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Home Great Britain and her Relations with America after the Seven Years War, 1763-1783 1763-1783; Part 5 |
1763-1783; Part 5Other events soon afterwards finally brought about war. Lord North, in order to assist the East India Company - at that time in great financial difficulties - allowed it to export its tea direct to America without going to Great Britain first; consequently the company would not only save expense by making a shorter journey, but would also avoid paying any duty in Great Britain, and would only have to pay the small duty levied on tea imported into America. The more extreme of the colonists, however, thought this was only a trick of the Government in order to reconcile the colonists to the tax by cheapening the cost of tea, and were determined that the tea should not be allowed to be brought into America whilst the duty existed. When the ships of the company arrived in Boston a number of men disguised as Mohawks boarded, and threw their three hundred and forty chests of tea into the sea (1773).Great Britain could scarcely be expected to pass over such lawlessness. Acts were passed suspending the constitution of Massachusetts and closing the port of Boston. Gage, a soldier, was made Governor of Massachusetts, and additional troops were sent out. The other colonies, however, supported Massachusetts, and a Congress representing all the colonies except Georgia was held at Philadelphia. Lord North then tried conciliation, but it was too late. A skirmish had already taken place at Lexington (1775), and the war had begun. The incidents narrated above seem scarcely adequate to occasion a great war, but we must not forget that below them lay important issues. "The real difficulty", it has been well said, "was that Great Britain would not consent to a partnership, which was the only solution, but insisted upon a dependency. The American colonies therefore hardened their hearts, and would accept nothing short of independence." The self-governing colony was to be a product of the next century. To conduct a campaign three thousand miles away, in a country a thousand miles long and covered with forest, was, or Great Britain, a difficult task. But the task should not have been insuperable, considering the circumstances of her opponents. The American colonist did not like moving far from his home. Moreover, he only enlisted for short periods, and therefore might leave, and not infrequently did leave, his fellow colonists in the crisis of a campaign. He was, besides, inclined to be insubordinate, "regarding", said one general, "his officer as no more than a broomstick", especially if serving under the command of officers from any other colony but his own. The Congress, which supervised the generals, was loquacious and incompetent, whilst "peculation and speculation", in the words of the Commander-in-chief, were rife amongst the contractors. And finally, a large number of the colonists were either loyal to the mother country or indifferent to the cause of both combatants. |
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