The American Revolution

1
The American Revolution

• Chapter 2

2
The Decision for Independence

• Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson.
• Natural rights had been endowed to all persons
  by their Creator.
• No need to claim rights as Englishmen
• Blamed King George III
• Americans no longer considered themselves English
• Upheld the right of the people to overthrow
  oppressive rule.
• Based its argument primarily on the contract
  theory of government developed by John Locke
  power comes from the consent of the people.

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The Declaration of Independence

• The Continental Congress passed the resolution on
  July 2, 1776
• On July 4, 1776, each member of the Second
  Continental Congress signed the document.

4
Choosing Sides

• 1/3 American Loyalists (Tories)
• Often lived in urban and coastal areas.
• 1/3 Patriots (actively supported)
• 1/3 Did not care enough to fight
• Not just a war between the British and Americans
  truly a civil war.

5
Military Resources

• British (far more resources)
• Manpower
• Navy
• Professional armies and mercenaries
• Colonial
• Short supply lines
• Familiarity with area
• George Washington
• French
• Willing to sustain war

6
The Revolutionary War

• Congress struggled to provide the army with
  adequate supplies.
• Inability to control colonies, raise money, draft
  men, etc.
• Regulars versus the militia
• Washington designed a defensive strategy to
  compensate for weakness.
• The Americans lost most of the battles in the
  Revolutionary War.

7
Turning Points

• On Christmas night, 1776, Washington slipped
  across the Delaware River at Trenton (New Jersey)
  with 2,400 men and surprised the drunken
  Hessians, killing or capturing over a thousand.
• 6 American casualties.

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Turning Points

• Victory at Saratoga (October 1777)
• Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold capture John
  Burgoyne and 9,500 British
• Saratoga changed
• everything
• Franco-American
• Alliance

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Turning PointsAlliance with France

• In Paris, the French celebrated the Battle of
  Saratoga as a French victory.
• The French had already been sending military
  supplies to the colonists
• Most gunpowder in the first years of the war came
  from France.
• On February 6, 1778, France and America signed
  two treaties
• A Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Recognition of
  U.S.)
• A Treaty of Alliance

10
Turning Points

• The American Revolution became a global war.
• Britain was fighting wars with America, France,
  Spain, and Dutch
• Other theaters of war included India, the West
  Indies, and Florida.
• British realized the rest of the empire at stake

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The Struggle in the South

• English politicians generals believed that the
  war could be won in the South.
• Loyalists were numerous in the backcountry
• Planters could not afford to turn their guns away
  from their slaves
• Capture Savannah (1778) Charleston (1779)

12
The Struggle in the South

• Neighbors and even families fought and killed one
  another.
• Both sides burned farms, tortured prisoners, etc.
• White fears of rebellion
• African American quests for liberty (1/3 of
  population)
• Disagreement among British over freeing slaves
• Kings Mountain (1780)
• American victory over British
• Turning point of war in the South
• Followed by victory at Cowpens (January 1781)
• British became convinced that they could not put
  down the rebellion in the South.

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Turning Points

• Battle of Yorktown (Virginia)
• October 19, 1781
• Lord Charles Cornwallis surrounded by French
  fleet and surrenders to Washington
• Over 7,000 British and Hessians became prisoners
• Added to setbacks in other parts of the world,
  the British decided to end the war.

14
Peace of Paris (1783)

• An important factor in the conclusion of peace
  negotiations with Britain was the American
  decision to negotiate separately with the
  British.
• Terms
• U.S. political independence recognized
• Mississippi River recognized as western border of
  the United States
• Congress would not prevent the British merchants
  from collecting debts owed to them by Americans
• Florida was given to Spain

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Results of the American Revolution Social effects

• Spirit of equality weakened old habits of
  deference
• Example voting qualifications were lowered
• Higher education increased
• Example 14 colleges founded in 1780s and 90s to
  go with the 9 before Revolution

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Results of the American Revolution Social effects

• Complete freedom of religion
• Transition from the toleration of religious
  dissent to a complete freedom of religion in the
  separation of church and state
• Legislative representation for the backcountry
  was increased
• Weakened the major Indian tribes along the
  frontier / cleared the way for rapid settlement
  of the trans-Appalachian West

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Results of the American Revolution Slavery

• British army freed thousands of slaves others
  escaped
• 55,000 slaves fled to freedom during the
  Revolution
• Slaves who fought for the colonies were given
  their freedom
• Northern states began to outlaw slavery
• Only Georgia and South Carolina continued to
  import.

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Results of the American Revolution Political

• Most political experimentation between 1776 and
  1787 occurred at the state level with new state
  constitutions
• The Articles of Confederation were ratified by
  the states in 1781 before then the Continental
  Congress operated as an extralegal body
• Articles of Confederation (1781)
• Weak central government with little authority
• Congress was not intended as a legislature, nor
  as a sovereign entity unto itself, but as a
  collective substitute for the monarch a plural
  executive rather than a parliamentary body