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?