First Continental Congress

• Sep. 1774, 55 men met in Philadelphia to discuss the plan of action the colonies would take against Great Britain– 1. Defining American colony grievances– 2. Develop a plan of resistance– 3. Articulate constitutional relationship with

Great Britain• 1. American rep. in Parliament• 2. Obey the King and Parliament, but not the taxes

opposed

Committee of observation

• This committee was created to make sure that colonist were adhering to the British boycott. – These men were elected to the committee– Colonies agreed to live a simple life, no extras

In most colonies they ignored the government of Great Britain and created their own

Second Continental Congress

• 6 months before the war local governments were run by the colonist, however they still considered themselves loyal to the crown of England

• They even chose delegates to meet for a Second Continental Congress– Organized the Militia– Gather arms and ammunitions

Indian Problems

• Floods of people moved West ignoring the Proclamation of 1763

• Some used Indians for trade partner, while other pushed them off their lands

• Second Continental Congress sent Indians letters urging them to stay out of the Rev. War

• Many Indians took advantage and raided the male less lands

Patriots vs. Loyalists

• Patriots – about 2/5 of the colonist wanted political reform not independence

• They feared what might happened because of the Intolerable Acts

• Loyalists – 1/5 of the colonies remained loyal to the crown. (most new immigrants)

• Neutrals – 2/5 remained neutral to either side

Neutrals

– Patriots considered Neutrals just as bad as Loyalists

• Second Continental Congress made some people take oaths of allegiance before they allowed them to vote

• Patriots would seize their lands, tax them extra or send them back to England

Slavery issue

• Outnumbered 25 to 1 in the South

• Southern colonies were afraid of Slavery revolts

• However fear of such revolt never hurt the cause for independence

Lexington and Concord

• Colonist had a stockpile and training near Lexington ( both with help from France)

• General Thomas Gabe (GB) heard of this stockpile and sent troops to cease the stockpile

• 2 Patriot riders were sent to warn the militia – William Dawes and Paul Revere– “The British are Coming”

The Shot heard around the world

• April 19 1775, 70 militia met the redcoats on their way to the stockpile

• Even though they retreated, shots were fired, redcoats returned killing 8 and wounding 8– “Shots heard around the World”– First time in history that a colony of a country went to

war with their mother country

– In Concord, Militia shot at redcoats behind trees and from houses, Redcoats retreated. Would had been bigger victory if Militia would had been more organized

First Year of the War

• June 17 1775 – Bunker Hill/ Breed Hill• Colonist learned of British strategy to take

Boston• General Prescott (col) fortified the Bunker Hill

with 1,200 soldiers• British attacked the hill 3 times before Prescott

and his men retreated• Even though Colonial troops retreated British

suffered more casualties• Considered to be a victory for the colonies

British Assumptions

• 1. War would end quick and easy– British has the largest ground and navy ever sent for

a war– Also hired German mercenaries called Hessians– 2. Treated this war like most European Wars by

capturing larger cities• Kept trying to capture ports, only 5% of population lived in

the ports

– 3. They thought that military victories would gain the loyalty of the colonists

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

• Said that English Government was exploiting colonies for years

• Called for Independence from Great Britain

• Advocated a Republic form of Government, where people ruled the government by votes

Second Continental Congress

• Wrote the Olive Branch Petition- letter to King George III asking for things to go back the way they were before 7 year war– King George denied the Olive Branch and sent more

troops

• Organized the colonies for war• Printed money to purchase goods and to pay

soldiers• Formed a committee to communicate with other

countries for help with supplies and men

Second Continental Congress

• Created Continental Army and named Generals

• Named George Washington commander of the military

• Experienced in the 7 year war

• Named John Hancock President of the colonies

• Named a 5 person committee to start to write the Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence

• Committee: 3/5 main – Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Ben Franklin

• Document focused on making King George III a villain that tried to get rid of representative government in the colonies

• Jefferson finished a draft on June 28, 1776

• Finally signed on July 4th 1776

• High Treason

Struggles in the North

• Sir William Howe (GB)- attacked NY and drove Washington and his men into Pennsylvania

• On Dec. 26th at night after the British and Hessians were sleeping off their celebration of Christmas, Washington crossed the Delaware River capturing 100 men and killing 30

• Colonist only lost 3 lives

British Mistake in 1777

• Sir Burgoyne was coming down from Canada to help Sir Howe reinforce NY

• However Howe got impatient and worked independently to attack Philadelphia

• Howe made a mistake by not marching the men, he actually had them said to Philadelphia

• The journey took 6 weeks and allowed Washington to set up a defense.

• Howe won however it left Burgoyne alone in NY, Burgoyne was surrounded and surrender nearly 6,000 troops

Split of the Iroquois Nation

• Half the Indians went with the British to stop the land hungry colonist

• The other half had already converted to Christianity and helped the colonist against Great Britain.

• General John Sullivan (col) sent troops and Indians to burn the villages and the crops of the Iroquois loyal to Great Britain

• They fled to Canada

1778 peace offer

• Lord North, Prime Minister of England, offered the colonist a peace treaty to have things go back to the way things were in 1763

• The same thing the Olive Branch Petition did 3 years earlier

• The colonist now had a taste of Independence in their mouth and denied the offer

Ben Franklin in France

• Treaty of Amity and Commerce– Recognized American Independence– Established trade with France

• Treaty of Alliance– If France declared war on Britain then neither

country would create a treaty with Britain without consulting the other nation

Advantages of France in War

• 1. France could now openly support the Colonist by sending troops and a navy

• 2. Great Britain had to fight naval war in the Caribbean against France, which means they couldn’t be 100% focused on the American Colonies

Life in Army

• Very few Militia fought in war after 1st year• Needed to go home to farms and family• Longer you stayed in Army, the more land

you were promised• African American fought for land or for

freedom• Women joined because they could not had

survived without their men. (cooks, nurses)

Life in the Army

• Colonial officers fought next to their men and gave up many luxuries

• However British officers rarely fought and dressed in lavish attire

• Benedict Arnold – was a colonial officer who switched sides during the war

• “loved by none, hated by all”

Victory in South

- 1778 Great Britain changed their strategies to fight in the South

- Lord Clinton (GB) moved all his troops from Philadelphia to Georgia, taking Atlanta and Augusta easy

- Lord Clinton then moved all 5,500 soldiers to Charlestown

- Many Carolina colonist switched their loyalties from colonial to British

Victory in the South

• French Navy led by Admiral De Grasse started to pick off Caribbean islands that supplied the British army

• Colonial soldiers started to pillage and burn the recent loyalist homes

• Washington named General Greene the new commander of the South

• Greene urged the soldiers not pillage and burn the homes and forgave the loyalist if they rejoined the fight against Britain

• Greene also kept the Indians out of the fight in the south

Yorktown

• De Grasse headed the French Navy to Virginia• Cornwallis headed North to Virginia to meet up

with Benedict Arnold• Waiting for troops and supplies that never

arrived because of the French navy• Washington moved his troops (7,200) to

Yorktown• De Grasse trapped Cornwallis from the seas• Cornwallis surrendered on Oct. 19 1781

Treaty of Paris of 1783

• Dealt with Great Britain directly• Colonies gained their Independence• New boundaries were land to the North of

Modern day Canada• South – lands down to Florida• Florida was given back to Spain• West- land up to the Mississippi• Great Britain had to withdrawal all North

American interest