Massacre

British Empire – The Stages of the American Revolution

In this course, we examine the American Revolution, focusing on: (i) the growing tensions in the late 1760s and early 1770s, including British taxes and colonial protests like the Boston Massacre; (ii) the Boston Tea Party and the British response, which unified the colonies in their resistance; (iii) the shift from rebellion to full insurrection, leading to the Declaration of Independence in 1776; (iv) the drafting of the Declaration, asserting unalienable rights and justifying independence; (v) the turning points of the war, including the Battle of Saratoga and the French alliance, culminating in the British defeat at Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which recognised American independence.

Massacre

In this lecture, we explore the rising tensions between Britain and its American colonies in the late 1760s and early 1770s, focusing on: (i) the context of post-Seven Years’ War America, where the British government imposed new regulations and taxes, leading to colonial resistance and protests, including the Stamp Act Crisis and non-importation agreements; (ii) the political climate in Britain, with the unstable leadership of Prime Minister William Pitt, and the eventual repeal of most of the Townshend duties in 1770, except for the tax on tea; (iii) the presence of British soldiers in colonial cities, particularly Boston, where tensions were heightened due to their involvement in local politics and the quartering of troops, setting the stage for conflict; (iv) the Boston Massacre of 1770, where British soldiers fired into a crowd, killing five colonists, an event that was politically charged and became a significant flashpoint in the colonies’ resistance to British rule, intensifying the drive toward revolution.