to the predominantly entrenched religious rule. Instead, the Lords of Trade decided to solve two problems at once by combining the two colonies, accordingly, on October 7,1691, they issued a charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and appointed Sir William Phips its governor. Although the effect of change has been subject to debate among historians
Province of Massachusetts Bay
–
Flag
9.
Sugar Act
–
The Sugar Act, also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on April 5,1764. The preamble to the act stated, it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving the revenue of this Kingdom and it is just and necessary that a revenue should be raised. For defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same, the earlier Molasses Act of 1733, which had imposed a tax of six pence per gallon of molasses, had never been effectively collected due to colonial evasion. The Molasses Act of 1733 was passed by Parliament largely at the insistence of large plantation owners in the British West Indies, Molasses from French, Dutch, and Spanish West Indian possessions was inexpensive. Sugar was priced higher than its competitors and they also had no need for the large quantities of lumber, fish. Sometimes colonists would pay Molasses Act taxes because they were rather low depending on where they resided, in the first part of the 18th Century, the British West Indies were Great Britains most important trading partner, so Parliament was attentive to their requests. If actually collected, the tax would have closed that source to New England. Instead, smuggling, bribery or intimidation of customs officials effectively nullified the law, during the Seven Years War, known in Colonial America as the French and Indian War, the British government substantially increased the national debt to pay for the war. In February 1763, as the war ended, the ministry headed by John Stuart, shortly thereafter, George Grenville replaced Bute. Grenville supported his predecessors policy, even more so after the outbreak of Pontiacs Rebellion in May 1763, Grenville faced the problem of not only paying for these troops but servicing the national debt. The debt grew from £75,000,000 before the war to £122,600,000 in January 1763, and almost £130,000,000 by the beginning of 1764. George Grenville did not expect the colonies to contribute to the interest or the retirement of the debt, the Molasses Act was set to expire in 1763. The Commissioners of Customs anticipated greater demand for both molasses and rum as a result of the end of the war and the acquisition of Canada and they believed that the increased demand would make a sharply reduced rate both affordable and collectible. When passed by Parliament, the new Sugar Act of 1764 halved the tax on molasses. In addition to promising stricter enforcement, the language of the bill made it clear that the purpose of the legislation was not to regulate the trade. The new act listed specific goods, the most important being lumber, ship captains were required to maintain detailed manifests of their cargo and the papers were subject to verification before anything could be unloaded from the ships. Historian Fred Anderson wrote that the purpose of the Act was “to resolve the problems of finance and control that plagued the postwar empire. ”The Sugar Act was passed by Parliament on April 5,1764, and it arrived in the colonies at a time of economic depression. It was a tax, although the colonists were well informed of its presence
Sugar Act
–
Chemistry
10.
Quebec Act
–
The Quebec Act of 1774, formally known as the British North America Act 1774, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain setting procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec. Reference to the Protestant faith was removed from the oath of allegiance and it guaranteed free practice of the Catholic faith. It restored the use of the French civil law for matters of law, except that in accordance with the English common law. It maintained English common law for matters of law, including administrative appeals, court procedure. It restored the Catholic Churchs right to impose tithes, the 1774 Act had wide-ranging effects, in Quebec itself, as well as in the Thirteen Colonies. In Quebec, English-speaking immigrants from Britain and the southern colonies objected to a variety of its provisions, Canadiens varied in their reaction, the land-owning seigneurs and ecclesiastics for example were generally happy with its provisions. The provisions of the Quebec Act were seen by the colonists as a new model for British colonial administration and it seemed to void the land claims of the colonies by granting most of the Ohio Country to the province of Quebec. After the Seven Years War, a victorious Great Britain and a defeated France formalized the peace with the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Under the terms of the treaty, the Kingdom of France ceded New France to Britain, choosing instead to keep the islands of Guadeloupe, Canada was considered less valuable, as its only significant commercial product at the time was beaver pelts. The territory found along the St. Lawrence River, called Canada by the French, was renamed Quebec by the British, non-military administration of the territories acquired by the British in the war was defined in the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Under the terms of the treaty, Canadiens who did not choose to leave became British subjects. In order for them to serve in offices, they were required to swear an oath to the King that contained specific provisions rejecting the Catholic faith. Since many of the predominantly Roman Catholic Canadiens were unwilling to take such an oath, with unrest growing in the colonies to the south, which would one day grow into the American Revolution, the British were worried that the Canadiens might also support the growing rebellion. At that time, Canadiens formed the vast majority of the population of the province of Quebec. To secure the allegiance of the approximately 90,000 Canadiens to the British crown, first Governor James Murray, there was also a need to compromise between the conflicting demands of the Canadien subjects and those of newly arrived British subjects. These efforts by the governors eventually resulted in the enactment of the Quebec Act of 1774. Territory, The boundaries of the province were defined by the Act and this increased the size of the province threefold over the size of the French province. This enabled, for the first time, French Canadians to legally participate in the affairs of the government without formally renouncing their faith
Quebec Act
–
The
Province of Quebec in 1774
Quebec Act
Quebec Act
–
The British colonies in North America. Engraved and published by Royal Geographer
William Faden in 1777. The 13 colonies were tightly circumscribed by Quebec in this map.
11.
First Continental Congress
–
It was called in response to The passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, the Congress was attended by 56 delegates. The Pennsylvania delegation was appointed by the colonial assembly, Georgia declined to send delegates because they were hoping for British assistance with Native American problems on their frontier and did not want to upset the British. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including a boycott of British trade, rights and grievances. The Congress also called for another Continental Congress in the event that their petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts. Their appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so the Second Continental Congress was convened the following year to organize the defense of the colonies at the onset of the American Revolutionary War, the delegates also urged each colony to set up and train its own militia. The Congress met from September 5 to October 26,1774, peyton Randolph presided over the proceedings, Henry Middleton took over as President of the Congress for the last few days, from October 22 to October 26. Charles Thomson, leader of Philadelphia Committee of Correspondence, was selected to be Secretary of the Continental Congress, the delegates who attended the Congress were not of one mind concerning why they were there. Their ultimate goal was to develop a solution to the difficulties. Radicals, such as Patrick Henry, Roger Sherman, Samuel Adams, to counter these ideas, Galloway put forward a Plan of Union, which suggested an American legislative body be formed, with some authority, and whose consent would be required for imperial measures. In the end, the voices of reconciliation and compromise carried the day and it requested that local Committees of Safety enforce the boycott and regulate local prices for goods. These resolutions adopted by the Congress did not acknowledge the power of Parliament even to regulate trade. Furthermore, they did not repudiate control by the royal prerogative, the Congress had two primary accomplishments. The first was a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on December 1,1774, the West Indies were threatened with a boycott unless the islands agreed to nonimportation of British goods. Imports from Britain dropped by 97 percent in 1775, compared with the previous year, Committees of observation and inspection were to be formed in each colony for enforcement of the Association. All of the colonial Houses of Assembly approved the proceedings of the congress with the exception of New York, if the Intolerable Acts were not repealed, the colonies would also cease exports to Britain after September 10,1775. The boycott was successfully implemented, but its potential for altering British colonial policy was cut off by the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the colonists were forced to quarter British soldiers, and feed them. The second accomplishment of the Congress was to provide for a Second Continental Congress to meet on May 10,1775, however, letters appear to have been sent only to Quebec
First Continental Congress
–
First Continental Congress 1774
First Continental Congress
–
Carpenters' Hall
First Continental Congress
12.
American Revolutionary War
–
From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
American Revolutionary War
–
Clockwise from top left:
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis after the
Siege of Yorktown,
Battle of Trenton,
The Death of General Warren at the
Battle of Bunker Hill,
Battle of Long Island,
Battle of Guilford Court House
American Revolutionary War
–
Notice of Stamp Act of 1765 in newspaper
American Revolutionary War
–
This iconic 1846 lithograph by
Nathaniel Currier was entitled "The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor"; the phrase "Boston Tea Party" had not yet become standard. Contrary to Currier's depiction, few of the men dumping the tea were actually disguised as Indians.
American Revolutionary War
–
The British marching to
Concord in April 1775
13.
Stamp Act 1765
–
Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the tax had to be paid in valid British currency. The purpose of the tax was to pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years War and its North American theater of the French. The Americans said that there was no military need for the soldiers there were no foreign enemies on the continent. They suggested that it was actually a matter of British patronage to surplus British officers, the Stamp Act was very unpopular among colonists. A consensus considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial legislatures could grant and their slogan was No taxation without representation. Colonial assemblies sent petitions and protests, the Stamp Act Congress held in New York City was the first significant joint colonial response to any British measure, it petitioned Parliament and the King. Local protest groups led by merchants and landowners established connections through Committees of Correspondence. Protests and demonstrations initiated by a new organization called the Sons of Liberty often turned violent. Very soon, all stamp tax distributors were intimidated into resigning their commissions, opposition to the Stamp Act was not limited to the colonies. British merchants and manufacturers, whose exports to the colonies were threatened by colonial boycotts, the Act was repealed on March 18,1766 as a matter of expedience, but Parliament affirmed its power to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever by also passing the Declaratory Act. There followed a series of new taxes and regulations, likewise opposed by the colonists, the British victory in the Seven Years War, known in America as the French and Indian War, had been won only at a great financial cost. During the war, the British national debt increased more than fourfold, the primary reason for retaining such a large force was that demobilizing the army would put 1,500 officers out of work, many of whom were well-connected in Parliament. Stationing 10,000 troops to separate American Indians and frontiersmen was one role, the outbreak of Pontiacs Rebellion in May 1763 apparently reinforced the logic of this decision, as it was an American Indian uprising against the British expansion. The main reason to send 10,000 troops deep into the wilderness was to provide billets for the officers who were part of the British patronage system. John Adams said, Revenue is still demanded from America, and appropriated to the maintenance of swarms of officers and pensioners in idleness and luxury. George Grenville became prime minister in April 1763 after the failure of the short-lived Bute Ministry, raising taxes in Britain was out of the question, since there had been virulent protests in England against the Bute ministrys 1763 cider tax, with Bute being hanged in effigy. The Grenville ministry therefore decided that Parliament would raise revenue by taxing the American colonists without their consent
Stamp Act 1765
–
Notice of Stamp Act of 1765 in a newspaper
Stamp Act 1765
Stamp Act 1765
–
American newspapers reacted to the Stamp Act with anger and predictions of the demise of
journalism.
Stamp Act 1765
–
Benjamin Franklin represented Pennsylvania in discussions about the act
14.
Townshend Acts
–
The Townshend Acts were a series of acts passed – beginning in 1767 – by of Great Britain relating to the British colonies in North America. The acts are named after Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Townshend Acts were met with resistance in the colonies, prompting the occupation of Boston by British troops in 1768, which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770. As a result of widespread protest in the American colonies, Parliament began to repeal the Townshend duties. Most of the new taxes were repealed, but the tax on tea was retained, the British government continued in its attempt to tax the colonists without their consent and the American Revolution followed. Following the Seven Years War, the British Empire was deep in debt, to help pay some of the costs of the newly expanded empire, the British Parliament decided to levy new taxes on the colonies of British America. Previously, through the Trade and Navigation Acts, Parliament had used taxation to regulate the trade of the empire, but with the Sugar Act of 1764, Parliament sought, for the first time, to tax the colonies for the specific purpose of raising revenue. American colonists argued that there were constitutional issues involved, the Americans claimed they were not represented in Parliament but the British government retorted they had virtual representation, a concept the Americans rejected. This issue, only briefly debated following the Sugar Act, became a point of contention following Parliaments passage of the 1765 Stamp Act. The Stamp Act proved to be unpopular in the colonies, contributing to its repeal the following year. Implicit in the Stamp Act dispute was a more fundamental than taxation and representation. The first of the Townshend Acts, sometimes known as the Townshend Act, was the Revenue Act of 1767. This act represented the Chatham ministrys new approach for generating tax revenue in the American colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. With this in mind, Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, devised a plan that placed new duties on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea that were imported into the colonies. These were items that were not produced in North America and that the colonists were allowed to buy from Great Britain. The Townshend Revenue Act received the royal assent on 29 June 1767, there was little opposition expressed in Parliament at the time. Never could a fateful measure have had a quiet passage. The Revenue Act was passed in conjunction with the Indemnity Act of 1767, the Indemnity Act repealed taxes on tea imported to England, allowing it to be re-exported more cheaply to the colonies. This tax cut in England would be offset by the new Revenue Act taxes on tea in the colonies
Townshend Acts
–
Charles Townshend spearheaded the Townshend Acts, but died before their detrimental effects became apparent.
Townshend Acts
–
Dickinson's Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
Townshend Acts
–
Non-importation agreement, dated October 1767, signed by Bostonians including
Paul Revere
Townshend Acts
–
Paul Revere 's engraving of British troops landing in
Boston in 1768.
15.
British Empire
–
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
British Empire
–
A replica of The Matthew,
John Cabot 's ship used for his second voyage to the
New World.
British Empire
–
Flag
British Empire
–
African slaves working in 17th-century
Virginia, by an unknown artist, 1670.
British Empire
–
Fort St. George was founded at
Madras in 1639.
16.
Declaratory Act
–
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act because boycotts were hurting British trade and used the declaration to justify the repeal and save face. The declaration stated that the Parliaments authority was the same in America as in Britain, the British Parliament was then faced with colonies who refused to comply with their Act. Normally the economic activity in the colonies would not have caused such an outcry, another reason for repeal of the Stamp Act was the replacement of George Grenville, the Prime Minister who had enacted the Stamp Acts, by Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. Rockingham was more favorable towards the colonies and furthermore he was antagonistic towards policies that Grenville had enacted, Parliament then agreed to repeal the Stamp Act on the condition that the Declaratory Act was passed. On March 18,1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, the phrasing of the act was intentionally unambiguous. Other colonists, however, were outraged because the Declaratory Act hinted that more acts would be coming, however, the colonists never explicitly called for its repeal, and would seek reconciliation with the crown up until the last minute. James Otis and Sam Adams in Massachusetts, Patrick Henry in Virginia and other colonial leaders along the seaboard screamed Treason, despite British recognition in 1783 of the independence of the United States, the Declaratory Act remained in force for the British Empires remaining colonies in the western hemisphere. The Act was not repealed until 1964, by time the handful of remaining British colonies in the West Indies were governed under constitutions explicitly granted under the authority of Parliament. However, since the Taxation of Colonies Act 1778 passed during the American Revolution, British Empire Colonial America Townshend Acts Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham George Grenville Text of Act Repealing the Stamp Act
Declaratory Act
17.
British Constitution
–
The constitution of the United Kingdom is the sum of laws and principles that make up the body politic of the United Kingdom. It concerns both the relationship between the individual and the state, and the functioning of the legislature, the executive, the UK does not have one specific constitutional document. Instead the constitution is found within a variety of written and some unwritten sources and this is sometimes referred to as an unwritten or uncodified constitution. The British constitution primarily draws from four sources, statute law, common law, parliamentary conventions and it follows that Parliament can change the constitution simply by passing new statutes through Acts of Parliament. Acts of Parliament are bills which have received the approval of Parliament – that is, the Monarch, the House of Lords, on rare occasions, the House of Commons uses the Parliament Acts to pass legislation without the approval of the House of Lords. Acts of Parliament are among the most important sources of the constitution, according to the traditional view, Parliament has the power to legislate however it wishes on any subject it wishes. For example, most of the medieval statute known as Magna Carta has been repealed since 1828. It has traditionally been the case that the courts are barred from questioning any Act of Parliament, on the other hand, this principle has not been without its dissidents and critics over the centuries, and attitudes among the judiciary in this area may be changing. This part of his judgment was obiter – and, indeed, was controversial and it remains to be seen whether the doctrine will be accepted by other judges. Treaties do not, on ratification, automatically become incorporated into UK law, important treaties have been incorporated into domestic law by means of Acts of Parliament. The European Convention on Human Rights, for example, was given further effect into domestic law through the preamble of the Human Rights Act 1998, also, the Treaty of Union of 1707 was important in creating the unitary state which exists today. The treaty was between the governments of England and Scotland and was put into effect by two Acts of Union which were passed by the Parliaments of both nations. The Treaty, along with the subsequent Acts, brought into existence the Kingdom of Great Britain, uniting the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. Common law legal systems exist in Northern Ireland and in England and Wales, Court judgments also commonly form a source of the constitution, generally speaking in English Law, judgments of the higher courts form precedents or case law that binds lower courts and judges. However Scots Law does not accord the status to precedent. Historically important court judgments include those in the Case of Proclamations, many British constitutional conventions are ancient in origin, though others date from within living memory. Works of authority is the name for works that are sometimes cited as interpretations of aspects of the UK constitution. Most are works written by 19th or early 20th century constitutionalists, in particular A. V. Dicey, Walter Bagehot and these pillars are the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law
British Constitution
–
Claude Monet 's depiction of the smog-filled air near
Westminster Bridge in 1903, half a century before the
Clean Air Act 1956.
British Constitution
–
United Kingdom
British Constitution
–
One of several shelves full of books about the UK constitution at a
law library
British Constitution
–
Parliamentary sovereignty means judges cannot invalidate legislation. But in practice the UK consents to
British and
European courts to review legislation to comply with international standards under the
Human Rights Act 1998, and consents to follow
EU law under the
European Communities Act 1972.
18.
No taxation without representation
–
Jonathan Mayhew, Old West Church’s second Congregational pastor, used the phrase, No Taxation Without Representation in a sermon in 1750. The phrase revives a sentiment central to the cause of the English Civil War following the refusal of parliamentarian John Hampden to pay ship money tax, the English Parliament had controlled colonial trade and taxed imports and exports since 1660. By the 1760s, the Americans were being deprived of a historic right, the English Bill of Rights 1689 had forbidden the imposition of taxes without the consent of Parliament. Since the colonists had no representation in Parliament, the taxes violated the guaranteed Rights of Englishmen, Parliament initially contended that the colonists had virtual representation, but the idea found little support on either side of the Atlantic. John Dunmore Lang wrote in 1852, The person who first suggested the idea appears to have been Oldmixon, an American annalist of the era of Queen Anne or George I. It was afterwards put forward with approbation by the celebrated Dr. Adam Smith, and advocated for a time, the phrase had been used for more than a generation in Ireland. By 1765, the term was in use in Boston, and local politician James Otis was most famously associated with the phrase, in the course of the Revolutionary era, many arguments were pursued that sought to resolve the dispute surrounding Parliamentary sovereignty, taxation, self-governance and representation. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, the London Quaker Thomas Crowley, supported Barre and other pro-American M. P. s by producing before the House copies of earlier Acts of Parliament that had admitted Durham and Chester seats upon their petitions for representation. The argument was put forward in Parliament that America ought to have representatives on these grounds too, richard Jackson supposed that Parliament had a right to tax America, but he much doubted the expediency of the Stamp act. He was shortly afterwards appointed agent for Georgia and East Florida, I am glad to find the author has at length discovered that we have not given a sufficient attention to their concerns, or a proper redress to their grievances. His great friend would once have been displeased with any person, who should tell him. He thought he did so, when he regulated the colonies over and over again, he thought he did so and these systems supposed, or ought to suppose, the greatest attention to, and the most detailed information of, all their affairs. Perhaps it may be some time before this scheme can be brought to perfect maturity. Burke supported the doctrine of virtual representation in Britain, yet in his Parliamentary speech of 1774, entitled On American Taxation, Burke responded to the suggestion that America was virtually represented in Parliament by remarking, What. Does the electric force of virtual representation more easily pass over the Atlantic than pervade Wales, or than Chester and Durham, surrounded by abundance of representation that is actual and palpable. How, then, can I think it sufficient for those which are infinitely greater and you will now, Sir, perhaps imagine that I am on the point of proposing to you a scheme for a representation of the colonies in Parliament. Perhaps I might be inclined to some such thought, but a great flood stops me in my course. I cannot remove the barriers of the creation
No taxation without representation
–
Bronze sculpture of James Otis, Jr stands in front of the
Barnstable County Courthouse.
No taxation without representation
–
Taxation
No taxation without representation
–
Shimer College student holds "No tuition without representation" sign during protest over school governance in 2010.
No taxation without representation
–
The standard-issue District of Columbia license plate bears the phrase, "Taxation Without Representation".
19.
Sons of Liberty
–
The Sons of Liberty was an organization that was created in the Thirteen American Colonies. The secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and they played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765. The group officially disbanded after the Stamp Act was repealed, however, the name was applied to other local separatist groups during the years preceding the American Revolution. In the popular imagination, the Sons of Liberty was an underground organization with recognized members and leaders. More likely, the name was a term for any men resisting new Crown taxes. The well-known label allowed organizers to issue summons to a Liberty Tree, Liberty Pole. Furthermore, a unifying name helped to promote efforts against Parliament. Their motto became No taxation without representation, in 1765, the British government needed money to afford the 10,000 officers and soldiers living in the colonies, and intended that the colonists living there should contribute. This became commonly known as No Taxation without Representation, Parliament insisted on its right to rule the colonies despite the fact that the colonists had no representative in Parliament. The most incendiary tax was the Stamp Act of 1765, which caused a firestorm of opposition through legislative resolutions, public demonstrations, threats, the organization spread hour by hour, after independent starts in several different colonies. In August 1765, the group was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, by November 6, a committee was set up in New York to correspond with other colonies. In December, an alliance was formed between groups in New York and Connecticut, january bore witness to a correspondence link between Boston and New York City, and by March, Providence had initiated connections with New York, New Hampshire, and Newport, Rhode Island. March also marked the emergence of Sons of Liberty organizations in New Jersey, Maryland, in Boston, another example of violence could be found in their treatment of local stamp distributor Andrew Oliver. They burned his effigy in the streets, when he did not resign, they escalated to burning down his office building. Even after he resigned, they almost destroyed the house of his close associate Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson. It is believed that the Sons of Liberty did this to excite the lower classes and their actions made many of the stamp distributors resign in fear. Early in the American Revolution, the former Sons of Liberty generally joined more formal groups, the Sons of Liberty popularized the use of tar and feathering to punish and humiliate offending government officials starting in 1767. This method was also, used against British Loyalists, during the American Revolution and this punishment had long been used by sailors to punish their mates
Sons of Liberty
–
A 1765
broadside regarding the organization and its principles
Sons of Liberty
–
The Bostonian Paying the Excise-Man, 1774 British propaganda print referring to the tarring and feathering of Boston Commissioner of Customs
John Malcolm four weeks after the Boston Tea Party. The men also poured hot tea down Malcolm's throat; note the noose hanging on the
Liberty Tree, and the
Stamp Act posted upside-down
Sons of Liberty
–
1st Row:
Samuel Adams •
Benedict Arnold •
John Hancock •
Patrick Henry •
James Otis, Jr. 2nd Row:
Paul Revere •
James Swan •
Alexander McDougall •
Benjamin Rush •
Charles Thomson 3rd Row:
Joseph Warren •
Marinus Willett •
Oliver Wolcott •
Christopher Gadsden •
Haym Salomon
20.
Boston, Massachusetts
–
Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Boston is also the seat of Suffolk County, although the county government was disbanded on July 1,1999. The city proper covers 48 square miles with a population of 667,137 in 2015, making it the largest city in New England. Alternately, as a Combined Statistical Area, this wider commuting region is home to some 8.1 million people, One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon U. S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education, through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing over 20 million visitors per year, Bostons many firsts include the United States first public school, Boston Latin School, first subway system, the Tremont Street Subway, and first public park, Boston Common. Bostons economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, the city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States as it has undergone gentrification, though it remains high on world livability rankings. Bostons early European settlers had first called the area Trimountaine but later renamed it Boston after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, the renaming on September 7,1630 was by Puritan colonists from England who had moved over from Charlestown earlier that year in quest of fresh water. Their settlement was limited to the Shawmut Peninsula, at that time surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River. The peninsula is thought to have been inhabited as early as 5000 BC, in 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colonys first governor John Winthrop led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, a key founding document of the city. Puritan ethics and their focus on education influenced its early history, over the next 130 years, the city participated in four French and Indian Wars, until the British defeated the French and their Indian allies in North America. Boston was the largest town in British America until Philadelphia grew larger in the mid-18th century, Bostons harbor activity was significantly curtailed by the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Bostons merchants had found alternatives for their investments in the interim. Manufacturing became an important component of the economy, and the citys industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. Boston remained one of the nations largest manufacturing centers until the early 20th century, a network of small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a network of railroads furthered the regions industry. Boston was a port of the Atlantic triangular slave trade in the New England colonies
Boston, Massachusetts
–
From top to bottom, left to right: the
Boston skyline viewed from the
Bunker Hill Monument; the
Museum of Fine Arts;
Faneuil Hall;
Massachusetts State House;
The First Church of Christ, Scientist;
Boston Public Library; the
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum;
South Station;
Boston University and the
Charles River;
Arnold Arboretum;
Fenway Park; and the
Boston Common
Boston, Massachusetts
–
State Street, 1801
Boston, Massachusetts
–
View of Boston from
Dorchester Heights, 1841
Boston, Massachusetts
–
Scollay Square in the 1880s
21.
Tea Act
–
Tea Act of 1773 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses. A related objective was to undercut the price of illegal tea and this was supposed to convince the colonists to purchase Company tea on which the Townshend duties were paid, thus implicitly agreeing to accept Parliaments right of taxation. It received the royal assent on May 10,1773, the companys authorised consignees were harassed, and in many colonies successful efforts were made to prevent the tea from being landed. In Boston, this culminated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16,1773. These actions further raised tensions that led to the eruption of the American War of Independence in April 1775, the Act effectively became a dead letter, but was not formally removed from the books until passage of the Statute Law Revision Act 1861. In the 1760s and early 1770s, the East India Company had been required to sell its tea exclusively in London on which it paid a duty which averaged two shillings and six pence per pound. Tea destined for the North American colonies would be purchased by merchants specializing in that trade, smugglers imported some 900,000 pounds of cheap foreign tea per year. The quality of the smuggled tea did not match the quality of the dutiable East India Company tea, the administration of Lord North saw an opportunity to achieve several goals with a single bill. Colonists would willingly pay for cheaper Company tea, on which the Townshend tax was still collected, the Act, which received the royal assent on May 10,1773, contained the following provisions, The Company was eligible to be granted licence to export tea to North America. The Company was no longer required to sell its tea at the London Tea Auction, duties on tea destined for North America and foreign parts would either be refunded on export or not imposed. Consignees receiving the Companys tea were required to pay a deposit upon receipt of tea, proposals were made that the Townshend tax also be waived, but North opposed this idea, citing the fact that those revenues were used to pay the salaries of crown officials in the colonies. The Company was granted license by the North administration to ship tea to major American ports, including Charleston, Philadelphia, New York City, consignees who were to receive the tea and arrange for its local resale were generally favorites of the local governor. In Massachusetts, Governor Thomas Hutchinson was a part-owner of the hired by the Company to receive tea shipped to Boston. Many colonists opposed the Act, not so much because it rescued the East India Company, merchants who had been acting as the middlemen in legally importing tea stood to lose their business, as did those whose illegal Dutch trade would be undercut by the Companys lowered prices. These interests combined forces, citing the taxes and the Companys monopoly status as reasons to oppose the Act, in New York and Philadelphia, opposition to the Act resulted in the return of tea delivered there back to Britain. In Charleston, the left the tea on the docks to rot. Governor Hutchinson in Boston was determined to leave the ships in port, similar Destruction of the Tea occurred in New York and other ports shortly thereafter, though Boston took the brunt of Imperial retaliation, because it was the first culprit
Tea Act
–
A 1789 depiction of the
Boston Tea Party
Tea Act
22.
British East India Company
–
The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
British East India Company
–
Imperial entities of India
British East India Company
–
Company flag after 1801
British East India Company
–
James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601
British East India Company
–
Red Dragon fought the Portuguese at the
Battle of Swally in 1612, and made several voyages to the
East Indies.
23.
Frederick North, Lord North
–
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, KG, PC, more often known by his courtesy title, Lord North, which he used from 1752 until 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the American War of Independence and he also held a number of other cabinet posts, including Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Norths reputation among historians has swung back and forth and it reached its nadir in the late nineteenth century when he was depicted as a creature of the king and an incompetent who lost the American colonies. In the early twentieth century a revisionism emphasized his strengths in administering the Treasury, handling the House of Commons, Herbert Butterfield, however, argued that his indolence was a barrier to efficient crisis management, he neglected his role in supervising the entire war effort. Lord North was born in London on 13 April 1732, at the house at Albemarle Street, just off Piccadilly. His father, the first Earl, was at the time Lord of the Bedchamber to Prince Frederick, North was descended from the 1st Earl of Sandwich and was related to Samuel Pepys and the 3rd Earl of Bute. He at times had a turbulent relationship with his father Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford. In his early years the family was not wealthy, though their situation improved in 1735 when his father inherited property from his cousin, fredericks mother, Lady Lucy Montagu, died in 1734. His father remarried, but his stepmother, Elizabeth North, also died in 1745, one of his stepbrothers was Lord Dartmouth, who remained a close friend for life. He was educated at Eton College between 1742 and 1748, and at Trinity College, Oxford where in 1750 he was awarded an MA, after leaving Oxford he travelled in Europe on the Grand Tour with Dartmouth, visiting Leipzig where he studied at the University of Leipzig. He visited Vienna, Milan, and Paris, returning to England in 1753 and he soon developed a reputation as a good administrator and parliamentarian, and was generally liked by his colleagues. In November 1763 he was chosen to speak for the Government concerning radical MP John Wilkes, Wilkes had made a savage attack on both the Prime Minister and the King in his newspaper The North Briton, which many thought libelous. Norths motion that Wilkes be expelled from the House of Commons passed by 273 votes to 111, Wilkes expulsion took place in his absence, as he had already fled to France following a duel. When a government headed by the Whig magnate Lord Rockingham came to power in 1765, North left his post and he turned down an offer by Rockingham to rejoin the government, not wanting to be associated with the Whig grandees that dominated the Ministry. He returned to office when Pitt returned to head a government in 1766. North was appointed Joint Paymaster of the Forces in Pitts ministry, as Pitt was constantly ill, the government was effectively run by the Duke of Grafton, with North as one of its most senior members. In December 1767, he succeeded Charles Townshend as Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the resignation of the secretary of state Henry Seymour Conway in early 1768, North became Leader of the Commons as well. He continued to serve when Pitt was succeeded by Grafton in October, when the Duke of Grafton resigned as Prime Minister, North formed a government on 28 January 1770
Frederick North, Lord North
–
Portrait by
Nathaniel Dance.
Frederick North, Lord North
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In The State Tinkers (1780),
James Gillray caricatured North (on his knees) and his allies as incompetent tinkers of the National Kettle. George III cries out in rapture in the rear.
Frederick North, Lord North
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French caricature on the government of Frederick North after the defeat of Grenada (1779).
Frederick North, Lord North
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This modern Silver medallion commemorates the motion of no confidence against Lord North on 27 February 1782 to end the American War of Independence. Subsequently Prime Minister Lord North resigned in March 1782.
24.
House of Commons of Great Britain
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The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In the course of the 18th century, the office of Prime Minister developed, the modern notion that only the support of the House of Commons is necessary for a government to survive, however, was of later development. Similarly, the custom that the Prime Minister is always a Member of the Lower House, rather than the Upper one, the business of the house was controlled by an elected Speaker. The Speakers official role was to debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes. The Speaker decided who may speak and had the powers to members who break the procedures of the house. The Speaker often also represented the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial, the title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerford in the Parliament of England. By convention, Speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as Mister Speaker, if a man, or Madam Speaker, if a woman. The members of the last House of Commons of England had been elected between 7 May and 6 June 1705, and from 1707 they all continued to sit as members of the new House of Commons. The last general election in Scotland had been held in the autumn of 1702, in Scotland there was also no new election from the burghs, and the places available were filled by co-option from the last Parliament. The constituencies which elected members in England and Wales remained unchanged throughout the existence of the Parliament of Great Britain
House of Commons of Great Britain
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Pitt addressing the House in 1793
House of Commons of Great Britain
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Royal coat of arms of Great Britain, 1714-1800
25.
Boston Port Act
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The Act was a response to the Boston Tea Party. King George IIIs speech of 7 March 1774 charged the colonists with attempting to injure British commerce and subvert the Constitution, in other words, it closed Boston Port to all ships, no matter what business the ship had. It also provided that Massachusetts Colonys seat of government should be moved to Salem, the Act was to take effect on June 1. But the Whig opposition soon collected itself, and the bill was fought in its various stages by Edmund Burke, Isaac Barré, Thomas Pownall and others. In spite of them, the Act became a law 31 March, without a division in the Commons, royal Navy warships subsequently began patrols at the mouth of Boston Harbor to enforce the acts. The British Army also joined in enforcing the blockade, and Boston was filled with troops, Thomas Gage, all the citizens of Boston were angered including the Loyalists and Patriots who all sought for aid from the other colonies. As the Port of Boston was a source of supplies for the citizens of Massachusetts. So great was the response, that the Boston leaders boasted that the town would become the chief port of America if the act were not repealed. June 1 was widely observed as a day of fasting and prayer, bells being tolled, flags placed at half-mast and this was the first step in the unification of the thirteen colonies. These colonies finally had a cause for them to work together, the First Continental Congress was convened in Philadelphia on September 5,1774, to coordinate a colonial response to the Port Act and the other Coercive Acts. E. London, Re-printed for Edward and Charles Dilly
Boston Port Act
26.
Massachusetts Government Act
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The Massachusetts Government Act was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, receiving royal assent on 20 May 1774. The act effectively abrogated the Massachusetts Charter of 1691 of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the colonists said it altered by parliamentary fiat the basic structure of colonial government. They vehemently opposed it and would not let it operate and it was a major step on the way to the start of the American Revolution in 1775. The Act is one of the Intolerable Acts, designed to suppress dissent, in the wake of the Boston Tea Party, Parliament launched a legislative offensive against Massachusetts to control its errant behavior. British officials believed that their inability to control Massachusetts was rooted in part in the independent nature of its local government. The Massachusetts Government Act abrogated the colonys charter and provided for a amount of royal control. Massachusetts had been unique among the colonies in its ability to elect members of its executive council and this Act took away that right and instead gave the king sole power to appoint and dismiss the council. Additionally, many offices that had previously been chosen by election were now to be appointed by the royal governor. Town meetings were forbidden without consent of the governor, as Lord North explained to Parliament, the purpose of the act was to take the executive power from the hands of the democratic part of government. Power was centralized in the hands of the governor. They argued the new Act had nullified the contract between the king and the people and they ignored Gages order for new elections and set up the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. It acted as the government until the 1780 adoption of the Massachusetts State Constitution. The governor only had control in Boston, where his soldiers were based, Parliament repealed the Act in 1778 as part of attempts to reach a diplomatic end to the ongoing American Revolutionary War. Colonial government in America Raphael, Ray, the First American Revolution, Before Lexington and Concord excerpt Sosin, Jack M. The Massachusetts Acts of 1774, Coercive or Preventive, the Massachusetts Council, 1766-1774, The Transformation of a Conservative Institution. In JSTOR complete text of Act http, //www. lexrex. com/enlightened/laws/intolerable. htm
Massachusetts Government Act
27.
Town meeting
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Town meeting is a form of local government practiced in the U. S. region of New England since colonial times, and in some western states since at least the late 19th century. Typically conducted by New England towns, town meeting can refer to meetings of other governmental bodies. The painting Freedom of Speech depicts a scene from a town meeting, the Puritans, who believed in Congregationalist church governance, established town meetings when they established the various New England colonies. In recent years, town meeting has also used by political groups. To avoid confusion, this sort of event is called a town hall meeting. Connecticut town meetings are bound to a published agenda, for example, in Connecticut, a Town Meeting may discuss, but not alter, an article placed before them, nor may they place new items on the agenda. If a Town Meeting rejects a budget, a new Town Meeting must be called to consider the proposed budget. State Law allows the Board of Selectmen to adopt a tax rate. A moderator is chosen at each meeting, Meetings are typically held in school auditoriums, however they may be moved to larger venues as needed. Town meetings can physically meet in town if necessary to find a proper space to host the attendance. Votes are taken by voice, and if close by show of hands, Meetings on controversial topics are often adjourned to a referendum conducted by machine vote on a date in the future. Such adjournment may come from the floor of the meeting, or by a petition for a paper or machine ballot filed before the meeting, Representative Town Meetings used by some larger towns consist solely of a large number of members elected to office. In Maine, the town meeting system originated during the period when Maine was a district of Massachusetts, most cities and towns operate under the town meeting form of government or a modified version of it. Maine annual town meetings traditionally are held in March, Special town meetings also may be called from time to time. The executive agency of government is an elected, part-time board, known as the Board of Selectmen or Select Board. Often the part-time selectmen also serve as town assessors, overseers of the poor as well as road commissioners, generally, there are other elected town officers whose duties are specified in law. These may include clerks, assessors, tax collector, treasurer, school committee, constables, in 1927 the town of Camden adopted a special charter and became the first Maine town to apply the manager concept to the town meeting-selectmen framework. Under this system, the manager is administrative head of town government, the managers duties include acting as purchasing agent, seeing that laws and ordinances are enforced, making appointments and removals, and fixing the compensation of appointees
Town meeting
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A town meeting in
Huntington, Vermont
Town meeting
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Faneuil Hall in Boston
Town meeting
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The Town House of
Marlboro,
Vermont, was built in 1822 to be used for town meetings, which had previously been held in private homes. It is still in use today.
28.
George Washington
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George Washington was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is popularly considered the driving force behind the nations establishment and came to be known as the father of the country, both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his leadership qualities and was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. Washingtons incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the system, the inaugural address. His retirement from office two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment now limits the president to two elected terms and he was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited. In his youth, he became an officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, in that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause and his strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies, after victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation and he supported Alexander Hamiltons programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 and he remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washingtons Farewell Address was a primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home, upon his death, Washington was eulogized as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history and he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day. He was born on February 11,1731, according to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22,1732. Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave and his great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, Georges father Augustine
George Washington
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George Washington by
Gilbert Stuart, 1797
George Washington
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Washington's birthplace
George Washington
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Washington's map, accompanying his Journal to the Ohio (1753–1754)
George Washington
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A
mezzotint of
Martha Washington, based on a 1757 portrait by
Wollaston
29.
Boston Massacre
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The Boston Massacre, known as the Incident on King Street by the British, was an incident on March 5,1770, in which British Army soldiers shot and killed people while under attack by a mob. The incident was publicized by leading Patriots, such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. Amid ongoing tense relations between the population and the soldiers, a mob formed around a British sentry, who was subjected to verbal abuse and he was eventually supported by eight additional soldiers, who were subjected to verbal threats and snowballs. Spontaneously they fired into the crowd, instantly killing three demonstrators, two died later. The crowd eventually dispersed after Acting Governor Thomas Hutchinson promised an inquiry, eight soldiers, one officer, and four civilians were arrested and charged with murder. Defended by lawyer and future American president John Adams, six of the soldiers were acquitted, Boston, the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and an important shipping town, was a major center of resistance to unpopular acts of taxation by the British Parliament in the 1760s. In 1768, the Townshend Acts were placed upon the colonists, by which a variety of items that were manufactured in Britain. Colonists objected that the Townshend Acts were a violation of the natural, charter, the Massachusetts House of Representatives began a campaign against the Townshend Acts by sending a petition to King George III asking for the repeal of the Townshend Revenue Act. In Great Britain, Lord Hillsborough, who had recently appointed to the newly created office of Colonial Secretary, was alarmed by the actions of the Massachusetts House. In April 1768 he sent a letter to the governors in America. He also ordered Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard to direct the Massachusetts House to rescind the letter. Bostons chief customs officer, Charles Paxton, wrote to Hillsborough, commodore Samuel Hood responded by sending the fifty-gun warship HMS Romney, which arrived in Boston Harbor in May 1768. On June 10,1768, customs officials seized Liberty, a sloop owned by leading Boston merchant John Hancock, Bostonians, already angry because the captain of Romney had been impressing local sailors, began to riot. Customs officials fled to Castle William for protection, given the unstable state of affairs in Massachusetts, Hillsborough instructed General Thomas Gage, Commander-in-Chief, North America, to send such Force as You shall think necessary to Boston. On October 1,1768, the first of four British Army regiments began disembarking in Boston, two regiments were removed from Boston in 1769, but the 14th and the 29th Regiments of Foot remained. Tensions rose markedly after Christopher Seider, a lad about eleven Years of Age, was killed by a customs employee on February 22,1770. Seiders death was glorified in the Boston Gazette, and his funeral was described as one of the largest of the time in Boston, the killing and subsequent propaganda inflamed tensions, with gangs of colonists looking for soldiers to harass, and soldiers also on occasion looking for confrontation. On the evening of March 5, Private Hugh White, a British soldier, stood on duty outside the Custom house on King Street
Boston Massacre
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This famous depiction of the event was engraved by
Paul Revere (copied from an engraving by
Henry Pelham), colored by Christian Remick, and printed by
Benjamin Edes. The
Old State House is depicted in the background.
Boston Massacre
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View of the
Old State House, Boston, Massachusetts, the seat of British colonial government from 1713 to 1776. The Boston Massacre took place in front of the balcony, and the site is now marked by a cobblestone circle in the square (photo 2009)
Boston Massacre
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Massacre Site
Boston Massacre
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This 19th-century lithograph is a variation of Revere's famous engraving. Produced soon before the
American Civil War, this image emphasizes
Crispus Attucks, who had by then become an important symbol for abolitionists. (
John Bufford after William L. Champey, circa 1856)
30.
Natural rights
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Natural and legal rights are two types of rights. Legal rights are those bestowed onto a person by a legal system. Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any culture or government. The concept of law is closely related to the concept of natural rights. Conversely, the concept of rights is used by others to challenge the legitimacy of all such establishments. Natural rights, in particular, are considered beyond the authority of any government or international body to dismiss, the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an important legal instrument enshrining one conception of natural rights into international soft law. Natural rights were traditionally viewed as exclusively negative rights, whereas human rights also comprise positive rights, even on a natural rights conception of human rights, the two terms may not be synonymous. The proposition that animals have natural rights is one that gained the interest of philosophers and legal scholars in the 20th century, the existence of natural rights has been asserted by different individuals on different premises, such as a priori philosophical reasoning or religious principles. For example, Immanuel Kant claimed to derive natural rights through reason alone, the United States Declaration of Independence, meanwhile, is based upon the self-evident truth that all men are. Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, likewise, different philosophers and statesmen have designed different lists of what they believe to be natural rights, almost all include the right to life and liberty as the two highest priorities. H. L. A. Hart argued that if there are any rights at all, there must be the right to liberty, for all the others would depend upon this. T. H. Green argued that “if there are things as rights at all, then, there must be a right to life and liberty, or, to put it more properly to free life. ”John Locke emphasized life. However, despite Lockes influential defense of the right of revolution, leaders are seen as representative of God on earth, but they deserve allegiance only as long as they have farr, a kind of divine blessing that they must earn by moral behavior. The Stoics held that no one was a slave by nature, of fundamental importance to the development of the idea of natural rights was the emergence of the idea of natural human equality. Carlyle notes, There is no change in theory so startling in its completeness as the change from the theory of Aristotle to the later philosophical view represented by Cicero. We think that this cannot be better exemplified than with regard to the theory of the equality of human nature, charles H. Cicero argues in De Legibus that we are born for Justice, and that right is based, not upon opinions, but upon Nature. Centuries later, the Stoic doctrine that the part cannot be delivered into bondage re-emerged in the Reformation doctrine of liberty of conscience. Martin Luther wrote, Furthermore, every man is responsible for his own faith, preservation of the natural rights to life, liberty, and property was claimed as justification for the rebellion of the American colonies
Natural rights
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Thomas Hobbes
Natural rights
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John Locke, "
Life,
Liberty,
Estate (
property)"
Natural rights
–
Thomas Paine
Natural rights
–
Benjamin Tucker
