American Revolution GEORGIA

Loyalists (TORIES) American Loyalists, or "Tories" as their opponents called

them, opposed the Revolution, and many took up arms against the rebels.

What motivated the Loyalists? Most educated Americans, whether Loyalist or Revolutionary, accepted John Locke's theory of natural rights and limited government. Thus, the Loyalists criticized such British actions as the Stamp Act and the Coercive Acts. (They did not like them.)

Loyalists wanted to pursue peaceful forms of protest because they believed that violence would give rise to mob rule or tyranny. They also believed that independence would mean the loss of economic benefits derived from membership in the British mercantile system.

Patriots Patriots (also known as American Whigs,

Revolutionaries, Congress-Men or Rebels) was the name the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies, who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution, called themselves.

Americans rejected taxes not imposed by their own legislatures. "No taxation without representation!" was their slogan—referring to the lack of representation in the British parliament.

Elijah Clarke

Among the few heroes of the Revolutionary War from Georgia, Elijah Clarke was the leader at the Battle of Kettle Creek. Clarke's name appears on a petition in support of the king's government in 1774. However, he subsequently joined the rebels and, as a militia captain

Elijah Clarke All of Georgia and most of South

Carolina fell to the British in 1780. Elijah Clarke and thirty men passed through the Native American lands to continue the fight in the Carolinas. As a partisan, Clarke led frontier guerrillas in inflicting a heavy toll against the British and American Loyalists

Elijah Clarke After the war Clarke served in the state

assembly from 1781 to 1790, on the commission of confiscated estates, and in the state constitutional convention of 1789.

However, Clarke grew impatient with the failures of the national and state government to bring peace to the frontier and took matters into his own hands. He tried to form an independent republic, known today as the Trans-Oconee Republic, by seizing Creek lands on the Oconee frontier.

Austin Dabney Austin Dabney was a slave who became

a private in the Georgia militia and fought against the British during the Revolutionary War (1775-83). He was the only African American to be granted land by the state of Georgia in recognition of his bravery and service during the Revolution and one of the few to receive a federal military pension.

Austin Dabney Born in Wake County, North Carolina, in the 1760s,

Austin Dabney moved with his master, Richard Aycock, to Wilkes County, Georgia, in the late 1770s. In order to avoid military service himself, Aycock sent Dabney to join the Georgia militia as a substitute. Serving as an artilleryman under Elijah Clarke, Dabney is believed to have been the only black soldier to participate in the Battle of Kettle Creek

He was severely wounded in the thigh during the fighting, and Giles Harris, a white soldier, took Dabney to his home to care for the wound. Dabney remembered Harris's kindness and worked for the Harris family for the rest of his life.

Nancy Hart

Georgia's most acclaimed female participant during the Revolutionary War (1775-83) was Nancy Hart. A devout patriot, Hart gained notoriety during the revolution for her determined efforts to rid the area of Tories, English soldiers, and British sympathizers. Her single-handed efforts against Tories and Indians in the Broad River frontier, as well as her covert activities as a patriot spy, have become the stuff of myth, legend, and local folklore.

Georgia’s signers of the Declaration of Independence

Button Gwinnett

Button Gwinnett was one of three Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence. He served in Georgia's colonial legislature, in the Second Continental Congress, and as president of Georgia's Revolutionary Council of Safety.  In Philadelphia, Gwinnett served on a number of committees and supported separation from England. He voted for independence in July, signed the Declaration of Independence in August (along with other Georgians George Walton and Lyman Hall), and soon afterward returned to Georgia, where he became embroiled in political controversy.

Button Gwinnett Gwinnett proposed a military foray into British East Florida,

a defensive measure that he argued would secure Georgia's southern border. McIntosh and his brother George (who had opposed Gwinnett's election as president and subsequently had been arrested for treason) condemned the scheme as politically motivated.

McIntosh was furious. He publicly denounced Gwinnett in the harshest terms (calling him a lying rascal!), and Gwinnett challenged him to a duel. Though each man shot the other, only Gwinnett's wound proved fatal. He died on May 19, 1777, and was buried in Savannah's Colonial Park Cemetery, though the exact location of his grave is unknown. Gwinnett County was named for him when it was established in 1818.

Lyman HallLyman Hall was one of three Georgians to sign the Declaration of Independence. He served as a representative to the Continental Congress and as governor of Georgia (1783-84). An active and early leader in the Revolutionary movement, he was elected to represent St. John's Parish in the Second Continental Congress in 1775. He participated in debates in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that year but did not vote, as he did not represent the entire colony. A year later, as an official representative of Georgia, Hall signed the Declaration

Lyman Hall In January 1783 he was elected

governor. During his administration he had to deal with a number of difficult issues, including confiscated estates, frontier problems with Loyalists and Indians, and a bankrupt and depleted treasury. One highlight, however, was the role he played in helping to establish the University of Georgia in 1785.

George WaltonGeorge Walton was one of three Georgians to sign the Declaration of Independence. He served in numerous capacities for the state of Georgia after the American Revolution.By the eve of the American Revolution he was one of the most successful lawyers in Georgia. Active in Georgia's Revolutionary government, he was elected to the Provincial Congress and then became president of the Council of Safety in 1775. In 1776 he served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, where on July 4 he signed the Declaration

George Walton Returning to Savannah, Walton was

captured during the 1778 British assault on the city, led by Archibald Campbell. After his exchange he returned to Georgia and was elected governor in 1779, having switched allegiances from the conservative to the radical faction. He served for two controversial months before reelection to Congress.

Fighting in the South Since the British were unsuccessful at

defeating George Washington in the North, they decided to focus their efforts in the south hoping the Tories would help them.

In December 1788 British forces attacked and captured Savannah, forcing the patriots to flee.

The patriot cause in the south was in trouble.

Battle Of Kettle Creek

Kettle Creek flows into the Little River near the Tyrone community in Wilkes County. It likely takes its name from a local fish trap, called a kittle. The most important event to occur at Kettle Creek, however, took place on Sunday, February 14, 1779. On that morning 600 American supporters of the British cause, popularly known as Loyalists or Tories, encamped atop a hill in a bend of the creek.

Battle of Kettle Creek Elijah Clarke and Andrew Pickens led a

force of Georgia militia (civilians rather than professional soldiers) against the British and the Tories.

By defeating the British and the Tories, Clarke and the militia raised the morale in Georgia giving them hope that they could defeat the British and win independence.

Battle of Kettle Creek The Battle of Kettle Creek provided the rebel

cause with a victory, however small, in the midst of a string of much larger defeats. The British had expected thousands of loyal southerners to rally to their flag and restore the whole South to the king.

After Kettle Creek, British leaders should have realized that practical Loyalist military support in the South, if it ever existed, had disappeared.

Siege of Savannah After the British captured Savannah, Governor

Sir James Wright returned to Georgia on July 14, 1779, and announced the restoration of Georgia to the crown, with the privilege of exemption from taxation. Thus Georgia became the first, and ultimately the only one, of the thirteen states in rebellion to be restored to royal allegiance. Governor Wright had hardly settled to his duties when on September 3, 1779, a French fleet of twenty-five ships appeared unexpectedly off the Georgia coast.

Siege of Savannah With the French showing up off the

shores of Savannah Benjamin Lincoln, with 1500 patriots joined the French to lay siege on the city.

After unsuccessfully defeating the British, the siege ended with French sailing away and Benjamin Lincoln and the patriots withdrawing, marching north to Charles Town.

British Aggression and Surrender General Lord Cornwallis, commander of the British in the south

followed Benjamin Lincoln and captured both the city of Charles Town and Lincoln’s Army.

Cornwallis then made plans to invade North Carolina and help capture George Washington.

In the process General Cornwallis made a crucial mistake by getting trapped at Yorktown while waiting to be resupplied. While waiting the French sailed in and cut off their escape route through the ocean. George Washington marched south and cut off Cornwallis’s escape over land.

Realizing he was trapped, Cornwallis surrendered to Washington on October 19, 1781.

Even though negotiations continued for two more years, until Treaty of Paris 1783 was signed. The victory at Yorktown effectively brought an end to the revolution.

Have you seen this movie?

Questions 1 Who was the only African American to be

awarded freedom through the Georgia Legislature for his/her heroic service to Georgia during the Revolutionary War?

A. Crispus AttucksB. Austin DabneyC. Stephen HeardD. Nathanael Greene

Question 2 Who helped gather information to help

win the Battle of Kettle Creek by serving as a spy for American forces during the Revolutionary War?

A. Austin DabneyB. Nathanael GreeneC. Abigail MinisD. Nancy Hart

Question 3 Who was Austin Dabney?

A. A slave who fought in the revolution and gained freedom.B. A woman who was a patriot spyC. A representative of CongressD. Commander of a militia at Kettle Creek

Question 4 Where did the first patriot victory in

Georgia during the American Revolution occur, which kept Britain from rallying the Tories support?

A. Kettle CreekB. LexingtonC. SavannahD. Sunbury

Question 5 Who was the youngest signer of the

Declaration of Independence?

A. Henry EllisB. Button GwinnetC. George WaltonD. James Wright 

Question 6 Who was the leader of the Patriot militia

that fought and won at Kettle Creek?

A. Austin DabneyB. Elijah ClarkeC. Lyman HallD. Button Gwinnett 

Question 7 In 1779, the French Navy helped Patriots

with a siege in an attempt to take back which coastal city in Georgia?

A. BrunswickB. SavannahC. AugustaD. Darien 

Question 8 What was signed by Great Britain, France,

and the United States that signified the end of the American Revolution and that independence was a reality?

A. The Proclamation of 1763B. The Declaration of IndependenceC. The Treaty of Paris 1783D. The Bill of Rights

Question 9 Signed the Declaration of Independence

and was the first delegate from Georgia to attend the 2nd Continental Congress.

A. Lyman HallB. Button GwinnettC. George WaltonD. George Washington

Question 10 Signed the Declaration of Independence

and led patriot troops in effort to defeat the British in Florida.

A. Lyman HallB. Button GwinnettC. George WaltonD. George Washington