Colonial History

Major Events in Colonial History

The economy of the plantations was based on a system of agricultural mass production requiring a huge labor force. The Southern plantations began to use the enforced labor of African slaves to harvest cotton, rice, indigo, sugar, tobacco for trade and export.

Trade with America was so good that the English introduced a series of laws to protect their interests in the colonies. The Navigation Acts that were passed to ensure that the American colonies only traded with England and placed taxes on goods like tobacco, sugar, rice, cotton, wool and indigo.

Various laws were passed but the British chose to allow the colonists to flout the laws associated with trade. They wanted to ensure that the America Colonies would remain loyal to the ‘mother country’ and it would have been expensive to send British troops to the American colonies to ensure the laws were enforced. So they turned a ‘blind eye’ to trade violations.

Efficient trade routes increased profits. The  'Triangular Trade' was so-called because it was three-sided, involving voyages from England to Africa, Africa to the Americas and the  Americas back to England. Trading ships were packed on each leg of their journey, ensuring maximum profitability.

Trade aside, the religious fervor in the New England colonies in the late 1600’s took an ominous turn in the guise of witch hunts. The Salem Witch Trials took many innocent victims and resulted in 100-200 arrests, the execution of 19 convicted ‘witches’, 1 man pressed to death, 1 man stoned to death & 2 dogs executed as accomplices of witches.

During the whole of the colonization period there were conflicts with the native Indians and other European countries over the lands of North America. The French and Indian Wars erupted between France and Great Britain for its lands and associated wealth that lasted for 75 years. The French and Indian War ended in 1763 with a British victory over the French but Great Britain had accumulated a massive war debt in the process.

The British looked for ways to raise money from the American colonies to reduce their war debt.  Their strategy was to tighten their control in the colonies enabling them to reverse their policy of Salutary Neglect, to enforce the Navigation Acts and to impose even more taxes on goods.

Their hard line approach to the colonies started when King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 which was designed to halt the westward expansion to new lands by the colonists by introducing a massive border, or Boundary Line, referred to as the Proclamation Line. The ‘Proclamation Line’ safeguarded Native Indian territories and repaid them for helping the British during the war. It also ensured that the Native Indians would help the British expand the fur trade. Not surprisingly, the colonists believed that the British had favored the Native Indians to the detriment of Americans. 

The French and Indian Wars might have ended but the British remained in America. They needed troops in the colonies to man the new border and enforce the ‘Proclamation Line’. They also knew that they would need a strong presence to ensure that the new taxes they planned could be collected. Colonists objected to housing British troops who would clearly be working against their interests. Their uncooperative attitude led to the British parliament passing the 1765 Quartering Act which forced the colonies to provide provisions and housing to British soldiers stationed in America.

The British need for raising revenue from the colonies resulted in Parliament passing a new law. The Stamp Act of 1765 placed a stamp duty, or tax, on 54 separate items. The tax was not on goods and commodities but on items that affected every single colonist in America including newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, calendars, certificates, diplomas, contracts, wills, Bills of Sale and Licences. Stamp Agents were appointed to collect the taxes.  Vehement opposition to the new taxes by the Sons of Liberty resulted in the Stamp Act Riots.

The Sons and Daughters of Liberty were a secret, underground organization of American patriots that was founded in Boston to force British stamp agents to resign and stop American merchants from ordering British goods.

The voices of American politicians joined those of the Sons of Liberty against the hated English laws and taxes. The cry of “No Taxation without representation!” was heard throughout the colonies. The British were losing money due to the boycotts and were forced to repeal the Stamp Act in 1766.

As the colonists celebrated their political victory parliament passed the 1766 Declaratory Act in response to their forced repeal of the Stamp Act. It gave the British a broad mandate to impose laws, and taxes, on the American colonies.

Due to the additional powers provided in the Declaratory Act the British were able to impose new taxes in the colonies. Within a year new trade laws were imposed on America. The 1767 Townshend Acts set new import taxes on British goods including paint, paper, lead, glass and tea and used revenues to maintain British troops in America.

In protest against the new taxes Boston immediately resumed its embargo of British imports. The British gave in and lifted the new taxes – except the Tea Tax. However, Great Britain needed to stem the protests of the Massachusetts colonists and sent additional troops to Boston to maintain order.

Tensions increased due to the sheer number of British troops in Boston. On March 5, 1770 British soldiers, who were quartered in the city, fired into a rioting mob and killed 5 American civilians - the event became known as the Boston Massacre.

Sons of Liberty groups had spread across all of the colonies. In 1772 a British customs ship, the HMS Gaspee, ran aground in Rhode Island and was attacked and set on fire by some Sons of Liberty. The British threatened to send culprits for trial in England, but none were ever caught. However, the threat alone was enough to anger the American politicians. Their anger turned to fury when the British interfered in the colonies again by passing the 1773 Tea Act.

The American colonists refused to buy taxed tea from the British, they either purchased tea obtained by America tea merchants via smugglers or drank coffee. Containers of tea were piling up in British warehouses. The British East India Company was on the verge of bankruptcy. The 1773 Tea Act was designed to bail out the British East India Company. The law did not impose any new taxes on tea but allowed low-cost tea to be shipped directly from China to the colonies, thus avoiding the tax on goods sent via England, as required by previous legislation. The low cost tea could only be sold by special consignees selected by the East India Company which would have resulted in the ruin of colonial tea merchants.

The British had anticipated a good reception to the Tea Act in America; after all, the colonists would get their tea at a cost lower than ever before. In late 1773 three ships laden with the low cost tea arrived in Boston. However, the Sons of Liberty continued to agitate against British interference in the colonies. They were enforcing a ban on all goods imported from Britain and were determined that the tea would not be unloaded. The collector of the customs in Boston refused to give the ships permission to leave before the tea was off-loaded. The only way to get rid of the tea was to destroy it. Sons of Liberty Patriots, dressed as Mohawk Indians, raided the 3 British ships in Boston harbor and dumped 342 containers of tea into the harbor. The event became known as the Boston Tea Party.

The British were furious with the Boston colonists and their actions during the Boston Tea Party. In 1774 Parliament responded by passing five laws, that became known as the ‘Intolerable Acts’, as a British reprisal to the Boston Tea Party rebellion. The ‘Intolerable Acts’ punished the whole of Massachusetts for the actions taken in Boston. The British intended the provisions in the acts to intimidate the other colonies and restore British authority in America.

The passing of the ‘Intolerable Acts’ was seen as the last straw. The American colonists united against the intolerable interference from Great Britain. Continental Congress was therefore established on September 5, 1774 in which elected representatives of colonists of the continent of North America assembled in revolt against British rule.

One of the first acts of the Continental Congress was to create the Continental Association which imposed economic sanctions against Great Britain - a ban on all British goods. The colonists would hit the British where it hurt the most – in their pockets!

The colonies were in turmoil and the British became aware that Massachusetts, who had been specifically targeted by the ‘Intolerable Acts’, was preparing for armed conflict. Great Britain issued orders to disarm the rebels and capture their leaders. The British were informed that Samuel Adams and John Hancock were staying in the village of Lexington, about 11 miles from Boston. The Sons of Liberty discovered the British plans to arrest their leaders and confiscate their arms and munitions. Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride from Boston to Lexington to warn them.

Thanks to Paul Revere the rebel leaders escaped but on Wednesday, April 19, 1775 shots were fired between colonists and British troops at Lexington, Massachusetts. This event was referred to as the "shot heard round the world" and marked the start of the American Revolutionary war.

The British troops at Lexington marched on to the town of Concord to search for the cache of munitions. They were met with strong resistance and the Battle of Concord ended in victory for the American colonists. There was no turning back. America was at war with Great Britain.

On July 6, 1775 Congress issued the Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms that explained why the 13 Colonies had taken up arms in what had become the American Revolutionary War. The Declaration also stated that Americans were “resolved to die free men rather than live as slaves”. The Revolutionary War raged from 1775 to 1783 during which a total of 25,000 Americans lost their lives.

Major Events in Colonial History