The American Revolution. The Colonies Fight for their Rights

The American Revolution

The Road to the RevolutionThe Colonies Fight for their Rights

•Crash Course US History #6- Taxes and Smuggling

I. England and her Colonies• A. Mercantilism: economic ideas about how a country

could become powerful ▫ 1. accumulate gold and silver▫ 2. sell more goods to countries that it bought ▫ 3. be self-sufficient in raw materials

Many countries began creating large colonial empires for this purpose

▫ 4. Benefits for the colonies- easy market for raw materials

▫ 5. Drawbacks- colonies could not sell to other countries Could not get the best price for goods

▫ 6. system caused many NE merchants to turn to smuggling

• B. Charles II and the Navigation Acts 1660, 1663 ▫1. series of acts that restricted trade for the

colonies for the benefit of England▫2. all goods must be carried on English ships

with English crews ▫3. listed raw materials that could only be sold

to England

▫4. Staple Act: required all things imported by colonies to go through England A tax placed on those goods

▫5. many colonists defied the acts

• C. The French and Indian War ▫1. War between English/Colonists and

French/Native Americans Called the Seven Years’ War in Europe

▫2. Started over a territorial dispute in the Ohio River Valley

▫3. Britain sent troops and navy in order to destroy the French Empire Initially more focused on issues in Europe With British assistance colonists able to defeat

French and Indians ▫4. Treaty of Paris 1763

Eliminated French power in North America Britain gets all of Louisiana east of the MS River

and FL Spain receives New Orleans and Louisiana west

of MS River

▫5. The French and Indian War will increase tensions between Britain and the colonies Britain wants colonists to pay share of war

debt Colonists feel British are interfering

II. The Colonies Grow Discontented• A. Pontiac’s War in 1763: Native Americans

begin attacking colonists moving into their land ▫ 1. Britain did not want to pay for another war▫ 2. Wanted to limit westward settlement to avoid

conflict▫ 3. The Royal Proclamation 0f 1763: drew a line

down the Appalachian Mountains that the colonists could not settle west of Often difficult to enforce

• B. Prime Minister George Grenville and new tax policies▫ 1. needed revenue to pay war debt▫ 2. sent those arrested for smuggling to vice-

admiralty courts outside the colonies- more likely to receive a guilty verdict

▫ 3. wanted to punish those not paying customs duties- taxes on imports and exports

• C. The Sugar Act 1764 ▫ 1. increased tax rates on raw sugar and molasses

imported▫ 2. also added taxes on other goods ▫ 3. allowed British officials to seize goods without

due process

▫4. Colonists argued that it violated their rights as English citizens “no taxation without representation”

III. The Stamp Act Crisis• A. Stamp Act passed in 1765: placed a stamp on

most printed materials▫ 1. newspapers, playing cards, posters, wills, etc. ▫ 2. first direct tax ever placed on the colonists

• B. The Quartering Act 1765▫ 1. colonists forced to house British soldiers at their own

expense • C. Colonists began to gather to protest paying the

taxes▫ 1. Most famous- Sons of Liberty

Organized meetings and demonstrations Also intimidated tax collectors

• D. October 1765 representatives from the colonies met at the Stamp Act Congress▫1. argued that Parliament did not have the

right to tax the colonists▫2. decided to sign a nonimportation agreement:

boycott of all British goods

• E. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act due to protests▫ 1. passed the Declaratory Act: said Parliament had

the right to make laws for the colonies

IV. The Townshend Acts • A. New prime minister Charles Townshend and

the Townshend Acts: meant to create more revenue

• B. The Revenue Act 1767▫1. placed new taxes on glass, lead, paper,

paint, and tea▫2. violated due process▫3. allowed writs of assistance: a general

warrant for searching for evidence of smuggling

• C. More colonists began boycotting British goods in response▫ 1. ex: Daughters of Liberty made clothes so

Americans would not have to buy British

• D. The Boston Massacre; March 5, 1770▫ 1. more British troops sent to colonies in response

to violence against customs officials▫ 2. during a riot in Boston, British troops fired on

colonists and killed five of them

▫3. controversy over whether the troops fired in self-defense and if their captain ordered them to fire

▫4. talk of revolution began to spread in the colonies for the first time

▫5. Townshend Acts (except tax on tea) were repealed

The Revolution Begins

I. Massachusetts leads the Way• A. Britain reignites tensions at the Gaspee Affair

▫ 1. a ship to catch smugglers- searched ships without warrant

▫ 2. June 1772- colonists burned ship when it ran aground

▫ 3. Thomas Jefferson created the committee of correspondence- communication among colonies

• B. The Boston Tea Party Dec. 1773▫ 1. Lord North exempted the British East India

Company from paying most tea taxes (Tea Act 1773)

▫ 2. threatened to push colonial merchants out of business

▫3. Colonies want to block new shipments of tea from being unloaded in their harbors

▫4. In Boston, men dressed as Indians boarded the ship and dumped the tea in the harbor

• C. Britain passes the Coercive Acts as punishment for the tea party ▫ 1. closed the port of Boston until tea paid for ▫ 2. banned town meetings and representative gov’t ▫ 3. allowed British soldiers to be tried in England ▫ 4. Sent more troops over to enforce the acts

John Adams-Coercive Acts

• D. The Coercive Acts combined with the Quebec Act to make the Intolerable Acts

• E. In Sept. 1774 delegates met at the First Continental Congress- made five major decisions▫ 1. issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances▫ 2. agreed to boycott British goods▫ 3. rejected a colonial union plan ▫ 4. agreed to make military preparations for war▫ 5. agreed to meet again the following year

II. The Fighting Begins• A. Loyalists angered at defiance against Britain

▫ 1. wanted law to be upheld and to stay with Britain ▫ 2. felt compromise should be used to solve issues▫ 3. wide variety of colonists- GA, NY, and Carolinas

• B. Patriots: those who believed the British were tyrants and will eventually want to separate ▫ 1. mostly in NE and VA ▫ 2. enforced boycotts of British goods: terrorized

loyalists who would not comply

• C. Lexington and Concord April 1775▫ 1. British General Gage sent to arrest Samuel

Adams and other leaders▫ 2. decided to go to Concord to seize the

Massachusetts militia’s arms supply ▫ 3. Colonists in Lexington and Concord warned by

Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott

John Adams- Lexington and Concord

▫4. battle breaks out the village green at Lexington- controversy over who fired the first shot

▫5. British able to move on and get what supplies were left at Concord- attacked the whole way during their retreat to Boston.

• D. May 1775- Second Continental Congress meets in Philly ▫ 1. decided to create a Continental Army and

appoint George Washington as commander ▫ 2. make the decision for independence

John Adams- George Washington Appointed Commander in Chief

The Decision for Independence

I. Last Efforts to Make Peace• A. Continental Congress write the Olive Branch

Petition▫ 1. reaffirmed loyalty to King George III and hoped

issues could be worked out peacefully▫ King ignored petition after colonists attacked

Canadian Colonies John Adams- King Responds to Olive Branch Petition

• B. Hostilities and fighting continued▫ 1. King ordered a naval blockade placed on the

colonies ▫ 3. British began hiring German mercenaries (called

Hessians)

• C. Thomas Paine releases Common Sense January 1775▫ 1. attacked King George personally, rather than just

Parliament ▫ 2. sold 100,000 copies in a month▫ 3. convinced many to support a declaration of

independence from Britain

II. The Declaration of Independence

• A. Second Continental Congress drafted the Declaration▫ 1. approved for signature on July 2, 1776▫ 2. officially severed ties with Great Britain- knew

this would cause war

John Adams- Congress Approves Declaration of Indpendence

• B. Three Basic Principles of the Declaration▫ 1. Natural Rights: Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of

Happiness▫ 2. Popular Sovereignty: people are the source of

political authority They choose to be governed to protect their rights

▫ 3. Order: Importance of stability People have obligation to overthrow a corrupt

government ONLY as a last resort

• C. Grievances against the King ▫ 1. denying self-government▫ 2. taxation without consent ▫ 3. maintaining an army in colonies and forcing the

colonists to house the soldiers in their homes

▫ 4. denying the colonists the right to a fair trial in front of their peers

▫ 5. cutting off the trade of the colonies▫ 6. refusing to address colonial grievances

The War for Independence

I. British v. The Colonists• A. Colonial Advantages

▫ 1. know the territory well▫ 2. good military leadership: Washington ▫ 3. have a cause to fight for▫ 4. will have help from French ally

• B. Colonial Disadvantages▫ 1. have no organized army; poorly trained soldiers▫ 2. lack of weaponry and supplies▫ 3. weak and divided central government

• C. British Advantages▫ 1. well-trained, professional army; well-supplied▫ 2. resources and money▫ 3. strong central government

• D. British Disadvantages▫ 1. fighting in unfamiliar territory ▫ 2. must deal with transport of resources▫ 3. not much support at home or from troops

II. The Northern Campaign • A. The Battle of Bunker Hill June 1775

▫ 1. Colonists fortified on Breed’s Hill ▫ 2. General Thomas Gage attempting to take the hill:

wanted high ground position▫ 3. Americans repelled British until they ran out of

ammunition

▫ 4. Moral victory for the colonists Showed the British that they would not be easy to defeat British again trapped in Boston

• B. General Gage (Br) planned to evacuate Boston and take New York▫ 1. large number of loyalists there▫ 2. wanted to separate New England from the South ▫ 3. Washington set to defend at Long Island when

British landed (Battle of Long Island) Forced to retreat British used New York as headquarters for rest of war

• C. The Battle of Trenton Dec. 1776▫ 1. Washington had retreated all the way into

Pennsylvania▫ 2. British stopped in Trenton for the winter on their

way to Philadelphia

▫3. Washington launched a surprise attack by crossing the Delaware River in the middle of the night

▫4. defeated regiments of British and Hessians▫5. Won Battle of Princeton days later

• D. General William Howe defeated Washington at Battle of Brandywine Bridge and captured Philadelphia Sept. 1777▫ 1. Both Continental Congress and Army escaped ▫ 2. Army rests for winter at Valley Forge

Cold and food shortages killed thousands Training from the Marquis de Lafayette and Baron

Friedrich von Stueben

• E. France enters the war▫ 1. Battle of Saratoga: British under General John

Burgoyne surrendered in Saratoga, NY June 1777 ▫ 2. France now commits troops to cause in addition

to supplies Convinced that Americans could defeat British Turning point in the revolutionary war

III. The War at Sea • A. American ships focused on attacking British

merchant ships rather than the navy ▫ 1. private ships obtained permission from Congress

through a letter of marque ▫ 2. essentially to harming British trade and economy

• B. Colonial naval officer John Paul Jones▫ 1. greatest colonial naval victory ▫ 2. forced the British surrender after attacking a

group of merchant ships

IV. The Southern Campaign • A. General Howe replaced by William Clinton

after British defeat at Saratoga• B. Wanted to focus on the South

▫ 1. had the most loyalist support there- sabotage rebellion from within

▫ 2. hoping they could keep the South even if they lost the North- had crops valuable to Britain

• C. December 1778- British troops seized Savannah, GA▫ 1. retook control over Georgia and put a royal

governor in place • D. British troops surrounded Charleston, S.C.

▫ 1. Colonial forces surrender▫ 2. greatest loss for colonists during the war▫ 3. General Charles Cornwallis left in British

command in South

• E. British start to lose southern support and territory ▫ 1. overestimated loyalist base in South ▫ 2. southern farmers on frontier did not like British

treatment- taking back land in the backcountry ▫ 3. British had promised slaves their freedom if they

fought for the British

▫ 4. American General Nathaniel Greene took back most of British territory in South by 1781 Used small units to raid British supplies

V. The Colonies win their Independence• A. Spring of 1781 General Cornwallis invades

Virginia▫ 1. needed to cut off supplies from coming into the

South▫ 2. Needed to take it quickly- French troops on the

way

• B. Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold forced to protect themselves in the coastal town of Yorktown, VA. ▫ 1. Arnold originally an American commander▫ 2. Combined French and colonial troops trap

Cornwallis there▫ 3. not able to get supplies- French fleet waiting off

the coast

• C. October 1781- Cornwallis surrenders after weeks of bombardment ▫ 1. final battle of the revolution

• D. The Treaty of Paris 1783▫ 1. Britain agreed to recognize the United States of

America as having a western border of the MS River

▫ 2. Britain returned Florida to Spain▫ 3. Britain would remove its troops from the US

Impact of the American RevolutionWas the American Revolution a revolution for all Americans?

I. Emergence of New Political Ideas

• A. Established a republic▫ 1. representatives responsible to voters would

govern according to laws and/or a constitution ▫ 2. a new, radical idea▫ 3. new belief that all citizens should be equal under

the law

• B. New ideas in state constitutions▫ 1. each state would have its own written

constitution▫ 2. had a list of rights guaranteed to citizens▫ 3. protect minorities from the majority

• C. Voting Rights▫ 1. more people gaining right to vote- not just

wealthy ▫ 2. lowered respect for higher classes of society

• D. Freedom of Religion▫ 1. did not think government should support religion▫ 2. many had no official churches▫ 3. others allowed people to donate the church tax

to their church of choice

II. Changes in Society• A. Women during the Revolution

▫ 1. many took care of farms and businesses while men were away

▫ 2. others traveled with the army▫ 3. made a few advances

Greater access to education; easier to get a divorce People began to believe that women should obtain

greater rights

• B. African Americans▫ 1. many freed by the British by fighting against

colonists▫ 2. many fought for Continental army in hopes of

freedom▫ 3. Many Americans begin to see hypocrisy in

slavery- northern states gradually being emancipation their slaves Still could only find work in menial professions

▫ 4. Most slaves remained as such in the South

• C. Native Americans▫ 1. often had sided with the British- thought

Americans more likely to take their land▫ 2. after independence- land continued to be taken

from them over the next few centuries

• D. Upper Classes▫ 1. landowning men and merchants still retained

most of their wealth and status▫ 2. no longer had to deal with oppressive British

laws▫ 3. more Americans opposing the idea of having

“classes” Mentions equality in the Declaration