Townshend Acts

Abstract: Acknowledgments Introduction PART 1. FIRST ENCOUNTERS The Meaning of America Utilizing the Native Labor Force New World Fantasies Labor Needs The Black Legend A Critique of the Slave Trade PART 2. EUROPEAN COLONIZATION NORTH OF MEXICO Justifications for English Involvement in the New World A Rationale for New World Colonization England's First Enduring North American Settlement Life in Early Virginia Race War in Virginia Indentured Servitude The Shift to Slavery Regional Contrasts The Pilgrims Arrive in Plymouth Reasons for Puritan Immigration The Idea of the Covenant Servitude in New England Mounting Conflict with Native Americans Native Americans as Active Agents Puritan Economics King Philip's War Struggles for Power An Indian Slave Woman Confesses to Witchcraft The Sin of Slaveholding English Liberties PART 3. A LAND OF CONTRASTS Mercantilist Ideas New Netherlands: America's First Multicultural Society New Netherlands Becomes New York Indian Affairs The Schenectady Massacre Persecution of the Quakers The Quaker Ideal of Religious Tolerance South Carolina Georgia English Liberties and Deference Queen Anne's War Immigration and Ethnic Diversity Indentured Servitude Suspicion of Arbitrary Power The Great Awakening Fear of Slave Revolts America as a Land of Opportunity PART 4. THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR British North America in 1775 A Soldier's Diary Fasting and Repentance The Capture of Quebec The Seven Years' War and the Growth of Antislavery Sentiment The Fate of Native Americans PART 5. THE AGE OF REVOLUTION The Proclamation of 1763 The Stamp Act Crisis The Townshend Acts The Boston Massacre The Regulators Samuel Adams The Boston Tea Party American Resistance to Britain The Battles of Lexington and Concord Declaring Independence Slavery and the American Revolution Benedict Arnold's Treason The War in the South The Articles of Confederation PART 6. CREATING A NEW NATION Native Americans and the American Revolution The Newburgh Conspiracy Slavery in Postrevolutionary America White Slavery Relations with Britain The Critical Period and Shays' Rebellion Northwest Ordinance Creating Republican Governments The U.S. Constitution Debates within the Constitutional Convention The Three-fifths Compromise Fugitive Slaves and the Constitution A Proslavery Document? Ratification Debates The New Republic The Birth of Political Parties The Haitian Revolution The Citizen Genet Affair The Whiskey Rebellion Washington's Farewell Address The Quasi-War with France and the XYZ Affair Jeffersonian Republicanism The Jeffersonians in Power REPEAL OF THE JUDICIARY ACT OF 1801 Judicial Review: Louisiana, Expansion, and Disunionist Conspiracies: Slavery and Race in Jeffersonian America: The American Eagle, the French Tiger, and the British Shark: The Dambargo of 1807: The Road to War: The "War Hawks": Clearing the Land of Indians: Missionary Work and Indian Policy: PART 7. ANTEBELLUM AMERICA SHIFTS IN SENSIBILITY: FAMILY, GENDER ROLES, RELIGION, AND THE RISE OF HUMANITARIANISM The Emergence of the Republican Family: Republican Motherhood: Religious Liberalism and Evangelical Revivalism: Disestablishment: ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN REFORM TRADITION Dueling: Education: Colonization: Postward Nationalism and Division: 1818 AND 1819: WATERSHED YEARS IN AMERICAN HISTORY The Second Bank of the United States: McCullough v. Maryland: Acquiring Florida: The Monroe Doctrine: The Missouri Crisis: Slavery and Sectionalism: The Underground Railroad: The Rise of the Second Party System: The Election of 1824: POWER AND IDEOLOGY IN JACKSON'S AMERICA Nullification and the Bank War: Political Democratization and the Dorr War: Party Competition and the Rise of the Whigs: Antebellum Reform: The Shift to Immediatism: Abolition and Slavery: Nat Turner's Insurrection: Narrative and Testimony of Sarah M. Grimke: Testimony of Angelina Grimke: A Proslavery New Yorker: From Antislavery to Women's Rights: MANIFEST DESTINY Gone to Texas: Texas Annexation: Mounting Sectional Antagonisms: The Amistad Affair: Political Antislavery: The Free Soil Party: The Mexican War: THE ESCALATING CONFLICT OVER SLAVERY The Compromise of 1850: Mass Immigration: The Know-Nothings and the Disintegration of the Second-Party System: AMERICA AT MIDCENTURY Revival of the Slavery Issue: Bleeding Kansas: Bleeding Sumner: The Dred Scott Decision: The Gathering Storm: Harpers Ferry: The Secession Crisis: PART 8. CIVIL WAR THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NAMES The Emancipation Proclamation: Gettysburg: TOWARD RECONSTRUCTION The Nature and History of the Gilder Lehrman Collection:

Abstract: 1. Interpreting the American Revolution ESSAYS Barbara Clark Smith, The Revolution Preserved Social Inequality Gordon S. Wood, The Revolution Destroyed Monarchy and Paved the Way for Democracy T. H. Breen, Boycotts Made the Revolution Radical 2. Society and Politics on the Eve of the Revolution DOCUMENTS 1. Venture Smith, a Connecticut Slave, Earns His Freedom, 1729-1766 2. John Adams, a College Graduate, Views Rural Massachusetts, 1760 3. Anna Green Winslow, a Schoolgirl, Learns About Growing Up in Boston, 1771 4. Philip Vickers Fithian, a New Jersey Tutor, Admires the Tidewater Gentry, 1773 ESSAYS Jack P. Greene, The Preconditions of the American Revolution Richard R. Beeman, The Emergence of Popular Politics 3. The British Empire and the War for America DOCUMENTS 1. Franklin et al. Devise Albany Plan of Colonial Union, 1754 2. Benjamin Franklin Predicts the Plan of Union Will Fail, 1754 3. Order in Council on the Reform of the Customs Service, 1763 4. Rev. Thomas Barnard Looks to Future Glories, 1763 ESSAYS Fred Anderson, Friction Between Colonial Troops and British Regulars P. J. Marshall, Britain Defined by Its Empire 4. British Reforms and Colonial Resistance DOCUMENTS 1. Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions, 1765 2. Governor Francis Bernard Describes the Boston Riot, 1765 3. The Declarations of the Stamp Act Congress, 1765 4. "William Pym" Asserts Parliamentary Supremacy, 1765 5. The House of Commons Questions Benjamin Franklin, 1766 6. Lord Camden (Charles Pratt) Exhorts Parliament to Change Direction, 1766 7. Parliament Repeals the Stamp Act but Declares Its Authority, 1766 8. John Dickinson Exhorts the Colonists to Opposition, 1767-1768 9. Charleston Merchants Propose a Plan of Nonimportation, 1769 ESSAYS Edmund S. and Helen M. Morgan, The Assertion of Parliamentary Control and Its Significance Pauline Maier, The Townshend Acts and the Consolidation of Colonial Resistance 5. The Imperial Crisis: From the Tea Act to the Declaration of Independence DOCUMENTS 1. John Adams Reflects on the Boston Tea Party, 1773 2. Parliament Debates the Coercive Acts, 1774 3. The Coercive Acts, 1774 4. Thomas Jefferson Asserts American Rights, 1774 5. Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress, 1774 6. King George Proclaims America in Rebellion, 1775 7. Thomas Paine Calls for Common Sense, 1776 8. The Declaration of Independence, 1776 ESSAYS Thomas M. Doerflinger, The Mixed Motives of Merchant Revolutionaries Pauline Maier, Declaring Independence 6. Fighting for Independence DOCUMENTS 1. John Adams Discusses Military Preparations, 1776 2. General George Washington Asks Congress for an Effective Army, 1776 3. Congress Calls on States to Support the Continental Army, 1776 4. A Soldier Views Mutiny Among American Troops, 1780 5. General George Washington Explains Army Problems and Calls for Help, 1780 6. A Veteran Remembers the Battle of Saratoga, 1777 7. Two Views of the Battle of Yorktown, 1781 ESSAYS John W. Shy, Hearts and Minds: The Case of "Long Bill" Scott Don Higginbotham, The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Militia 7. Outsiders and Enemies: Native Americans and the Loyalists DOCUMENTS 1. Oneida Indians Declare Neutrality, 1775 2. John Adams Reports Congress"s Strategy Toward the Native Americans, 1775 3. Chickasaw Indians Seek Help, 1783 4. Patriots Intimidate a New Jersey Loyalist, 1775 5. A Patriot Urges Congress to Execute Loyalists, 1776 6. A Newspaper Attack on Loyalists, 1779 7. Thomas Hutchinson Criticizes the Declaration of Independence, 1776 8. Loyalists Plead Their Cause to King, Parliament, and the British People, 1782 9. Benjamin Rush Contrasts Loyalists and Patriots, 1777 ESSAYS Gregory Evans Dowd, There Was No Winning Strategy for the Indians Robert M. Calhoon, The Loyalists Confront Civil, Revolutionary, and Partisan Warfare 8. Are All Men Equal? The African-American Challenge DOCUMENTS 1. Massachusetts Slaves Argue for Freedom, 1773 2. Worcester Country, Massachusetts, Calls for the Abolition of Slavery, 1775 3. Lemuel Haynes, a Free New England Mulatto, Attacks Slavery, 1776 4. Lord Dunmore Promises Freedom to Slaves Who Fight for Britain, 1775 5. Three Virginia Counties Defend Slavery, 1785 6. Abraham Lincoln"s Gettysburg Address, 1863 ESSAYS Sylvia R. Frey, Slavery Attacked and Defended Ira Berlin, The Revolution in Black Life 9. Gender and Citizenship in a Revolutionary Republic DOCUMENTS 1. Thomas Paine Admits Women Have Some Rights 2. Abigail and John Adams Debate Women"s Rights, 1776 3. An American Woman Asserts Women"s Rights, 1780 4. The Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls Convention, 1848 ESSAYS Linda K. Kerber, The Revolution and Women"s Rights Jan Lewis, Women Were Recognized in the Constitution 10. Toleration Versus Religious Freedom in a Protestant Republic DOCUMENTS 1. Toleration Can Be Joined to Religious Establishment, 1776 2. Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, 1780 3. Boston Supports Religion for the Sake of Order, 1780 4. Ashby, Massachusetts, Opposes Religious Establishment, 1780 5. Rev. Ezra Stiles, America Will Sustain Christian Truth, 1783 6. Philadelphia Jews Seek Equality Before the Law, 1783 7. James Madison Protests Religious Taxes, 1785 8. Thomas Jefferson"s Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty, 1786 9. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, 1791 ESSAYS Jon Butler, Was There a Revolutionary Millennium? William G. McLoughlin, The Role of Religion in the Revolution 11. Peacetime Government Under the Articles of Confederation DOCUMENTS 1. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, 1781 2. Congress Passes an Ordinance on Western Lands, 1785 3. The Northwest Ordinance, 1787 4. Congressman Charles Pinckney Admonishes the New Jersey Legislature, 1786 5. Delegates Report from a Demoralized Congress, 1787 6. Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Farmers Call for Help, 1786 7. Regulators Call for Popular Support, 1786 8. The Massachusetts Legislature Advises Thrift, Virtue, and Patience, 1786 ESSAYS Jack N. Rakove, American Federalism Before the Constitution John L. Brooke, In Massachusetts All Politics Was Local in the 1780s 12. Making the Constitution of 1787 DOCUMENTS 1. James Madison on the Vices of the Political System of the United States, 1787 2. Edmund Randolph Presents the Virginia Plan, 1787 3. William Patterson Proposes the New Jersey Plan, 1787 4. Congress Debates the New Jersey and Virginia Plans, 1787 5. Congress Debates the Issues, 1787: Democracy and the Lower House Sectional Interests and Legislative Apportionment Qualifications for Voters Slavery and the Importation of Slaves 6. The Constitution of the United States of America, 1787 ESSAYS Lance G. Banning, What Happened at the Constitutional Convention Jack N. Rakove, Ideas and Interests Drove Constitution-Making 13. Ratification Politics and the Bill of Rights DOCUMENTS 1. The Federalist Expounds the Advantages of the Constitution, 1787-1788: Factions and Their Remedy (James Madison, No. 10) The Constitution Is National and Federal (James Madison, No. 39) The System of Checks and Balances (Alexander Hamilton or James Madison, No. 51) No Bill of Rights Is Needed (Alexander Hamilton, No. 84) 2. Antifederalists Attack the Constitution, 1787-1788: Richard Henry Lee on Why a National Government Will Be Unrepresentative and Despotic James Winthrop Explains Why a Large Republic Cannot Work Mercy Otis Warren Offers Eighteen Reasons to Reject the Constitution 3. Proceedings in the State Ratifying Conventions, 1788: Massachusetts Proposes Amendments to the Constitution Patrick Henry of Virginia Denounces the Constitution Virginia"s Declaration of Rights and Proposed Amendments to the Constitution 4. The Constitutional Amendments, 1791 (The Bill of Rights) ESSAYS Isaac Kramnick, The Main Themes of Constitutional Discussion Leonard W. Levy, The Politics of the Bill of Rights 14. The Consequences of the Revolution ESSAYS Rosemarie Zagarri, The Revolution Advanced Men"s and Women"s Rights Alfred F. Young, The Revolution Was Radical in Some Ways, Not in Others Edward Countryman, The Revolution Rearranged North America"s Human Landscape

Abstract: IN their Declaration of Independence the thirteen American colonies presented a scorching denunciation of their king, George III, on whom they blamed the sorry state of affairs which had deprived them of their traditional British liberties. He had caused the Revolution; he was a bad king, the villain of the story. The Americans listed explicitly the crimes of which he was guilty; in fact, almost two-thirds of the Declaration hammers at the king's specific sins. How long had this hatred existed? Was its documentation nothing but an emotional tirade well calculated to swing over the fence-sitters who had hitherto not been able to deny their king? Or, was it the climax of a gradual development which by honest logic had arrived at the conclusion that George III was personally intent on enslaving the British colonies? The colonists had acclaimed George III at his coronation-they had every reason to believe that he would be a good king. He had been educated in England; his tutor, Lord Bute, had instructed him in the duties of his office. George III presumably understood the position which the British king occupied in government; it was known that he took the job seriously. The very blundering colonial policy that developed after his accession to the throne was not foreseen by the colonists. But, expected or not, they could not overlook the meaning behind the passage of the Stamp Act and then, following its repeal, of the Townshend Acts whose provisions for taxation emphasized the evils inherent in the Declaratory Act. The neglect of their petitions, the dissolution of assemblies, and the quartering of troops were all overt indications of tyranny. Virginians, and surely they are typical of the other colonists, did not fail so to interpret them. Their newspapers, the Virginia Gazettes, 1 conclusively prove their awareness of George III's ultimate responsibility for colonial policy after 1767. For them, the Declaration of Independence with its vigorous

Abstract: The "Infamas GovenerFrancis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution. Colin Nicolson. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 2001. 326 pages. $24.00 (hardcover).Francis Bernard served as royal governor of Massachusetts from 1760 to 1769, playing a pivotal role during the years leading up to the Revolution. Colin Nicolson, the editor of the six volumes of Bernard's correspondence and lecturer at the University of Sterling, Scotland, portrays Bernard as an imperial reformer, "caught in the crossfire between Britain and the colonies" (5). Rather than being a tyrant, as his opponents demonized him, he was, according to Nicolson, guilty of underestimating the strength of the revolutionary movement. He was too intent on rigidly upholding the supremacy of Parliament and unwilling to bend even the slightest in the winds of political radicalism. Nicolson argues that Bernard's reports on the political conditions in Massachusetts significantly influenced, if not determined, the policies and actions of the British government toward Massachusetts.Nicolson's meticulously and richly researched political biography emphasizes Bernard's failure to reconcile his loyalty to the British crown with the realities of colonial governance in the 1760s. Bernard sincerely believed that the cure for the antipathies to British rule in Massachusetts could be achieved by strengthening and enforcing the authority of royal officials, by reason if possible, by force if necessary. Nicolson points out that Bernard was tactless in his defense of imperial rule. He specifically asserts that Bernard did not panic in the face of what he viewed as increasing colonial violence. But Nicolson's evidence, drawn heavily from Bernard's correspondence, shows the contrary. Bernard also was unable to convince the "friends of [royal] government" who were the "mainstay of antirevolutionary sentiment in Massachusetts" to support him (112).Bernard served as Governor of the New Jersey province from 17581760. He had early success in resolving the competing demands of London policymakers and vested interests in that province. However, he could not negotiate the more complicated political terrain in the more radical Massachusetts. The Stamp Act riots in Boston appear to be a turning point. According to Nicolson:What Bernard witnessed in August 1765 never left him: his impressionistic accounts of an unstable polity struggling to realize ill-informed directives from London was the single, enduring message in his official correspondence for years to come. Henceforth, Bernard was preoccupied with recovering his dignity and exposing those whom he believed were conspiring against royal government (123).Bernard became a prime target of the radicals' increasing opposition to the Townshend Acts of 1767. The colony's House of Representatives censured Bernard in 1767 and, in the following year, approved a petition calling for his dismissal. The Whigs, led by James Otis and Samuel Adams, focused their polemics on Bernard. Perhaps because he became the symbol of royal tyranny and seemed to have no support anywhere in the colony, he repeatedly asked for help from London in the form of more stringent enforcement of collection of the taxes and, finally, calling for troops to be sent to Boston. He retreated at times to Castle William, a fort in Boston Harbor, and eventually moved five miles out of Boston to Jamaica Plain, then a suburb of the city.The British government relied heavily on Bernard's reports of the events in the colony. Because they respected his judgement, they took him at his word, but Nicolson points out that Bernard's correspondence was flawed for, among other reasons, overstating the extent of violence in the colony, and being unable or unwilling to name those he claimed were intent on insurrection. …