AmericanRevolution
nEssentialQuestion:•WhatfactorscausedtheBritishtofailinwhatshouldhavebeenaneasycampaigntosubduetheAmericanrebels?
TheDecisiontoFightForIndependence
DecisionforIndependence•TheLexington&Concordskirmishwasthe1st ofaseriesofconflictsfrom1775to1776beforetheAmericancallforindependence:•FightingeruptedaroundBoston,NY,Charlestown,&Quebec
•The2nd ContinentalCongressmettoorganizeawarplan
•KingGeorgedeclaredthecolonistsin“openrebellion”
The Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill) demonstrated that Americans were
willing to stand up to a pitched battle In early 1776, both Spain & France
began shipping war supplies to colonists Despite growing calls for independence,
the congress issued the Olive Branch Petition to King George in July 1775
King George rejected the Olive Branch Petition in August 1775
BattleofBunkerHill(Breed’sHill);June17,1775With over 1,000 casualties, the British suffered their greatest losses of the Revolution at Bunker Hill“A few more such victories would have shortly
put an end to British dominion in America”—British General Henry Clinton
DecisionforIndependence•By1776,the2nd ContinentalCongressservedasaninformalnationalgov’tforthecolonies
•Butthemajorityofcolonistswereundecidedaboutindependence
•ThomasPaine’sCommonSenseprovedtobethekeyfactorinconvincingAmericanstosupportcolonialindependence
Challenged “royal infallibility”Persuaded ordinary people to sever
ties with England & its “royal brute”
By1776,colonialsentimenthad
changed
On June 7, 1776 Richard Henry Lee of
VA introduced a resolution to the
Continental Congress: “that these United
Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free
and independent States...”
After several days of debate, Congress
appointed a committee to draft a declaration of
independence
DeclarationofIndependence(1776)
Committee to draft the Declaration: Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, & Roger Sherman
DecisionforIndependence•OnJuly2,1776,theContinentalCongressvotedforindependence
•OnJuly4,theDeclarationofIndependence wassigned;TheDeclaration’spurposewasto:• JustifytheAmericans’desiretoseparatefromEngland
•Articulatetheprinciplesonwhichthenewnationwouldbeestablished
Democratic ideals (republicanism)Natural rights & individual liberty
IndependenceHallattheSecondContinentalCongress
The Declaration of Independence was NOT signed like this!
TheDecisionforIndependencenThecolonistsweredividedaboutthisdecisionforindependence:•Supportersofindependencewerecalled“Patriots”or“Whigs”
•Coloniststhatopposedindependencewerecalled“Loyalists”or“Tories”
•Thereweremany“neutral”colonistswhowereconflictedbytheprospectofindependence
Patriotsvs.Loyalists
•WherearetheLoyalists?
•WhyareLoyalistsnearcities?
•Whyisthebackcountrysocontested?
•WhyareIndiansloyalists?
FightingtheWarforIndependence
TheOutbreakofRevolution•TheBritishenteredthewarconfidentofacompletevictory:•Theirarmywas400%larger;well-trained solders, experiencedofficers,&Hessianmercenaries
•Strongmanufacturingbase•Theworld’smostdominantnavy
•Believedthe1776battleswerea“policeaction”&theshowofforcewouldforcerebelstosubmit
TheOutbreakofRevolutionnInreality,Englandfacedanimpossibletask:
• TheirlongsupplylinesacrosstheAtlanticwouldnotbeabletoprovidetimelyprovisions
• TheAmericanterrainwaslarge• Towin,theEnglishhadtofind&defeat theContinentalArmy
• Underestimatedthecolonialcommitmenttoindependence
TheAmericanRevolution,1775-1781WherewastheAmericanRevolutionfought?
BuildingaProfessionalArmynWashington’staskwastodefend asmuchterritoryaspossible:•Reliedonguerrillatactics&avoidedall-out-warwithBritain
•Washington’sContinentalArmyservedasthesymbolofthe“republicancause”
•But,colonialmilitiasplayedamajorrolein“forcing”neutralstosupporttheRevolution
As long as England did not defeat the Continental Army, England could not win
Slaves&IndiansintheWar•Blackslavessupportedwhoeverseemedlikelytodeliverfreedom:•Northernslavessupportedthecolonistswhoofferedfreedomforanyslavewhofought
•SouthernslavestypicallysupportedBritain
•NativeAmericansfearedcolonialexpansion&overwhelminglysupportedBritain
TheVarietyofColonialSoldiersThe Continental Army had 2 all-black regiments composed of Northern slaves
WomenintheWar•Women’sroleintherevolution:
•Supportedtheirhusbands&sonsinenlistinginmilitias
•Ran business affairs & continuedboycottingEnglishgoodswhilemenfought(i.e.AbigailAdams)
•Createdpropaganda(politicalsatiresbyMercyOtisWarren)
•Somehelpedinthebattlefield(“MollyPitcher”)
Differing Military StrategiesThe Americans The British
•Winawarofattrition• Englandhadlongsupplylines
• Colonialsdidnothaveto“win”justhadtoweardowntheBritish
•Guerillatactics•MakeanalliancewithoneofBritain’senemies
• “Divide&Conquer”•UseLoyalists• Encourageslaverevolts
• Seizeproperty• BreakthecoloniesinhalfbydividingtheNorth&South
• BlockadetheportstopreventtradewithAmericanallies
TheEarlyYears:1776-1777•TheinitialbattlesoftherevolutionwentbadlyforAmericans:•BritishGeneralHoweforcedWashingtontoretreatatNewYorkputtingtheAmericansontherun
•GenHoweissueda“generalpardon”toallAmericanswhosworeanoathofallegiancetoGeorgeIII;thousandsdidso
Colonial militias retaliated against those who deserted the patriot cause
TheEarlyYears:1776-1777nTheBritishstrategyremainedtofighta“major&decisive”battle;butContinentalArmywaselusivenDespiteBritishvictories&1,000sofcolonial“oathsofallegiance”,Washingtonkeptfighting•WonsmallvictoriesthatrenewedAmericanwartimemorale
•“Won”atSaratoga in1777
Howe captured New York Captured
PhiladelphiaWashington’s army almost
starved at Valley Forge
Took Trenton Took Princeton
BritishSeizure&BurningofNewYork,1776Crossing the Delaware in route to a surprise attack at Trenton & Princeton, 1776
The “Turning Point” of the Revolution: The Battle of Saratoga, 1777
Near Starvation at Valley Forge, PA in 1778
TheFrenchAlliancenSince1775,theFrenchcovertlyaidedAmericanswithsuppliesnButafterthe“victory”atSaratoga:
•FrancerecognizedAmericaasanew,independentrepublic
•FrancepromisedtopressureEnglandtoagreetoAmericanindependenceafterwar’send
•FrancerelinquishedallofitsclaimstoterritoryinAmerica
The turning point of the war!!A lot of these points were negotiated by none other
than Ben Franklin
And…England now has to worry about a possible (yet remote)
invasion of England by France
The Continental Congress refused the offer
In 1778, England offered to remove all parliamentary legislation & vowed never to impose revenue taxes on the colonists again
TheFinalCampaignnBy1781,WashingtonpushedtheRedcoatstowardsYorktown(VA)whereGeneralCornwalliswascaughtbetweentheContinentalArmy&theFrenchnavynOnOctober19,1781Cornwallissurrendered;theEnglishstillcontrolledNY&CharlesTownbutthefightingvirtuallyended
AmericanVictoryatYorktown
Cornwallis’ surrender was the “day the world turned upside down”
TheLoyalistDilemma•Loyalistsbelievedinlibertytoo,butfearedthatindependencewouldbreedanarchyinAmerica
•Loyalistsweretreatedpoorly:•TheEnglishneverfullytrustedtheLoyalists
•Patriotsseizedtheirproperty;imprisoned&executedothers
•Morethan100,000LoyalistsleftAmericawhenthewarended
TheTreatyofParis,1783
TheTreatyofParis(1783)•TheTreatyofParisin1783wasnegotiatedwithEnglandbyFranklin,JohnAdams,JohnJay
•Thetermsincluded:• FullAmericanindependence• AllterritoryeastofMississippiRiver,betweenCanada&FL
• TheremovaloftheBritisharmyfromU.S.claimsinAmerica
• FishingrightsintheAtlantic
North America after the Treaty of Paris, 1763
NorthAmericaafterthe
TreatyofParis,1783
PreservingIndependencenAfter176yearsofBritishrule,theAmericanRevolutionbegantheconstructionofanewformofgovernmentnBut...willthenewUnitedStatesbeagovernmentoftheelite oragovernmentofthepeople?