Download The American Revolution - Phoenix Union High School District

The American
Revolution
Seeds of Unrest
Section 1: The Stirring of
Rebellion
 The Treaty of Paris
1763 forced France
out of most of North
America.
 American colonists
poured into the new
land causing trouble
with Native
Americans....Pontiac’
s Rebellion.
The Proclamation of
1763
- Barred settlement west
of the Appalachians.
Sugar act - 1764.
- Set an import duty on
sugar products. The
first real tax to be
enforced in the
colonies.
 Stamp Act - 1765 placed a tax on goods
imported from Britain
including glass, paper,
paint, and tea.
 The colonists complained
about Taxation without
Representation!
 They organized boycotts
and non-importation
agreements.
– They also bullied British
officials and resisted any
way possible.
 The Sons of Liberty- a secret
group that organized protests
and spread propaganda.
 Resisted the Stamp Act.
 Led by Samuel Adams.
 Mainly made up of mainly upper
class professionals.
 Used petitions, public meetings
and pamphlets, but also used
an occasional tar and
feathering.
 Very strong in Massachusetts.
Ohh Gross! I’m
covered with tar!
 Stamp Act Congress - a
meeting of delegates from 9
colonies.
 They succeeded in
pressuring Parliament into
repealing the Stamp Act in
1766.
 Declaratory Act of 1766 declared Parliament’s right to
make laws and rule over the
colonies.
 Townshend Acts (1767) placed import duties on tea,
lead, glass, and paints imported
from Great Britain.
 An indirect tax as opposed to
the Stamp Act (direct tax).
 Customs officials were allowed
to have writs of assistance
(similar to a search warrant)
– These allowed for blanket
searches.
 Caused much resentment.
 Protests and boycotts sprung
up again.
 Quartering Act - forced
colonists to board British
soldiers.
Who the
#*@ are
you
guys?!
We’re
Redcoats,
now make us
some supper
and get my
bed ready!
The Boston Massacre
 March 5, 1770.
 Boston was the center of
colonial uprising and protest
 A drunken mob gathered
outside a Boston customs
house and threw rocks and
snowballs at 5 British
soldiers.
 Bostonians were angry that
British soldiers were
stationed there.
 They cornered them, a gun
went off accidentally, which
caused the other soldiers to
open fire and 5 colonists
were killed.
 Blown out of proportion and
exaggerated.
– (John Adams was the
lawyer who defended the
British soldiers, and won)
Committees of Correspondence
 Formed to keep all
of the colonies
informed of events
and keep public
opinion anti-British.
 Spread propaganda
 Tea Act - A new law that let
B.E.I.C. bypass wholesalers
are sell directly to American
agents.
 This lowered the price of
tea.
 American wholesalers were
bypassed and feared a
BEIC monopoly.
 The Sons of Liberty
organized resistance
against buying the tea and
eventually dressed up like
Indians and dumped the tea
into Boston Harbor.
 This even became known
as the Boston Tea Party
(Dec 1773)
Intolerable (Coercive) Acts
 The British response to the
Boston Tea Party.
 Closed the port of Boston
until the tea was paid for.
 Revoked the
Massachusetts charter of
1691.
 Forbade town meetings in
Mass.
 Allowed royal officials
charged with crimes to be
tried in England
 Reinstated a Quartering
Act and martial law.
 Quebec Act extended Quebec’s
boundaries into the
Ohio Valley, land
claimed by Mass,
CT., and VA.
 The colonists saw
all of this as a
growing pattern of
oppression.
1st Continental Congress
 Met in the Fall of 1774 to
peacefully resolve their
conflict with England
following the Intolerable
Acts.
 12 colonies (all but GA)
met in Philly
 Wrote the Declaration of
Resolves which pledged
loyalty to England but
outlined colonial rights.
 Called for a ban of all
trade with Great Britain.
 Caused King George III
to declare the colonies “in
a state of rebellion.”
Washington at the 1st Continental
Congress
 Although no formal thoughts of
independence emerged from this
meeting, George Washington
purchased “new décor for his
military uniform, inquired about
the price of muskets, and ordered
a book on warfare” in
Philadelphia.
 A clear indicator that he knew he
would probably be the head of a
new American army sometime
soon.
 British troops were
sent to the colonies
(under General
Thomas Gage) to
restore order.
Paul Revere’s Ride
The Shot Heard Round
the World
Lexington and Concord
 The British Redcoats tried
to take the arsenal (stockpile
of firearms and gunpowder) at
Concord, but minutemen
were alerted by Paul
Revere and William
Dawes.
 At Lexington the colonists
and British met, someone
fired a shot (The Shot
Heard ‘Round the World)
and both sides opened up.
 8 colonists were shot and
killed.
 The battle lasted only 15
minutes!

(Read pg 52 in “The Greatest Stories”
Explanation: http://www.ngb.army.mil/gallery/heritage/standyourground.asp
 The British took the
supplies at Concord.
 On their way back to
Boston the colonists
ambushed them using
guerilla warfare.
 By days end (April 19,
1775) 100 colonial
casualties vs. 273 British.
 About 20,000 “Minute
Men swarmed around
Boston, not letting the
outnumbered Redcoats
leave.
Section 2: Ideas Help Start a
Revolution
2nd Continental Congress
 Met in the Spring of 1775 –
through 1777.
 Established a Continental
Army. With George
Washington as commander
 Was not bent on
independence and tried to
keep peace with the Olive
Branch Petition to the King
as a last attempt at peace.
 Declared that the colonies
were independent on July
4, 1776!
 Served as the first U.S.
government.
George Washington
 Washington had been a colonel
in the militia, but was a good
leader (although not a military
genius) and had strong
character.
 Had a stellar resume
 Washington oozed confidence.
 Refused pay for his service.
 His selection was political since
most of the rebellion was in
New England, Congress chose a
Virginian to lead the military to
draw more support from the rest
of the colonies.
The Battle for Boston
 June 1775
 Boston was believed by
the British to be the source
of the uprising.
 The British took both
Bunker and Breed’s Hill
(and the city itself) but
suffered 1,054 casualties
vs. 450 American.
The Battle for Boston
 Took place on Breed’s Hill
(more so than Bunker Hill).
 American volunteers were
driven back but fought
well.
 Had American troops not
run out of gunpowder, they
may well have mowed
down the entire British
army.
 See hyperlink for better
definition.
http://www.ngb.army.mil/g
allery/heritage/whites.asp
 Britain ordered all
colonial ports
blockaded.
 Britain sent
thousands of
Hessian mercenaries
to fight the colonists.
 They were actually from 6
German principalities, but
most were from Hesse, so
Americans called all of the
foreigners “Hessians.”
 Many of the Hessians
deserted, as they had no
personal loyalty to Britain
or it’s cause, and remained
in America as respected
citizens
 In March, 1776
George Washington
took Boston back
into American hands.
 American Generals Benedict Arnold
and Richard Montgomery tried to
invade Canada trying to cash in on the
hopes that the French Canadians
wanted revenge against the British.
– Invading Canada? I thought we were
protecting ourselves?
– So by invading Canada, did we really
just want a restoration of rights?
– Were we really just defending
ourselves?
 They were wrong, and failed to take
both Quebec and Montreal.
– The British wooed them in the Quebec
Act of 1774, and the French-Canadians
didn’t trust the Americans and thought
they would be anti-Catholic
– See map on pg 144.
–
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Independence Declared
 Many colonists supported
independence for 2 reasons.
 1. The British Government
had violated their rights.
 2. The War had already
started and Americans had
been killed fighting for the
cause.
Independence and Loyalty
 Americans could be divided into 3 roughly equal
groups concerning independence.
– 1/3: Patriots strongly supporting American
independence.
– 1/3: Loyalists opposing it thinking they had no right to
independence.
– 1/3: Those who favored whatever side was winning at
that particular time.
Loyalists
 Harassment of Loyalists was
relatively mild before
independence was declared,
outside of some tarring and
featherings, etc.
 The frequency and intensity
increased after independence
was declared but was nothing
like the Reign of Terror of the
French Revolution.
 80,000 Loyalists were driven
out or fled, but hundreds of
thousands more stayed.
 The British never made full use
of Loyalists during the War.
 After the war some loyalists
stayed and re-established
themselves, most fled, had
their property taken or were
exiled.
 Thomas Paine’s Common
Sense shifted American public
opinion towards independence.
 It is one of the most influential
pamphlets ever written.
 He jolted Americans into
claiming a country that was
rightfully theirs.
 He called King George III the
“Royal Brute of Great Britain.”
 Paine called for the creation of
a republic where power flowed
from the people themselves,
not a monarch.
– (Sold 120,000 copies)
Declaration of
Independence
 Proposed by Richard H. Lee of
Virginia on June 7, 1776.
 A five man committee was
appointed to draft the declaration
explain to the rest of the world why
the colonies were fighting.
 It was debated at length by the 2nd
Cont Congress.
 A detailed list of the King’s
misdeeds.
 A listing of “self-evident” truths.
 Declared the right of all people to
abolish a government that deprives
people of their rights.
 Jefferson drew upon many of John
Locke’s ideas in the Declaration.
 The Congress hoped that an
independent nation could solicit the
help of foreign countries better.
 It was a declaration of War against
England
 The Second
Continental
Congress had very
limited powers
 No power to tax as
a nation
 Each state had
more power than
the national
government.
Section 3: Struggling Toward Saratoga
 A new nation of 2.5
million people faced
Great Britain with 10
million people plus a
world-wide empire.
 Washington rarely
had more than
16,000 troops in his
command at any
one time
 Most enlistments
were for 1 calendar
year
 Most troops were
very poorly trained
and lacked food
and ammunition
often.
 Many troops would
leave to plant and
harvest crops.
These
guys
stink!
They’re
all aiming
up in the
air.
 The British moved from Boston to
New York in an attempt to isolate
New England in 1776.
 The British amassed 500 ships and
35,000 men to N.Y.
 Washington had only 18,000 illtrained troops.
 The British Army and Navy
pounded the Americans who were
forced to retreat in August.
 Washington was pushed further
into N.J. & Pennsylvania and had
only 8,000 men in his army by the
end of 1776.
 More colonists were now
volunteering for the British army
than the Continental army.
 The “Spirit of ’76” and American
support for the war were very low
at this point.
The Battle for New York
 It had a great seaport, was centrally
located, and had a large loyalist
population.
 The summer and fall of 1776 was a
disaster for the Americans.
 At Long Island, N.Y., America was
outgeneraled and outmaneuvered.
 Washington escaped to Manhattan
and then to N.J., but did live to
fight another day.
– The British, under General William
Howe, blew a perfect opportunity
to seize the entire American army.
He was too caciuos because he
remembered the slaughter of
Breeds Hill, the country was rough
and unfamiliar, his supplies were
slow in reaching him and it was
winter.
The Battle for New York
http://www.ngb.army.mil/gallery/heritage/longisland.asp
The Battle of
Trenton
 Christmas, 1776.
 An all-out gamble by
Washington.
 Tried to use his army
before enlistments
expired at year’s end.
 Washington crossed
the Delaware River
with 2,400 men.
Why are
these
morons
standing
up in a
boat?
Trenton
 The Continental Army
marched 8 miles through
sleet and snow and caught
the Hessians off-guard in
Trenton.
 Killed 30 and took 918
prisoner with no U.S. losses!
– Although Lieutenant
James Monroe was
wounded…..good thing
because he went on to
become President
Monroe!
 The first, and much needed
victory for the Continental
Army.
Princeton
 Jan 1, 1777.
 Washington quickly moves from Trenton to
Princeton, N.J. and scores another victory against
the British.
 Spends the Winter of 1777 in Morristown, N.J. in
good spirits.
Philadelphia
 The first battle of the
1777 campaign.
 Washington tries and fails
to defend the new U.S.
capital.
 Philadelphia had a high
loyalist population and a
lot of spies.
 October 10-17, 1777 The Battle of Saratoga:
 The British are forced to retreat, are cut off,
surrounded and forced to surrender.
 This victory is the turning point of the
American Revolution:
Saratoga: 1777
 Military planners in London
schemed to capture the Hudson
Valley and isolate New
England from the rest of the
states and paralyze the
rebellion.
 The main British invasion under
“Gentleman” Johnny Burgoyne
would push down the Lake
Champlain route from Canada,
and meet up with General
Howe’s troops from N.Y., who
would move up the Hudson
River.
 A third and smaller prong,
under Colonel Barry St. Leger
would come from the west from
Lake Ontario and the Mohawk
Valley. ‘
 Benedict Arnold (still fighting for
America) bought valuable time
fighting the British on Lake
Champlain in 1776, and the British
moved back to Canada before
winter of ’76-77 (although Arnold’s
small assembly of boats was
destroyed).
 So Gen. Burgoyne had to start from
Montreal in 1777, and not N.Y.
 His progress was painfully slow
with a large baggage train of
supplies and wives of his officers,
plus he was blazing a trail through
the woods.
 American militiamen harassed him
constantly.
Saratoga: 1777
 General Howe moved his army
from N.Y. to Philadelphia and
didn’t move up the Hudson to
help Burgoyne.
– He wanted to force a battle with
Washington, destroy his army, and
leave the door wide open for
Burgoyne to move south through.
– Howe did win battles at
Brandywine Creek and
Germantown, but left Burgoyne
hamstrung at Saratoga.
– Howe settled in to comfortable
winter quarters in Philadelphia,
1777-1778.
Saratoga
 A tremendous morale boost
for Americans who show
they can defeat a large
British army in the field.
 The contribution of the
Marquis de Lafayette
foreshadows more formal
French assistance and
recognition of American
independence.
 From then (Oct, 1777) the
British stick close to the coast
where they can retreat, be resupplied by sea, and know the
terrain better.
America and France
 The French deeply wanted revenge
on the British more than to see
America succeed.
 The American independence
movement was somewhat of a fad
amongst the social elite of preRevolutionary France.
 The French provided much needed
money and supplies throughout the
American Revolution.
 Double the size of their forces
 Utilize the French Navy
 90% of all American gunpowder
came from France in the first 2 ½
years of the war.
 Britain offered America
Home Rule after the Battle
of Saratoga, which would
still keep the colonies
within the empire.
 This is really what the
colonies had been asking
for all along, but with
recent victories under their
belt and having just
declared independence a
year earlier, America
rejected this offer.
 America reluctantly
accepted an offer of
alliance from France.
 France was a monarchy, a
Catholic nation, etc.
 Catherine the Great of Russia
organized the remaining neutral
nations of Europe into the
Armed Neutrality to combat
British power. This included
Russia, Denmark-Norway,
Sweden, Holy Roman Empire,
Prussia, and Portugal.
 The American Revolution turned
into another world war
 From 1778-1783 France
provided the U.S. with guns,
money, massive amounts of
equipment, ½ of America’s
regular armed forces, and almost
all of our naval strength.
 With France now in the picture,
Britain decided to abandon
Philadelphia and concentrate on
N.Y.C.
 1780, a French army of 6,000
troops under Comte de
Rochambeau arrived in
Newport, R.I.
 1780, Benedict Arnold defects
to the British. He felt that his
military genius was not being
fully utilized by America (and
he was a good general).
 He sold out West Point (fort on
the Hudson River) for 6,300
pounds and an officer’s
commission.
 The plot was detected just in
the nick of time. His defection
was a big hit to American
morale
Valley Forge
 Where Washington and the Continental Army spent the Winter of 17771778.
 A very cold winter, which worsened morale.
 Most soldiers had few clothes and supplies and food were poor.
 Officers enjoyed warmer clothing and lodging, and bickered (even duelled)
amongst themselves.
 The British spent the winter comfortably in nearby Philadelphia.
Valley Forge
 Among the miserable soldiers
at Valley Forge was a young
lieutenant in Daniel Morgan’s
Virginia Sharpshooters named
John Marshall.
 He was recovering from a
wound in the hand.
 Impressed the men with his
athleticism.
– Supposedly, he could jump
over objects 6 feet high. (a
good mark for a modern high
school high jumper)
– Marshall went on to serve
over 30 years as Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court!
Valley Forge
 The Spring of 1778, saw
weather and supplies improve
greatly.
 Drilling and training by Baron
Von Steuben turned a rag-tag
group of militia men into a fine
fighting force.
 Re-enlistments and new
enlistments brought the size of
the Continental army up to
12,000 by March 1778.
(Remember that numbers had
been as low as 2,500 earlier in
the war).
 Enlistments were now for “the
duration” of the war, not just
one year.
 Both sides recruited
African Americans
 The British promised
freedom to slaves who
fought for them
 Washington recruited
free blacks.
 Both sides recruited
Native American
help many sided
with Britain because
they felt they would
try to curb westward
expansion where
America won’t (they
were right)
 Women helped in
many ways.
Section 4: Winning the War
 A Prussian captain named Frederick
von Steuben trained the Continental
Army at Valley Forge, PA. in 1778.
– He probably fabricated most of his
credentials, but was very capable,
nonetheless.
 Made regular soldiers out of country
bumpkins.
 Taught them how to:
–
–
–
–
–
Drill
March
Perform field maneuvers.
Fire and reload quickly.
Use bayonets.
 1779 Colonel George Rogers Clarke's expedition captures
Kaskaskia, Cahokia & Vincennes; Clarke defeats British
Colonel Henry Hamilton and secures the American claim to
western lands.
 The American victory at Vincennes ends British control in the
Northwest.
 Important point: The Northwest territory (Ohio, Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan and Wisconsin) could have wound up as part of
Canada.
Native Americans
 The American Revolution broke up the Iroquois Confederation with
the Oneidas and the Tuscarorras on the American side and the
Senecas, Mohawks, Cayugas, and Onondagas on the British.
 Mohawk chief Joseph Brant believed that a British victory would
keep Americans from encroaching onto their lands.
 They were probably right because American pioneers continued to
move farther west even during the Revolution.
War on the High Seas
 The American Navy started off very
small with just a few vessels under John
Paul Jones. They did manage to destroy
British merchant ships and carried the
war to the British Isles.
 American privateers did more damage
than our navy. They were privately
owned pirate ships that preyed on enemy
shipping.
 The American privateers numbered over
1,000 ships and 70,000 men. They
captured over 600 British ships. (The
British navy captured about as many
American)
 The success of the American navy and
privateers put pressure on Parliament to
end the war.
A Change in Strategy
 In 1778, the British
focused on the
Southern Colonies.
 The plan was to take
the South and then
march North.
– Hadn’t fought there
yet and hoped to cash
in on strong loyalist
support.
 The Southern strategy
appeared to be working for
the British.
 Savannah, GA was easily
taken, along with
Charlestown, S.C.
– Took 5,500 Americans
prisoner.
– Took 400 cannon.
– The heaviest blow to America
in the whole war!
Patriots & Loyalists
 Americans were roughly
divided into 1/3s
– 1/3 were Patriots who
supported Independence.
• Especially strong in New
England and where
Presbyterian and
Congregational churches
were strong.
– 1/3 remained loyal to the King
and Great Britain.
• Most Anglican clergy, older
Americans, and those of
education and wealth tended
to be Loyalists.
• 50,000 loyalists bore arms
for the British.
– 1/3 were loyal to whichever
side appeared to be winning.
 Thousands of
southern slaves ran
away and joined the
British.
Battle of Cowpens
 1781 in S.C.
 An outnumbered
American force forced the
British under Cornwallis
to surrender at Cowpens,
S.C.
 Throughout the South, the
Continentals used hit and
run tactics, never attacked
in mass, and stretched the
British away from the
coast and from their
Hyperlink to explanation:
supply lines.
http://www.ngb.army.mil/gallery/heritage/cowpen.asp
– It worked!
This scene is depicting the Battle of Cowpens
Victory at Last
 Yorktown- 1781
 On a peninsula. General
Cornwallis is surrounded by
land and the British navy gets
routed at sea by the French.
 17,000 Americans and French
vs.8,000 British.
 Americans and French fired
15,000 artillery rounds in 9
days of fighting.
 Seeing a golden opportunity,
Washington quickly moved
from N.Y, 300 miles south to
the Chesapeake, to surround
the British.
 The French provided nearly all
of the naval strength and half
of the troop strength.
 Cornwallis surrenders on Oct
19, 1781.
After Yorktown
 Britain still had 54,000 troops in
North America and 32,000 in the
U.S.
 Washington quickly moved his
army from Yorktown back to N.Y.
to keep an eye on the British force
of 10,000 stationed there.
 The fighting continued for a little
more than a year after Yorktown,
and was especially savage in the
South between Loyalists and
Patriots.
 This constant harassment and the
continued fighting helped bring
about generous terms at the peace
table.
 The British surrender at Yorktown is the last
significant battle of the war and leads directly to
the Treaty of Paris 1783.
 Britain is deliberately generous hoping to rebuild
an economic relationship with the New United
States (and drive a wedge into the U.S – France
relationship
Treaty of Paris 1783
 America sent Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John
Jay to negotiate
 British confirmed American Independence.
 U.S. gets all land from the Atlantic to the Mississippi
(between Canada and Florida), so the Spanish and French
couldn’t have it.
 Joint navigation of the Mississippi River
 Both sides agreed to pay off debts to creditors.
 Property rights of loyalists would be respected (but really
weren’t)
 European rivalries and jealousies, plus internal political
party strife within the British Parliament came together at
the right time to offer a very, very generous settlement to
the U.S.