1. Chapter 6 – The Empire Strikes Back

2. An American Identity
The Seven Years War affected the American colonists by:
Creating pride
Distinctions between themselves and the British
Sense of identity
A nationalist perspective emerged.

3. The Sugar and Stamp Acts
The costs of the Seven Years War added to the huge government debt.
In 1764, Parliament passed the Sugar Act to raise revenue from the colonies.
Colonial protests: nonimportation movements arose in the cities, especially Boston.

4. The Press, Politics, and Republicanism
libel trial of New York City newspaper editor John Peter Zenger
The weekly newspaper was an important means of intercolonial communication & public discourse
The notion of republicanism emerged from warnings of government’s threats to liberty

5. The Stamp Act Crisis
Colonial concerns about representation in the British government.
Stamp Act - requires stamps to be purchased & placed on all paper documents (internal tax).
Beginning with Virginia, nine colonies passed resolutions denouncing the Stamp Act.

6. The Stamp Act Crisis (cont'd)
Boston emerged as a center of protest
Attacks on offices and homes of British officials.
To counter the growing violence, the Sons of Liberty was formed to encourage more moderate forms of protest.

7. Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams, a second cousin of John Adams, was a leader of the Boston radicals and an organizer of the Sons of Liberty. The artist of this portrait, John Singleton Copley, was known for setting his subjects in the midst of everyday objects; here he portrays Adams in a middle-class suit with the charter guaranteeing the liberties of Boston’s freemen.
Source: John Singleton Copley (1738–1815), Samuel Adams ca Oil on canvas, 49 1⁄2 ✕ 39 1⁄2 in. (125.7 cm ✕ cm). Deposited by the City of Boston, 30.76c. Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Reproduced with permission. ©2000 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All Rights Reserved.

8. MAP 6.3 Demonstrations against the Stamp Act, 1765
From Halifax in the North to Savannah in the South, popular demonstrations against the Stamp Act forced the resignation of British tax officials. The propaganda of 1765 even reached the breakfast table, emblazoned on teapots.

9. The Stamp Act Crisis
British merchants complain of financial loses, petitioned Parliament.
In 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act but passed the Declaratory Act, asserting control over the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.”

10. The Townshend Revenue Acts
In 1767, Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer
New revenue measure
import duties on lead, glass, paint, paper, and tea
Townshend believed Americans would not oppose “external” import taxes.
John Dickinson: Parliament had no right to tax goods to raise revenue on America.

11. An Early Political Boycott
In 1767, Boston revives the tactic of nonimportation to oppose Townshend’s taxes
By 1769 Nonimportation spreads to all the colonies but New Hampshire.
Appeals to stimulate local industry (women).
Outcome: colonial imports from Britain reduced by 41 percent (Ouch!).

12. The Massachusetts Circular Letter
Boston & Massachusetts were the center of agitation.
Samuel Adams’ circular letter denounces the Revenue Acts, calls for the colonies to “harmonize with each other” in opposition.

13. The Massachusetts Circular Letter (cont'd)
British efforts to suppress the circular letter failed and violence against British officials continued.
Rumors of mob rule and riots in Boston led to the British army occupying the city.

14. The Boston Massacre
The British troops stationed in the colonies were a source of scorn and hostility.
Confrontations arose!
In Boston, competition between British troops and townsmen over jobs was a source of conflict.

15. The Boston Massacre (cont.)
March 5, 1770
Confrontation between British soldiers and a crowd ended in the “Boston Massacre” that left five dead
Parliament had already repealed most of the Revenue Acts, keeping the tea tax to save face.

16. The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring and Feathering

17. Is this Propaganda?

18. Is this Propaganda?

19. Is this Propaganda?

20. Is this Propaganda?