American Revolution
“The shot heard round
the world.”
F/I War 1750
Claims in the New World
Manufactured Goods
•Furniture
•Clothing
•Colonials had
not factories.
From
England to
Colonies
Trade
Mercantilism
And
Triangle
Trade
Enumerated Goods
•Lumber
•Tobacco
•Rice
•Indigo
•Furs
To England
from Colonies
Created to benefit England
restricted Colonial trade = but
Colonists smuggle
French and Indian War
1754 - 1763
Let’s take a quiz!
1. What two groups
fought against
what other two
groups in this war?
2. What was it called
in Europe?
3. In what area of
North America did
it primarily occur?
4. Who won?
5. Why did this cause
a change in policy
towards the
colonies?

Northwest Territory
What act mandated the colonists were
not to move west of the mountains?
Indian Attacks force
British to build forts to
protect settlers moving
westward
Northwest Territory
Proclamation of 1763
British land policy to
temporarily keep the
colonists out of Indian
land until treaties
could be negotiated
with the tribes.
•Colonial pioneers such as Daniel Boone, defied the Proclamation of 1763 and
crossed the Appalachians and settled areas in what would become Kentucky.
•The belief that the land westward was sacred land, fought and died for and that it
was their birthright….It belonged to them.
•The “American Dream” could be found out west led many colonists to defy the
Proclamation of 1763 and cross the Appalachians.
England’s Problems / Solutions

England’s problems after
war


Debt
Indian conflicts-----Pontiac’s Rebellion

Pass a series of tax laws and
have the Colonists help pay
back the debt.

Pass a law restricting Colonists
from moving westward into and
settling the Northwest Territory.

Keep British troops in North
America to stop Indian attacks
and protect the Colonies.

Stop the smuggling of Colonials
by enforcing the Navigation
Acts with a series of
unrestricted search warrants.
General causes of the Revolution




Mercantilism / Taxation
Quartering British Troops
Imbued with spirit of selfindependence of frontier
life
Impact of the French and
Indian War
King George III
(1738-1820
•King of England.
•Instrumental in ending the
French and Indian War in 1763.
•Strong supporter of taxing the
colonies to pay for the debt.
•He opposed any compromise
with the colonial government in
America.
“Once vigorous measures appear
to be the only means left of
bringing the Americans to a due
submission to the mother country,
the colonies will submit.”
•After losing the colonies, he
withdrew his efforts at personal
government and went insane.
Absolute power corrupts, absolutely
If a politician wants to have power
he needs votes of the people that
elect him.
He has to live among those people
so he will not use his power to
destroy them,
Or, the people may in turn vote him
out of power or worse destroy him.
Man’s nature is greedy.
Therefore, he
cannot be trusted with unchecked
power.
Absolute power
corrupts, absolutely.
Great Britain vs. the Colonies
Virtual Representation




The 13 Colonies were
represented under the
principle of “virtual”
representation.
It did not matter if the
Colonists did not elect
members from each colony to
represent them in the British
Parliament.
Not all citizens in Britain were
represented either.
The British Parliament
pledged to represent every
person in Britain and the
empire
Actual Representation





Americans resented “virtual”
representation.
Colonists governed
themselves since the early
settlers.
They had direct
representation by electing
colonial assembly members
to represent their interests.
Colonists were not opposed
to paying taxes because the
Colonies taxed their citizens.
If the British Parliament was
to tax them, they should be
able to elect a representative
from their colony to represent
their interests in Parliament.
George Grenville’s
Program, 1763-1765
Writs of Assistance – 1761
-unrestricted British search warrants to stop Colonial
smuggling…… Continued to smuggle
Proclamation Line – 1763
-Colonists were not allowed into the Northwest Territory Colonists defied order— American Dream
Sugar Act – 1764
Currency Act – 1764
Quartering Act – 1765
Colonists were to house
and feed British soldiers. Colonial resentment-why are
soldiers here?
Stamp Act - 1765
Townshend Duties
Crisis: 1767-1770


Shift from paying taxes for Br. war
debts & quartering of troops 
paying col. govt. salaries.
He diverted revenue collection from
internal to external trade.
Townshend Acts, 1767---Another series of
revenue measures which taxed items
imported into the colonies, including paper,
lead, tea, and paint.
Colonial outrage and boycotts

Increase custom officials at
American ports  established a
Board of Customs in Boston.
Was it reasonable for
England to pass laws such
as these to control
Colonial trade?
It was difficult for Great
Britain to enforce these
laws because of the
distance.
Colonists broke the law
and smuggled and traded
with other countries.
The Power to Tax is
the Power to Destroy

If you have the power to tax,
you have the power to take all
their wealth from them.

If there is no check upon the
people who posses the “power
to tax” then they have the
power to destroy.

Colonists wanted an “actual”
representative elected from
them to address their concerns
to Parliament.
Tax on legal documents, playing cards, newspapers
•A direct tax which went to the
British government.
•Paid for debt and British troops
in the Colonies.
•Colonists hated the Stamp Tax =
“taxation without
representation”
•British tax collectors were
tarred and feathered…..
•Stamp Act protests led by the
Sons of Liberty…..
Tea Act - East India Company

--The Tea Act gave the
East India Company a
monopoly on the
trade in tea.

Made it illegal for the
colonies to buy nonBritish tea and forced
the colonies to pay the
tea tax of 3
cents/pound.
Stamp Act Protests: 1765 to 1766
•Between 1765 to 1766, the Sons
of Liberty led over 40 protests up
and down the colonial coastline.
•Most of the protests are
located in the Middle Colonies up
through the New England
Colonies.
•Successful in forcing the British
Parliament to repeal the Stamp
Act.
Declaratory Act, 1766
declared Parliament had the power
to tax the colonies both internally
and externally, and had absolute
power over the colonial legislatures.
American Revolution
"What a glorious
morning for
America!"
Samuel Adams,
When the first
shots were fired at
Concord and
Lexington, 1776
in Thought
1607-1763
They define a republic
to be a government of
laws, and not of men.
John Adams,
Nocangul No. 7, 1775
•Early settlers disliked England
•America’s isolation and distance
•Weakened England’s authority
•Produced rugged and independent
people
•Allowed Colonies to govern themselves
(made their own laws and taxes)
•Produced a new civilization and culture
“American
These are the times that try men’s souls.




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
his country: but he that stands it
NOW deserves the love and
thanks
of man and woman.
Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily
conquered. Yet we have this
consolation with us, that the
harder the conflict, the more
glorious the triumph.”

- Thomas Paine
Paul Revere
•Sons of Liberty was a secret society
formed in protest of British rule.
•9 original members which included the
leaders Samuel Adams and Paul Revere
Samuel Adams
I only regret that I have
but one life to lose for my
country.
Nathan Hale, before being
hanged by the British,
September 22, 1776
“If our trade be taxed, why not
our lands, or produce, in short,
everything we possess? They
tax us without having legal
representation.”
Samuel Adams
“If this be treason, make the most of it.”
Patrick Henry

"The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, New Englanders are no
more. I AM NOT A VIRGINIAN, BUT AN AMERICAN!"

"I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."

"They tell us Sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when
shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally
disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength
by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely
on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us
hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of
nature has placed in our power."

"Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which
we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Beside, sir, we
shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of Nations,
and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us."

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Convention, 1775

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it,
Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me
death!
Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Convention, 1775
Abigail Adams


The son of a farmer, John
Adams’s last public
statement, “Independence
Forever,” summarizes his
immense contributions to
the founding of the United
States of America.
Called the Atlas of
Independence, Adams was
a force that led us toward
the Declaration of
Independence in 1776.
Revolution in Action
1763 to 1789
Different Styles of Warfare
American Strategy
 Partisan Warfare
 Local militias
 Tactics

“Strategy of Attrition”



British long lines of
communication
British Continental issues
British popular support vs
length war
American Strategy

Background
Population 1/3 rebel,
 1/3 loyalist, and
 1/3 indifferent
Initially simple defensive
plan




Oppose the Brits at
every point and hold the
Hudson
Eventual Tactics adopted
by Washington

Avoid open battle;
survival of Army was
key
Boycotts: Colonists refused to
trade or buy British goods until
Stamp Act was repealed.
Protests: Led by the Sons of
Liberty up and down the
colonies from 1765 to 1766.
Committees of
Correspondence: Colonies
kept in contact with one another
and described British actions
through letters exchanged by
carriers on horseback.
"The battle, Sir, is not to the
strong alone; it is to the
vigilant, the active, the brave.
Besides, Sir, we have no
election. If we were base
enough to desire it, it is now
too late to retire from the
contest.
There is no retreat but in
submission and slavery! Our
chains are forged! Their
clanking may be heard on the
plains of Boston!
The war is inevitable; and let it
come! I repeat, Sir, let it come!“
-- Patrick Henry
Costs of Colonial Resistance
Colonial Response to the Townshend Duties
With a good deal of surprise I have observed that little notice
has been taken of an act of Parliament, as injurious in its
principle to the liberties of these colonies as the Stamp Act
was: I mean the act for suspending the legislation of New York.
John
Dickinson 
1768
* Letters
from a
Farmer in
Pennsylvania.
The assembly of that government complied with a former act of
Parliament, requiring certain provisions to be made for the
troops in America, in every particular, I think, except the articles
of salt, pepper, and vinegar. In my opinion they acted
imprudently, considering all circumstances, in not complying so
far as would have given satisfaction as several colonies did.
But my dislike of their conduct in that instance has not blinded
me so much that I cannot plainly perceive that they have been
punished in a manner pernicious to American freedom and
justly alarming to all the colonies.
Soldiers Arrive in Boston to maintain order and enforce taxes.
The
people of Boston
resented the British
soldiers and considered
them a foreign presence.
1770
“First to die, first to defy”


In 1770, Crispus
Attucks, a black man,
became the first
casualty of the
American Revolution
when he was shot and
killed in what became
known as the Boston
Massacre.
Although Attucks was
credited as the leader
and instigator of the
event, debate raged for
over as century as to
whether he was a hero
and a patriot, or a
rabble-rousing villain.
Bad Feelings Left Over from a Previous
Fight?




Attucks' was a seaman.
He felt the ever-present
danger of impressments
into the British navy.
He had to compete for
work with British troops,
who often took part-time
jobs during their off-duty
hours and worked for
lower wages.
A fight between Boston
ropemakers and three
British soldiers on Friday,
March 2, 1770 set the
stage for a later
confrontation.
Tensions Escalate

That following Monday
night, tensions escalated
when a soldier entered a
pub to look for work, and
instead found a group of
angry seamen that included
Attucks.
Taunting the guards with snowballs

That evening a group of
about thirty, described by
John Adams as "a motley
rabble of saucy boys,
negroes and molattoes, Irish
teagues and outlandish jack
tarrs," began taunting the
guard at the custom house
with snowballs, sticks and
insults.

Seven other redcoats came
to the lone soldier's rescue,
and Attucks was one of five
men killed when they opened
fire.
Called the
Boston Massacre





Patriots, pamphleteers and
propagandists dubbed the event
the "Boston Massacre."
Its victims became instant martyrs
and symbols of liberty.
Despite laws and customs
regulating the burial of blacks,
Attucks was buried in the
cemetery along with the other
honored dead.
In the murder trial of the soldiers
who fired the fatal shots, John
Adams, serving as a lawyer for the
crown, reviled the "mad behavior"
of Attucks, "whose very looks was
enough to terrify any person."
The relationship between the
Colonies and England would
never improve
Boston Tea Party
Tea Act, East India Company
•Made it illegal for the colonies to buy non-British tea
and forced the colonies to pay the tea tax of 3
cents/pound.
•The Colonists had to buy tea from the East India Tea
Company----gave them a monopoly
•Colonists claimed it was “taxation without
representation”
•Sons of Liberty protested against the Tea Act in Dec. 1773
by dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor
What was the British
Response?
The Intolerable Act
closed the port of
Boston from
Colonial trade and
placed
Massachusetts
under martial law.
Exports & Imports: 1768-1783
First Continental Congress
•Colonies send their
representatives to
Philadelphia to form a
Congress in response to
the Intolerable Acts in
1774
•Main goal was to try
and negotiate with King
George and Parliament
•Moderates argue with Radicals whether or not to go to war.
•Representatives send a document “Declaration of Rights and
Grievances” in 1774 to King George and Parliament
•In the meantime, Congress ordered militias to prepare for war.
•Colonial leaders met in Philadelphia,
PA to discuss their options in
response to the Intolerable Acts.
•The decision was to negotiate with
King George III and send him a
declaration of their willingness to
remain British.
•BUT, they have grievances
(problems) which they want the King
and Parliament to address.
•AND, they instructed the local
militias in each town to begin
preparing for war with the
MINUTEMEN!
Changes in British Troop Deployment
1770
British Deployment
on the Eve of the Revolution
•After the Boston
Tea Party the British
send more troops to
enforce the
Intolerable Acts.
•Colonial militias
prepare for war.
“Shot Heard Round the World”
•British Captain Pitcarin
orders Minutemen off the
green.
•Response by the
Minutemen, “this is our
green”
•Controversy over who
fired the first shot
•8 Americans killed
•British didn’t find any
weapons and continued to
Concord
Effects of the War on Britain?



1. It increased her
colonial empire in the
Americas.
2. It greatly enlarged
England’s debt.
3. Britain’s contempt
for the colonials created
bitter feelings.
Therefore, England felt that
a major reorganization of
her American Empire was
necessary!
Effects of the War on the
American Colonials



1. It united them
against a common
enemy for the first time.
2. It created a
socializing experience
for all the colonials who
participated
3. It created bitter
feelings towards the
British that would only
intensify.
King George declares colonies “in rebellion”
•Sends troops called Hessians. Who
were they?
•2nd Continental Congress---May 10,
1775
•Organized the first Continental
Army
•Appointed George Washington as
General
Why were they willing to fight for
King George?
“Beards on their upper lips?”
“The British are coming!”



April 14, 1775 - Massachusetts
Governor Gage is secretly
ordered by the British to
suppress "open rebellion"
among colonists by using all
necessary force.
April 18, 1775 - General Gage
orders 700 British soldiers to
Concord to destroy the colonists'
weapons depot.
That night, Paul Revere and
William Dawes are sent from
Boston to warn colonists.
Revere reaches Lexington about
midnight and warns Sam Adams
and John Hancock who are
hiding out there.
Second Continental Congress
•Came together again
after the battles of
Lexington and Concord,
May 10, 1775.
•Organized first American army called the Continental
Army and appointed George Washington as our
Commanding General.
•Willing to stay part of the empire but King must
“redress our grievances”
•Congress prepares for war…….
Comparing Sides in the Revolutionary War
Commander-in-chief of Colonial Army?
George Washington
John Hancock
•2nd Continental Congress based their decision on the following:
•Political
George Washington was chosen
•Economic
based on his qualifications.
•Military
•Social
Washington’s Headaches
Only 1/3 of the colonists were
in favor of a war for
independence [the other third
were Loyalists, and the final
third were neutral].
State/colony loyalties.
Congress couldn’t tax to
raise money for the Continental
Army.
Poor training [until
the arrival of
Baron von Steuben.
Valley Forge



Washington set up camp at
Valley Forge, 20 miles to
the west of the British.
Washington and his troops
endured a winter of terrible
suffering, lacking decent
food, clothing, and shelter
Washington’s greatest
challenge at Valley Forge
was keeping the
Continental Army together
The Darkest Hour of the Revolution





Most of the men at Valley Forge lacked blankets,
shoes and shirts
Soldiers made moccasins out of scraps of cowhide.
Many men deserted, or left without permission, and
some officers resigned
Volunteers -including Washington’s wife, Martha,
made clothes for the troops and cared for the sick
In April, 1778 Washington told his troops of the
Patriots’ alliance with France, raising their spirits
greatly.


A week before Christmas '77 Washington's
army took up winter quarters at Valley Forge on
the west side of the Schuylkill. Although the
General's choice of location was sharply
criticized, the site he had selected was central
and easily defended. Then came a cruel race
with time to get huts erected before the
soldiers, barefoot and half naked, froze to
death. Hundreds of horses did in fact starve to
death, and for the army starvation was a mortal
danger. "No meat, no meat!" was the constant
wail. Improvements came about after
Nathanael Greene assumed the duties of
Quartermaster General on March 23rd.
Yet, despite the ever-present fear of mutiny, no
real dissaffection occurred. As Hessian Major
Baurmeister conceded, the army was kept from
disintegrating by the "spirit of liberty." Men and
officers accepted their tragic plight with a sense
of humor and extraordinary forbearance, but it
was an ordeal that no army could be expected
to undergo for long. Nathanael Greene wrote to
General Washington, "God grant we may never
be brought to such a wretched condition again."
- The Spirit of 'Seventy Six
Battle of Saratoga
The Americans
Guerilla tactics
[fight an insurgent
war  you don’t
have to win a battle,
just wear the British
down]
The British
1777, separate and
control New
England.
Break the colonies
in half by getting
between the North
and South.
Phase I: The Northern Campaign
[1775-1776]
Bunker Hill (June, 1775)
The British suffered over 40% casualties.
Phase II:
NY & PA
[1777-1778]
Washington Crossing the Delaware
Painted by Emanuel Leutze, 1851
Phase III: The Southern
Strategy [1780-1781]
British Strategy

Plan
Occupy territory to break up
union of patriots


Hold New York and Hudson Line







Isolate New England
Chesapeake Bay
Charleston and Santee River
Blockade the coast
Destroy any organized army
Suppress expected guerilla warfare
Economic Warfare
British Strategy

After Saratoga:


Look to safety of long ocean supply
line and protection of other overseas
possessions
More ground forces available for European
conflicts with both Spain and Holland


British forces had to occupy positions rather than
pursue rebels
Transferred main effort to South
American Forces

Von Steuben



Prussian officer under Frederick the
Great
Served as Washington’s IG
Responsible for standardization and
training




Loading the musket
Uniformity of equipment
Adjusted American tactics - Speed and
Marksmanship
Instilled discipline and respect in army


“Officially” joined
the war after
American success
at Saratoga
Anxious to regain
international
position lost in the
Seven Years’ War



Monetary Loans
American
privateers
French fleet
Impact of the
French
England’s Failure





Failed to act with
resolution and force
Inadequate forces
Coastline blockade
impossible
Uncertain about
OBJECTIVE
Lack of UNITY OF
COMMAND


Lord Germain directed
too much from England
Lack of coordination
among British local
commanders
John Burgoyne
Sir Henry Clinton
Thomas Gage
Gen Cornwallis
William Howe
“I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight!!

John Paul Jones takes the fight to the British
Isles


His plan was to raid English coast in order to force the
Brits to use their force to defend the homeland.
Succeeded in capturing many prizes and saying many
glorious things….
Britain’s “Southern Strategy”
Britain thought that
there were more
Loyalists in the South.
Count de
Rochambeau
Southern resources were
more valuable/worth
preserving.
The British win a
number of small
victories, but cannot
pacify the countryside
[similar to U. S. failures
in Vietnam!]
Admiral
De Grasse
Map-yorktown
Battle of Yorktown
1781
•British General
Charles Cornwallis
wanted to winter his
troops in the South
believing the war
would be won in the
Spring…..
•Yorktown was
chosen because it
provided easy access
to be reinforced and
re-supplied
•General Washington
learned of the British
decision to winter
Yorktown Strategy
•Strategy included the use
of the French navy, French
troops and American
troops.
•French navy under the
direction of Admiral de
Grasse, placed a blockade
around the Chesapeake
Bay.
•15,000 American and
French troops surrounded
8,000 British troops……
•General Cornwallis is
trapped and is forced to his
surrender his troops to
Washington
•Brings war to an end
Treaty of Paris, 1783
•Great Britain recognized the
independence of the United
States
•US acquired land from the Great
Lakes to Florida and Atlantic
coast to the Mississippi River.
•British were to remove troops
and forts from US Land.
•US was to pay Loyalists for
property.
USA
United States
after the
Revolutionary
War
British
Forts
Terms of the Treaty of Paris

Under the treaty, the
United States



Agreed the British
merchants could collect
debts owed by
Americans
Stated Congress would
“earnestly recommend”
to the states that property
taken from Loyalists be
returned to them.
Most of this property was
never returned.
Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris, continued
• Under the terms of the treaty, Great
Britain…
– recognized the United States as an independent
nation whose territory extended from the Atlantic
Ocean west to the Mississippi River and from
Canada in the north to Spanish USA
Florida in the
south.
– promised to withdraw their troops from the
American territory.
– gave Americans the right to fish in the waters off
the coast of Canada.