8. The Logic of Resistance

The American Revolution (HIST 116)

Professor Freeman lays out the logic of American resistance to British imperial policy during the 1770s. Prime Minister Lord North imposed the Intolerable Acts on Massachusetts to punish the radicals for the Boston Tea Party, and hoped that the act would divide the colonies. Instead, the colonies rallied around Massachusetts because they were worried that the Intolerable Acts set a new threatening precedent in the imperial relationship. In response to this seeming threat, the colonists formed the First Continental Congress in 1774 to determine a joint course of action. The meeting of the First Continental Congress is important for four reasons: it forced the colonists to clarify and define their grievances with Britain; it helped to form ties between the colonies; it served as a training ground for young colonial politicians; and in British eyes, it symbolized a step towards rebellion. The lecture concludes with a look at the importance of historical lessons for the colonists, and how these lessons helped form a "logic of resistance" against the new measures that Parliament was imposing upon the colonies.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction: The Logic of Resistance
03:23 - Chapter 2. North's Intolerable Acts and Colonial Solidarity
11:28 - Chapter 3. The First Continental Congress
19:14 - Chapter 4. Jefferson's Dinner Party and the Influence of Enlightenment Thought on the Colonists
27:24 - Chapter 5. Jefferson's Reflection on Hamilton's Favorite Hero
35:58 - Chapter 6. The Logic of Colonial Unity from the British Perspective
45:48 - Chapter 7. Edmund Burke's Warning and Conclusion

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Spring 2010.