Download The Guideline to the Declaration of Independence

The Guideline to the Declaration
of Independence
Title
Date
Preamble
• The reasons for writing down the Declaration
(from "WHEN, in the Course of human Events"
to "declare the Causes which impel them to
the Separation."). What reason(s) did the
Founding Fathers give for their decision to
write out a declaration?
Declaration of Rights
• Specifying what the undersigned believed, the
philosophy behind the document (from "We
hold these Truths to be self-evident" to "an
absolute Tyranny over these States"). What
beliefs did the Founding Fathers declare they
held?
List of Grievances
• The offenses that impelled the declaration
(from "To prove this, let Facts be submitted to
a candid World" to "unfit to be the ruler of a
free people"). What are a few of the
complaints? Are any specific events
mentioned? If not, is the information given
sometimes sufficient to figure out to which
events the complaints refer?
Resolution of Independence
• (From "WE, therefore" to "and our sacred
Honor.") What will change in the colonies as a
result of the Declaration?
The signatures
• Which signers do students recognize?
Revolutionary War
1776-1783
Declaring Independence
Second Continental Congress
• Olive Branch Petition
– What was it?
• George Washington
– Was the commander of the Continental Army
Continental Army vs. the British Army
• British
– 50,000 soldiers
– Well trained
– Well equipped
– German (Hessians)
– Unfamiliar territory
– 3,000 miles from home
– They would have to fight in
swamps, forests, and other
obstacles
• American
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
15,000 to 20,000 soldiers
Little training
Little equipment
Most soldiers wanted to stay
near their home
Shortages on food and
clothing
Knew the landscape
Believed in freedom
George Washington
June 17, 1775
• 2,000 British soldiers were going to assault
Breeds Hill
• After two unsuccessful attempts for the British on their
third assault they were finally able to make it to the top
because the Americans had run out of gunpowder.
A British Victory or was it?
• British
– 1,000 casualties
• American
– 400 casualties
• The battle was a moral victory for the
Americans
Why was it a moral victory?
Splitting the Americans at New York
•
•
Washington on the defense
– Took 19,000 troops to defend New York but he didn’t know where the
British would land.
– 10,000 troops at Long Island
– 9,000 troops at Manhattan
General William Howe made a mistake
– Instead of finishing off the Americans he called his men back
– Americans lost about 1,500 men
– British lost 400
– He was waiting for Washington to surrender….but Washington just
retreated.
Britain
• 1,500 American troops died, wounded, or
taken prisoner.
• They retreated
– “I will not ask any man go further than I do. I will
fight so long as I have a leg or an arm.”
-George Washington
Two Important Battles
“I think that the game is pretty near up.”
-George Washington
Problems that faced the George Washington and the Americans
•Lost 1,500 men
•Little to no food (meat was rotten sprinkled it with salt to hide the taste,
hard dried peas and moldy bread were the items they usually ate)
•Limited clothing
UNTIL…… the battle of Trenton and Princeton
Battle of Trenton
• George Washington made his troops read the
pamphlet the Crisis.
“These are the times that try men's souls. The
summer solider and the sunshine
patriot
will, in this crisis, shrink from
the
service of their country; but he that stands
it now,
deserves the loves and thanks of every
man
and woman.”
What is this quote saying?
Battle of Trenton
• December 25, 1776
– Hessians got together at Trenton to celebrate the
Christmas.
– In the night Washington lead 2,400 soldiers across
the Delaware in the dark.
– In about an hour and a half the Hessians
surrendered.
Victory at Yorktown
The End of the Revolutionary War
British Confusion
• After the hit and run attacks the southerners
were giving to the British, things got confusing
for the British.
– France has entered the war
– The British Navy have lost some sea battles
– France now controlled the Atlantic Coast
Battle of Yorktown
• Cornwallis led his 7,500 men to Yorktown
Virginia to…
• Receive supplies from Great Britain.
• Also thought it would be a safe place for awhile.
• But he was wrong!
Battle of Yorktown
• Cornwallis couldn’t:
• Escape
• Get supplies
• As Cornwallis is trying to figure things out
Washington and his troops led by General
Jean de Rochambeau led 7,000 soldiers
preventing Cornwallis to escape.
Cornwallis gives up
• October 17,1781
– Cornwallis requests, in a letter, a cease-fire to
General Washington.
– Two days later the British officially surrender.
Surrender at Yorktown
• October 19, 1781
– General Charles O’ Hara represented General
Cornwallis’s place.
– Benjamin Lincoln represented General George
Washington.
– How did Generals surrender during those wars?
Treaty of Paris
• September 3, 1783
– Both the British and Americans signed the Treaty
of Paris
• All British Troops were removed
• Britain recognized the United States as independent
country
• All land west of the Appalachian Mountains belonged
to the United States
• And Americans agreed to pay for any property that
loyalists lost during the war