Origin of the American Revolution

by Knollenberg, Bernhard

• ISBN13: 9780865973824
• ISBN10: 0865973822
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-12-01
• Publisher: Liberty Fund

Summary

Origin of the American Revolution is the first of Bernhard Knollenberg's two-part history concerning the basis of the conflict between England and its North American colonies from 1759 to 1766. In this first volume, Origin of the American Revolution, Knollenberg knits together the most important and coincident prerequisite conditions that made the colonial break with England inevitable. The book is in great measure a work of imperial history, in that it views the advent of the American Revolution within the context of the first British Empire.

Author Biography

Bernhard Knollenberg (1892-1973) practiced law for twenty-two years before becoming Librarian of Yale University Library in 1938. After serving in several administrative posts in World War II, he dedicated his time to historical research and writing about the American Revolution Bernard W. Sheehan is professor emeritus of history at Indiana University and past editor of the Indiana Magazine of History. His articles have appeared in such journals as the William and Mary Quarterly and the South Atlantic Quarterly.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Bernard W. Sheehan
Author's Note	xix
Introduction	xxi
British Politics and Colonial Policy: 1759--1765	1	(33)
Royal Instructions and the Threat to Home Rule in the Royal Colonies	34	(9)
The Twopenny Act Dispute in Virginia	43	(11)
Irritants in Other Royal Colonies	54	(10)
The Disturbing Activities of Archbishop Secker	64	(12)
The British Army in America and the Decision to Tax the Colonies	76	(12)
The Proclamation of 1763 and Limitation of Westward Expansion	88	(7)
Amherst and the Indian Uprising of 1763	95	(10)
Failure of the British Army	105	(11)
Enforcement of the White Pine Acts	116	(11)
Enforcement of the Sugar Act of 1733	127	(12)
Parliament Taxes the Colonies for Revenue	139	(7)
The English Constitution and Colonial Taxation	146	(11)
British Restrictions on Colonial Trade and Manufacturing	157	(8)
New Restrictions on Colonial Trade and Currency	165	(9)
Individual Protests	174	(11)
Legislative Protests---Massachusetts and Connecticut	185	(8)
Legislative Protests---The Middle Colonies	193	(11)
Legislative Protests---The Carolinas, Virginia, and Rhode Island	204	(6)
The Protests Fail: The Stamp Act Is Passed	210	(7)
Colonial Nullification of the Stamp Act	217	(11)
Notes	228	(77)
Books and Other Publications Cited	305	(42)
Collections of Documents Cited	347	(2)
Unpublished Dissertations Cited	349	(2)
Index	351