Essential Questions:

1. Prove how after 1763 attempts by the British to exert control over the colonies led to violent,

organized and successful resistance.

2. Evaluate the importance of the causes that impelled the colonists to rebellion; assess the

degree to which economic motivations caused the Revolution.

War for Independence1775-1783

Evaluate the relative importance of the causes that impelled the

colonists to rebel

• Parliamentary Taxation• Violation of civil liberties• British military measures• Colonial legacy of religious and political ideas• Economic motivations

Imperial reforms of 1763

• Why a Revolution and Not Simply• A Political Evolution?

• George III assumed the Throne as a 21 yr old -- he was determined to be King, not as his father and grandfather, who did not speak English and ignored the political processes;

• Imposed Imperial Reform throughout the British Empire – the 7 Years War (F. and I. War) had been costly and the colonists paid a fraction of taxes compared to those in Britain.

• King George assumed these minor reforms were necessary– He lowered the rates to avoid contention –

• He enforced the Proclamation of 1763, enforced the Navigation Acts, and enacted what would become the Declaratory Act;

• Unfortunately, Britain had essentially used “Salutary Neglect” toward the colonies for over 100yrs.

• Economic, political, social and religious freedoms seemed threatened and the colonists would fight to protect and restore these rights.

• Proclamation of 1763:

• Effectively closed off all westward migration west of the Alleghany Mountains;

• Americans felt hemmed in, corralled—easier for the British to control and eventually enslave them;

I. Revolutionary Impulse• Whig Political ideology- colonial legacy

• Tory: loyalist in the colonies• Whig: patriot in the colonies

• 4 Basic Principles:− 1. liberty a natural right− 2. government protects liberty− 3. power corrupts liberty− 4. civic virtue protects liberty (self interest sacrificed for the

common good)

• Example: Colonist James Otis -arbitrary taxes= seeds of tyranny

• Social Contract Theory (Consensus) vs. Absolutism (External Force)− Enlightenment Political Philosophers (John Locke)− Natural Rights of men are inherent, not granted− Governments exist to protect inherent rights, not grant− Natural Rights to life, liberty and property

• Conscience as the most sacred of all property (James Madison)

− What recourse do the people have if a government loses its legitimacy?

I. Revolutionary Impulse• Rhetoric of LIBERTY: Power to win hearts and minds

− Ex. Patrick Henry “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”• What is freedom (liberty)?- which definition inspired the

revolutionists? • Definitions

− Condition of being free from constraints− Liberty of the person i.e .slavery− Political independence: civil rights− Exemption from unpleasant circumstances− Capacity to exercise choice; free will

• Why is freedom important?− Central values in which war was fought− Still used today to describe and define America− Conscience of mind- Christianity

• Limits to liberty?− Would it apply to non whites? To women? To the lower classes? Will this be a

social as well as a political revolution?

Professor Warner

II. Road to War-When is Independence Declared?

• A. Parliamentary reforms- taxation − Series of direct taxes− Stamp Act: sparks widespread protests− Constitutional argument over sovereignty: parliamentary or colonial?

• Unitary form of government throughout Empire• B. Colonial Response• 1) Address grievances:

− Ex. James Otis : arbitrary taxes= seeds of tyranny • Stamp Act Congress

− Ex. Patrick Henry: VA Resolutions• Tax. w/o rep.= tyranny

• Constitutional Argument: Actual v. Virtual Representation• 2) Sons of Liberty (Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock…)

• Rouse anger of articulate lawyers, merchants & printers

• 3) Protests: intimidation, looting, effigies, Non-Importation, Circular letters

• C. Crown Repudiates tax not principle

II. Road to War-When is Independence Declared?

• D. Townsend Acts: tax on paper, tea, glass− Admiralty Courts, colonial assemblies dissolved…

• E. Influence of Whig political ideology• F. Circular Letter- agitation from MA • I. Key City

− Boston: Seeds of Revolt− Samuel Adams: Father of the Revolution

III. Boston: Seeds of Revolt

What happened?(March 5, 1770)

How was this event remembered?

Similar incidents of provocation-

Hancock’s LibertyGaspee Affair

When is Independence Declared?

III. Boston: Seeds of RevoltWhen is Independence declared?

• Boston Tea Party (1773)

• Colonists boycotted taxed tea

• Matter of principle

• 10,000 pounds docked in Boston

• Protest: 150 board ships and dump

• How does this launch the revolution?

IV. Launching a RevolutionWhen is Independence declared?

• Parliament’s response to Tea Party:− Intolerable Acts− Boston under martial law− Quebec Act

• Colonist’s response:− MA: de facto government at Concord

• Stockpile weapons

− Organize First Continental Congress Congress (1774): • To rebel or not to rebel…?• Non importation strongly enforced

• Feb 1775—more moderate Parliament is elected and offers a Conciliatory Proposition Parliament would allow colonies to assume their own tax rate if it is satisfactory and reasonable.

• Too little too late – Americans Samuel Adams and few others are ready for a fight—they want and desire independence – not reconciliation –

• April 1775 – they get their wish in small little Hamlet called Lexington and Concord.

Side Note• Paul Revere's Ride-(1775)• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;Hardly a man is now aliveWho remembers that famous day and year…

• “one if by land and two if by sea…”

V. Course of WarWhen is Independence Declared?

• 1775- Lexington & Concord• British march on L. & C.- face minutemen• Significance: first shots fired in course of war• “Shot Heard Around the World” Poem by • Humiliating retreat

for the British

• The war is no on in earnest; there is no turning back – But John Dickinson and the Philadelphia delegates to the 2nd Continental Congress try to quell emotions and stave off war.

• Olive Branch Petition – avowed loyalty to King George; suggested it was corrupt officials in Parliament that was severing peace between King and Subjects; asked George to protect them from further aggressions;

• Dissenters and radicals as John and Sam Adams put forth a Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms –freedom and liberty were too important to be left to the whims of a King.

War of Revolution• Great Britain−Advantages

• Large economy based on world empire.• Well established government - Constitutional Monarchy.• Professional Army• Large Royal Navy (Although challenged for supremacy by

French Navy.)−Disadvantages

• Long Lines of Communication• Fighting on “Foreign” Soil

• American Colonies− Advantages

• Fighting on “Home Turf”• Ready market of resources

− Disadvantages• Weak government: Continental Congress, no standing army or

navy• Economy designed to support Britain in mercantilist system.• Disunity - Loyalists or Tories make up one third of population.

• British− Command of the Sea

• Blockade American ports.• Transport troops to areas of rebellion.

− Hudson River Valley• Cut off New England from middle and southern

colonies.• American

− War of Attrition• Wear down British forces.

− Diplomacy• Gain European allies with large navies - France.

− Commerce Raiding• Privateering

Naval Strategies

The Need for an American Navy

• British control of sea lines of communication.− Americans unable to oppose British troop movements.− British blockades of American ports restricts commerce.

• States authorize navies:− Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

• Privateering commences against British shipping and commerce.− Definition of Privateering: Privately-owned vessels sanctioned by a

government to seize enemy ships.• Washington’s Navy

− Seizure of gunpowder on British supply ships enroute to Boston.−Ships commanded by Army officers with maritime

experience.

Continental Navy and Marine Corps

• Authorized by the Continental Congress.13 October 1775 - Navy Birthday

• Continental Congress approves purchase of two armed vessels.10 November 1775 - Marine Corps Birthday

• Continental Congress authorizes two battalions of Marines.• Samuel Nicholas - “First Commandant” of the Marine Corps

− Tun Tavern, Philadelphia28 November 1775 - Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies established.December 1775 - Marine Committee appointed by Continental Congress to oversee naval affairs.

• Authorizes construction of 13 frigates.• Debate continues over the need for naval forces:

Samuel Chase of Maryland: “Maddest idea in the world.”

V. Course of the War

• Strategies• British: Need to crush will of the people• Northern & Southern Strategy:

− Take the South: Loyalist support strongest• Freed slaves to fight for the British

− North: land and sea invasion (divide & conquer)

• Americans: • 1)sustain will by avoiding crushing conflicts• 2) gain international alliances

Course of WarWhen is Independence Declared?

• 1775− April: first shots fired− May: Second Continental Congress− June: George Washington (Continental Army)− June: Battle of Bunker (Breed’s) Hill

• Technical defeat, psychological victory

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Early Military Operations• American Siege of Boston - 1775

− George Washington commands America’s Continental Army.

• Battle of Bunker Hill- psychological victory

− Royal Navy evacuates British forces to Halifax in 1776.

• American Invasion of Canada - 1775− Ethan Allen takes Fort Ticonderoga on Lake

Champlain.− Siege of Quebec fails.

• General Benedict Arnold retreats to Lake Champlain - 1776.

• Small fleet of shallow-draft vessels built to stop British counter-attack.

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

Jan. 1776

• “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine Patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he who stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

• “Tyranny like hell, is not easily conquered; yet, … the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph … it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated …”

Course of War

• 1776 Turning Points− Winter retreat- “Times that try men’s souls”

Thomas Paine− (Dec.) Trenton: Washington Crosses the Delaware

• Battle at Trenton and Princeton—important because it was a psychological victory—akin to the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo –

• Washington assumed the Fabian strategy – it is not about victories, just don’t lose the war – keep the army together and in tact—fight and retreat;

• Secure a foreign alliance—preferably the French;

V. Course of War• Is the Declaration Lockean?• Locke’s Second Treatise on

Government− Addresses question of

legitimacy• When in the course of human

events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation…”

• “We hold these truths to be self evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…”

July 4, 1776

V. Course of War

• “that, to secure these rights…”

• “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

• “it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it…”

• Document identifies:• 1st : the violation of natural

rights• 2nd Lists the violations of British

law, rights and traditions

• Is the Declaration Lockean?

• Side Note: John Hancock

Professor Guezlo

July 4, 1776

V. Course of War

• 1776 Turning Points− Winter retreat- “Times that try men’s souls”

Thomas Paine− (Dec.) Trenton: Washington Crosses the Delaware

• 1777 Turning Points− (Oct.) Battle of Saratoga

− Turning point leading to French alliance- Lafayette

Battle of Saratoga

• Americans defeat and capture General “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne in upstate New York.− How?

• Turning point of the war.− Why? French enter the war as America’s ally.

• French Navy: 80 ships of the line.− Small American rebellion becomes a major world war.

• Great Britain faces multiple enemies:− 1775 American Colonies− 1778 France and Spain− 1780 Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, Austria, and

Portugal form an Armed Neutrality.

• Why did the British continue their failed strategy in America—afraid of a Domino Effect in the West Indies, Spain, and then India etc …Pacific

V. Course of War

• 1776 Turning Points− Winter retreat- “Times that try men’s souls”

Thomas Paine− (Dec.) Trenton: Washington Crosses the Delaware

• 1777 Turning Points− (Oct.) Battle of Saratoga

− Turning point leading to French alliance- Lafayette

− Valley Forge• Winter 1777-78• Outbreak

• 1781 Yorktown− Gen. Cornwallis surrenders cut off from retreat

YORKTOWN

• Initially poor cooperation between Continental Army and French Navy.− General Washington - need a combined operation for victory.

• 1781 Lord Cornwallis leads British Army to Yorktown.− Washington marches south with Continental and French troops.

• French West Indies fleet sails north under de Grasse.− British fleet under Graves: Reinforce or evacuate Cornwallis.

• de Grasse anchors inside the Chesapeake then sorties and defeats British fleet.− Hood rigidly adheres to Permanent Fighting Instructions.

• Lord Cornwallis forced to surrender forces at Yorktown.

VI. Outcome of the War• Peace Treaty signed in Paris (1783)• Provisions:

− Recognized American Independence− Western border at Mississippi

• Legacy:− Debate: ConservativeOr radical revolution?

• Achievements: English Philosopher Alfred Lord Whitehead compared the legacy of the American Revolutionaries to the rule of Caesar Augustus in Rome.

• Everyone was aware of how important this event truly was – maybe the British more than the Americans – Certainly the Americans understood the moment.

• Achievements:

• 1) First successful war for colonial independence;

• 2) First enduring large-scale Republic;

• 3) First nation designed on a “Liberal Recipe” in terms of political and economic character.

• This new Nation combined in latent form two seminal and seemingly contradictory ideas—

• Democracy and Capitalism, along with a radical concept of Popular Sovereignty ---

• Common Ordinary People could Govern themselves, Tax themselves, Secure their own blessings of Liberty w/o a King or Monarchy

• Divinity lay with the People, not a title or family lineage.

• The American Revolution, in and of itself was very different from previous revolutions and many that followed—

• There were no Guillotines, or major bloodletting—simply it did not devour its own.

• It was a collective achievement that eschewed a monarchy or divine figurehead—instead opting for a seminally democratic system of checks and balances—that derived its authority from the consent of the governed.

• The revolutionaries, rather than choosing to kill one another chose to argue with one another—

• Yes, historians do point out the failures of the Revolution—ie it did not end patriarchy (deferring to one’s betters), nor racism, nor did it bring about absolute equality –

• However, it did give us a vehicle, a political mechanism that would eventually lead to these things—’Founding Fathers’ were also a product of their time, as we are a product of our time.

Evaluate the relative importance of the causes that impelled the

colonists to rebel?

• Parliamentary Taxation• Violation of civil liberties• British military measures• Colonial legacy of religious and political ideas

Be able to describe the course and outcome of the War

• The key battles• political ideology justifying the revolution• The short and long term results of the

Revolution