America Secedes from the Empire, 1775-1783

Congress Drafts George Washington

• After Lexington and Concord-April-1775, 20,000 “minute men” swarmed around Boston

• The Second Continental Congress met the next month in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775 (second meeting). All 13 colonies were represented

• The Congress, at first, was not promoting separation but an address of their grievances.

• The Congress chose George Washington to head the army besieging Boston. This was a political move as well since Washington was from Virginia, a Southern state, the Congress was showing that the fight was not just a “New England” battle. Washington was wealthy and could not be accused of as a fortune seeker. As an aristocrat, he could be counted on by his peers to “check the masses”-not let the commoners control.

• Washington was from Virginia, a Southern state, the Congress was showing that the fight was not just a “New England” battle. Washington was wealthy and could not be accused of as a fortune seeker. As an aristocrat, he could be counted on by his peers to “check the masses”-not let the commoners control.

Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings• The clash between the

colonists and the British lasted 14 months from April 1775 to July 1776 before separation was declared.

• May 1775-Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold (the traitor) captured the British garrisons at Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point of Upper New York. This gave gunpowder and artillery to the colonists at the Boston siege.

• Though the colonists lost the battle of Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill), they punished the British soldiers severely.

• July 1775-the Second Continental Congress offered King George III an “Olive Branch Petition”, thus begging the king to prevent further hostilities.

• August 1775, the King formally proclaimed the colonies as rebellious. September, 1775, the King hired thousands of German Hessians.

• The colonials felt this was a “family” matter and not one with a foreign country. Many Hessians eventually stayed in America and became respected Citizens.

The Abortive Conquest of Canada• The colonials erroneously

believed that the French Canadians would fight against the British. They were mistaken since Britain had acted generously toward them in the Quebec Act of 1774.

• Colonial General Montgomery captured Montreal but was killed when raiding Quebec with General Benedict Arnold. Arnold was wounded in the leg and his army retreated up the St. Lawrence River from whence Montgomery had come.

• The British was forced to leave Boston in March of 1776. Evacuation Day is still celebrated annually in Boston.

Thomas Paine Preaches Common Sense• Why did Americans continue to deny

any intention of independence? Loyalty to the empire was deeply ingrained; colonial unity was poor; and open rebellion was dangerous.

• Americans were shocked by Britain’s harsh acts like burning of Falmouth, Maine and Norfolk, Virginia, and the hiring of the Hessians.

• Thomas Paine published Common Sense in 1776. It was one of the most influential pamphlets ever written.

• Paine stated that nowhere in the physical universe did the smaller heavenly body control the larger one. So why should the tiny island of England control the vast continent of America?

• Common Sense called, not only for independence, but for the creation of a new kind of political society, a democratic republic (rule by the people through elected representatives).

• The colonists’ experience with governing themselves had prepared them well for Paine’s summons to create a republic.

• Many of the settlers, particularly New Englanders, had practiced a kind of republicanism in their democratic town meetings and annual elections, while the popularly elected committees of correspondence during 1774-1775 had demonstrated the feasibility of republican government.

• Because political power no longer rested with the central government (the king), individuals in a republic needed to sacrifice their personal self-interest to the public good. The rights of “the people” mattered more than the private rights of any one person.

• Many colonial aristocrats feared that an all out republic led by the “lower orders” of society would destroy the republic. They favored a social hierarchy, not a hereditary aristocracy.

Jefferson’s “Explanation” of Independence

• On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moved that “These United Colonies are, and of right out to be, free and independent states…”

• The motion was adopted nearly a month later, on July 2, 1776.

• Thomas Jefferson had the main responsibility of writing the Declaration of Independence. It was formally approved by the congress on July 4, 1776.

• The Declaration of Independence:– Gave his appeal universally by

invoking the “natural rights” of humankind-not just British rights

– Since the king had flouted these rights, the colonials were justified in cutting their connection.

– The Declaration gave a long list of grievances against the King-imposing taxes without consent, no trial by jury, abolishing lows without consent, dispensing with trial by jury, burning towns, hiring mercenaries

– “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

Patriots and Loyalists• Loyalists were colonials loyal to the king

while Patriots were the American rebels. Loyalists were called “Tories” after the dominant political factions in England, whereas Patriots were called “Whigs,” after the opposition factions in England.

• The American Revolution was a minority movement. Many colonists were apathetic or neutral, including the Byrds of Virginia who sat on the fence.

• Loyalists numbered about 20 percent of the American people. Conservative and older Americans remained loyal to the king; Anglican clergy and their congregations remained loyal and had been taught to obey the king; New York City, Charleston, Quaker Pennsylvania and New Jersey remained loyal.

• Loyalists were least numerous in New England, where self-government was especially strong and mercantilism was especially weak. Rebels were the most numerous where Presbyterianism and Congregationalism flourished, notably in New England.

• Patrick Henry of Virginia cried before the Virginia assembly, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

The Loyalist Exodus• Before the Declaration of

Independence in 1776, persecution of the Loyalists was relatively mild.

• After the Declaration, harsher methods prevailed.– Loyalists were

imprisoned, hanged and 80 thousand were forced to flee to British lines.

– 50 thousand Loyalists volunteered for the British

– They served as spies and incited the Indians against the colonials.

General Washington at Bay

• With Boston evacuated in March 1776, the British concentrated on New York as a base of operations where Loyalists were numerous.

• Washington, being outnumbered barely escaped Long Island, thanks to a favoring wind and a fog that miraculously hid the colonials.

Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

• Britain wanted to capture the Hudson River Valley and cut off the New England colonies from the rest of the country.

• The Main force was led by General “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne. General St. Leger was to meet Burgoyne from the West. General Howe, meanwhile was to travel up the Hudson and meet Burgoyne from the South.

• Howe left to attack Philadelphia, the rebel capital. St Leger’s force was driven back and Burgoyne had to surrender at Saratoga to colonial general Horatio Gates.

• This was one of the most decisive battles of both American and world history. The victory immensely revived the faltering colonial cause and more importantly opened the door for French aid which helped ensure American independence.

Strange French Bedfellows• France, wanted to see Britain

lose its most valuable overseas possessions, the American colonies. This would cause Britain to loose its world dominance.

• During the first two and a half years of the war, about 90 percent of all the gunpowder used by the Americans came from the French.

• After the humiliating defeat at Saratoga in 1777, the British Parliament passed a measure that in effect offered the Americans home rule within the empire.

The Colonial War Becomes a World War

• England and France came to blows in 1778. The war had turned into a global battle. Spain entered against Britain in 1779, as did Holland. Spanish and French fleets outnumbered those of England.

• In 1780, Catherine the Great of Russia organized the Armed Neutrality, which lined up all the remaining European neutrals against Britain.

• The war was being fought not only in Europe and North America, but also in South America, the Caribbean, and Asia.

• To England, struggling for its very life, the scuffle in the New World became secondary. Independence came when the conflict erupted into a multipower world war that was too big for Britain to handle.

• From 1778 to 1783, France provided the rebels with large sums of money, equipment, one-half of America’s regular armed forces, and practically all of the new nations’ naval strength.

• One-third of the Hessians deserted

Blow and Counterblow• Improving American morale

was shattered in 1780, when General Benedict Arnold turned traitor. Greedy and feeling that his services were not being appreciated, he plotted with the British to sell out the key stronghold of West Point. The plot was accidentally detected and Arnold fled to the British. “Whom can we trust now?” cried General Washington.

The Land Frontier and the Sea Frontier

• 1777 was known as “the bloody year” on the frontier.

• Two nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Oneidas and the Tuscaroras, sided with the Americans. The Senecas and many other members of the powerful Six Nations of the Iroquois joined the British.

• Mohawk chief Joseph Brant, a convert to Anglicanism aided the British.

• 1784- the pro-British Iroquois were forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the first treaty between the United States and an Indian nation. Under its terms the Indians ceded most of its land.

• George Rogers Clark (Lewis and Clark) seized the British forts down the Ohio river.

• John Paul Jones, a young Scotsman became famous for naval battles.

• Privateers-privately owned armed ships (70,000 American sailors) were called “sailors of fortune.”

• The privateers brought in gold, harassed the enemy, and raised American morale by providing victories.

Yorktown and the Final Curtain• 1780-1781 was one of the darkest

periods of the war. Inflation was high and the government was virtually bankrupt.

• British General Cornwallis fell into a trap. Having fallen back to Yorktown on the Chesapeake Bay, he waited for British reinforcements. Admiral de Grasse, of the French West Indies fleet, offered his services to Washington. Defeating the British fleet and trapping Cornwallis by sea, Washington trapped him by land.

• Cornwallis surrendered 7,000 troops-October 19, 1781.

Peace at Paris• Paris Peace Treaty-1783• John Jay sensing that

France would try to take land west of the Allegany's defied the Congress’ position of making a treaty with France. He negotiated with Britain. The following resulted:– America was independent– All land to the Mississippi

on the west, Great Lakes on the north, and Spanish Florida on the south (Spain had captured Florida from Britain

A New Nation Legitimized• The enormous trans-

Allegheny area was thrown to the Americans as a virtual gift. Why? England was trying to seduce America from its French alliance, so it made the terms as alluring as possible. The Whigs in power for a short time, was generous to America.

• The British was to enter another war with America-The War of 1812.

• France slipped into bankruptcy and revolution-1789.

• Americans had been extremely favored.