American Revolution Podcast

Today I begin the American Revolution Podcast.

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Background on the American Colonies. For more text, pictures, maps, and sources, please visit my site at AmRevPodcast.Blogspot.com.

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Background on the American Colonies. For more text, pictures, maps, and sources, please visit my site at AmRevPodcast.Blogspot.com.

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Britain and France had spent the prior century in almost continuous fighting. In American, Native tribes attempted to play off the two European powers against one another, while engaging in their own power struggles with neighboring tribes. Today's episode looks at the power dynamics in play before the outbreak of the French and Indian War.

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Virginia sends a young man named George Washington into the Ohio Valley to challenge the French. There, he starts a world war.

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Britain sends Gen. Braddock to America to recapture the Ohio Valley in 1755. He meets the French and Indians at the Battle of the Monongahela.

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The British expel the French inhabitants, of Acadia. The French and British fight over Lake George. Britain gets a new Prime Minister, the Duke of New Castle. Lord Loudoun arrives in America as the new British miltiary commander.

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The French go on the offensive, capturing Forts Ontario and Oswego. The British retreat, ceding much of upper New York to the French and their Indian allies. Various tribes also move aggressively to push British colonists out of the Ohio Valley.

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The French offensive continues in 1757 as Gen. Montcalm takes Fort William Henry. France's Indian allies massacre part of the British and colonial garrison. In London, the King gives William Pitt a chance to turn around the war with new strategies.

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After continuing defeats, Britain changes leaders. It also adopts a new strategy for encouraging British colonial support for the war in North America. Gen. Abercromby's army assaults Fort Carillon at Ticonderoga.

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Gen. Amherst captures Louisbourg in Britain's first major victory of the French and Indian War. The British follow up with a successful raid on Fort Frontenac. In Pennsylvania, the British sign the Treaty of Eastong. This ends most of the military opposition of Indians in the Ohio Valley.

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After convincing most Indians to abandon the French in the Ohio Valley, the British take Fort Duquesne at the end of 1758. Gen. Amherst takes command of British forces for the 1759 fighting season, capturing Forts Niagara and Carillion as well. Fort Duquesne becomes Fort Pitt. Fort Carillion becomes Fort Ticonderoga.

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British Gen. Wolfe defeats French Gen. Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham in 1759. The British capture the key city of Quebec.

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The British Army in America captures the final concentration of French forces at Montreal in 1760. This effectively ends major combat operations in North America. With the death of his grandfather, 22 year old King George III claims the throne.

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The Cherokee go to war against the settlers in the Carolinas who are encroaching on their land. Britain captures French colonies in the West Indies (what we today call the Caribbean). Newcastle and Pitt leave the government as the Earl of Bute takes charge. Spain finally joins France in the war against Britain, only to lose some of its own colonies.

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The French try for one last land claim in North America at the Battle of Signal Hill. Following the end of combat, the British army in America shrinks, removing men and money from the colonies. Britain finally ends the Seven Years War with France and Spain through the Treaty of Paris in 1763. British politician John Wilkes learns the hard way that although the King has gotten involved in politics, you cannot criticize the King like any other politician. He goes on to become a hero for the cause of British liberities.

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As the Seven Years War comes to an end, Britain and her colonies begin bickering over issues unrelated to the war. In Virginia, a new lawyer named Patrick Henry convinces a jury not to pay ministers the wage required under the law. The Archbishop of Canterbury is thwarted in his attempts to force New England to accept an Anglican Bishop. James Otis Jr. becomes an early advocate against the enforcement of trade tariffs through the use of general warrants.

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By 1763, France has left Canada after losing the the French and Indian war. British soldiers and colonists continue to occupy land west of the Allegheny mountains in violation of promises. To save money, Britain stops making annual gifts to the tribes. The Indian tribes unite and rise up against these continuing violations of treaties. The tribes seize multiple forts and besiege others. Soldiers and colonists hunker down in forts, flee the region, or die horrible deaths.

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In 1764, in response to the Native American attacks known as Pontiac's War, the colonists strike back at the Indians, killing the guilty and innocent alike. Gen. Amherst approves use of smallpox against the Indians. He proposes a campaign of terror and slaughter against the tribes. At the insistence of Indian agent Sir William Johnson, London recalls Amherst, leaving Gen. Thomas Gage in charge. Gage follows through on Amherst's attack plan, sending out two expeditions to destroy Indian villages and kill anyone they find, taking no prisoners.

By the time the expeditions leave in the summer of 1764, the leaders find almost all tribes ready to settle. Indian attempts to bring the French back into the fight have failed. Most Chiefs realize they cannot continue the war. The Treaty of Niagara returns the Seneca to peace. Other tribes request diplomatic negotiations, eventually resulting in the Treaty of Fort Ontario in 1766. This Treaty recognizes British rule as far west as the Mississippi River.

Meanwhile, King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, requiring all British colonial settlements to remain east of the Allegheny mountains, thus forbidding westward colonial expansion. The colonists strongly oppose this restriction.

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In 1764, with Britain under a massive debt from the Seven Years War and with increased costs of maintaining its new colonies, the Grenville Ministry passes the Sugar Act to raise revenue from the colonists. The Act itself actually cuts tariff rates, but also institutes enforcement measures to ensure the colonists cannot evade the taxes as easily as they did in the past. Parliament also passes the Quartering Act, to make colonies pay for the quartering of British Regulars within their borders, whether they are there to protect the colonists or to enforce tariff and trade laws.

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