This paper explores the American colonial opposition to British imperialism between 1763 and 1776. It investigates the approach used by the opposition to convince the British to change the way they were doing things. The colonial opposition challenged the legitimacy of British rule and compelled people to rethink about their liberties and rights as subjects to the crown.
The colonial opposition used different approaches to resist British imperialism, which includes political intimidation, economic pressure, diplomacy and military action.
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Political intimidation emerged after the British continued to pass laws that affected the colonies who were not represented directly. For example, following the passage of the Stamp Act and the Quartering Act in 1765, Patrick Henry opposed the Stamp act through a speech that motivated the Virginia House of Burgesses (Tiedemann, 2008). In Boston, the Sons of Liberty protested by burning a mock statue of Andrew Oliver, Boston’s stamp master and damaged a building that belonged to him and damaged his home. Another group stormed the home of the Governor one week after the events in Boston and destroyed some documents in protest of the British behaviour (Jones, 2006). These actions intimidated most tax collectors, who were compelled to resign from their positions. Identical riots occurred in South Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York City, Rhode Island and Newport. The colonists reinforced their actions by also applying economic pressure through boycotts.
The boycotts that the colonists imposed on British products were more significant than the riots that occurred in most colonies, which pressured the British economically. Merchants from colonial cities like New York boycotted British products while ordinary people agreed not to purchase British products like tea and clothes (Louis, 1985). Pressure from British merchants and members of parliament forced the Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act in 1766 (Jones, 2006). Economic pressure continued after the passage of the declaratory act and the creation of the Townshend Duties (Tiedemann, 2008). Boycotts continued and in 1768 the Townshend Act and all duties were eventually repealed except the duties on tea. Colonists continued demonstrating their dissatisfaction with the British rule through diplomatic ways.
Colonists used diplomacy to present to the British their grievances and resentments about various issues that affected them. For example, a committee of correspondence was created in Boston after the Boston massacre with the objective of enhancing communication of ideas between people in Boston and people from other Massachusetts towns (The American Yawp, 2017). Other colonies also formed their individual Committees of Correspondence, which were used to facilitate inter-colony cooperation and were successful in coordinating and stirring up the expression of resentment regarding the British rule by the colonies (Jones, 2006). Continental Congress was also established in 1774 to protest the passage of four Coercive acts and the Quebec act (The American Yawp, 2017. Through the Congress, the colonies issued their grievances and resistances to various acts passed by the British Parliament. However, the colonies had established their individual militias for defense purposes, which they also used when the British did not listen to them through diplomatic ways that they had established.
When the colonists saw that the British became more aggressive and did not consider their grievances through Committees of Correspondence and the Continental Congress, the colonies started preparing for a military action. Colonies had their individual militias composed of local men who offered emergency protection against enemies, for instance against hostile Indians (The American Yawp, 2017). However, the British became the main enemy by 1775, and the Militia prepared for their protection by maintaining stores of weapons and ammunition at different places (Jones, 2006). When the British authorities attempted to disarm militias and arrest their leaders, colonies resisted by fighting back.
In conclusion, this paper explored the approach used by the colonial opposition against the British rule. Colonies opposed the British rule between 1763 and 1776 by applying political pressure through intimidation of British tax collectors, boycotting British products, establishing diplomatic channels to communicate their grievances and resentments and finally resorting to a military action when their grievances were ignored.
References
Jones, B. A. (2006). The American revolution and popular loyalism in the British Atlantic world (Doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow).
Louis, W. R. (1985). American anti-colonialism and the dissolution of the British Empire. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-) , 61 (3), 395- 420.
The American Yawp. (2017). The American Revolution . Retrieved March 20, 2018, from http://www.americanyawp.com/text/05-the-american-revolution/
Tiedemann, J. S. (2008). Reluctant Revolutionaries: New York City and the Road to Independence, 1763-1776 . Cornell University Press.
