Mike Parker: Colonies’ last-ditch effort to avoid revolution
Too often when we think about the American Revolution 250 years ago, we do not stop to ponder just how long the colonies struggled against the efforts of the British Crown and Parliament to control, even suppress, the colonials. History has a way of becoming compacted in our minds.
Before the American Revolution, the colonies in various forms had existed more than 160 years. Great Britain saw the colonies as a source of raw materials and a market for their products. The attitude – and later policy – of Britain towards its colonies was described by the words “Salutary Neglect.”
The policy of Salutary Neglect, promoted by Prime Minister Robert Walpole, allowed the British Colonies along the east coast of North America to avoid compliance with trade laws, specifically the Acts of Trade and Navigation. Salutary Neglect encouraged the colonies to stay loyal to the King and Parliament while allowing British officials to concentrate on affairs in Europe as the British Empire expanded.
But after the expenses of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the British government wanted the colonies to help pay for their defense. Most readers today are familiar with the name the Stamp Act, but few know the other laws passed to generate revenue from the colonies. The Sugar Act and the Currency Act passed in 1764. The Quartering Act and the Stamp Act passed in 1765. The Townshend Acts became law in 1767. 1773 saw the Tea Act, and the Coercive Acts in 1774.
On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry made a speech that he concluded with “Give me Liberty – or give me death!” But prior to that emotion ending, Henry told the Virginia delegates:
“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House.”
As tensions continued to increase, the colonial representatives of the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to seek ways to respond to British encroachments on the colonies. On July 5, 1775, the delegates adopted “The Olive Branch Petition.” They signed the document on July 8, 1775. This petition was their final attempt to avoid war with Great Britain.
The petition asked King George III to establish a lasting settlement between Great Britain and the colonies “upon so firm a basis as to perpetuate its blessings, uninterrupted by any future dissensions, to succeeding generations in both countries.” The petition said such a beginning would need to include the repeal of the Intolerable Acts.
The Intolerable Acts was the colonial name for the Coercive Acts, laws passed by Parliament in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. These acts closed Boston Harbor, allowed Britain to house troops wherever it wanted under the Quartering Acts, and allowed the trials of accused royal officials to take place in Great Britain if the Royal Governor decided the defendant could not get a fair trial in Massachusetts Another barb was the Quebec Act, which gave the Ohio country to Canada.
While the Olive Branch Petition sought for a peaceful resolution to the troubles between Great Britain and the colonies, two other colonial actions undermined the quest for peace.
The Continental Congress had already authorized an invasion of Canada more than a week earlier. The Olive Branch Petition affirming American loyalty to Great Britain was followed on July 6, 1775, with the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms.
In August 1775, the Crown formally declared the colonies to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion. The British government rejected the Olive Branch Petition. King George III had refused to read the document before declaring the colonists as traitors and rebels.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, our nation – then thirteen colonies – were trying to avoid war while at the same time preparing for armed conflict against Great Britain. The seeds of the revolution were germinating.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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