America Secedes from the Empire

1775-1783

Second Continental Congress

• The Second Continental Congress – met May 1775 and takes command of the Revolution– All 13 colonies– Drafted new

appeals to the king– Raised money to

create army & navy

Congress Drafts George Washington

• George Washington appointed as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army

• Why he was a good choice:– From Virginia, the largest colony– Wealthy, not a fortune

seeker– Fellow aristocrat &

trusted by his peers

George Washington• Wealthy Virginian

– Tobacco farmer

• 43 yrs old• Not a military genius

– Lost more than he won

• Born leader– Tall, athletic, expert horseman– Exceptionally brave, dignified– High moral standards

• Excelled at whipping his army into shape, keeping it together and organizing retreats

To War or Not to War?

• From April 1775 to July 1776– Colonists tried to settle differences with the king– Continued to affirm their loyalty– Yet still raising armies and fighting

Phase IPhase I:: The Northern CampaignThe Northern Campaign[1775-1776][1775-1776]

Ticonderoga & Crown Point

• May 1775 – Ethan Allen & Benedict Arnold surprise British garrisons at Ft. Ticonderoga & Crowns Point and seize a store of gunpowder and artillery

Bunker Hill

• June 1775 – In Boston, colonists entrenched on Breed’s Hill with 1,500 enact a huge toll on the attacking force of 3,000 British redcoats before retreating

Olive Branch Petition

• Continental Congress begged the king to end the hostilities– Professed their loyalty

• George III declared the colonists to be treasonous

Hessian Hirelings

• George III hires 30,000 Germans from principality of Hesse– Shocked colonists

• Why bring in outsiders?• Germans known for their butchery• “Hessian Flies” – were mercenaries concerned

with loot– Many eventually deserted an became American citizens

Canada

• Oct. 1775 – British burn Falmouth, Maine (Portland)• Americans invade Canada

– Hope to add 14th colony– Thought French would rebel– Deprive British of base of operations

• Attack seen as an act of aggression– Colonists said they were only defending

The Abortive Conquest of Canada

• General Richard Montgomery – took Montreal

• He and General B. Arnold attacked Quebec– Their assault was repelled– Montgomery killed, Arnold wounded

• French showed no desire to side with anti-Catholic colonists Richard Montgomery

Death of Montgomery

January 1776

• Jan. 1776 – British burn Norfolk• “Evacuation Day” – March 1776, British evacuate

Boston• Colonists were still hopeful for a resolution, but

– Colonial unity was poor– Open rebellion could get you hanged and drawn and

quartered

Common Sense

• Common Sense – written by Thomas Paine, was a pamphlet which expressed a need for American independence from England– Was a big seller– 500,000 copies, (1 for every 5 people)– Paine gave all proceeds to the cause

Thomas Paine

• Paine felt the tiny island of England shouldn’t be in control of the vast continent of America

• Called George III the “Royal Brute of Great Britain”

Paine & the Idea of “Republicanism”

• Called for a republic – power flowed from the people, not from a monarch– Government should receive its authority from popular consent

• Colonists very receptive to this idea– Experience with governing– No hereditary aristocracy

• Collective good of the people mattered more than the individual

• Some colonists wanted a republic ruled by a “natural aristocracy”

Writing the Declaration

• June 7th – Richard Henry Lee motioned for Independence (adopted July 2nd)

• Committee was appointed by the Continental Congress to write a document declaring Independence– Benjamin Franklin– John Adams– Roger Sherman– Robert Livingston– Thomas Jefferson

Signers of the Declaration

Declaration of Independence• July 4, 1776 – America declares its

independence from England• Declaration of Independence – written by

Thomas Jefferson– Jefferson was influenced by John Locke– Spoke of the Unalienable Rights of all people

• God-given rights that a government cannot take away

– “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”

John Locke

• Spoke of Natural Rights of all people

• “life, liberty and the right to own property”

Social Contract Theory

• Rousseau – wrote of a Social Contract– People agree to live together and follow rules– Violators should be outlawed– If a ruler violates the contract, the people have a right to

overthrow him

"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."

Advantages of Declaring Independence

• Foreign aid could be solicited• Was a source of inspiration to colonists and those

abroad

Franklin told his convention delegates they must hang together, or they would all hang separately.

“You are to be hanged by the neck, but not until you are dead; for while you are still living your bodies are to be taken down, your bowels torn out and burned before your faces, your heads then cut off, and your bodies divided each into four quarters, and your heads and quarters to be then at the King’s disposal; and may the Almighty God have mercy on your souls. – George III

Patriots & Loyalists

• The Revolutionary War was in part a civil war• Loyalists – fought for King (“Tories”)

– Were educated, wealthy & cultured– Happy with the status quo– Many were King’s officials– Anglican church

• Patriots – “Whigs”• Many colonists were apathetic or neutral

LoyalistLoyalist

StrongholdsStrongholds

Patriot Militias

• Militias were successful at encouraging the populace to join the cause

• British were inept at gaining the hearts & minds of the people

The Loyalist Exodus

• After the Declaration Loyalists were handled roughly, imprisoned, and some hanged– Many fled to England or Canada (80,000)

• Estates confiscated & sold

– 50,000 fought for the King• Spied• Incited Indians• Forced patriot soldiers

to stay home• Probably not used well

enough by King!!

Phase IIPhase II::

NY & PANY & PA[1777-1778][1777-1778]

General Washington at Bay

• British concentrated on NY city as base– Centrally located seaport– Bring in 500 ships & 30,000 men

• Washington – 18,000 untrained men

Battle of Long Island

• Battle of Long Island – colonists retreat in panic to Manhattan with cover of fog– Washington retreats to Penn. with British close behind– General William Howe does not press his advantage

• Remembered Bunker Hill• Limited supplies• Had a mistress

New York City in flames (1776)

New Jersey Campaign

• Washington recrosses the Delaware River on Christmas & surprises a camp of Hessians at Trenton

• He then slips away and attacks a smaller British encampment at Princeton

Painted by Emanuel Leutze, 1851

Washington Crosses the Delaware

Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

• 1776 – England wanted to capture Hudson River Valley– General “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne advanced from

Lake Champlain– Howe’s troops to come from New York– Colonel Barry St. Leger from Lake Ontario

• Benedict Arnold able to stall Burgoyne at Lake Champlain– Winter descends– Burgoyne goes back to Montreal

General John Burgoyne

Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

• Spring 1777 – Burgoyne starts invasion with 7,000 troops– Encumbered by heavy baggage train– Many women– Chopping through forest– American militia begin attacking his flanks

• He’s in trouble

Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

• General Howe doesn’t head north– Instead marches towards Philadelphia

• Washington moves to defend

• Washington defeated at Brandywine Creek & Germantown– Howe takes Philadelphia– Washington sets up winter quarters at Valley Forge

• Starving, frost bitten• Baron von Steuben whips army into shape

New Jersey Campaign

Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

• Burgoyne gets bogged down north of Albany– Attacked from behind by B.

Arnold and in front by General Horatio Gates

– St. Legers forces halted by colonists

General Horatio Gates

Saratoga

– Burgoyne forced to surrender at Saratoga

• Revived the Cause• Victory French waiting for

Burgoyne’s Surrender

Revolution in Diplomacy?• French were eager to get involved in war

– Hated England– Wanted to deprive it of its money earning colonies

• Americans wanted aid, but they were idealistic– “Model Treaty”

1. No political connections2. No military connections3. Only commercial connections

Benjamin Franklin in Paris• 70 yr old Franklin sent to France in 1776

– Deliberately violated French norms & customs• Dressed as a country

bumpkin• Wore furs• Was loved by commoners

& ladies of the court

• After Saratoga in 1777,Parliament offers thecolonies home rule

• Alliance between American & France

The Colonial War Becomes a Wider War

• France joins in 1778– Spain & Holland in 1779– War spreads across the

world

• English navy outnumbered• League of Armed

Neutrality – passivehostility towards England bymany other European countries– Would stay neutral– Get involved if trade infringed upon

Catherine the Great

French Aid

• France had secretly aided the colonies– Gunpowder, rifles, money

• Now the French gave much more– Equipment, many armed troops, navy

• French navy disrupts the British blockade– British pull out of Philadelphia & concentrate on New York

city• June 1778, Washington attacks retreating British at Monmouth, NJ

Phase III: The Southern Strategy Phase III: The Southern Strategy [1780-[1780-1781]1781]

French Arrive

• French army arrives in Newport, RI– 6,000 led by Rochambeau

• Americans suspicious of new ally

• No real military advantage at first

Comte de Rochambeau

Treachery of Benedict Arnold

• Benedict Arnold turns traitor– Felt unappreciated– Planned to give up West Point

• For £6,300 and officer’s commission

– Trick detectedin time

Blow & Counter Blow

• British plan an attack from south– 1778-1779 – Georgia overrun – 1780 – Charlestown falls

• 5,000 men & 400 cannon captured

– War intensifies in Carolinas• Patriots fighting Loyalists

– Tide turns in 1780 & 1781 with American victories in Kings Mountain & Cowpens

“Fighting Quaker”

• General Nathanael Greene – is able to exhaust the forces of British General Cornwallis– Strategy of standing then retreating

Land Frontier

• British had many Iroquois allies– Indians feared American expansion– “hair buyers” – paid money for scalps– 1777 – “bloody year” on Frontier

• 1784 – Treaty of Fort Stanwix – signed by Iroquois Confederacy and the U.S.– Indians gave up their land

• Westward expansion continues• George Rogers Clark raids British forts in Illinois

Sea Frontier

• Americans had a small navy– Tried to destroy British trade– Captain John Paul Jones most famous

• American Privateers– Privately owned armed ships

• Over a 1,000

– “legalized pirates”– Harassed enemy– Brought in gold

Yorktown

• 1780-1781 – difficult period– Inflation, despair, mutinous intentions– Gov. practically bankrupt

• Cornwallis moved to Yorktown, Virginia– For seaborne supplies & reinforcements

• Oct 1781 – Washington marches 300 miles south from NY– ½ his troops were French led by Rochambeau

Yorktown

• French navy commanded by Admiral de Grasse beats off the British navy & takes harbor of Yorktown

• Cornwallis is surrounded and forced to surrender

• War essentially over – Fighting continues in the South– “No quarter for Tories!”

Cornwallis’s Surrender

Treaty of Paris

• George III wanted to continue the fight– Britons had little will left– 1782 – Lord North’s regime collapses– Whigs take control

• U.S. sends John Jay (NY), John Adams (NE), and Benjamin Franklin to Paris– Told to consult with French on all matters

• Congress bullied by French• French had made promises to Spain

– Gibraltar– Area west of the Appalachians– Wanted a weak, subservient America

Treaty of Paris

• American ambassadors came to terms with England separately in 1782

• Treaty of Paris (1783) – formally ended the war– Expanded American land holdings– Access to fishing in Newfoundland– Americans had to give Loyalists their land back– Allow British creditors to collect debts

• British were very generous– Why?