Chapter 6
War and Revolution
Aim - How did the Americans win the War for
Independence?
Chapter 5 - Least we need to Know
Legacy of F&I War:
• British Soldiers
• Political Autonomy
• Taxes
• Ideology
I.
Toward Independence
A. The second Continental
Congress and Civil War
• Breed and Bunker Hill
– George Washington
• Olive Branch Petition
– Kings refusal – Proclamation for
suppressing rebellion
• Oh Canada!
I.
Toward Independence
B. Common Sense
• Most Loyal to
crown!
Independence
comes slowly
• Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense
I.
Toward Independence
C. Independence Declared
• Blame Placed –
• Establishes revolutionary
republicanism as defining American
On the Eve of the
Revolution ?
Britain
Advantages
Americans
II. Trials of War
A. North
•
•
•
•
Few thought colonials could win
P.M. North – Capture NYC
Gen Howe lands outside NYC
Continentals retreat to NJ and
Philadelphia – Congress flees!
• Winter 1776 – British halt campaign
II. Trials of War
B. Armies and Strategies
• Gen. Howe – Win surrender of foe,
not destroy them
• Washington – draw British away
from coast
• Colonials – Who?
II. Trials of War
B. Armies and Strategies
• 1/3 Loyalist, 1/3 Patriot, 1/3
Neutral
• State/colony loyalties.
• Congress couldn’t tax to raise
money for the Continental Army.
• Poor training until the arrival of
Baron von Steuben.
II. Trials of War
B. Armies and Strategies
The Americans
Attrition [the
Brits had a long
supply line].
Guerilla tactics
[fight an
insurgent war 
you don’t have
to win a battle,
just wear the
British down]
Make an
alliance with
one of Britain’s
enemies.
The British
Break the
colonies in half
by getting
between the
No. & the So.
Blockade the
ports to prevent
the flow of
goods and
supplies from an
ally.
“Divide and
Conquer”  use
the Loyalists.
II. Trials of War
C. Victory at Saratoga
• Major campaign 1777 – Isolate New
England
• Howe attacks Philadelphia
• Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga
• Assures success of alliance with
France
•
•
TURNING POINT
Trials of War
D. Social and Financial Perils
• Costs of War
• Funding the War
1.
2.
3.
Inflation
Crisis of Morale
1777-78, Valley Forge
III. Path to Victory
A. French Alliance
• Why the French?
• Treaty of Alliance, 1778
• War fatigue in England
– Offer from Crown
III. Path to Victory
B. War in the South
Britain thought that there were more
Loyalists in the South.
Southern resources were more
valuable/worth preserving.
Exploit racial divisions
The British win a number of small
victories, but cannot pacify the
countryside [similar to U. S. failures in
Vietnam!]
Good US General:
Nathanial Greene
III. Path to Victory
B. War in the South
• France focused on South…hmm
•
•
•
•
Tide Turns
Spanish
Dutch
French
• Yorktown, 1781
III. Toward Independence
D. Diplomatic Triumph
• Treaty of Paris, 1783
British
Americans
IV. Republicanism Defined and Challenged
A. Republican ideals under wartime pressure
• Slavery????
• Religion?
I.
Toward Independence
D
I.
Toward Independence
D
Question of the Day!
During the early to mid-1700s, the British
policy
of salutary neglect toward the American
colonies
contributed to
(1) a decline in colonial manufacturing
(2) the decline of slavery in the northern
colonies
(3) a decrease in French and Spanish
influence
in North America
(4) the development of independent colonial
trade practices
North America in 1763
Pontiac’s Rebellion
• Natives in the Ohio River Valley
were angered by the British
treatment (compared to the
French fur trappers)
• British suffer serious casualties
• Issuance of Proclamation of 1763.
George Grenville
1763 – mew Minister of Finance
• Realized that colonists
were not paying taxes.
• Sends tax collectors to
colonies armed with Writs
of Assistance – general
search warrant (free pass)
Mercantilism Before the F&I War
• Navigation Acts (1650&1673)
–Colonial trade had to be carried on
Colonial/English ships
–All goods in/out of colonies had to pass
through England
–“Enumerated” products (like tobacco)
could be sold to England only!
–Despite the lax enforcement, colonists
never liked the rules and
smuggling/defiance common.
Mercantilism After F&I War
• Colonies now looked at as a source of
revenue for the hurting English treasury
• Sugar Act (1764) – taxed imported sugar
and other luxuries, provided stricter
enforcement of the Navigation Acts,
caught smugglers to be tried in admiralty
courts with crown appointed judges (no
jury)
• Quartering Act (1765) – required colonists
to provide living quarters and food to
British soldiers
Mercantilism After F&I War
• Stamp Tax (1765) – Required revenue
stamps be placed on most printed
paper in the colonies (legal documents,
newspapers, pamphlets).
–**This is the first direct tax ever
placed on the colonists.**
–Affected influential members of
society – Journalists, lawyers,
businessmen, clergy
Response to Stamp Act (Tax)
• Colonists were furious • Stamp Act Congress - October 1765,
an inter-colonial effort to orchestrate
opposition to the British plan. Resolve
that only their elected officials had the
authority to impose taxes “no taxation
without representation”
• Stamp Act Riots - violence was used to
intimidate potential tax agents
Response to Stamp Act (Tax)
• Non-Importation Agreements Shopkeepers agreed among
themselves not to sell British goods
• Sons of Liberty – Secret
organization created to scare
(terrorize?) tax collectors from and
coerce colonists into compliance
with boycott (Sam Addams).
Repeal of Stamp Tax
• British repeal tax 1766 due to
chaos it created pressure
from British merchants losing
money
• Pass the Declaratory Act –
face saving measure
declaring Parliament has
right to tax and make law in
Townshend Acts - 1767
• Parliament passes new duty (tax)
on tea, glass and paper (not direct)
• Revenues used to pay crown
officials (as opposed to Colonial
Assemblies)
• Officials allowed to search homes
for smuggled goods without
warrant (writs of assistance)
• Suspend New York Assembly
Townshend Acts - 1767
• At first little protest
• Colonial leaders (Sam Addams,
James Otis etc.) stir up colonial
resentment through their writings
– Another boycott.
• Repealed in 1770 due too low
revenue and unpopularity
The Boston Massacre
• Troops housed inside Boston (to
protect tax collectors) were
incredibly unpopular
• 5 Colonists killed when
“redcoats” fire on unruly crowd
outside customs house
• Used by colonists as
propaganda to gather support
for independence
1770-1773 –(relative) Quiet
• Gaspee incident
• Formation of Committees
of Correspondence by
Sam Addams
Boston Tea Party
• British East
India
Company was
granted a
monopoly on
tea sold in
colonies -
Boston Tea Party
• Colonists boycott British
tea.
• December 16, 1773 a
group of colonists,
disguised as Mohawk
Indians board tea ships
and toss 342 chests into
Intolerable (coercive) Acts
• Britain responds to this “act of
violent injustice”
• Closed port of Boston until tea is
paid for
• British officials to be tried in
British courts
• British troops can be quartered in
any town or home
Intolerable (coercive) Acts
• Massachusetts charter
amended to reduce right
of self-government
• Quebec Act – Allowed
French Canada to stay
French speaking and
Catholic and to keep legal
system
1st Continental Congress
• Philadelphia, 1774
• Petitioned King to end
“Intolerable” acts
Lexington and Concord
• British redcoats sent to
Lexington and Concord (25
miles outside Boston) to secure
arms
• Fighting breaks out at Lexington
• Paul Revere’s Ride
• 250 British killed on way back to
Boston
2nd Continental Congress