British – U.S. to 1877

November 21, 2013

The Southern Scare: Southern Fear of British Abolitionism

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In Chapter 14, Davis makes the case that one of the driving forces behind the South’s fear of restriction on the expansion of slavery was British abolitionism. Davis makes the case that the south saw this British abolitionism as a new form of british control as NIPAPPAYLIOU noted. “… Southerners believed that Britain was attempting to spread their abolitionist ideas throughout the world as a new form of imperialism.” This fear of British cultural imperialism coincided with a period of vehement anti-British sentiment, which fed into anti-Federalist sentiment, as the federalists were viewed as being too pro-British. This anti-British sentiment, alongside connections between Britain and abolitionism, and a fear that Britain was seeking to collapse slave-holding economies so that their newly slave-free colonies could become competitive, lead to intense suspicion of Northern abolitionists as potentially being unpatriotic and likely to be in bed with British interests. The irony of this all was of course that, despite Britsh abolitionism and anti-British sentiment which was strongest in the south, when the Civil War finally came to the fore, Britain would consider joining the war, but on the Southern side, rather than the Northern side. Thus while Southern fear may not have been entirely unwarranted, with regards to beliefs that Britain was seeking to abolish slavery more broadly, it was almost certainly overstated.

October 2, 2013

What In The World Is Russia Doing Here?

Up to this point, the entire focus of this class has been on the colonization of America. That is logical considering that this is American history, but the history thus far has not really been American. Rather, it has been a conglomerate of European explorations, European politics, and European settlement. Chapter 19 was no different, but this final chapter ended the colonial period in an intriguing way.

Spain had played a role in the colonies up to this point, but they started to get worried. Spain “owned” a lot of land towards the west coast. I say “owned” because technically they claimed the land and it was theirs, but the Spanish really had no idea how much land was actually their. So when rumors spread that Russia and Britain were coming after their landed, they assumed that “the Russians and British were closing in on California and would soon outflank New Mexico and attack precious Mexico” (Taylor 445). First off, what in the world is Russia doing in this book? Russia was definitely not a country I expected to hear, or had ever heard, in connection to colonial history. Also, it always amazes me how little they knew about the layout of the country, as seen by the map of the island of California (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:California_island_Vinckeboons5.jpg). However, the Spanish did expand with their missionaries up the coast of California. They claimed the land by establishing little missionaries scattered up the coast of a vast territory.

Somehow Russia decides to rear its ugly head in the colonies. Now considering I had never heard of Russia being in America this early, I was intrigued to see what they brought to the table. I very quickly learned two major themes. The first is that the Russians are just like every other country that settled near natives. They were brutal, cruel, and effective in dealing with natives. They used natives to get the goods they needed and took advantage of them, just like every other society we have studied thus far. Secondly, Russia created a sense of urgency for the Spanish. Sarah Funderburg puts it eloquently in her most recent post, “the rumor that the Russians were rapidly expanding their land-holdings (or establishing them at all) motivated the Spanish to increase their aggressive expansion.” The Russians, to me, did not add much to the conversation about colonization. It seems as if they were another card in the deck.

Russia, Spain, Britain, France, etc. all seem to go the same way about colonization. As our talk of American colonization comes to end it is very clear. Now, just as Taylor does I will conclude with a brief mention of Revolution. Now, it is time to revolt against the British crown and become the United States of America.

September 25, 2013

The Verbal Worship of the British Empire by Taylor

The Chapter 18 reading of American Colonies presents an alternative view of the New World. Whereas up until this point Taylor has described the New World in terms of settlement and development of political structures and economic systems, he now describes it as a battlefield to set the stage for the seven years war. He opens the history of war in the 18th century by stating that, despite having a well-funded army in the area, the French managed to lose a fortress at Louisberg to what was essentially a New English militia. After initial battles, both the French and the British realized that they needed to pay more attention to the New World as a theatre for warfare. However, as both colonial areas developed into the mid 18th century, population dynamics shifted so that the British found themselves at a massive advantage. They enjoyed areas of centralized, high density population, whereas the French found themselves dispersed along hundreds of miles of land that frankly was unsustainable and nobody could really live on. This lead to a particular point where Taylor refers to the French as “more restrained and civil” during the seven years war.

Really?

He goes on to explain himself by stating that since the French had such a dispersed population, they knew that the only way to win the seven years war was to gain the help of the Indian population, and become their puppeteers so that the Indian nations between the French and British Borders would die for the French. I completely agree with Jelaws post stating that The British, in this and several other instances, are painted in far too kind a light.

However, this does not excuse the indignation of the colonists that is described in later chapters. In exchange for fighting for and successfully defending the colonies, The British began to raise taxes on the colonists that were minuscule compared to taxes in England, and extremely affordable in the economy of the New World. However, the Colonists believed that they were being oppressed by their mother country because they were being asked to pay in VERY small part for a war which the British fought for them. Taylor describes the taxes being viewed as an “attack on liberty”, but, as always, in reality there is always a much more simple and pragmatic cause for government actions. Like trying to pay for two imperial wars at once.

September 25, 2013

Leading up to the Revolution

In Chapter 18, Taylor describes the wars and subsequent effects leading up to the American Revolution. The two separate periods of conflicts before the Revolution primarily involved the British and French. The British far outnumbered the French in North America, but at the beginning the French did have one key advantage. The French developed many Indian allies that aided them in their wars against the British. Compared to the British, the French were friendlier and treated the natives with respect and as business partners. Throughout the chapter, Taylor portrays the British treatment of the natives as brutal compared to the French. I agree with Sylvia in her response to the overwhelmingly negative view of the British in Taylor. As she stated, Taylor should not have simply given a negative view of the British, but make the “reader consider the English reasoning behind their actions.” The natives repaid the kind French with fighting tactics suitable for North American warfare. This gave the French an advantage, but the British soon caught on. The “unprecedented numbers of British troops” eventually grew too much for the French and Spanish to handle (p. 429). British victories against the Spanish and French increased the expansion west pushing farther into Indian land. In response to the increase of colonists, the natives rebelled. The Indian rebellions in the late 1750s and early 1760s specifically in the Carolinas and Ohio Valley, increased the racial tensions already present between the colonists and the natives.

Underneath the subheading of “Imperial Crisis” Taylor describes an increased sense of pride in the colonies for being a part of the British empire. Then, he goes on to say all of the reasons the colonies began to dislike the crown. This confuses the reader. The victory in the war did increase allegiance to the crown, but Taylor explains the reasons for the Revolution as “strains initiated by winning the Seven Years War (p.438).” I think he should have made the transition from pride to a revolution clearer. Taylor is very clear in describing the strains brought on by the victory. He lists reasons ranging from no common enemy to the prosperity in the colonies causing an increase in taxes (p. 438-439). Many of the reasons for the Revolution came as a result of the British army seeing the prosperity and disregard for British laws (Molasses Act) in the colonies during the Seven Years War. Without the Seven Years War, the colonies would have most likely continued to prosper while the oblivious Parliament continued to ignore them. Taylor points out that the colonies had a “good deal– and they knew it (p. 442).” Many of the strains that eventually caused the Revolution were created because Parliament and the Crown finally realized how good of a deal the colonies had.

September 17, 2013

Carolina (Chapters 7 and 11)

In Chapters 7 and 11 of American Colonies a major theme is the idea that the land in the New World is land that is not owned by anyone and therefore it can be given away by the British. The British landed in South Carolina for the first time in 1670. Three ships carrying 200 colonists had sailed from Barbados to the mouth of the Ashley River, where they would found Charles Town, named for King Charles II. This represented the founding of Carolina, a land further south than Virginia. This meant even hotter summers and more miserable humidity. For a group sailing from the crowded heat of the small island of Barbados though, the wide open empty space and less intense climate of Carolina was inviting. The space was given by the King to a council called the Lords Proprietor which was a member of 8 Lords who were to govern over the new space. Essentially, this made sure that the King would not have to be bothered by the trivial matters of starting a colony, but ensured that people he trusted would take care of it. And so Carolina was formed as the newest British colony in the new world.

The location of Carolina was very helpful from the King’s perspective. Charles II’s main interest in the New World was the tobacco output that Virginia was supplying and until Carolina was founded, there was essentially nothing between Jamestown and San Agustin, the Spanish colony. Carolina acted as a buffer between the two colonies as it was in fact much closer to San Augustin than Jamestown. The location of Charles Town was also a bold statement by the British who essentially said that they weren’t scared to claim any land they wanted in the New World, no matter how close it was to Spanish colonies. This claim was challenged by the Spanish who attacked up the coast and eventually destroyed Port Royal, a town even further south than Charles Town. The amount of British colonists coming into Carolina was far to great, especially in comparison the amount going into San Agustin. The Spanish quickly became far outnumbered and stopped attacking. The population of South Carolina grew up to 6,600 by 1700.

How did they get all these settlers to go to South Carolina and increase the population so much? They incentivized. They were prepared to offer each colonist 150 acres for each member of his family if he would make the voyage over to Carolina. Even if you couldn’t afford to make the journey yourself, you could become an indentured servant, where you would pledge to serve someone for four to seven years if they payed your way across the Atlantic. After a servant was freed, they were given land and tools and became a member of the New World. Many young men found their way across the ocean in that way. The British justified giving away all the land they wanted to, not realizing that some of it may belong to Natives who were already there. What shocks me as a reader is how Indians did not revolt as the British forged further and further in to their land. While the land that the British were giving away seemed to have no owner, I’m sure it had some very important meaning to Indians of the area.

I think that the founding of the Carolinas was important for the British because it sent a message to the Spanish and it allowed British yet another place to populate in the New World. The New World was also a place in which many enslaved people found a home. By 1700, out of the 6,600 people living in South Carolina, 2,800 were black. I think that my classmate Funderburg raises a good point about how eventually the white’s goal became to make the African slaves angry at the Indians as the British feared that one day the enslaved people would join forces with the Natives and overthrow the whites.