American Revolution

Roots of Revolution

• England Controls the 13 colonies of the U.S.

• England taxes colonies until it is unbearable

• Americans form new idea of government called republicanism

Seeds of Revolution

• American unhappy with English rule

• Mercantilism – export more than imported

• English control of currency

• Preservation of Civil liberties, liberties being taken away

Albany Plan of Union

• First attempt at unifying the colonies

• Proposed by Benjamin Franklin

• Intercolonial governmental system

• Proposed tax collection system to help defense new colonies

• Unsucessful

Roots of Revolution

• Americans want a more local government

• England levies more taxes on the U.S.

• Stamp Act – required colonists to purchase special stamped paper for all legal documents

Stamp Act Congress

• October 1765 meeting of delegates from the American Colonies that discussed and acted upon the recently passed Stamp Act.

• Adopted a Declaration of Rights and Grievances

• wrote letters or petitions to the King and both houses of Parliament.

Protest, Protest, Protest

• Boston Massacre – (1770) On a snowy night, American protesters hit British soldiers with snowballs. One of the British soldiers fired into an angry mob, killing five. Local agitators, especially Samuel Adams, used the event to stir up popular resistance.

• Boston Tea Party – (1773) Tea Acts are passed, causing the Sons of Liberty dressed up like Indians and dumped all the tea into the Boston harbor.

New British Action

• Declaratory Act

– Declared Britain’s right to legislate for and/or tax it’s unrepresented colonies

– What reaction does this get?

– Committees of Correspondence – committees of colonists that met to urge resistance to Britain

Protests and More Tax

• Samuel Adams leads protests of the Stamp Act. Sons of Liberty organization is born.

• Britain does not stop.

• Passes Townshend Acts, which put indirect taxes on imports such as gas, lead, paint, and paper. Most important of all… a 3 cent tax on tea

Boycott, Boycott, Boycott

• Refusal to use, buy, or deal with any goods from Great Britain

• Colonists Boycott….Who hurts?

• “No Taxation without Representation”

• Tensions rise…Is revolution coming???

More Acts from Britain

• Intolerable Acts (1774) - a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in response to the unrest in the thirteen American colonies, particularly in Boston, after incidents such as the Boston Tea Party.

• One law closed Boston Harbor, one was a Quartering act

• Britain can now declare Martial Law in any part of U.S.

• What might reaction to this be????

First Continental Congress

• Goals were to …

• 1) Make a list of Grievances with Britain

• 2) Develop strategy to deal with grievances

The British Are Coming

• Minutemen (civilian soldiers) organized to fight Britain

• The Battle of Lexington and Concord took place April 19, 1775

• First fighting of the American Revolution = 13 colonies calling up militias and set out for Boston

• Battle of Bunker Hill followed on June 17, 1775. By late spring 1776, with George Washington as commander, the Americans forced the British to evacuate Boston. The patriots were in control everywhere in the 13 states and the states were ready to declare independence.

Second Continental Congress

• Continental Army is created

• Olive Branch Petition sent to Britain – Last attempt at peace without Bloodshed

• Who were the Patriots?

Patriots

• The revolutionaries, known as Patriots, Whigs, Congress Men or Americans, included a full range of social and economic classes, but a unanimity regarding the need to defend the rights of Americans.

• George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, John Jay, Ben Franklin, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson were among them.

Loyalists

• 20% to 30% of the colonists remained loyal to the British Crown; these became known as Loyalists (or 'Tories', or 'King's men').

• Native Americans were loyalist

INDEPENDENCE ????

• COMMON SENSE - pamphlet published by Thomas Paine, attacking King George III.

• “The time has come for colonists to proclaim an independent republic.”

• First document to call for American Independence

DECLARING INDEPENDENCE

• Thomas Jefferson• Declaration of Independence • July 2, 1776 colonies declared free• July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence

is adopted

• We are given unalienable rights by God according to the Declaration of Independence, what are these rights?

Who’s side to be on• America

– Fighting at home, Washington’s leadership, had a reason to fight

– Untrained, ill-equipped soldiers, food and ammo shortage, Navy is inferior, no central government to enforce wartime policy

• Britain

– Strong, well-trained army and navy, strong central government and funds, support of colonial loyalists and Native Americans

– Far from home, unfamiliar terrain, weak military leadership, sympathy of British politicians for the American cause

Major Battles of the Revolution

• British Gain New York ( Summer, 1776)

• Battle of Trenton, New Jersey (December 25, 1776)…Americans win

• Philadelphia (Spring 1777) - British take the city…Why is this important?

War is Raging…Turning Point is Coming

• Saratoga – Americans defeat British, France enters war, Britain changes war strategy (keep troops, ammo, and supplies close)

• France agrees not to make peace with Britain until Britain makes peace with U.S.

– Why are these turning points in the Revolution?

Life During the War

• Inflation rises• Congress has trouble supplying the army• Profiteering begins (selling scarce goods

at a profit)• Men go to fight, women take on male jobs

(as well as household work)

• Did women and slaves fight in the American Revolution?

War Raging

• War moves south

• British capture Savannah

• Battles fought in NC– Guilford Courthouse, the British win but it is a

major turning point because of the British loss of life

• Americans making their move

War Winds down• Yorktown

– Washington and the Americans defeat Cornwallis and the British

– War is over