Scholarly analysis of the preliminaries to our Revolution.

British politics and colonial policy, 1759-1765 -- Royal instructions and the threat to home rule in the royal colonies, 1759 -- The Twopenny Act dispute in Virginia, 1759-1764 -- Irritants in other royal colonies, 1761-1764 -- The disturbing activities of Archbishop Secker, 1760-1765 -- The British army in America and the decision to tax the colonies, 1763 -- The Proclamation of 1763 and limitation of westward expansion -- Amherst and the Indian uprising of 1763 -- Failure of the British army, 1763-1764 -- Enforcement of the White Pine Acts, 1763-1764 -- Enforcement of the Sugar Act of 1733, 1763-1764 -- Parliament taxes the colonies for revenue, 1764 -- The English Constitution and colonial taxation, 1621-1764 -- British restrictions on colonial trade and manufacturing, 1660-1764 -- New restrictions on colonial trade and currency, 1764 -- Individual protests -- Legislative protests: Massachusetts, Connecticut, the middle colonies, the Carolinas, Virginia, Rhode Island -- The protests fail: the Stamp Act is passed, 1765 -- Colonial nullification of the Stamp Act, 1765-1766 -- Epilogue, 1766-1775 -- Appendixes: The Privy Council, Cabinet Council and Cabinet -- The Acts of Trade and colonial admiralty courts -- Private enrichment from British public funds -- Was George III insane in 1765?