Download Second Continental Congress

Chapter 8
• America Secedes from the Empire,
1775–1783
I. Congress Drafts George Washington
• The Second Continental Congress met in
Philadelphia on May 10, 1775.
– They were still focused on getting the king and
Parliament to address their grievances (not
independence.)
– They did however raise money for creating an
army just in case.
• The Congress selected George Washington
to lead the army.
– 43 year old Washington had never risen above
the rank of colonel in the militia.
– The most he had ever commanded was 1200
men, twenty years earlier.
– He would lose more battles than he would win.
– His appointment was likely more political than
anything else.
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II. Bunker Hill and Hessian
Hirelings
• Between April 1775 and July 1776 the colonials
were affirming their loyalty to the king and at
the same time raising armies and shooting
British soldiers.
– May 1775, a small force under Ethan Allen and
Benedict Arnold captured the British garrisons at
Ticonderoga and Crown Point (in upper NY) giving
the colonials a store of gunpowder and artillery.
– June 1775, colonists seized Bunker Hill (actually
Breed’s Hill) which allowed them to attack the
British holding Boston.
• The arrogant British decided to launch a frontal attack
instead of hitting the flanks. 1500 entrenched American
sharpshooters mowed down the British until they ran out
of powder and were forced to withdraw.
– July 1775, The Continental Congress adopts the
Olive Branch Petition which professed American
loyalty and begged the king to prevent further
hostilities. (The king wasn’t interested)
– August 1775, the king formally proclaims the
colonies in rebellion.
– September 1775, the king hires thousands of
Hessians (German troops from Hesse) to crush the
rebellion.
III. The Abortive Conquest of Canada
• October 1775, The British burned the port city
Falmouth, Maine.
– Around the same time, rebels launch a two-pronged
invasion into Canada.
• Colonial leaders were looking to add a fourteenth colony
and take away a valuable base of Britain’s.
– The invasion just missed success. Montgomery (a
former British officer) captured Monteal and was
joined at Quebec by Benedict Arnold’s army, which
marched through the Maine woods surviving on
dogs and shoe leather for food.
– Assault on Quebec was on the last days of 1775 and
proved too much for the colonials. Montgomery
was killed and Arnold was shot in the leg.
Map 8-1 p135
• French Canadian leaders (who still
remembered the Quebec Act of 1774)
showed no real interest in welcoming the
anti-catholic Americans.
• The colonials still denied their desire for
independence
• January 1776, the British torch another
town, this time it was Norfolk, Virginia.
IV. Thomas Paine Preaches Common
Sense
• The burning of Falmouth and Norfolk, and
the Hiring of the Hessians pushed the
Americans toward the necessity of
separating from Britain.
• In 1776, Common Sense was published by
Thomas Paine;
– Paine basically made the argument that there is
no reason Britain (a tiny island) should be able to
control the vast American continent. He worked
to convince the Americans that the true cause
was independence, not reconciliation.
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V. Paine and the Idea of “Republicanism”
• Paine was not only interested in independence,
but beginning a Republic,
– where power flowed from the people, not a corrupt
monarch.
• The colonists had actually been practicing a
form of republicanism in their democratic town
meetings and elections.
• If political power no longer rested with a king,
individuals in a republic would need to sacrifice
their personal self-interest to the public good.
– The collective “good of the people” mattered more
than the private rights and interests of individuals.
VI. Jefferson’s “Explanation” of Independence
• June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee moved that
the United Colonies should be independent.
– The Congress appointed a committee (lead by
Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson) to prepare a
statement of separation from Britain.
• the motion was adopted on July 2, 1776, and the
Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4,
1776.
• In the Declaration of Independence –
Jefferson wrote of “natural rights” not just
British rights.
– He argued that the king had ignored these rights
and therefore the colonists were justified in
breaking away.
– He then presented a long list of the king’s
misdeeds.
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VII. Patriots and Loyalists
• Colonists loyal to the king were referred to as
Loyalists or “Tories” (after the dominant
political factions in Britain) were as the
American rebels were called Patriots or
“Whigs”.
• Loyalists represented roughly 1/3 of the
American population… they were often
educated people with means to lose in a violent
revolution. The Patriots represented about 1/3
of the population, and those who were neutral
made up the last 1/3.
• The fight was not only between armies, but
also the allegiance of those representing the
neutral population.
– The Patriot militias began a “political education”
campaign.
• In every city the British left, Patriots attempted to
convince the colonists that the British army was an
unreliable friend and that they should side with the
Patriot cause.
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VIII. The Loyalist Exodus
• About 80,000 loyal supporters of George III
were driven out or fled and several thousand
mild loyal supporters were permitted to stay.
(Note: The property of the 80,000 was sold to
help pay for the war effort.)
• Roughly 50,000 Loyalists volunteers in all fought
on the side of the British.
– These were ardent loyalists with their hearts in the
cause… but the cocky British failed to make full use
of them in the fighting.
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IX. General Washington at Bay
• With New York the focus of the British for a
base of operations, Britain sent a massive fleet
(500 ships and 35,000 men) off New York in July
1776.
– Washington had only 18,000 men to meet them.
Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, they were
routed at the Battle of Long Island.
– Thanks to heavy fog, Washington was able to
escape to Manhattan Island where he then crossed
the Hudson River to New Jersey and finally crossed
the Delaware River with the British close behind.
– The rebels were able to secure enough boats to
cross the river leaving the British on the other side.
• Facing Washington was General William Howe,
a commander at Bunker Hill.
– Howe wasn’t interested in pursuing the rebels… the
country was rough, the supplies were low, and
winter was coming on…
• plus, he was preoccupied with the affair he was having
with one of his subordinates wife.
• As the British hunker down for the winter…
– Washington stealthily recrossed the icy Delaware
River at Trenton on December 26th and captured
thousands of Hessians recovering from their
Christmas celebration.
– A week later, leaving his campfires burning, he
slipped away to Princeton and won another
victory against a small British detachment.
X. Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion
• In an attempt to sever New England from the
rest of the states…
– General John Burgoyne was to push down from
Canada, as General Howe’s troops moved up from
New York, and a smaller force under Colonel Barry
St. Leger came in from the west.
– Benedict Arnold was able to keep a force in the field
after his retreat from Quebec which held off the
British supply ships on Lake Champlain.
• His heroic stand gained the colonist’s time… winter came
on and the British were forced to retire to Canada.
– Because of Arnold’s stand Burgoyne was forced
to start his campaign over the following year…
• if he had been able to recapture Fort Ticonderoga
before winter, he would have started his campaign
from there instead of Montreal and probably had
success.
– General Burgoyne began his march from
Montreal (in the spring) with 7,000 troops, his
progress was painfully slow. They had to chop a
path through the forest and fight off random
militia attacks.
– General Howe decided that he would leave with the
main British army to attack Philadelphia, the rebel
capital (which was the opposite direction as
planned.)
• In his mind he would draw the colonials out in the open,
destroy them and leave the path wide open for
Burgoyne’s thrust.
– Washington with a watchful eye on Howe’s army in
New York moved his army to the vicinity of
Philadelphia.
• Late 1777, Washington loses two battles: Brandywine
Creek and Germantown, before retiring for the winter at
Valley Forge. Frostbitten, hungry and running short of
everything they were whipped into shape by the recently
arrived Prussian drillmaster Baron von Steuben.
• As Howe waited out the winter in
Philadelphia…
– Burgoyne became bogged down north of Albany
and was eventually surrounded by American
militia.
– The militia had driven back St.Leger’s force at
Oriskany.
– Burgoyne surrendered his army at Saratoga on
October 17, 1777, to American General Horatio
Gates.
XI. Revolution in Diplomacy?
• France, eager to inflame the quarrel between
America and Britain (largely because of their
loss in the seven years war) offered the
Americans a treaty of alliance on February 6,
1778.
– An alliance made in large part by the effectiveness
of Benjamin Franklin’s political skill.
• He was determined to present an image that embodied
the American Revolution; even his dress. Ben Franklin
deliberately broke diplomatic norms forsaking robes and
whigs to sport homespun garments and a cap of marten
fur.
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XII. The Colonial War Becomes a Wider
War
• France squares off with Britain in 1778, and
they’re joined in 1779 by Spain and Holland.
The combined Spanish and French fleets
outnumbered those of Britain.
• If that wasn’t enough, Catherine the Great of
Russia organized the Armed Neutrality.
– It lined up the remaining European neutrals in an
attitude of passive hostility toward Britain.
Table 8-1 p147
• Americans deserve credit for keeping the
war going until 1778, but from 1778 to 1783,
France provided guns, money, immense
amounts of equipment, and about ½ of
America’s regular armed forces, and
practically all their naval strength.
• The entrance of the French forced the British
to change their strategy.
– Because the French provided a fleet, Britain had
to protect their overseas supply line. Therefore,
they abandoned Philadelphia and concentrated
their strength in New York.
XIII. Blow and Counterblow
• Summer of 1780, a powerful French army
(6,000 regulars) commanded by Comte de
Rochambeau, arrived in Newport, RI.
• Later in 1780, Benedict Arnold turned traitor.
– A greedy and ambitious man that just happened to
be an exceptional leader was suffering from a wellgrounded feeling that his valuable services were not
fully appreciated.
– He plotted to sell out West Point, which
commanded the Hudson River, for cash and an
officer’s commission with the British army.
– The plot was detected (by accident) and Arnold fled
to the British.
• In late 1780 and early 1781, American riflemen
wiped out a British detachment at King’s
Mountain and then defeated a smaller force at
Cowpens (both in NC.)
• In the Carolina campaign of 1781, General
Nathanael Greene succeeded by a policy of
standing and retreating… exhausting his foe,
General Cornwallis.
– By losing battles, but winning campaigns, Greene
succeeded in clearing most of Georgia and South
Carolina of British troops. Cornwallis falls back to
the Chesapeake Bay at Yorktown.
Map 8-2 p148
XIV. The Land Frontier and the Sea
Frontier
• Much of the Western backcountry (PA) and
New York was under attack from the British
and natives during the war.
– They were finally checked in 1779 by an
American force, and in 1784 the pro-British
Iroquois were forced to sign the Treaty of Fort
Stanwix, the first treaty between the US and an
Indian nation.
• Under its terms the natives ceded most of their land.
• In the wild Illinois country, the British held
old French forts that were spread thin and
were vulnerable to attack.
– In 1778 – 1779, a frontiersman named George
Rogers Clark, with about 175 men floated down
the Ohio River and captured forts Kaskaskia,
Cahokia, and Vincennes.
Map 8-3 p149
• John Paul Jones is known as the father of the
navy. He employed the tactic of
Privateering.
– Privateers were privately owned armed ships
(legalized pirates) specifically authorized by
Congress to prey on enemy shipping.
• They captured some 600 British ships. They also
provided a moral boost by providing victories when
victories were few.
XV. Yorktown and the Final Curtain
• After falling back to Yorktown, Cornwallis was
waiting for seaborne supplies and
reinforcements.
– He assumed Britain would continue to control the
sea. But it just happened that this was one of the
brief periods where British naval superiority
slipped.
• Admiral de Grasse, operating in the West Indies
with his powerful fleet, advised the Americans
that he was free to join them in an assault
against Cornwallis at Yorktown.
• Washington seized the opportunity and
quickly marched over 300 miles to the
Chesapeake from the NY area.
– Accompanied by Rochambeau’s French army,
Washington closed in by land while de Grasse
blockaded them by sea after beating off the
British fleet.
• Completely cornered, Cornwallis
surrendered on October 19, 1781.
– The French provided essentially all the sea
power and about half the regular troops some
16,000 men.
XVI. Peace at Paris
• Three American peace negotiators gathered
in Paris: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and
John Jay.
– The envoys had instructions from Congress to
make no separate peace and to consult with
their French allies at every stage of the
negotiations.
• The three envoys were frustrated because they
realized their instructions from Congress were guided
by the French Foreign Office.
• France was eager to smash Britain’s empire and
desired an independent America, but one that
was weak and easy to manipulate toward
France’s interests and policies.
– France had paid a heavy price both in men and
money to win America’s independence.
• When John Jay believed the French were
planning to betray America’s trans-Appalachian
interests to satisfy Spain he secretly made
overtures to London.
– Eager to pull America away from the side of France,
Britain quickly agreed to terms.
• A preliminary treaty was signed in 1872; the final peace,
a year later.
• Treaty of Paris (1783) – The British formally
recognized the independence of the United
States, and granted generous boundaries,
stretching from the Mississippi in the west,
great lakes in the north, and Spanish Florida
in the south.
– The Americans concessions were that loyalists
were not to be further persecuted, and Congress
was to recommend to the state legislatures that
confiscated loyalist property be restored.
• As for long standing debts owed to British creditors,
the states would put no lawful restrictions to hinder
their collection.
XVII. A New Nation Legitimized
• The key to Britain’s almost unbelievably
favorable terms? Britain was trying to
seduce America away from their French
alliance so it made the terms as appealing as
possible.
– Britain would go on to make a comeback .
– France would slip into bankruptcy and
revolution.
1776
1783
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