CHAPTER II
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
In no sense is an attempt being made here to give a complete history of the causes of the war for the independence of the United States. This is simply a brief analysis of the ten outstanding causes and the nature of the conflict, without defending or opposing either side in the struggle.
The common opinion in the United States regarding the American Revolution is that it was a war waged against Great Britain in which the American people as a whole rose up against the mother country in order to protect themselves against unjustifiable and unbearable oppression. This is the position taken in the Declaration of Independence, and we have always looked upon the conflict through the eyes of the Declaration of Independence. The thirteen colonies declared themselves free and independent on July 2, 1776, and then on July 4, 1776 adopted the Declaration of Independence proclaiming to the world their reasons for declaring themselves free. Thus the Declaration of Independence was not a declaration of independence, but a publication to the world of the causes which led the colonies to the point of such a declaration. It was an effort to put their side before the world and justify it. It was written by Thomas Jefferson in the heat of a great emotion. Twenty-seven grievances were held against Great Britain to justify the course taken by the colonies. We shall not attempt here to study the real nature of "freedom" which is much more than a question of national boundaries, and is even independent of national boundaries,—but we shall accept the term in its usual narrow legal sense.
The outstanding causes of the Revolutionary War were the following: the expulsion of the French from Canada in 1763, the attempt on the part of Great Britain to enforce the navigation acts, the British western land policy, the British financial legislation regarding the colonies, the stamp act of 1765, the Townshend act of 1767, the Boston "tea party" of 1773, the five punitive acts of 1776, the general economic depression during the 70's, and religious conflicts. Let us examine briefly these ten causes.
(1) After the French were defeated by Great Britain in 1763 and lost Canada, the colonies did not feel the same need for protection by the mother country as formerly. The French on the north were defeated. The Indians gave some trouble but were not a great power to be dreaded. As a result, the colonies felt themselves to be self supporting. Georgia was an exception because as the youngest of the thirteen colonies it was dependent on England for subsidies and protection from the Indians. Thus, because the people recognized their dependence on Great Britain for protection, the movement for independence made slower headway in Georgia.
(2) By far the most important cause of the American Revolution was the effort on the part of George III to enforce the navigation laws of Great Britain. It was customary then for every mother-country to regard its colonies as trading posts. The colonies were considered necessary as the source of raw materials for the home manufacturers and also as a market for the surplus manufactured goods of the home country. This economic principle was a phase of mercantilism which was the dominant economic doctrine of the time. In harmony with this theory, Great Britain as early as 1651 began passing navigation acts requiring her colonies to trade only with British merchants. All the export trade of the colonies had to be sent to Great Britain, and all their imported goods had to come from Great Britain. In addition, the ships transporting these goods had to be owned by British subjects.
This law, however, was openly violated by the colonial merchants. They traded with the Dutch or with any other foreigners they could. British officials in America were bribed and co-operated in this illegal trade. The leading people of New England at this time were merchants, and it has been estimated that nine-tenths of these merchants were smugglers. John Hancock, who was to become president of the First Continental Congress in 1775, was a smuggler on a great scale, and at one time was sued for $500,000 as a penalty for smuggling. John Adams was his counsel. (See Simons, "Social Forces in United States History," pages 61-62.) It was these merchants of New England and especially of Boston, who were among the leaders in the Revolution. After the close of the French and Indian War in 1763, English merchants and English business in general had to be heavily taxed in order to pay the enormous national debt. Accordingly, pressure was brought to bear on the British government to have the navigation laws enforced, which would give the English the colonial trade, thus enabling them to meet more easily the financial demands of taxation. Efforts were then made by Great Britain to enforce these navigation laws which had been openly violated for more than a century. Their legality had never been questioned. It was the usual policy of all countries of that age in dealing with their colonies. These navigation laws were no doubt unwise interferences with trade but their legality was not questioned, as all modern tariffs are trade barriers, which does not make their violation legal. Besides, these laws did not entirely disregard the interests of the colonies. Great Britain gave them a monopoly of tobacco raising, prohibiting Ireland from raising it. Bounties or sums of money were often paid by the British Government to the colonial producers to encourage industry. These bounties were paid on indigo, tar, pitch, hemp, and many other industries which Great Britain was attempting to establish in the colonies in order to keep the empire from finding it necessary to buy them from a foreign nation. These navigation laws aroused New England rather than the South, for it was the commercial section of the country.
(3) Another cause of friction between the colonies and the mother country was the British land policy proclaimed in 1763. This policy ordered the colonial governors to grant no more land to settlers beyond a certain western border extending south from the New England States along the western part of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. (See Hockett, "Political and Social History of the United States," Vol. 1, page 115.) This line extended down just east of the mountains and was to leave to the Indians the territory west of it. This western land was then to be purchased from the Indians for the king. After that the Indians would go further west and their original territory was to be opened to settlers as soon as it was purchased. This arrangement was made by Great Britain to avoid conflict between the Indians and the frontier settlers. The frontier settlers, however, objected, preferring to drive the Indians back by more ruthless methods even if it caused trouble. The western land speculators also did not like it because they could not sell their land until Great Britain had first pushed the Indians back. The royal government immediately began making treaties with the Indians for the purchase of their territory. The policy was wise and humane but the settlers were too impatient to abide by it. (The Washington family was prominent in these western land speculations.) A land lobby was kept in London by these speculators in their efforts to get large grants of western land from the crown and then to sell it off as the country became more and more settled.
(4) The next principal cause of trouble was the British financial legislation regarding the colonies. The colonies had issued fiat money or colonial bills of credit, which were a form of paper money. These could not be redeemed, and immediately began to depreciate in value. Yet they were made legal tender by the colonial legislature, so that they had to be accepted in payment of debt. Often the colonies would buy goods from the English and pay them with this colonial money. The southern planters were especially active in using it to pay their debts to their British creditors. The merchants of London soon complained of this practice. Finally, in 1764, Great Britain prohibited all the colonies from issuing these bills of credit or fiat money as such a procedure was considered unfair to their creditors. This, of course, aroused great opposition from those profiting by this currency when paying their debts. Yet no one now would defend such a financial policy on the part of the colonies.