CHAPTER I
THE BEGINNINGS |
| PAGE |
| Relations between the American colonies and the British government in the first half of the eighteenth century | 1 |
| The Lords of Trade | 2 |
| The governors’ salaries | 3 |
| Sir Robert Walpole | 4 |
| Views of the Lords of Trade as to the need for a union of the colonies | 5 |
| Weakness of the sentiment of union | 6 |
| The Albany Congress | 6 |
| Franklin’s plan for a federal union (1754) | 7, 8 |
| Rejection of Franklin’s plan | 9 |
| Shirley recommends a stamp act | 10 |
| The writs of assistance | 11 |
| The chief justice of New York | 12 |
| Otis’s “Vindication” | 13 |
| Expenses of the French War | 14 |
| Grenville’s resolves | 15 |
| Reply of the colonies | 16 |
| Passage of the Stamp Act | 17 |
| Patrick Henry and the Parsons’ Cause | 18 |
| Resolutions of Virginia concerning the Stamp Act | 19, 20 |
| The Stamp Act Congress | 20-22 |
| Declaration of the Massachusetts assembly | 22 |
| Resistance to the Stamp Act in Boston | 23 |
| And in New York | 24 |
| Debate in the House of Commons | 25, 26 |
| Repeal of the Stamp Act | 26, 27 |
| The Duke of Grafton’s ministry | 28 |
| Charles Townshend and his revenue acts | 29-31 |
| Attack upon the New York assembly | 32 |
| Parliament did not properly represent the British people | 32, 33 |
| Difficulty of the problem | 34 |
| Representation of Americans in Parliament | 35 |
| Mr. Gladstone and the Boers | 36 |
| Death of Townshend | 37 |
| His political legacy to George III. | 37 |
| Character of George III. | 38, 39 |
| English parties between 1760 and 1784 | 40, 41 |
| George III. as a politician | 42 |
| His chief reason for quarrelling with the Americans | 42, 43 |
CHAPTER II
THE CRISIS |
| Character of Lord North | 44 |
| John Dickinson and the “Farmer’s Letters” | 45 |
| The Massachusetts circular letter | 46, 47 |
| Lord Hillsborough’s instructions to Bernard | 48 |
| The “Illustrious Ninety-Two” | 48 |
| Impressment of citizens | 49 |
| Affair of the sloop Liberty | 49-51 |
| Statute of Henry VIII. concerning “treason committed abroad” | 52<
> | 194 | |
| Richard Henry Lee’s motion in Congress | 194 |
| Debate on Lee’s | 195, 196 |
| Action of the other colonies; Connecticut and New Hampshire | 196 |
| New Jersey | 197 |
| Pennsylvania and Delaware | 197-199 |
| Maryland | 199 |
| The situation in New York | 200 |
| The Tryon plot | 201 |
| Final debate on Lee’s motion | 202 |
| Vote on Lee’s motion | 203 |
| Form of the Declaration of Independence | 204 |
| Thomas Jefferson | 204, 205 |
| The declaration was a deliberate expression of the sober thought of the American people | 206, 207 |
CHAPTER V
FIRST BLOW AT THE CENTRE |
| Lord Cornwallis arrives upon the scene | 208 |
| Battle of Fort Moultrie (June 28, 1776) | 209-211 |
| British plan for conquering the valley of the Hudson, and cutting the United Colonies in twain | 212 |
| Lord Howe’s futile attempt to negotiate with Washington unofficially | 213, 214 |
| The military problem at New York | 214-216 |
| Importance of Brooklyn Heights | 217 |
| Battle of Long Island (August 27, 1776) | 218-220 |
| Howe prepares to besiege the Heights | 220 |
| But Washington slips away with his army | 221 |
| And robs the British of the most golden opportunity ever offered them | 221-223 |
| The conference at Staten Island | 223, 224 |
| General Howe takes the city of New York September 15 | 224 |
| But Mrs. Lindley Murray saves the garrison | 225 |
| Attack upon Harlem Heights | 225 |
| The new problem before Howe | 225, 226 |
| He moves upon Throg’s Neck, but Washington changes base | 227 |
| Baffled at White Plans, Howe tries a new plan | 228 |
| Washington’s orders in view of the emergency | 228 |
| Congress meddles with the situation and muddles it | 229 |
| Howe takes Fort Washington by storm (November 16) | 230 |
| Washington and Greene | 231 |
| Outrageous conduct of Charles Le | 231, 232 |
| Greene barely escapes from Fort Lee (November 20) | 233 |
| Lee intrigues against Washington | 233, 234 |
| Washington retreats into Pennsylvania | 234 |
| Reinforcements come from Schuyler | 235 |
| Fortunately for the Americans, the British capture Charles Lee (December 13) | 235-238 |
| The times that tried men’s souls | 238, 239 |
| Washington prepares to strike back | 239 |
| He crosses the Delaware, and pierces the British centre at Trenton (December 26) | 240, 241 |
| Cornwallis comes up to retrieve the disaster | 242 |
| And thinks he has run down the
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