Max. M Edling
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195148701
- eISBN:
- 9780199835096
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195148703.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Provides background accounts of political development in the USA from the American War of Independence to the Philadelphia Convention, and establish that, by 1787, Congress was marked by military ...
More
Provides background accounts of political development in the USA from the American War of Independence to the Philadelphia Convention, and establish that, by 1787, Congress was marked by military weakness and financial insolvency. Here, an account is given of the efforts of Congress to implement the fiscal clauses of the US Constitution, which shows that the national government created by the Articles of Confederation experienced serious difficulties in its ability to raise money, and in the end failed to raise sufficient money to meet its expenses. The focus of the chapter is on the means by which Congress raised money from the outbreak of the War of Independence up to the Philadelphia Convention, and also on how, one by one, these means were lost, so that by 1787 the insolvency of the national government was total. The first two parts of the chapter describe the attempts of Congress to raise money through fiat (printed) money, loans, and taxes, with the author contending that the Federalists accepted existing restrictions to taxation and formed a tax system that would be able to generate sufficient income for the national government without putting undue pressure on the American people. The last section of the chapter looks at the problem of the public debts run up by Congress and the states during the War of Independence, and at the reasons for the federal assumption of state debts – whether they were democratic or economic – and the reasons given by the Federalists as to why Congress had to resume payment of the public domestic and foreign debt.Less
Provides background accounts of political development in the USA from the American War of Independence to the Philadelphia Convention, and establish that, by 1787, Congress was marked by military weakness and financial insolvency. Here, an account is given of the efforts of Congress to implement the fiscal clauses of the US Constitution, which shows that the national government created by the Articles of Confederation experienced serious difficulties in its ability to raise money, and in the end failed to raise sufficient money to meet its expenses. The focus of the chapter is on the means by which Congress raised money from the outbreak of the War of Independence up to the Philadelphia Convention, and also on how, one by one, these means were lost, so that by 1787 the insolvency of the national government was total. The first two parts of the chapter describe the attempts of Congress to raise money through fiat (printed) money, loans, and taxes, with the author contending that the Federalists accepted existing restrictions to taxation and formed a tax system that would be able to generate sufficient income for the national government without putting undue pressure on the American people. The last section of the chapter looks at the problem of the public debts run up by Congress and the states during the War of Independence, and at the reasons for the federal assumption of state debts – whether they were democratic or economic – and the reasons given by the Federalists as to why Congress had to resume payment of the public domestic and foreign debt.
Peter J. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199640355
- eISBN:
- 9780191739279
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640355.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The peace between Britain and America was the achievement on the British side of Lord Shelburne. He had opposed the war and hoped that the Americans would return to a close relationship with Britain ...
More
The peace between Britain and America was the achievement on the British side of Lord Shelburne. He had opposed the war and hoped that the Americans would return to a close relationship with Britain short of full independence. Initially he was prepared to give them generous terms over their territorial and other claims. He was, however, to discover that the Americans would not compromise on full independence, which he reluctantly conceded, and that any settlement with them would involve highly contentious issues, such as what was to be done for loyalists who had sided with Britain or what were to be the boundaries of the remaining British American colonies. To attain a quick peace, Britain yielded on most points. Concessions were denounced in the press and in parliament leading to Shelburne’s resignation.Less
The peace between Britain and America was the achievement on the British side of Lord Shelburne. He had opposed the war and hoped that the Americans would return to a close relationship with Britain short of full independence. Initially he was prepared to give them generous terms over their territorial and other claims. He was, however, to discover that the Americans would not compromise on full independence, which he reluctantly conceded, and that any settlement with them would involve highly contentious issues, such as what was to be done for loyalists who had sided with Britain or what were to be the boundaries of the remaining British American colonies. To attain a quick peace, Britain yielded on most points. Concessions were denounced in the press and in parliament leading to Shelburne’s resignation.
P. J. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199640355
- eISBN:
- 9780191739279
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640355.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
How did Britain and America face up to the new world of American independence? This book argues that there was a sharp division between political relations and the many other links that had bound ...
More
How did Britain and America face up to the new world of American independence? This book argues that there was a sharp division between political relations and the many other links that had bound British and American people together before the Revolution. There was to be no political rapprochement. Peace was made in 1783, but it was not a peace of reconciliation. Mutual ill feeling remained. Americans continued to denounce what they saw as a corrupted British political system that had betrayed the historic liberties of the ancient British constitution, while British commentators dismissed American republicanism as the tyranny of the mob that undermined effective government. Resentment simmered on for many years' especially, on the American side, over the terms on which Anglo‐American trade was to be resumed, and, on the British side, over the failure of the Americans to pay off their debts. In spite of these disputes, Britons and Americans quickly began to cross the Atlantic again in large numbers, many British and especially Irish people migrated to settle in America and trade continued on a very large scale. Americans consumed British goods and read British books. Shared tastes and a common culture and values ensured that British influences would still be strong and that independent Americans would remain essentially British in outlook for a long time to come.Less
How did Britain and America face up to the new world of American independence? This book argues that there was a sharp division between political relations and the many other links that had bound British and American people together before the Revolution. There was to be no political rapprochement. Peace was made in 1783, but it was not a peace of reconciliation. Mutual ill feeling remained. Americans continued to denounce what they saw as a corrupted British political system that had betrayed the historic liberties of the ancient British constitution, while British commentators dismissed American republicanism as the tyranny of the mob that undermined effective government. Resentment simmered on for many years' especially, on the American side, over the terms on which Anglo‐American trade was to be resumed, and, on the British side, over the failure of the Americans to pay off their debts. In spite of these disputes, Britons and Americans quickly began to cross the Atlantic again in large numbers, many British and especially Irish people migrated to settle in America and trade continued on a very large scale. Americans consumed British goods and read British books. Shared tastes and a common culture and values ensured that British influences would still be strong and that independent Americans would remain essentially British in outlook for a long time to come.
R. R. Palmer
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161280
- eISBN:
- 9781400850228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161280.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This chapter discusses the impact of the American Revolution on the democratic and revolutionary spirit in Europe, to the desire, that is, for a reconstitution of government and society. The first ...
More
This chapter discusses the impact of the American Revolution on the democratic and revolutionary spirit in Europe, to the desire, that is, for a reconstitution of government and society. The first and greatest effect of the American Revolution was to make Europeans believe, or rather feel, often in a highly emotional way, that they lived in a rare era of momentous change. They saw a kind of drama of the continents. The successful War of American Independence presented itself as a great act of retribution on a cosmic stage. There were many Europeans who said that America would someday, in its turn, predominate over Europe.Less
This chapter discusses the impact of the American Revolution on the democratic and revolutionary spirit in Europe, to the desire, that is, for a reconstitution of government and society. The first and greatest effect of the American Revolution was to make Europeans believe, or rather feel, often in a highly emotional way, that they lived in a rare era of momentous change. They saw a kind of drama of the continents. The successful War of American Independence presented itself as a great act of retribution on a cosmic stage. There were many Europeans who said that America would someday, in its turn, predominate over Europe.
P.J. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199226665
- eISBN:
- 9780191706813
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226665.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Political History
The loss of the greater part of the British Empire in North America, along with the independence of the former thirteen colonies and the creation of a new British territorial empire in eastern India, ...
More
The loss of the greater part of the British Empire in North America, along with the independence of the former thirteen colonies and the creation of a new British territorial empire in eastern India, are conventionally interpreted as unconnected events. American independence has long been seen as marking the end of a ‘first’, largely trading, Atlantic empire of white settlement, while the extension of British rule over Bengal signalled the creation of a new ‘second’ empire of rule over non-European peoples that was to spread over India and into south-east Asia and Africa during the nineteenth century. This book contests that view, arguing that both losses in America and gains in India were part of a single phase of British imperial history in the later eighteenth century. In the face of worldwide competition from France, Britain sought to consolidate her imperial possessions and maximise their contribution to her wealth and security. Policies directed to these ends seemed to threaten the autonomy of the elites in British America and drove them to resistance, for which they were able to win widespread popular support. By contrast, in Bengal in particular, the British were able to achieve accommodations with landowning and commercial interests in India, which enabled their empire to survive and later to grow.Less
The loss of the greater part of the British Empire in North America, along with the independence of the former thirteen colonies and the creation of a new British territorial empire in eastern India, are conventionally interpreted as unconnected events. American independence has long been seen as marking the end of a ‘first’, largely trading, Atlantic empire of white settlement, while the extension of British rule over Bengal signalled the creation of a new ‘second’ empire of rule over non-European peoples that was to spread over India and into south-east Asia and Africa during the nineteenth century. This book contests that view, arguing that both losses in America and gains in India were part of a single phase of British imperial history in the later eighteenth century. In the face of worldwide competition from France, Britain sought to consolidate her imperial possessions and maximise their contribution to her wealth and security. Policies directed to these ends seemed to threaten the autonomy of the elites in British America and drove them to resistance, for which they were able to win widespread popular support. By contrast, in Bengal in particular, the British were able to achieve accommodations with landowning and commercial interests in India, which enabled their empire to survive and later to grow.
R. R. Palmer
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161280
- eISBN:
- 9781400850228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161280.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This chapter discusses the players involved in the American Revolution, which is considered a great event for the whole Euro-American world. In the Age of the Democratic Revolution, the American ...
More
This chapter discusses the players involved in the American Revolution, which is considered a great event for the whole Euro-American world. In the Age of the Democratic Revolution, the American Revolution was the earliest successful assertion of the principle that public power must arise from those over whom it is exercised. It was the most important revolution of the eighteenth century, except for the French. Its effect on the area of Western Civilization came in part from the inspiration of its message (which in time passed beyond the area of Western Civilization), and in part from the involvement of the American Revolution in the European War of American Independence, which aggravated the financial or political difficulties of England, Ireland, Holland, and France.Less
This chapter discusses the players involved in the American Revolution, which is considered a great event for the whole Euro-American world. In the Age of the Democratic Revolution, the American Revolution was the earliest successful assertion of the principle that public power must arise from those over whom it is exercised. It was the most important revolution of the eighteenth century, except for the French. Its effect on the area of Western Civilization came in part from the inspiration of its message (which in time passed beyond the area of Western Civilization), and in part from the involvement of the American Revolution in the European War of American Independence, which aggravated the financial or political difficulties of England, Ireland, Holland, and France.
Peter J. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199640355
- eISBN:
- 9780191739279
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640355.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The manner in which the war came to an end had very important consequences both for the future of Anglo‐American relations and for the impact which the loss of America would have on Britain and its ...
More
The manner in which the war came to an end had very important consequences both for the future of Anglo‐American relations and for the impact which the loss of America would have on Britain and its empire. After the loss of an army at Yorktown, British political opinion was no longer supported a war to conquer America. This did not, however, mean that the war as a whole was thought to have ended in total defeat. In fighting against other European powers Britain had begun to hold her own, while America appeared to be in a parlous state close to disintegration. Generous concessions made to the Americans in the peace were therefore widely resented and in retrospect the war came to be seen as much as a triumph of British endurance as a disaster calling for sweeping reforms at home and in the rest of the empire.Less
The manner in which the war came to an end had very important consequences both for the future of Anglo‐American relations and for the impact which the loss of America would have on Britain and its empire. After the loss of an army at Yorktown, British political opinion was no longer supported a war to conquer America. This did not, however, mean that the war as a whole was thought to have ended in total defeat. In fighting against other European powers Britain had begun to hold her own, while America appeared to be in a parlous state close to disintegration. Generous concessions made to the Americans in the peace were therefore widely resented and in retrospect the war came to be seen as much as a triumph of British endurance as a disaster calling for sweeping reforms at home and in the rest of the empire.
Joseph M. Parent
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199782192
- eISBN:
- 9780199919147
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199782192.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter charts the stellar success and then tragic failure of Simon Bolívar’s attempt to unify several states in northern South America into Gran Colombia. Despite his great charisma and ...
More
This chapter charts the stellar success and then tragic failure of Simon Bolívar’s attempt to unify several states in northern South America into Gran Colombia. Despite his great charisma and military skill, Bolívar was unable to hold together his state for long after independence. The chapter argues that the Napoleonic Wars cropped Spanish power and hobbled its finances, such that the previously formidable colonial power transformed into a minimal threat. This reversal in Spain’s fortunes drove the initial successes and ultimate failure in South American unification. Leaders that acted in accord with this reality advanced while those that did not were destroyed. External threat explains Gran Colombia’s trajectory.Less
This chapter charts the stellar success and then tragic failure of Simon Bolívar’s attempt to unify several states in northern South America into Gran Colombia. Despite his great charisma and military skill, Bolívar was unable to hold together his state for long after independence. The chapter argues that the Napoleonic Wars cropped Spanish power and hobbled its finances, such that the previously formidable colonial power transformed into a minimal threat. This reversal in Spain’s fortunes drove the initial successes and ultimate failure in South American unification. Leaders that acted in accord with this reality advanced while those that did not were destroyed. External threat explains Gran Colombia’s trajectory.
Jeremy Black
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199608638
- eISBN:
- 9780191731754
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199608638.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Jeremy Black focuses on British policy and strategy in the so‐called ‘long’ eighteenth century, beginning with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and ending with the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Chapter ...
More
Jeremy Black focuses on British policy and strategy in the so‐called ‘long’ eighteenth century, beginning with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and ending with the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Chapter 7 provides a contextual debate on the relationship between policy and strategy, discussing the dynamics between strategy and dynasticism, the complexity of strategic culture, the character of British imperialism, and the concept of power, with the associated challenges of reach and overreach. These factors collectively explain what the author refers to as the limitations to strategic planning. Black next describes the dynamics between strategy and policy in three case studies—the Seven Years War (1756–63), the American War of Independence (1775–83), and the French Revolution (1789–99)—and briefly analyses the Napoleonic Wars. Each conflict exhibited important geopolitical and strategic continuities as well as important political differences, and was shaped by Britain's domestic conditions and priorities.Less
Jeremy Black focuses on British policy and strategy in the so‐called ‘long’ eighteenth century, beginning with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and ending with the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Chapter 7 provides a contextual debate on the relationship between policy and strategy, discussing the dynamics between strategy and dynasticism, the complexity of strategic culture, the character of British imperialism, and the concept of power, with the associated challenges of reach and overreach. These factors collectively explain what the author refers to as the limitations to strategic planning. Black next describes the dynamics between strategy and policy in three case studies—the Seven Years War (1756–63), the American War of Independence (1775–83), and the French Revolution (1789–99)—and briefly analyses the Napoleonic Wars. Each conflict exhibited important geopolitical and strategic continuities as well as important political differences, and was shaped by Britain's domestic conditions and priorities.
Peter J. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199640355
- eISBN:
- 9780191739279
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640355.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
After explaining how the book is divided into sections, one dealing with continuing political hostility and the other with the resumption of transatlantic links, which amounted to the restoration of ...
More
After explaining how the book is divided into sections, one dealing with continuing political hostility and the other with the resumption of transatlantic links, which amounted to the restoration of a British Atlantic world, the Introduction sets the scene on the British side. It describes the attitudes during the war of those who had been hostile or friendly to the American cause. It shows how many who had supported the war were ultimately willing to accept that American independence would not necessarily do irrecoverable damage to British interests, although they still remained hostile to a new America after the war. This hostility was to be enduring, while wartime professions of friendship by those who had supported the American cause had little effect on post‐war British policies towards the United States.Less
After explaining how the book is divided into sections, one dealing with continuing political hostility and the other with the resumption of transatlantic links, which amounted to the restoration of a British Atlantic world, the Introduction sets the scene on the British side. It describes the attitudes during the war of those who had been hostile or friendly to the American cause. It shows how many who had supported the war were ultimately willing to accept that American independence would not necessarily do irrecoverable damage to British interests, although they still remained hostile to a new America after the war. This hostility was to be enduring, while wartime professions of friendship by those who had supported the American cause had little effect on post‐war British policies towards the United States.
Ann Fairfax Withington
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195068351
- eISBN:
- 9780199853984
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195068351.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This chapter discusses the gradual processes which gave way to the independence of American colonists from British rule. The chapter looks at the ideology and principles that surrounded the Boston ...
More
This chapter discusses the gradual processes which gave way to the independence of American colonists from British rule. The chapter looks at the ideology and principles that surrounded the Boston Tea Party, an event which signified the resistance of colonists to the political oppression and the economical impositions of exported British products. Compelled by the imposition of the Coercive Acts, the Boston Port Act, and the Administration Justice Act, the colonists incited American resistance which bordered on unanimity and universal participation. American political leaders identified with the people, shunning character and replacing it with personality as shown by the virtues of industry, frugality, and charity. To further the resistance to British oppression, the colonists formed the First Continental Congress which imposed economic regulations and devised moral programs as a way to resist British rule and as a form of political strategy to imply they were prepared to establish a republican government, to define their political position, and to create an identity which precipitated the declaration of American independence.Less
This chapter discusses the gradual processes which gave way to the independence of American colonists from British rule. The chapter looks at the ideology and principles that surrounded the Boston Tea Party, an event which signified the resistance of colonists to the political oppression and the economical impositions of exported British products. Compelled by the imposition of the Coercive Acts, the Boston Port Act, and the Administration Justice Act, the colonists incited American resistance which bordered on unanimity and universal participation. American political leaders identified with the people, shunning character and replacing it with personality as shown by the virtues of industry, frugality, and charity. To further the resistance to British oppression, the colonists formed the First Continental Congress which imposed economic regulations and devised moral programs as a way to resist British rule and as a form of political strategy to imply they were prepared to establish a republican government, to define their political position, and to create an identity which precipitated the declaration of American independence.
Stephen Conway
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199254552
- eISBN:
- 9780191698231
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199254552.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book examines a hitherto neglected aspect of the War of American Independence, providing the first wide-ranging account of the impact of this 18th-century conflict upon the politics, economy, ...
More
This book examines a hitherto neglected aspect of the War of American Independence, providing the first wide-ranging account of the impact of this 18th-century conflict upon the politics, economy, society, and culture of the British Isles. The book examines the level of military participation — which was much greater than is usually appreciated — and explores the war's effects on subjects as varied as parliamentary reform, religious toleration, and attitudes to empire. The book casts new light upon recent debate about the war-waging efficiency of the British state and the role of war in the creation of a sense of ‘Britishness’. The thematic chapters are supplemented by local case-studies of six very different communities the length and breadth of the British Isles.Less
This book examines a hitherto neglected aspect of the War of American Independence, providing the first wide-ranging account of the impact of this 18th-century conflict upon the politics, economy, society, and culture of the British Isles. The book examines the level of military participation — which was much greater than is usually appreciated — and explores the war's effects on subjects as varied as parliamentary reform, religious toleration, and attitudes to empire. The book casts new light upon recent debate about the war-waging efficiency of the British state and the role of war in the creation of a sense of ‘Britishness’. The thematic chapters are supplemented by local case-studies of six very different communities the length and breadth of the British Isles.
Joy Connolly
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199212989
- eISBN:
- 9780191594205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212989.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines classical rhetoric's central role in the formation of early American cultural identity. It surveys classical education in eighteenth‐ and early nineteenth‐century America, ...
More
This chapter examines classical rhetoric's central role in the formation of early American cultural identity. It surveys classical education in eighteenth‐ and early nineteenth‐century America, focusing on the way claims about the universalist appeal of eloquence and certain habits of elocution transformed the exemplary tradition of civic republican virtue into a lived stylistics of democracy. Inculcating a personal style of classical ‘simplicity’ and ‘naturalness’, classical rhetoric both reinforced notions of white male superiority and (through its own universalist claims) opened a way for women and people of colour to claim roles in civic life. In concluding, it argues that, like the imperfect or suicidal heroes dear to colonial and revolutionary Americans, rhetoric's status as an ethically and epistemologically suspect discourse reveals the dissonances and compromises resting at the heart of republican culture.Less
This chapter examines classical rhetoric's central role in the formation of early American cultural identity. It surveys classical education in eighteenth‐ and early nineteenth‐century America, focusing on the way claims about the universalist appeal of eloquence and certain habits of elocution transformed the exemplary tradition of civic republican virtue into a lived stylistics of democracy. Inculcating a personal style of classical ‘simplicity’ and ‘naturalness’, classical rhetoric both reinforced notions of white male superiority and (through its own universalist claims) opened a way for women and people of colour to claim roles in civic life. In concluding, it argues that, like the imperfect or suicidal heroes dear to colonial and revolutionary Americans, rhetoric's status as an ethically and epistemologically suspect discourse reveals the dissonances and compromises resting at the heart of republican culture.
Peter D.G. Thomas
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201427
- eISBN:
- 9780191674877
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201427.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
In Britain after Easter 1776, Prime Minister Lord North's administration had no further political decisions to make on America. Neither the coercion of armed force nor the conciliation of the Peace ...
More
In Britain after Easter 1776, Prime Minister Lord North's administration had no further political decisions to make on America. Neither the coercion of armed force nor the conciliation of the Peace Commission was to produce the desired response. Colonial opinion had already altered, and those Americans who favoured a break with Britain took care to ensure that the decision for independence would be made before the British peace mission arrived. The change in colonial attitude was to become known in Britain during the summer of 1776. The American Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, was a dishonest piece of propaganda, blaming George III personally for the British policy decisions of the previous thirteen years that had hitherto correctly been attributed to his ministers and to Parliament. The significant debate in Britain over the American Revolution was conducted privately at Whitehall and publicly at Westminster. Several myths and misconceptions distract attention from the root cause of the revolution, the question whether or not Parliament was the legislature for the British Empire.Less
In Britain after Easter 1776, Prime Minister Lord North's administration had no further political decisions to make on America. Neither the coercion of armed force nor the conciliation of the Peace Commission was to produce the desired response. Colonial opinion had already altered, and those Americans who favoured a break with Britain took care to ensure that the decision for independence would be made before the British peace mission arrived. The change in colonial attitude was to become known in Britain during the summer of 1776. The American Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, was a dishonest piece of propaganda, blaming George III personally for the British policy decisions of the previous thirteen years that had hitherto correctly been attributed to his ministers and to Parliament. The significant debate in Britain over the American Revolution was conducted privately at Whitehall and publicly at Westminster. Several myths and misconceptions distract attention from the root cause of the revolution, the question whether or not Parliament was the legislature for the British Empire.
Peter J. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199640355
- eISBN:
- 9780191739279
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640355.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The impact of the war varied in severity throughout America, generally leaving the bitterest legacy in the south. After the war Britain was widely conceived still to be hostile to America, trying to ...
More
The impact of the war varied in severity throughout America, generally leaving the bitterest legacy in the south. After the war Britain was widely conceived still to be hostile to America, trying to curb her maritime commerce, to detach the new western settlements and even to subvert American morals by exporting luxury goods. Americans resented the slighting way in which their society and institutions were generally portrayed in the British press. Assessments of Britain varied from those like Thomas Jefferson, who saw her as irredeemably corrupted and bent on the overthrow of American republicanism, to Alexander Hamilton, for whom the power of the British state and Britain’s recent economic development were models for America to emulate.Less
The impact of the war varied in severity throughout America, generally leaving the bitterest legacy in the south. After the war Britain was widely conceived still to be hostile to America, trying to curb her maritime commerce, to detach the new western settlements and even to subvert American morals by exporting luxury goods. Americans resented the slighting way in which their society and institutions were generally portrayed in the British press. Assessments of Britain varied from those like Thomas Jefferson, who saw her as irredeemably corrupted and bent on the overthrow of American republicanism, to Alexander Hamilton, for whom the power of the British state and Britain’s recent economic development were models for America to emulate.
Moritz Baumstark
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199227044
- eISBN:
- 9780191739309
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227044.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter reconsiders David Hume’s thinking on the fate of the British Empire and the future of established religion. It provides a detailed reconstruction of the development of his views on ...
More
This chapter reconsiders David Hume’s thinking on the fate of the British Empire and the future of established religion. It provides a detailed reconstruction of the development of his views on Britain’s successive attempts to impose or regain its authority over its North American colonies and compares these views with the stance taken during the American crisis by Adam Smith and Josiah Tucker. Fresh light is shed on this area of Hume’s later political thought by a new letter, appended to the essay, which at the same time provides an illuminating glimpse of his abiding preoccupation with the future of established religion. It is argued that this evidence of Hume’s privately held views belies the notion that his thinking on political and religious matters was fundamentally opposed to that of his friends among the philosophes. It is consequently misleading to regard Hume as an opponent of the more radical wing of the Enlightenment.Less
This chapter reconsiders David Hume’s thinking on the fate of the British Empire and the future of established religion. It provides a detailed reconstruction of the development of his views on Britain’s successive attempts to impose or regain its authority over its North American colonies and compares these views with the stance taken during the American crisis by Adam Smith and Josiah Tucker. Fresh light is shed on this area of Hume’s later political thought by a new letter, appended to the essay, which at the same time provides an illuminating glimpse of his abiding preoccupation with the future of established religion. It is argued that this evidence of Hume’s privately held views belies the notion that his thinking on political and religious matters was fundamentally opposed to that of his friends among the philosophes. It is consequently misleading to regard Hume as an opponent of the more radical wing of the Enlightenment.
L. G. Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201045
- eISBN:
- 9780191674815
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201045.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Political History
Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in 18th-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his ...
More
Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in 18th-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his generation, dominating the Whig party and polite society. As the political rival of Pitt the Younger and the intellectual rival of Edmund Burke, his views on the major issues of the day — the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, parliamentary reform — formed the character of Whiggery in his own time and for years to come. Fox's historical reputation has been hotly disputed. Some have hailed him as one of the founding fathers of Radicalism, others have dismissed him as an irritating and irresponsible impediment to the statesmanship of Pitt. This book shows that in many ways Fox was a politician through circumstance, not inclination. The book analyses the ties of kinship and friendship which to an astonishing degree dictated Fox's politics, and offers striking new assessments of Whiggery and its most potent personality.Less
Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in 18th-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his generation, dominating the Whig party and polite society. As the political rival of Pitt the Younger and the intellectual rival of Edmund Burke, his views on the major issues of the day — the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, parliamentary reform — formed the character of Whiggery in his own time and for years to come. Fox's historical reputation has been hotly disputed. Some have hailed him as one of the founding fathers of Radicalism, others have dismissed him as an irritating and irresponsible impediment to the statesmanship of Pitt. This book shows that in many ways Fox was a politician through circumstance, not inclination. The book analyses the ties of kinship and friendship which to an astonishing degree dictated Fox's politics, and offers striking new assessments of Whiggery and its most potent personality.
Peter J. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199640355
- eISBN:
- 9780191739279
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640355.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
How they treated indigenous peoples was a matter for recrimination between Britons and Americans. During the war Native Americans generally sided with the British as did escaped slaves, some of whom ...
More
How they treated indigenous peoples was a matter for recrimination between Britons and Americans. During the war Native Americans generally sided with the British as did escaped slaves, some of whom the British shipped as free people to their colonies. After the war, American land hunger led to Indian wars and dispossession, whereas the British in Canada posed less of a threat to Native peoples. Trading in slaves was condemned widely on both sides of the Atlantic, but the British continued to export huge numbers of Africans, some going to the southernmost American states, where slavery flourished as it did in the British West Indies. Americans denounced British rule in India as rooted in oppression. Many British people had once thought so too, but after the war British opinion increasingly claimed that their Indian empire was based on benevolence.Less
How they treated indigenous peoples was a matter for recrimination between Britons and Americans. During the war Native Americans generally sided with the British as did escaped slaves, some of whom the British shipped as free people to their colonies. After the war, American land hunger led to Indian wars and dispossession, whereas the British in Canada posed less of a threat to Native peoples. Trading in slaves was condemned widely on both sides of the Atlantic, but the British continued to export huge numbers of Africans, some going to the southernmost American states, where slavery flourished as it did in the British West Indies. Americans denounced British rule in India as rooted in oppression. Many British people had once thought so too, but after the war British opinion increasingly claimed that their Indian empire was based on benevolence.
Peter D. G. Thomas
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201427
- eISBN:
- 9780191674877
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201427.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This book studies the formulation of British policy towards the American colonies during the crucial period between the Boston Tea Party of December 1773 and the American Declaration of Independence ...
More
This book studies the formulation of British policy towards the American colonies during the crucial period between the Boston Tea Party of December 1773 and the American Declaration of Independence in July 1776. It is set against the background both of British public opinion and of the developing resistance movement in America. The book examines the constraints on British policy-making, and analyses the failure of the colonists either to respond to British overtures or to produce positive proposals of their own. It shows how the crisis escalated as the Americans moved from constitutional demands to a military response, and finally took the decision to separate from Britain. This book provides an exploration of one of the most important phases of American history.Less
This book studies the formulation of British policy towards the American colonies during the crucial period between the Boston Tea Party of December 1773 and the American Declaration of Independence in July 1776. It is set against the background both of British public opinion and of the developing resistance movement in America. The book examines the constraints on British policy-making, and analyses the failure of the colonists either to respond to British overtures or to produce positive proposals of their own. It shows how the crisis escalated as the Americans moved from constitutional demands to a military response, and finally took the decision to separate from Britain. This book provides an exploration of one of the most important phases of American history.
Daniel Krebs
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199693627
- eISBN:
- 9780191741258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693627.003.0012
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This case study on German subsidy troops fighting in the American War of Independence understands surrender as a ritual performance, turning defeated soldiers into symbolic capital. If the ritual was ...
More
This case study on German subsidy troops fighting in the American War of Independence understands surrender as a ritual performance, turning defeated soldiers into symbolic capital. If the ritual was staged as a rite of passage, as at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781, it provided the vanquished with a safe and respectable transition from the state of armed soldiers to that of unarmed prisoners of war. The victors, in turn, gained an opportunity to demonstrate and communicate their success within their own ranks and a wider public. The observance of rigidly structured rituals guaranteed that the surrender, this dangerous bargain between victors and vanquished, actually succeeded. When rites of passage were missing, as happened at Trenton and many other battles and skirmishes, defeated soldiers were nervous about their future in enemy hands and violence toward prisoners became a distinct possibility.Less
This case study on German subsidy troops fighting in the American War of Independence understands surrender as a ritual performance, turning defeated soldiers into symbolic capital. If the ritual was staged as a rite of passage, as at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781, it provided the vanquished with a safe and respectable transition from the state of armed soldiers to that of unarmed prisoners of war. The victors, in turn, gained an opportunity to demonstrate and communicate their success within their own ranks and a wider public. The observance of rigidly structured rituals guaranteed that the surrender, this dangerous bargain between victors and vanquished, actually succeeded. When rites of passage were missing, as happened at Trenton and many other battles and skirmishes, defeated soldiers were nervous about their future in enemy hands and violence toward prisoners became a distinct possibility.
