Angela Pecsi

Class Time Line: e-Portfolio Assignment

Economic History of the U.S. Econ 1740
Color codes for topics: Changes of Modes of Transportation, Social Changes, Political Changes/ War, Money and
Banking Issues, Technology, Acts/Laws/Court Decisions, Commerce, Other
The Colonial Era - Three Crises and Revolt - For financial, administrative, and political reasons, the Crown and
1670,1776 -- Parliament in 1763 launched a new order.

The series of critical events that generated the first crisis began with the English victory over the French in 1763.
The Seven Years War had been a struggle for the empire and had been a fight for the protection of the
American colonies. Interests on the national debt had soared to 5 million annually and land taxes in England
had doubled during the war. Despite their substantial wealth, the colonists at this time were still free riders of
protection, receiving British defense at almost no cost. Taxes per capita in the colonies were among the
lowest in the world, only 20 to 25 percent of taxes paid by the average English resident.
George Grenville, Englands prime minister, proposed stationing a British force of some 10,000 men in the
North American possessions.
On October 14, 1774, the Continental Congress provided a list of grievances:
1) Taxes has been imposed upon the colonies by the British Parliament.
2) Parliament had claimed the right to legislate for the colonies.
3) Commissioners were set up in the colonies to collect taxes.
4) Admiralty court jurisdictions had been extended into the interior.
5) Judges tenures had been put at the pleasure of the Crown.
6) A standing army had been imposed upon the colonies.
7) Persons could be transported out of the colonies for trials.
8) The port of Boston had been closed.
9) Martial law had been imposed upon Boston.
10) The Quebec Act had confiscated the colonists western lands.
The Congress ultimately went on to demand the repeal of all the major laws imposed on the colonies after 1763.
By this time, legislative reactions and enactments were of poor importance. The crisis had become moral and
political. Americans would not yield to the British until their basic freedoms were restored, and the British would
not make peace until the colonists relented. The possibilities for peaceful reconciliation ebbed as the weeks
passed. Violence broke out with the shots of April 19, 1775, which marked a major turning point in the history of
the world. On July 4, 1776, independence was declared. The Empire that had tilted in 1765 had now cracked.