The Beginning of the Revolution:

End of Chap. 7 and Beginning of Chap 8

Key Points Today

1. Intolerable Acts to Open Conflict

2. Crown/ Colonials– Weaknesses and Strengths

3. Who were the Loyalists

Committees of Correspondence • Chief function to spread the spirit of resistance by

exchanging letters keeping alive opposition to British policy– Intercolonial committees of correspondence

were the next logical step– supremely significant in stimulating and

disseminating sentiment in favor of united action.

– They evolved directly into the first American congresses.

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“Intolerable Acts” – Boston Port Act closed the port until damages

were paid, and order could be ensured.– Massachusetts colonial chartered rights were

swept away:– Restrictions were placed on the precious town

meetings– New Quartering Act.

The Quebec Act 1774

– French subjects in Canada guaranteed their Catholic religion

– By sustaining unrepresentative assemblies and denials of jury trials, it seemed to set a dangerous precedent in America.

– Quebec boundaries were extended to Ohio River

Quebec Act….

• From the American viewpoint …– alarmed land speculators, who were distressed

to see the huge trans-Allegheny area snatched from their grasp (see Map 7.1)

– Aroused anti-Catholics, shocked by the extension of Roman Catholic jurisdiction southward into a region earmarked for Protestantism—a region about as large as the 13 colonies.

Calling of the 1st Continental Congress

• First Continental Congress in 1774:– Called by Committee of Correspondences– It met in Philadelphia to redress grievances– Sought to develop a unified response to crown– 12 of 13 colonies, except Georgia, sent 55 men-

S. Adams, J. Adams, G. Washington, P Henry.

1st Continental Congress

• The delegates were not calling for independence.

• They sought merely to appeal the offensive legislation.

• Most significant action was the creation of The Association:– It called for a complete boycott of British goods:

nonimportation, nonexportation, and nonconsumption.

X. Lexington & Concord

“But the fatal drift toward war continued.”

– Parliament rejected the Congress’s petitions – Violators of The Association were tarred and

feathered– In April 1775, the British commander in Boston

sent a detachment of troops to nearby Lexington and Concord.

– Unofficial WAR begins!

Chapter 8

America Secedes from the Empire, 1775–1783

I. Congress Drafts George Washington

• The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775:– First most important single action—to select George

Washington to head the army:• The choice was made with considerable misgivings• He never rose above the rank of a colonel• His largest command had numbered only 20,000• He was gifted with outstanding powers of leadership and

immense strength of character• He radiated patience, courage, self-discipline, and a sense

of justice

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Conflict over Attempted Reconciliation

• The war of inconsistency was fought for 14 months—April 1775 to July 1776—before the fateful plunge into independence.

• Gradually the tempo of warfare increased:– May 1775 Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold

captured garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown Point in upper New York

– June 1775 the colonists seized Bunker Hill

Conflict over Attempted Reconciliation

• July 1775 the Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition professing American loyalty to the crown and begged the king to prevent further hostilities

• August 1775 King George III slammed the door on all hope of reconciliation August he proclaimed the colonies in open rebellion and sends in the Hessians.

• In autumn, the rebels daringly undertook a two-pronged invasion of Canada

Conflict and Attempted Resolution

– Bitter fighting persisted in the colonies:• January 1776 the British set fire to Norfolk, Va.• March 1776 they were forced to evacuate Boston

– In the South the rebels won two victories:• February 1776 against some 15,000 Loyalists at

Moore’s Creek Bridge North Carolina• June 1776 against an invading fleet at Charleston

harbor.

XI. Imperial Strengths

– Population odds three to one against the rebels-7.5 million Britons to 2.5 million colonists

– The odds in monetary wealth and naval power overwhelmingly favored the mother country

– Britain’s professional army some 50,000, as compared to numerous, but wretchedly trained American militia

– George III hired some 30,000 Germans Hessians– The British enrolled about 50,000 American

Loyalists and enlisted some Indians.

XI. Imperial Weaknesses– Oppressed Ireland was a smoking volcano and

British troops detached to watch it

– France was waiting to get even with Britain

– The London government was weak and inept:• The English Whigs opposed Lord North’s Tories and

cheered early colonial victories

– Many Britons had no desire whatever to kill Americans cousins

XI. Imperial Weaknesses

• Britain’s army in America had to operate under endless difficulties:– The generals were second-rate the soldiers were

brutally treated– Provisions were often scarce, rancid, and wormy– Britain had to operate 3,000 miles from home– Distance added greatly to delays and

uncertainties from storms and mishaps

XI. Imperial Weaknesses

– Military orders were issued in London that, when received months later, would not fit the changing situation:

– America’s geographical expanse was enormous: roughly 1,000 by 600 miles

– The united colonies had no urban nerve centers

XII. Colonial Strengths

Internal strengths– They were blessed with outstanding leadership:

George Washington, Benjamin Franklin– They were fighting defensively, with the odds

favoring the defender– In agriculture, the colonies were mainly self-

sustaining– Americans enjoyed the moral advantage that

came from belief in a just cause

XII. Colonial Strengths

External Aid– England had numerous enemies– Open foreign aid came from France– Numerous European officials volunteered their

swords for pay– In a class by himself, the Marquis de Lafayette—

his service in securing further aid from France was invaluable

Colonial Weaknesses

• Economic difficulties:– Metallic money had been heavily drained away– A cautious Continental Congress, unwilling to

raise taxes, was forced to print “Continental” paper money in great amounts

– Confusion proliferated when the individual states were forced to issue depreciated paper money

– Inflation of the currency skyrocketed price.

XII. Colonial Weaknesses

– The disorganized colonists fought almost the entire war before adopting a written constitution—the Articles of Confederation—in 1781

– Jealousy everywhere raised its hideous head:• Individual states, regarding themselves as sovereign,

resented the attempts of Congress to exercise its powers• Sectional jealousy boiled over the appointment of

military leaders.

Colonial Weaknesses

• Basic military supplies in the colonies were dangerously scanty:– Widespread militia service meant men needed

weapons for training– The rebels were caught at the very moment that

the supply of British funds and war material evaporated, the cost of home defense mounted

– Sufficient stores of gunpowder, cannon, and other armaments could not be found.

VII. Patriots and Loyalists

• The War of Independence was a war within a war:– Loyalists—colonials loyal to the king who fought

the American rebels called “Tories” after the dominant political factions in Britain

– Patriots—rebels who also fought the British redcoats called “Whigs” after the opposition factions in Britain.

VII. Not all Patriots?????

• The American Revolution was a minority movement:– Many colonists were apathetic or neutral– The Patriot militias played a critical role– The rebel militiamen appeared and took the task

of “political education” sometimes by coercion– The ragtag militia units served as agents of

Revolutionary ideas.

Who were the Loyalists?

• Loyalists:– Numbered about 16 percent of the American

people, who remained true to their king– Many people of education and wealth, of culture

and caution, remained loyal– More numerous among the older generation – Included the king’s officers and beneficiaries.

Who were the Loyalists?

• Loyalists:– They were the Anglican clergy and their

congregations notable exception was Virginia– King’s followers entrenched in aristocratic New

York City and Charlestown, Quaker Pennsylvania and New Jersey

– They were less numerous in New England• Most numerous where Presbyterianism and

Congregationalism flourished.

Who were the Loyalists?

• African Americans also served on the British side:– In November 1775 Lord Dunmore issued a

proclamation promising freedom for any enslaved black in Va. who joined the British army.

– From Va. and Maryland 300 slaves joined– At the end of the war, the British kept their

word: 4000 “Black Loyalists” freed.

VIII. The Loyalist Exodus

• Before the Declaration in 1776, persecution of the Loyalists was relatively mild:

• Some were subject to brutality, tarring and feathering and riding astride fence rails• Harsher treatment began after the Declaration• Were regarded as traitors• Were roughly handled, some were imprisoned and a

few noncombatants were hung.

– There was no wholesale reign of terror.

VIII. The Loyalists Exodus (cont.)

• 80 thousand loyal supporters of King George were driven out or fled• Several hundred thousand were permitted to stay• The estates of the fugitives were confiscated and sold• Some 50 thousand Loyalist volunteers bore arms for

the British • They helped the king’s cause by serving as spies, by

inciting the Indians, and by keeping Patriot soldiers• Ardent Loyalists had their hearts in their cause.

African American Patriots

• The role of Blacks in the American forces who fought and died for the American cause:– Many states initially barred them from military

service, by war’s end more than 5000 blacks had enlisted

– The largest contingents came from the northern states with substantial number of free blacks

– Blacks fought at Trenton, Brandywine, Saratoga, and other important battles