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Wool Act
The Wool Act of 1699 restricted the export of raw wool and wool products from the New England Colonies and Ireland. The purpose of this Act was to encourage the use of English wool purchase and products made from English wool (an example of Mercantilism). The colonialist would have to buy their clothes from Britain at a higher price or make their own. The Daughters of Liberty chose to spin wool and make their clothes in protest of the unfair acts. (picture credit: https://www.craftsy.com) -
Hat Act
In 1732, Great Britain tried to stop the export of colonial made hats with the Hat Act. In the writing of this act, Parliment explained that the hats exported from the colonies were of inferior quality and that the apprenticeships in the colonies were not long enough to develop superior hatmakers. This was the expressed reason, but the colonialist saw it as a way of making them inferior to the mother country and decrease their profitability. (Picture credit: https://www.landofthebrave.info) -
Molasses Act
New England colonies imported molasses from Jamacia and Barbados (English West Indies) as well as from Santo Domingo and Martinique (Spanish and Dutch West Indies). The result of the Molasses Act was that the colonialist smuggled molasses, rum, and sugar to keep from paying the tax enacted by Parliment. The colonialist still wanted to be British citizens but also wanted to contiune the industries they had started. (Picture credit: https://www.britannica.com/event/Molasses-Act) -
Iron Act
Britain believed that the Iron Act would benefit both the colonies and Great Britain. At this time the Middle colonies, Virginia and Maryland produced and exported iron to London. However, this act also prohibited any manufactured products from iron to be made in the colonies. This meant that anything made from iron had to be imported from Britain. The Americans had already begun to use iron to make their own tools. (Picture credit: http://saltofamerica.com/) -
Benjamin Franklin before Parliament
While Benjamin Franklin was in London, he was called to testify before Parliment on the American reaction to the Stamp Act of 1765. He expressed the American's displeasure with the current relationship to Great Britain. In the colonist's point of view, they were being taxed without representation in Parliment, and they believed that their rights as British citizens were being infringed upon. (Picture credit: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin) -
Boston Tea Party
In reaction to the Tea Act of 1773, the Sons of Liberty raided East India Company ships carrying tea. While the British did not expect this reaction the American colonist in Boston were expressing their dissatisfaction with the lack of representative government and what the colonist saw as disregard by their government for their way of life in the colonies. The colonialist are beginning to think of them apart from the British Empire. (Picture credit: https://www.landofthebrave.info/tea-act.htm) -
Mecklenburg Resolves
Mecklenburg, North Carolina declares it's independence from the British Crown and calls all taxes and laws by the British government null and void. This is the first of the American colonies to assert their independence. (Picture credit: Source: The Formation of the North Carolina Counties 1663 - 1943 by: David L. CORBIT, 1950) -
The Olive Branch Petition
The Second Continental Congress in Philadephia petitioned King George. In this petition, the Congress assured the King of their loyalty but also addressing the grievances caused by his ministers on the colonies. The colonies as a whole are still wanting to be a part of the British empire but feel that as British citizens they deserve the same rights as citizens in Great Britain. (Picture credit: https://continentalcongressela702.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/continental-congress/) -
Declaration of Independence
On this day the Congress of the 13 United States of America described the reasons for their disenchantment with the British crown and declared that they are free from the fetters of English rule. For the colonies, this was the result of a long list of insults dealt by the British government. In this document the Congress lays out what is wrong and why they think they can do better on their own. (Picture credit: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document) -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris is the end result of the American Revolution. It is Great Britain recognizing the sovereignty of the United States of America. This treaty gave the American colonies what they had sought for many years the independence and freedom they desired. The pride of the Americans can be seen in what they asked for from the British and their expectations of events thereafter. (Picture credit: https://www.ourdocuments.gov) -
REPORT ON MANUFACTURES
Alexander Hamilton was the Secretary of Treasury at this time. His report talks about the decline of imports due to discord with the European nations. He also explains that agriculture needs to be the focus of Americans for their immediate needs but that manufacturing, trade, and invention are the future for America. In the report Hamilton goes into great detail regarding what commodities America has and what they can enhance. (Picture credit: https://cnx.org) -
Cotton Gin Invented
Ely Whitney invented the cotton gin in Savanah Georgia. This made processing the cotton much faster. This is an example of the industrialism that gave Americans a sense of pride and independence.
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Louisiana Purchase
The largest purchase of land for the United States helped fulfill dreams of an agricultural society. At the time the government was not aware of exactly what they had purchased but were hopeful that is would bring rich lands and more ports to exports good through. America is still following the ideals of independence and pride through industry by buying land so that they can produce more goods. (Picture credit: https://cnx.org) -
Embargo
The government passed an embargo that crippled trade for Americans. The thought process of the leaders was that if the Franch and British did not have American goods, they would stop pirating American merchant ships. This is an indication of the pride Americans had at the time that they believed their goods were so important the European nations needed them. The American industries had begun to grow after the Revolution, but this stifled most of that growth. (Picture credit: https://cnx.org) -
Gallatin's Report on Manufactures
Tanneries in Deleware and Boston, shoe factories in New Jersey and Massachusetts, cotton mills in Baltimore and Philidelphia, iron mined in Vermont, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland are all mentioned in this report. Gallatin acknowledges the effect the Revolutionary War and the Embargo had on economic progress. However, without these hardships, the manufacturing industry in America would not have expanded as rapidly. (Picture credit: http://thepublici.blogspot.com/2014/06.html)
