The American Revolution

Mr. ClowesAPUSH

The Colonial Mindset

• Though a small minority of colonists at this time had begun to make demands for independence, this was not the common mindset of the people– Most desired to remain with the English Empire,

they just wanted their rights as English citizens recognized

– However, the number of radical colonists who were entertaining thoughts of independence was growing

The Two American Sides

• Americans were split into two main groups with a silent third– Patriots: those who supported the revolutionary cause;

made up around 40% of the population• Mainly from New England and Virginia

– Loyalists: those who supported the English; made up around 20-30% of the population• Mainly from the Southern and Middle Colonies where the

Anglican Church was strongest

– Neutrals: about 30-40% of the population favored no cause and tried their best to stay out of the conflict

“The Americans have made a discovery, or think they have made a discovery, that we mean to oppress them; we have made a discovery, or think we have made a discovery, that they intend to rise up in rebellion against us. We know not how to advance, they know not how to retreat.”- Edmund Burke, member of England’s Parliament

Changing British Attitudes

• The Intolerable Acts marked a very important shift in British views towards the colonies– Prior to 1774 the British had seemingly attempted

to reconcile through all of their conflicts• i.e. repealing acts the colonists protested

– With the Intolerable Acts the British began seeking to punish the colonies and to bend them to their will

The First Continental Congress• Was in response to the Intolerable Acts• All colonies, except GA, sent delegates to Philadelphia in order to reason what

to do about the new British policies and attitudes• The main groups were…

– Radicals: wanted great concessions from the British such as repeal of all previous acts• Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, John Adams, etc.

– Moderates: believed that the colonists were owed some concessions from the British (i.e. the overturning of the Intolerable Acts)• George Washington, John Dickinson

– Conservatives: were reluctant to make any demands of the British for fear of further reprisals• John Jay, Joseph Galloway

The First Continental Congress

• Adopted by the Congress…– Suffolk Resolves: demanded that Parliament immediately repeal

the Intolerable Acts; also that the colonies boycott all British goods and begin preparing militia in the chance of war

– The Declaration of Rights and Grievances: urged the king to acknowledge colonial protests and to make amends with colonial demands; it did recognize the right of Parliament to regulate commerce of the colonies without consent, but not to tax

– The Association: created committees throughout the colonies to enforce the Suffolk Resolves

– If these demands were ignored a second Congress would convene in May of 1775

The First Battles of the Revolution

• After receiving the demands of the First Continental Congress, England declared the colony of Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion– Additional troops were sent to the colonies,

specifically Massachusetts, to restore order– Massachusetts was the hotbed of colonial defiance – These two factors are what will lead to the first

open conflicts of the Revolution

Lexington and Concord

• General Thomas Gage (England) was given orders to seize a supply of colonial ammunition from the town of Concord

• Paul Revere rode ahead to warn the colonial militia of Gage’s intentions

• The Minutemen (the Massachusetts militia) first met the Redcoats on the open greens of Lexington, but they were badly beaten– The militia had tried to fight in the European,

conventional style and they were simply outfought

Lexington and Concord

• The rest of the way to Concord and the entire way back to Boston the Minutemen fought from the surrounding cover of homes, bridges, etc.

• They were able to decimate the Redcoats while fighting in this guerilla manner– The Redcoats lost over 250 men, the militia

around 100

The Battle of (the wrong hill)• The other colonies sent men and supplies to help the

Massachusetts militia• These militia fortified the hills surrounding Boston, mainly

Breed’s Hill but the battle was accidentally named for nearby Bunker Hill– Breed’s Hill was next to Bunker Hill and was the actual scene of

the battle• To control Boston the British had to take the hill from the

colonists– This was attempted on June 7, 1775– Though the colonists lost the hill they inflicted over 1,000

casualties on the British and the battle was seen as a moral victory

The Second Continental Congress

• The group met in May 1775 in Philadelphia• The Congress was split between two groups– Revolutionaries: wanted to declare their

independence from England• Mainly from New England

– Reconciles: wanted to negotiate a new peace with England• Mainly from the Middle Colonies

The Olive Branch Petition

• A last effort was made at peace with the British, the Olive Branch Petition– In July the Olive Branch Petition was sent to King George III– The colonists pleaded with the King to intervene with the

Parliament and to help them negotiate a new peace where the rights of the colonists would be protected

– King George III ignored the Olive Branch Petition and instead endorsed the Prohibitory Act• This declared the colonies were in a state of rebellion and

forbade any further interactions between England and the colonies

Forming an American Military

• The Second Congress immediately passed the Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms– The colonies would provide troops for the forming

of the Continental Army and George Washington was named commander-in-chief

– An American Navy and Marines were formed to raid British shipping

– A force was created and placed under Benedict Arnold for the purpose of invading Quebec

A Matter of Common Sense…

• Next to the actual Declaration of Independence, perhaps the most important document of the Revolution was Thomas Paine’s Common Sense– It was published in January 1776– It was common sense that a large continent should

not be governed by a small, far away island– The English monarchy and Parliament were corrupt

and did not have the right to rule the colonies

Declaring Independence…

• By June 1776 the Second Congress had meeting for over a year

• On June 7 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia called for a resolution of independence

• Thomas Jefferson, with four others, were given the task of writing the declaration

• On July 2 Lee’s resolution was passed and on July 4 Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence was recognized and adopted

The Declaration of Independence

• Was a list of grievances the colonists held against King George III and Parliament

• Also listed the basic principles that justify a revolution, and therefore justified their revolution– Among these principles was the fact that a people

whose natural rights were being ignored by the government had the right to overthrow that government and then establish a new and just government

African Americans and the War

• In the beginning the Patriots tried to ignore the question of what to do with the African Americans, whether free or slave…– However, once the war begins the British offer

freedom to any African American who will fight for their cause

– Washington quickly pushes for the Continental Congress to do the same and the policy is adopted

– 5,000 African Americans will fight in the war as Patriots

Native Americans and the War

• In the beginning Native Americans tried to stay out of the war, however, two factors will lead to most of them supporting the British– 1) American colonists renew attacks along the

frontiers– 2) the British promise to control the movement of

the colonists westward if they can crush the rebellion

Early Struggles in the Revolution

• Washington’s Continental Army was poorly trained and equipped to deal with the Redcoats– Throughout 1775 to 1777 Washington and his troops

would continuously escape narrow destruction• i.e. the Battle of Manhattan (New York City)

– By 1777 New York City and Philadelphia were lost– The Continental Army was forced to winter 1777-1778

at Valley Forge• Thanks to the help of American allies, i.e. Prussia and Baron

Von Steuben, the Continental Army was able to come out of the winter a more well-trained and formidable military unit

The Turning Point of the War

• A large British force under the command of General John Burgoyne marched in October 1777 to meet other troops in an effort to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies

• Burgoyne’s entire army was surprised and trapped at Fort Saratoga– He was forced to surrender his entire army– The Continental Army was able to gain much

needed supplies in artillery, rifles, and ammunition

The Impact of Saratoga

• France, though under the rule of an absolute monarch, King Louis XVI, knew that supporting the revolutionary cause of the Americans would greatly weaken the English Empire, its greatest foe

• Saratoga convinced the French that the Americans were serious in their efforts

• France’s joining the war forced the English to divert much of their military power away from the Americas in order to defend their other colonies from the French

The Changing War

• Now having to pull troops from the American war, the English were forced to consolidate their troops in the colonies

• Philadelphia was abandoned so the English could concentrate on fighting out of New York– By 1780 troops under George Rogers Clark were

able to take most of the forts in the Ohio River Valley and most British efforts in the North were then focused on maintaining New York City

The Changing War

• By 1780 most of the British territories had been lost in the Middle Colonies and New England and it was forced to fight mainly in the South where Loyalists were most numerous– Redcoats under General Charles Cornwallis were

able to achieve a string of victories• However, none of these victories were decisive in the

way of breaking the revolutionary cause/efforts

Yorktown

• In 1781 the Continental Army under Washington was able to surround Cornwallis on a narrow peninsula at Yorktown, Virginia– The French navy was able to cut Cornwallis off

from resupplying– After days of artillery bombardment Cornwallis

was forced to surrender the last major British military force in the colonies

The End of the Revolution

• The British would hold onto New York City for two more years, but there would be no more major military engagements

• The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783– It ended the war and England recognized the US as an

independent nation– The Mississippi River would be the western boundary of

the US– The US would get fishing rights off of Canada– The US would honor the property claims of displaced

Loyalists and also debts owed to British merchants