History 1301 10

1765 QUARTERING ACT
• The British government built up British troop strength in
colonial North America to protect the colonies against
threats posed by remaining Frenchmen and Indians.
• In March 1765, Parliament passed the Quartering Act to
address the practical concerns of such a troop
deployment. Under the terms of this legislation, each
colonial assembly was directed to provide for the basic
needs of soldiers stationed within its borders. Specified
items included bedding, cooking utensils, firewood, beer
or cider and candles. This law was expanded in 1766
and required the assemblies to billet soldiers in taverns
and unoccupied houses.

Why?
• Some real concern about colonial safety,
and why not let the colonists pay for their
own defense?
• British Veterans of French and Indian war
could be left in America and colonists
would pay the cost both of their pensions
and on going pay.

Effect of Quartering Act?
• Resistance was strongest in New York. In January 1766,
the assembly there refused to fund the full amount
requested by the Crown. The New Yorkers reasoned that
it was unfair to expect them to pay the full cost of
Thomas Gage’s growing army. Bickering between the
assembly and British officials continued into the fall,
when the legislature voted to not fund at all. In October
1767, the New York assembly was suspended until the
soldiers' needs were fully funded. This crisis later
passed, but an immense amount of bitterness remained
and many colonists became suspicious about British
intentions. The Quartering Act was amended in 1774
when it would again ignite the fears of many Americans.

• HOW ABOUT THE REST OF
THE DEBT?

The Sugar Act-
The American Revenue Act of 1764
• A modified version of the Sugar and Molasses
Act (1733), which was about to expire.
• Act was actually less tax than prior act, but
would be collected!
• Taxes levied on sugar by the British collected at
the ports when sugar was imported by the
colonies. The act also listed more foreign goods
to be taxed including certain wines, coffee,
pimiento, cambric and printed calico, and further,
regulated the export of lumber and iron.

RESULTS
• Reduced Rum production
• Reduced trade, which lessened the
amount of currency.
• Indirect tax. Not felt directly by many.
Many were unaware that it existed, but
surely felt its effects.
• Set the stage for later protests and revolt
as legislation increased.

The Currency Act of 1764
• Balance of trade with Great Britain already contributed to
a shortage of currency in the colonies.
• Colonies had printed their own money. Value differed
from colony to colony. Debt repayment was an issue.
• The Currency Act prohibited the colonies from
issuing paper money in any form. This Act offset the
economy of the colonies and was widely opposed. It hurt
trade by removing the circulating medium and went a
considerable way in creating the dissatisfaction in the
Colonies that eventually led to the American Revolution.
• Was this the true cause of the Revolution?

STAMP ACT OF 1765
• Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses,
newspapers, other publications, and even
playing cards were taxed.
• The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be
used to help pay the costs of defending and
protecting the American frontier near the
Appalachian Mountains (10,000 troops were to
be stationed on the American frontier for this
purpose).
• A DIRECT TAX THAT ANGERED MANY.

RESULT OF THE STAMP ACT
• The actual cost of the Stamp Act was relatively
small. What made the law so offensive to the
colonists was not so much its immediate cost
but the standard it seemed to set. In the past,
taxes and duties on colonial trade had always
been viewed as measures to regulate
commerce, not to raise money. The Stamp Act,
however, was viewed as a direct attempt by
England to raise money in the colonies without
the approval of the colonial legislatures. If this
new tax were allowed to pass without resistance,
the colonists reasoned, the door would be open
for far more troublesome taxation in the future.

Colonial Reaction-1764-1765
• Few colonists believed that they could do anything more
than grumble and buy the stamps until the Virginia
House of Burgesses adopted Patrick Henry's Stamp Act
Resolves.
• These resolves declared that Americans possessed the
same rights as the English, especially the right to be
taxed only by their own representatives; that Virginians
should pay no taxes except those voted by the Virginia
House of Burgesses; and that anyone supporting the
right of Parliament to tax Virginians should be considered
an enemy of the colony. The House of Burgesses
defeated the most extreme of Henry's resolutions, but
four of the resolutions were adopted.

PATRICK HENRY
FROM VIRGINIA,
MEMBER OF THE
HOUSE OF
BURGESSES.
INSPIRATIONAL
ORATOR WHO
MOTIVATED
COLONISTS TOWARD
THE REVOLUTION.
GIVE ME LIBERTY OR
GIVE ME DEATH!

STAMP ACT CONGRESS
OCT.1765
• ATTENDED BY REPRESENTATIVES OF
NINE COLONIES IN NEW YORK
• FORMULATED 12 RESTRAINED
RESOLUTIONS THAT ACCEPTED
PARLIAMENT’S RIGHT TO LEGISLATE
FOR THE COLONIES BUT NEDINED ITS
RIGHT TO TAX THEM DIRECTLY.
• BRANDED BY THE BRITISH AS A
“DANGEROUS TENDENCY”

MORE REACTION TO THE
STAMP ACT
• In Boston in early summer of 1765 a group of
shopkeepers and artisans who called
themselves The Loyal Nine, began preparing for
agitation against the Stamp Act. As that group
grew, it came to be known as the Sons of
Liberty.
• These were not the leading men of Boston, but
rather workers and tradesmen. Benjamin Edes,
a printer, and John Gill of the Boston Gazette
produced a steady stream of news and opinion.
Within a very short time a group of some two
thousand men had been organized under
Ebenezer McIntosh, a South Boston shoemaker.

SONS OF LIBERTY
• LED A MAJOR REVOLT IN BOSTON.
EFFIGY BURNING.
• By the end of that year the Sons of Liberty
existed in every colony. Their most popular
objective was to force Stamp Distributors
throughout the colonies to resign.

POWER OF THE PRESS
• The success in undermining the Stamp Act
cannot be attributed to violence alone.
• Their most effective work was performed in
newsprint. A great many of the Sons were
printers and publishers themselves and even
those who were not, were sympathetic to the
cause.
• It was they who would pay the most in duties,
after all. Nearly every newspaper in the colonies
carried daily reports of the activities of the Sons

REVOLT
• When the Stamp Act became effective on the 1st
of November, 1765, nearly all of these papers
went right on publishing without the required
Stamp.
• The first successful efforts to unite the colonies
were not undertaken by their respective
legislatures, but by independent radical groups.
The various Sons throughout the colonies began
to correspond and develop a larger organization.

BOYCOTTS
• Another response was a Boycott.
Colonists refused to buy British goods.
• This directly hurt British merchants who
then put pressure on Parliament to repeal
the Stamp Act.

Declaratory Act-March 1766
• Bowing to pressure and reality, and the
testimony of Ben Franklin, Parliament
repealed the Stamp Act.
• Passed the Declaratory Act which
asserted Parliament’s power to enact
laws for the colonies in ”all cases
whatsoever.”

HOME RULE
• The colonists idea for self government.
• Many desired to remain a British colony,
but without interference.
• We just want it the way it used to be…way
back before the French and Indian War.
• Great Britain’s colonies most all sought
home rule, most notably India.

Townsend Acts-1767
• Charles Townsend,
known as “Champagne
Charlie” to his friends,
was the chancellor of the
exchequer in the period
following the repeal of the
Stamp Act.
• The Chancellor of the
Exchequer is the title
held by the British
Cabinet Minister who is
responsible for all
economic and financial
matters.

High Ambitions
• Hoping to enhance his political career, he tackled the
pressing problem of imperial finance. Riots in England
convinced him that tax relief was needed at home, but
he hoped to reduce the national debt by imposing taxes
in the colonies. This made sense to Townshend and
others because the recent French and Indian War had
been fought on behalf of the colonies and had
contributed mightily to the indebtedness.
• The Townsend Acts (1767) were a relatively small tax on
imports such as paper, glass, lead, painters’ colors and
tea. Another indirect, or hidden, tax .
• Wow, these things cost more and we don’t know why.

But in Boston…
• John Hancock, a successful merchant and
trader, first comes on the scene accused by
the British of smuggling Madeira Wine without
paying the proper tax resulting in revolt.

Actual/Virtual Representative
• Americans held to the view of actual
representation, meaning that in order to be taxed
by Parliament, the Americans rightly should have
actual legislators seated and voting in London.
• The British, on the other hand, supported the
concept of virtual representation, which was
based on the belief that a Member of Parliament
virtually represented every person in the empire
and there was no need for a specific
representative from Virginia or Massachusetts.

No taxation without representation.
• If taxes were necessary, then the
Americans wanted their own assemblies
to impose them. Further, the colonists
wanted Parliamentary recognition of this
perceived right. Essentially, "No taxation
without representation" really meant, “If we
have no representation in Parliament they
should not be able to tax us and should let
us run our own affairs."

Repeal of Townshend duties
• England’s colonial monetary policies were
a disaster.
• March 5, 1770, Parliament repealed all the
Townshend duties except the one on tea.
• But on that same evening in Boston,
British troops fired on a crowd of heckling
citizens, killing five.

PROPAGANDA?
FACT OR FICTION?
• British soldiers under Captain Thomas
Preston fired on an unruly Boston crowd,
killing five and wounding six. In a
subsequent trial, in which John Adams
defended the soldiers, all but two of the
soldiers were acquitted of murder.
• Did the soldier hear “Don’t Fire!”

Boston Massacre Monument
• The event in Boston helped to
unite the colonies against
Britain. What started as a
“minor snowball fight” became
a turning point in the
beginnings of the American
Revolution. The Boston
Massacre helped spark the
colonists' desire for American
independence, while the dead
rioters became martyrs for
liberty.
• How did this happen?
• Tune in tomorrow…

PROPAGANDA
• Rhetoric or other communication designed
to incite, persuade, manipulate or
influence people to take action.
• Patrick Henry caused people to want:
1) Representation in Parliament, then
2) Home rule
3) Independence

Propaganda
• Is as old as history and takes on many
forms.
• In recent years it was fashionable to
dismiss news from Russia as “Communist
Propaganda”
• Perhaps the latest version of Propaganda
is the political art we call “spin.”

Urban Legends-
Today’s Propaganda
• The following is an untrue urban
legend written about a supposed
relative of politician Harry Reid.
(Albert Gore)
• The unfortunate man about to
meet his maker is outlaw Tom
“Black Jack” Ketchum, a Texan.

• 'Remus Reid,
horse thief, sent to
Montana Territorial
Prison 1885,
escaped 1887,
robbed the
Montana Flyer six
times. Caught by
Pinkerton
detectives,
convicted and
hanged in 1889.'

• 'Remus Reid was a famous cowboy in the
Montana Territory. His business empire grew to
include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets
and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad.
Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of
his life to government service, finally taking
leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In
1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation
run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective
Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an
important civic function held in his honor when
the platform upon which he was standing
collapsed.'

1772-Gaspee runs aground while
chasing a smuggler, boarded by
colonists and burned.
AFTER BOSTON MASSACRE, SECOND VIOLENT EVENT.

Remember the Boston Massacre?
• The British Soldiers fired on a Boston mob
on Kings Street and created what we
know as the Boston Massacre.
• It would probably have been a mere
footnote to history, except for its direct
impact on the men that were there, were it
not for one other man, Samuel Adams.

Samuel Adams
• Adams was an effective
speaker, particularly
against the royal
governor. Adams
organized the protest
against the Stamp Act
(1765) and was a
founder of the Sons of
Liberty. He was the most
influential member of the
lower house of the
Massachusetts legislature
(1765-74), he drafted
most of the major protest
documents, including the
Circular Letter (1768)
against the Townshend
Acts. He also wrote
frequently for the press
in defense of colonial
rights.

Samuel Adams • Samuel Adams was the
son of a wealthy brewer.
•(The brewery in Boston
was started in 1985.)
• A Master of Propaganda.
Adams could see that
revolution was on its way,
and did whatever it took to
incite people toward
revolution.
•He organized the
Committees of
Correspondence.

Tea Act of 1773
• Allowed the practically bankrupt East India
Company to ship its tea directly from
India* to North America with the colonists
paying only a small tax. Americans could
buy inexpensive tea, the crown would earn
a modest revenue, and the East India
Company would gain a new lease on life.
• Sounds just fine, right?

Well, no not really…
• Colonists reacted furiously since their
smuggled Dutch tea would be undersold.
• Merchants denounced the monopoly and
said they could not compete.
• Colonists saw the true object being to gain
acceptance of Parliament’s taxing power.
• If you drink the tea you swallow the
English right to tax you.

Boston Tea Party
• A showdown with Governor Thomas
Hutchinson ensued. Send the ships back.
Neither side backed down.
• A LARGE band of Bostonians, probably
Sons of Liberty, dressed as Indians,
boarded the tea ships and flung £10,000
($1Million) worth of Tea into Boston
Harbor.

Boston Tea Party, a Big Party
• The Boston Tea Party was a well-organized
event that included representatives from all the
social classes of the city, organizers and
participants, something that had generally been
untrue during previous mob actions.
• At the Tea Party itself, groups of 30 to 60 men
boarded the three ships that were now in the
Boston Harbor at Griffin 's Wharf and each
custom officer was escorted off the ship. The
only goal of the group was to dump the chests of
tea into the water, 114 chests from the
Dartmouth, 114 from the Eleanor, and 112 from
the Beaver.
• The Boston Tea Party took less then 3 hours to
finish. Government officials watched, but never
gave an order to interfere.

How far will they go?
• The Boston Tea Party accomplished much
for the patriot cause, as it symbolized just
how far they were willing to go in order to
oppose laws they felt were unfair. Yet it
also disgusted those who supported
Parliament 's decisions, by proving that
the patriots were perfectly willing to
destroy private property in the name of
their goals.

And it was contagious
• Charleston, South Carolina, and Chester
Town, Maryland, also held tea parties.
• Showed a unity among the colonists.
Great Britain could not longer play off one
colony against another.

• Although it has been over two centuries since
the moonlit March night in 1770 when British
soldiers killed five Bostonians on King Street,
people still debate responsibility for the Boston
Massacre.
• Does the blame rest with the crowd of
Bostonians who hurled insults, snowballs,
oysters shells, and other objects at the soldiers,
or does the blame rest with an overreacting
military that violated laws of the colony that
prohibited firing at civilians?
• Whatever side one takes in the debate, all can
agree that the Boston Massacre stands as a
significant landmark on the road to the American
Revolution.

British Reaction
• Great Britain now realized that the dispute
was no longer about taxes but about
whether England had any authority over
the colonies.
• Well, let’s see if they still had any
authority. Great Britain’s Parliament
passed some new laws…

The Five Coercive Acts or
The Intolerable Acts
• Boston Port Act: The first of these closed
the port of Boston until the East India
Company was paid for the lost tea. This
created a great hardship for the people of
Boston whose livelihood depended on
trade.

Massachusetts Government Act
• The second modified the Massachusetts Charter
of 1691, taking away many of its rights of self-government.
It was aimed at punishing Boston
and forcing it out of resistance. Almost all
positions in the colonial government were to be
appointment by the governor or directly by the
King. Activities of town meetings were limited.
Massachusetts was very proud of its
independence and was angry at this
infringement on its rights.

Administration of Justice Act
• The third measure provided that British
officials accused of committing crimes in a
colony might be taken to England for
trial. Because it would mean witnesses
would be forced to travel, the practical
effect was thought to be that the British
officials would escape justice.

The Quartering Act
• The fourth measure allowed the British to
quarter British soldiers in colonial buildings
at the expense of the colonists, including
colonists' homes, if there were insufficient
space in other buildings.

The Quebec Act
• The fifth act extended the boundaries of
the province of Quebec. Because Quebec
did not have representative assemblies,
many colonists thought this transfer of
land from the colonies to unrepresented
Quebec was another attempt to punish the
colonies and solidify British control.

• As late as 1774, most colonists did not favor
declaring independence from the British Crown.
Far from rejecting monarchy, most Americans
saw the king as their protector from oppressive
acts of Parliament. The delegates to the First
Continental Congress, which had assembled in
Philadelphia in September 1774, hoped for
reconciliation with Britain. They asked
Massachusetts Bay colonists, who were the
most radical in their opposition to British policies,
to avoid involving "all America in the horrors of a
civil war."
REMEMBER A THIRD…A THIRD….A THIRD

First Continental Congress
• 1774-The Intolerable Acts helped to unite the colonies in
their resistance to the British as the other American
colonies united in sympathy with Massachusetts. Virginia
set aside a day of prayer and fasting and proposed that
the colonies meet. This led to the calling of the First
Continental Congress in September 1774.
• Delegates from every colony but Georgia met in secret
at the Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin
had proposed such a meeting a year earlier, but after the
Port of Boston was closed the momentum for such a
meeting grew rapidly. The goal of the Congress was to
resolve the differences between England and the
colonies.

• Though far from united, the Congress sent to Britain in
October 14, 1774, a petition demanding the Intolerable
Acts be repealed.
• They also agreed to a boycott of British goods and trade
with Britain. They adopted the Continental Association,
which established a total boycott by means of non-importation,
non-exportation and non-consumption
accords. These agreements were to be enforced by a
group of committees in each community, which would
publish the names of merchants defying the boycott,
confiscate contraband and encourage public frugality.
• In England, many urged that the crown try to regain good
relations with the colonies and avoid war, including
Edmund Burke.

• When King George III heard of the colonists'
demands, he answered: "The die is now cast.
The colonies must either submit or triumph." The
British refused to repeal the Intolerable Acts.
• At this Congress some began to think like
Americans for the first time. In the words of
Patrick Henry "I am not a Virginian, but an
American." When he returned to the Virginia
Convention, his voice rang throughout the
colonies. "I know not what course others may
take, but as for me, give me liberty or give
me death."

Send in the Military!
• In February 1775, Parliament declared
Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. This
declaration permitted soldiers to shoot
suspected rebels on sight. In April, British
General Thomas Gage received secret orders to
arrest the ringleaders of colonial unrest. To
avoid arrest, colonial leaders fled Boston.
• Gage decided to seize and destroy arms that the
patriots had stored at Concord, 20 miles
northwest of Boston.

Spread the alarm, through every
Middlesex, village and farm!
• When Joseph Warren, a Boston patriot,
discovered that British troops were on the
march, he sent Paul Revere and William Dawes
to warn the people about the approaching
forces.
• On the night of April 18, Paul Revere and
William Dawes alerted patriots of the approach
of British forces. Revere was seized and Dawes
was turned back at Lexington, Mass., but the
Concord militia moved or destroyed the supplies
and prepared to defend their town.

SHOTS HEARD ‘ROUND THE
WORLD
• On April 19, British redcoats arrived at Lexington
and ordered 70 armed "Minutemen" to disperse.
A shot rang out and drew fire from the British
soldiers. Eight Americans were killed. The British
moved on to Concord, destroyed the supplies
they found, then returned to Boston, as
American patriots fired from behind hedges and
walls. British losses were 65 (70) dead, 173
wounded, and 26 missing. American casualties
were 49 MINUTEMEN dead and 46 wounded or
missing.

• 1775: In May, the second Continental
Congress convened in Philadelphia and
appoints George Washington commander-in-
chief.
• NEW FACES APPEARED…John
Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and
Benjamin Franklin
• Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys
captured Fort Ticonderoga.
• Still, many hoped for reconciliation.

The line in the sand
• At the end of 1775 word arrived that the
Olive Branch Petition had been rejected
by the king along with his proclamation
that the colonies were in ”Open and
Avowed Rebellion.”
• Oh, yeah, he sent 20,000 additional British
troops to quell the “insurrection.”
• Congress’s actions-treasonable and all
who obeyed Congress were traitors.

Thomas Paine
• Denied the very legitimacy of monarchy.
• “Of more worth is one honest man to
society than all the crowned ruffians that
ever lived.”
• 25 Editions in 1776
• Best seller of its day
• Style was written for the common man.

And another thing…
• Paine pointed out that independence from
Britain mean that the colonists would no
longer have to fight in all the British wars.
• This was later re echoed by George
Washington and later in the Monroe
Doctrine.

In the rest of the world…
• Spain developed a policy of
procrastination and delay, to regain her
strength.
• France still wanted to be the major power
in Europe.
• Portugal and the Netherlands faded into
the background because of their
weakness in Europe.

What about France?
• An alliance with the new America
could be useful to France as a means
of restoring her position in Europe.
• Machiavellian principles continued-a
good object of the state justified the
employment of any means.

Two European Ways to Success
• Maintain an army and navy as strong as
possible, ready to take advantage of any
opportunity.
• Watch sharply the life and affairs of other
countries to take advantage of their
necessities for a) allies or b) war.

• Assist, even stimulate, revolts and internal
disorders within a kingdom.
• A full blown revolution always offers
opportunities to break up a countries
power.
• Historically, and even recently, this has
been shown.

France sees an opportunity
• France watched with interest as Britain
had trouble with her colonies.
• Meanwhile, the French sought to rebuild
their army and navy and restore their
depleted treasury.
• “It is difficult to hold back people spurred
by pride or maddened by humiliation.” Not
so much French people, but their leaders.

• 1776: On July 2, the Continental Congress
approved a resolution that begins: "that
these United Colonies are, and of right
ought to be, free and independent."
• Keep an eye on Ben Franklin…

Earlier in National Treasure
• Just before he
steals the
Declaration of
Independence,
our hero is at a
party where he
proposes a
toast…

From National Treasure…
• “A toast? Yeah. To high treason. That's
what these men were committing when
they signed the Declaration. Had we lost
the war, they would have been hanged,
beheaded, drawn and quartered, and-Oh!
Oh, my personal favorite-and had their
entrails cut out and ''burned''!

France
• Looking for revenge against Great Britain.
• Saw the potential for a colonial revolt as a great
opportunity. (Louis XVI 1774-1792)
• Key players became: Charles Gravier, the
Count de Vergennes (Ver zjene) who became
the minister of foreign affairs (1774-1787). Pierre
de Beaumarchais, (Bo mar shay) a literary
genius who played at politics and was a French
secret agent. He wrote the Barber of Seville and
The Marriage of Figaro and had great favor in
the French Court.

Arthur Lee-Colonial agent who
represented Massachusetts
• 1775 met with de
Beaumarchais in
England, informed
him of colonial
intentions for
independence
and sought
French
assistance.

Louis XVI-(1754-1793)
Directed that one
million livres (about
$200,000) worth of
munitions be provided
for the colonists from
the royal arsenals. (The
livre was established by
Charlemagne as a unit of
account equal to one
pound of silver.)

Charles III of Spain
• Charles III of Spain,
who was the royal
uncle of the King of
France, matched his
nephew’s contribution
with another million.
• French investors gave
another million.

But How?
• How would the colonists get
these arms?
• If Britain found out, it would be
dire for France.

French Fear
• The French were concerned with the prospect of Anglo-
American peace. If it happened, then Britain could turn
its full attention toward the French. But the French could
not enter into a military treaty with anyone without
Spanish consent (they had a treaty in which they would
arrange all military treaties together to include both of
them).
• The Spanish supported the cause mostly because they
did not like England, not because they wanted the
Americans to come out victorious, for the Republican
idea threatened Spanish control of the Americas.
• The French could not legally aid the Americans unless
their Spanish allies agreed. The French proceeded to
offend the Spanish by signing a treaty with the
Americans anyway, without Spanish consent. Still, they
wanted to help, without Britain finding out, but how?

Reenter de Beaumarchais
• Beaumarchais now transformed himself
into a fictious commercial house with the
state name of Rodrigue Hortalez
Company. It was through him and his
fictional company that these arms and
munitions would reach the colonies.

Thus:
• Before the Declaration of Independence of
July 4, 1776, before any agent of the
colonies ever set foot on French soil, the
French Government had decided to pour
oil on the flames of rebellion in America in
order to Embarrass Great Britain and to
seek the moment of revenge.

How?
• Beaumarchais' Plan was to set up Rodrigue
Hortalez and Company, a fake company that
existed mostly to provide military aid and
munitions. It would secretly ship military aid
through Spanish connections.
• The aid was massive, directly from the French
arsenals. 90% of the gunpowder used in the first
2 years of the war came from the French and
Spanish. This delivered aid to General Horatio
Gates and led directly to the win at the crucial
Battle of Saratoga.

From another source…(to repeat)
• In many cases the ships sailed directly from France and
Spain to Portsmouth NH or other U.S. ports and returned
without any trade goods.
• The first shipment of arms arrived at Portsmouth NH in
mid-1777. It included some 200 cannon and equipment
and clothing for 25,000 men.
• These supplies were critical to the American victory at
Saratoga in 1777 October.
• Although Beaumarchais’ fleet probably never consisted
of more than ten transports and one fighting ship, Fier
Rodrigue, the military supplies provided important aid
during a time of signigicant crisis, helping the Revolution
avoid an early defeat..

Meanwhile, back in the colonies
• As early as November, 1775, Congress
had formed a secret committee “for the
sole purpose of Corresponding with our
friends in Great Britain, Ireland and other
parts of the world. The original members
were John Dickinson, Ben Franklin,
Benjamin Harrison, John Jay and Thomas
Johnson. This became a committee on
foreign affairs.

Communications
• The Secret Committee directed its first
letters to Lee, still in London and now the
agent at large of the revolutionary
Continental Congress. The next year Lee
would become one of the first diplomats to
go to France.

Silas Deane
• In 1776, they also sent
Silas Deane to negotiate
the purchase of
munitions. Deane was
very paranoid. He was
very paranoid about
spies. Is it paranoia if
what you’re paranoid
about is true? He should
have been concerned
about his secretary.

Dr. Edward Bancroft
• Edward Bancroft was a
highly regarded scientist
and writer who was hired
by Ben Franklin to spy on
the British just before the
Revolutionary War.
Nearly 70 years after
Bancroft's death, the
British government
released papers showing
he had also been paid by
the British to spy on the
colonists. Bancroft spied
for the French in 1789.

• The British followed the old European
traditions of war. Rapid volleys generally
aimed by soldiers usually three deep.
• “Three shots a minute, 4 for veteran
soldiers, that was the best fire rate they
could achieve in those days. War was
cleaner then, a game for gentlemen
played with set rules and honour, to some
extent at least.”

Real Warfare in the Revolution
• It reflected a class conscious society with
the nobility viewing the battles from afar
while the “common” soldiers fought the
battles.
• Weapons were generally inaccurate.
• Generally, both British and colonists
fought this way with notable exceptions.

General Sir Banastre Tarleton
• Is portrayed as a
bloodthirsty
soldier.
• Atrocities
happen in war.
• His atrocities
raise sentiments
for the good
guys.

Jason Isaacs
• Played the part of
Col. William
Tavington which is
based loosely on
Banastre Tarleton.
• Is a really good,
bad guy. You know
who he is?

Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter
movies
• He set a new
standard for
evil, bad
guys…

History 1301 10

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to History 1301 10

Similar to History 1301 10 (9)

More from eagleannouncer

More from eagleannouncer (9)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

History 1301 10