Tea Party to Independence The Third Phase of the American Revolution, 1773-1776

by Thomas, Peter D. G.

• ISBN13: 9780198201427
• ISBN10: 0198201427
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1991-08-22
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This is a study of the formulation of British policy towards the American colonies during the crucial period between the Boston Tea Party of December 1773 and the American Declaration of Independence in July 1776. It is set against the background both of British public opinion and of thedeveloping resistance movement in America. Peter Thomas examines the constraints on British policy-making, and analyses the failure of the colonists either to respond to British overtures or to produce positive proposals of their own. He shows how the crisis escalated as the Americans moved fromconstitutional demands to a military response, and finally took the decision to separate from Britain. Tea Party to Independence is a scholarly and comprehensive exploration of one of the most important phases of American history. It completes Professor Thomas's acclaimed study of British relations with the American colonies, begun in British Politics and the Stamp Act Crisis 1763-1767 (ClarendonPress, 1975) and The Townshend Duties Crisis 1767-1773 (Clarendon Press, 1987).

Table of Contents

Britain and America in 1773

Tea Party in Boston

A policy for America: January-March 1774

The coercion of Boston: March 1774

The control of Massachusetts: March-May 1774

The problem of Quebec: May-June 1774

Confrontation: May-September 1774

The challenge of Congress: September-December 1774

The stick and the carrot: British policy in 1775

The outbreak of war: March-July 1775

Rebellion: July-November 1775

The sword and the olive branch: British policy, November 1775-May 1776

Independence: April-July 1776

Select bibliography

Index

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