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Chapter 5
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
From Elite Protest to Popular Revolt,
1763–1783
That’s Weird
• The term "the whole 9 yards" came from WWII fighter
pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the
ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured
exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the
pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9
yards.”
• Armored knights raised their visors to identify themselves
when they rode past their king. This custom has become
the modern military salute.
• The phrase "sleep tight" derives from the fact that early
mattresses were filled with straw and held up with rope
stretched across the bed frame. A tight sleep was a
comfortable sleep.
Colonial Products and Trade
Structure of Colonial Society
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1760s an optimistic post-war period
Striking ethnic and racial diversity
60% of population under twenty-one years old
Relatively high per-capita GDP
Most still considered themselves as British
subjects
Breakdown of Political Trust
• 1760—George III ascends throne
– Despite limited ability, wants to take more active role in
government
• Parliamentary sovereignty
– English officials assume that Parliament must have ultimate authority
over colonial governments
• Colonists try to reserve internal colonial
authority for their own legislatures
– Americans not represented at all in Parliament
– Colonists insist only colonial assemblies should represent
Americans
Eroding the Bonds of Empire
• Large, expensive debt and army left in
America from Seven Years’ War
• Colonists doubt the army’s value
• Pontiac’s War
– Exposes the British army’s weakness
• Colonists determined to settle transAppalachian West
• Proclamation of 1763 bans settlement in
trans-Appalachian West (Avoid conflict
w/Native Americans)
Paying Off the National Debt
• Prime Minister George Grenville attempts to
reduce England’s war debt
– Sugar Act 1764 (redefines relationship w/G.B.)
– Stamp Act 1765 (Raise revenue to pay for British
troops)
• A series of other Acts will be passed that will
lead to protest and all out war!!!!
Popular Protest
• Sons of Liberty protest includes riots, mob
violence, and boycotts
– Boston Massacre (March, 1770)
– Boston Tea Party (Dec, 1773)
• Coercive Acts are implemented
Steps Toward Independence
• First Continental Congress in response to
Coercive Acts (Sept, 1774)
• Congress commends urging forcible resistance
• Lexington and Concord (April 1775)
– “The Shot Heard Around the World”
– Second Continental Congress called (May, 1775)
Brain Scan
• 49 of people try to do this on an airplane.
What is it?
– Find their house
• The average household losses 3 of these a
year. What are they?
– Forks
• Every year 2,000 people are injured doing this
in the kitchen. What is it?
– Separating frozen food with a knife
Beginning “The World Over Again”
• British colonial governments collapse
• Second Continental Congress—action and
inaction
– British blockade makes compromise unlikely
– June 1775—Organize the colonies for war (George
Washington appointed commander in chief)
• January 1776—Thomas Paine’s Common
Sense
– Convinces ordinary colonists to sever ties with Britain
• Jefferson writes Declaration of
Independence
– Influenced by John Locke
– July 4—Declaration of Independence issued
– “all men are created equal” and “king is the cause”
Fighting for Independence
• British confident of victory
– Larger population, more resources
– Naval supremacy
• British underestimate Americans’
commitment to their political ideology
– Most were volunteers
– Continental army to be a fighting force and
symbol of the republican cause
The French Alliance
The American Revolution,
1775–1781
• Does not go well for
Americans for the first two
years
• Effects of Saratoga (Oct
1777)
– Convinces France that
colonists are serious enough
to become formal allies
– This alliance leads to colonial
victory
Loyalist Strongholds
The Loyalist Dilemma
• Loyalists share basic ideology with Patriots
• Loyalists see rebellion as endangering “life,
liberty, and property”
• Loyalists treated poorly by both sides
– British never fully trust Loyalists
– Patriots seize property, imprison, execute some
– More than 100,000 Loyalists leave U.S. at war’s
end
Winning the Peace
• American negotiators are John Jay, Ben
Franklin, and John Adams
• Peace Treaty of 1783
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–
–
–
U.S. independence recognized
U.S. gets all territory east of Mississippi River,
between Canada and Florida
U.S. secures fishing rights in North Atlantic
U.S. will help British merchants and Loyalists
collect debts
Preserving Independence
• The American Revolution begins construction
of new form of government
• Question remains: a government of the elite
or a government of the people?
Fun Historical Facts
• Benjamin Franklin invented several things in his
lifetime. Some of his inventions include: bifocals,
urinary catheter, the lightning rod, the Franklin stove,
odometer, and a tool called the long arm (to grasp
objects too high for him to reach)
• Of Americas Founding Fathers who became president,
only, George Washington did not go to college
• Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that U.S.
Supreme Court justices have to be lawyers or have any
kind of legal training at all (James Byrnes, was on the
court from 1941 to 1942, had little formal education
and never attended college)