Taxation leads to Revolution

TAXATION TO DECLARATION

French and Indian War

Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and John Hancock founders of the Sons of Liberty

Boston Massacre

Boston Tea Party

Intolerable Acts

First Continental Congress 1774• Representation- everyone sends a delegate but Georgia.

• Bickering- the delegates fight over how many votes each colony should get and finally agree on a 1 colony, 1 vote idea.

• Suffolk Resolves- declares the Intolerable Acts unconstitutional. Colonist want to govern themselves but with the King of England as their leader.

• Britain’s Parliament reaction- they reject the Suffolk Resolve and declare Massachusetts in rebellion. (setting off the Revolutionary War).

Britain Americans

Advantages ? ?

Disadvantages ? ?

On the Eve of the On the Eve of the Revolution ?Revolution ?

Paul Reveres Ride• Paul Revere- he agrees to

watch for British activity in Mass. He knows that Hancock and Adams are wanted and could be hanged

• The Ride- Revere and 3 others ride north to warn the Militia in Lexington.

• “The British are Coming, the British are Coming”.

Battles of Lexington and Concord

• Lexington- British troops arrive as the minutemen are gathering. Neither side wants to be the first to fire.

• Concord- Colonist are better prepared with more men and firepower, they drive out the British soldiers.

• Colonial Fighting Style- The colonists adopt a guerilla warfare fighting style. Let’s them ambush and sniper the retreating British soldiers.

Second Continental Congress • Meeting- June 1775

• Objectives- 1. Argued as to independence

2. Recognized the militia as the Continental Army

3. Appoint George Washington as General

4. Print paper money to pay the troops

Georgia still not a member of the meetings

George Washington signs on• Leadership- he was a successful during the French and

Indian War.

• Disunity- the colonist were far from united and needed a strong leader who everyone could agree to lead the rebellion.

• General- he is asked by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to be the leader of a yet to be raised Continental Army

Battle of Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill Cont’d• Britain offers amnesty- they are willing to declare no rebellion

and pardon everyone EXCEPT Sam Adams and John Hancock who they consider the ring leaders of the rebellion.

• Massachusetts reaction- they fortify Bunker Hill expecting the British invasion of Boston.

• June 17, 1775- Over 2,500 British troops attack the colonist but are repelled twice but on the third attempt they take win but only after the colonist ran out of ammunition.

• Moral Victory- Over 1,000 British soldiers are killed and even though the colonist lost they feel they could have won if they had more ammo. Only 450 colonist die.

Olive Branch Petition• What is it?- last ditch

effort by the Second Continental Congress to restore peace with Britain. It is sent to King George III

• King George Reaction- rejects it and orders a naval blockade of the colonies

Thomas Paine makes sense• Common Sense-

– Attacks the king– Argues independence will

allow free trade and foreign aid

– Independence can give equal social and economic opportunities to all

– Argues that the Great Britain is exploiting the colonies

Declaring Independence

• Continental Congress- urges each colony to create its own government.

• Thomas Jefferson chosen to write the formal Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence• What is it?- formal statement of separation by the colonies to

Great Britain.• Declaration of Independence-

1. based on John Locke’s ideas, lists complaints and rights.2. Natural Rights- life, liberty and property (Jefferson changes it to pursuit of happiness).3. People consent to a government that protects their rights4. People can resists or overthrow government.5. “All men are created equal” means free citizens are political equals6. July 4th, 1776 formerly adopted.

Items eliminated- condemning slavery

Declaration of Independence…cont’d

• What does this mean- Formally declares the colonies freedom

• Gives notice to Britain and France that the American colonies were fed up with British rule

• King George III can no longer ignore the colonies

Not everyone was aboard

• Loyalist- oppose independence, loyal to the British crown for different reasons- work in the government, unaware of events, trust the crown to protect their rights. 20% of the colonists

Choosing Sides• Patriots- support independence, think it will

mean economic opportunity. 40% of the colonists.

• Groups Divided- Quakers, Africans are on both sides

• Native Americans- support the Crown, fear the colonists would seize their lands

Washington’s Continental Army• Poor Discipline• Short on gunpowder• Insubordination• Troop Shortage• Deserters• Poor training• Punishment- Hanging

Boston Taken• Ethan Allen captures Fort Ticonderoga where

they capture 50 cannons.

• George Washington receives the cannons and places them overlooking Boston. Britain retreats when they see the cannons.

• Boston is captured by the Revolutionaries and New England is free of British soldiers

Battle of New York• General Howe- of Britain

lands 32,000 troops to take New York it’s a key city and would split New England from the South, he forces out George Washington

• Washington mistake- he split his forces and tries to fight the British.

• Retreats- and New York is in the hands of the British for the remainder of the war.

• “These are the times that try men’s soul’s” – Thomas Paine

Washington retreats and returns• Washington should have been captured by

Gen. Howe but sails across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania because Howe sees Washington as beaten and moves slowly.

• Crossing the Delaware- 12/25/1776, Washington leads his troops back across the Delaware and surprises the British in Trenton, New Jersey.

Washington Crossing the Delaware

Surprises Continue• Washington follows up his

victory at Trenton• Princeton- Washington

seizes this city and New Jersey from the British Army.

• Fight continues- with victory the Continental Congress rejects peace and the fight for independence is still on.

Winter at Valley Forge

• Valley Forge- 10,000 troops of the Continental Army stay here, poorly housed. Over 2,000 die of exposure and hunger.

• Friedrich von Steuben- Prussian captain he trains Washington’s troops by the time winter is over they are highly disciplined and skilled fighters.

Philadelphia is Lost

• Battle of Germantown, September 1777- Washington tries to protect the capital city of the Revolution from the British Army but fails and loses one more time before retreating and losing Philadelphia.

• Continental Congress- flees before they can be captured by the British

• General Howe- sees this as a major victory but the French see it as minor and begin to look to aid the Americans in their revolution.

Battle of Saratoga• General Burgoyne- he leads the British Canadian

forces in an attack to crush the New England revolutionaries and end the war.

• Disagreement- Gen. Howe refuses to send troops to support leaving Burgoyne on his own.

• Patriot Warfare- Burgoyne recaptures Fort Ticonderoga and moves south but rather than fight one on one the Patriots use guerrilla warfare and kill over 1,000 troops

• Finally a fight- Patriots wait for the British and destroy them in Saratoga, Burgoyne surrenders his army to the Patriots.

Importance of Saratoga• Major Victory- This victory brings in the French who

declare war on Great Britain, Spain also declares war on Great Britain.

• France Pledge- they would not stop fighting Great Britain until they recognized “The United States of America”

• Why is this Big?- 1. Major power Britain has to fight, 2. Supplies and money from France.

• Marquis de Lafayette- a French aristocrat he becomes a key figure in helping the Americans in the war, admired by Washington helps get money and supplies for the Patriots.

Marquis de Lafayette

Paying for the War

• Paper Money- Continental Congress prints to pay for the war and causes inflation (rising prices)

• Selling Bonds- Congress sells bonds to private companies, France and banks to pay the soldiers

Britain in the South• Charles Cornwallis- captures Savannah and Charlestown

(Georgia and South Carolina) in 1780

• Looking for friends- Britain hopes to get the plantation owners to join their cause, people in the countryside refuse to help and British forces are tied down and can’t leave.

• African-Americans- volunteer to fight for Britain in order to gain their freedom

South cont’d…..

• Cornwallis- stalled in the south by militia who are picking off his soldiers in guerrilla warfare

• Retreats- to Yorktown in Virginia

Yorktown

• French- finally arrive to help the Americans

• Lafayette’s Plan- French and Patriots attack Britain at Yorktown

• Yorktown- siege for three weeks

• Surrender- October 1781 Cornwallis surrenders to Washington

Surrender of Cornwallis

Treaty of Paris 1783• September 1783- U.S., Britain, France and

Spain in peace talks

• Negotiators- John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay

• Terms-• U.S. independence • Boundaries of new nation• Ignores Native American rights• Repayment of debts by the U.S.• Britain evacuates forts in the U.S.

Impact on American Society• Egalitarianism- belief in the equality of all people

• People held down- – white women gain no legal or political rights– African-Americans- enslaved, freedmen face

discrimination and no political rights– Plantation owners- debate freeing slaves and the morality

of slaves– Native Americans- forced off their land by colonists– A new nation is created for the people and by the people,

and not by a KING