Why Did Hostility Lead To The Outbreak Of Fighting And Move To Indepedence 74-76

Question 1

Why was the Boston tea party 1773 a major turning point in relations ?

Answer 1

• a well support revolutionary act and because of the reaction of the British authorities
• the intolerable acts exacerbated the worsening relations and created widespread rejection of British authority in 1774 and 1775

Question 2

What are the two elements to the deterioration in relations in 1774-1775?

Answer 2

• British reaction to protest and disorder with the determination of George III and his ministers not to insist upon British control
• action of colonists in overthrowing British authority by 1776 this was concentrated in New England and effective governance was now only limited to Boston

Question 3

How did the British perceive the intolerable acts?

Answer 3

A necessary measures to regain control
However it was a major political error in passing the Quebec Act which limited Western movement at the same time

Question 4

What were the intolerable acts indicative of ?

Answer 4

A change in George IIIs attitude and his government
- in 1766 they had bowed to pressures to repeal the Stamp Act and in 1770 most of the Townsend duties had been removed
- in 1774 establishing authority became of greater importance than economic considerations

Question 5

What happens to Lord Norths government in 1774?

Answer 5

• Boosted by re-election and the hardline of Britain in October of recruiting German mercenaries
• Followed up by the Prohibitory Act 1775 halting trade and commerce with the colonies

Question 6

What did George III declare ?

Answer 6

• his colonial subjects in North America to be rebels beyond his protection and confiscated their property
• some argue that George III declared independence of the colonies not the other way around

Question 7

What was the continental congress ?

Answer 7

• a continental congress with delegates of each colony attempting to make economic counter measures to bring about comprise
• imposed a ban on trade with Britian in 1774
• no intention to make alternative government or central authority to establish over British rule
• few thought in terms of making a new country and some delegates were forbidden from voting for independence by their colony

Question 8

Was the impulse for rebellion the same in each colony?

Answer 8

• no
• key area of opposition were Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, and South Carolina
• middle colonies such as New York and a Pennsylvania were divided with a substantial loyalist element
• in the south, prosperous eastern areas dominated by wealthy plantation owners and poorer back woods areas of the west making resistance patchy

Question 9

What happened in New England in 1774-75?

Answer 9

• local expulsion of officials
• in Massachusetts’s (part of the New England area of states) news of the intolerable acts arrived in June 1775 with crowds of up to 5000 gathering in August
• they shut down courts and pressured local officials to cease government
• militia supported this action they were now substantial farmers not just an angry mob
• led to closing of courts and the flight of royal officials

Question 10

What made the outbreak of violence in 1774 different from the previous popular protest?

Answer 10

The establishment of local committees of correspondence
- aimed to enforce the economic warfare established by the continental congress but in practice they spread opposition to British rule
- brutal attacks on officials and loyalists with tarring and feathering

Question 11

By the end of 1775 what had many of the committees of correspondence take on the function of ?

Answer 11

• local government not only enforcing economic embargo but also running firefighting, ferries, deciding land and custody disputes and maintaing roads and bridges
• not limited to New England but also Virginia, North and South Carolina

Question 12

What was the impact of the committees taking on local government by the end of 1774?

Answer 12

• took colonial authorities by suprise as they lacked sufficient force to restore order because of the scale of disturbance
• Despite radical ideas spreading the majority of the unrest was not politically motivated
• mainly down to the ending of local courts by the British parliament and farmers feared new courts would enforce loss of land due to unpaid debts

Question 13

What did the increase in disturbance make the Briths government determined to do ?

Answer 13

resist what they saw as anarchy rather than political protest which needed negotiation