Ch. 8 PPT Notes
America Secedes From the Empire
Loyalists
Timeline
April,1775 - The Battle of Lexington and Concord
May, 1775 – 2nd Continental Congress
June, 1775 - The Battle of Bunker Hill
Jan., 1776 - Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
July, 1776 - Congress approves Declaration Of
Independence
Sept.-Oct., 1777 – Battle of Saratoga
March, 1781 – Articles of Confederation Adopted
Oct. 1781 – Battle of Yorktown
Sept., 1783 - Treaty of Paris is signed
Sept., 1787 – U.S. Constitution signed
June, 1788 – U.S. Constitution adopted
The First Shots Fired
• Lexington & Concord, MA-April 1775
– British given secret orders to capture/destroy military
supplies stored by the MA militia. Patriots knew and
moved most of the supplies.
– Patriots knew about the order and had moved the
supplies
– “Minute Men”: The American colonial militia - Highly
mobile and rapidly deployed.
– 70 redcoats killed (British Regulars)
Patriots (Whigs)
 Patriots: Colonists who supported the
Revolution – to become independent; AKA Whigs.
 Were generally young & not afraid to take risks
 Mostly in New England (Presbyterians and
Congregationalists).
 Able to recruit colonists for the cause
 Harassed the British and Loyalists
 Areas: Virginia, New England, and parts of
Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York
Loyalist
Strongholds
Close
to 20% of the
population stayed
loyal to the King of
England
Loyalists: Loyal to King George III
• Loyalists = Tories: generally conservative,
educated, wealthy, older generation, Anglican
clergy, King’s officers and other officials of the
crown
• About 20% of the population
-some served as spies
-persecuted, tar & feathered, hanged, imprisoned,
estates sold and forced to flee
Areas: New York City, Charleston, Quaker
Pennsylvania, New Jersey.
Native Americans
•Most tribes, such as the Iroquois, sided with the British
because they were fearful of American expansion into the
West.
Hessians
 King George III, (grandfather from Germany) hired
German mercenaries called Hessians from the
principality of Hesse.
Phase I: The Northern Campaign
[1775-1776]
Battles of Fort Ticonderoga and
Crown Point
May, 1775 - Ethan Allen + Benedict Arnold capture the
British
garrisons at Ft. Ticonderoga and Crown Point in New York
The 2nd Continental Congress May 10, 1775
•
•
•
•
All 13 colonies represented
Declaration of the Causes & Necessity of Taking Up Arms
Adopted measures to raise money and create an army/navy
July 1775: Olive Branch Petition – Profess loyalty to
England to avoid all out war.
– Pleaded for cease-fire and agreed to remain loyal to
King George III but was ignored by British.
•Drafted the Articles of Confederation
•Drafted the Declaration of Independence
•Chose G. Washington to lead the army
nd
2
Continental Congress Drafts
George Washington
• Chose Washington for Commander-inChief of the Continental Army
• Had lost more battles than he had won.
• Outstanding leadership skills and
strength of character
• People trusted him
Battle of Bunker
Hill: June 1775
• Fought near Boston, Mass.
• Colonists seized hill, actually was
Breed’s Hill
• Colonists ran out of gun powder
and forced to abandon.
• After this battle, King George III
closed the possibility of
reconciliation – proclaiming the
colonies in rebellion – Treason.
Thomas Paine
Proponent of a
Republic
Thomas Paine Preaches Common Sense
 Americans still (at this point) had loyalty to England.
 But, eventually they realized the need to gain
independence
 Radical path for the colonies to reject monarchy and
embrace an independent republic.
• The Common Sense pamphlet (Jan. 1776) called for a
republic: power to come from the people, not from a
monarch
• Authority should come from popular consent
“Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for
separation”
• On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress
accepted Richard Henry Lee’s proposed independence
from England in a document called Lee’s Resolution
Thomas Jefferson
• Drafted the Declaration of
Independence: adopted by
Congress July 4, 1776.
• Invoking the “Natural rights” of
human kind.
• He wrote “all men are created
equal,” even though he had slaves.
• A formal declaration for
independence.
Declaration of Independence (1776)
Now Pennsylvania State House Becomes
Independence Hall
Declaration of Independence Signers:
New
National Symbols
Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776
• Was based on philosophy of the Enlightenment
• 3 Major Parts:
1). Preamble - influenced by John Locke
2). List of 27 grievances against King: taxation without
consent, dispensing with trial by jury, maintaining a
standing army in peacetime, cutting off trade, hiring
mercenaries, inciting Indian hostilities, etc.
3). Formal declaration of independence
Result: Foreign aid could now be successfully solicited
Document inspired French Revolution and others
Colonist Advantages and Disadvantages
Colonists Advantages
• Knew the terrain
• Help from French, Spain,
Holland
• Didn’t have to conquer the
British, they just had to wear
them down
• Used hit-and-run tactics
• War was unpopular in Britain
• Hessian soldiers didn’t “buyin” – hundreds deserted
• Prussian drillmaster Baron von
Steuben helped train colonial
army
Colonists Disadvantages
 Britain had the world’s
largest navy
 British army well-trained
 Navy was well-supplied
($$$)
 Loyalists helped the
British
Exports & Imports: 1768-1783
Wholesale
Price
Index:
1770-1789
Battle of Long Island
 New York July 1776: British fleet of 500 ships with
35,000 men led by British General Howe. British won the
Battle of Long Island.
 George Washington only had 18,000 ill-trained troops. He
retreated across the Delaware River.
Battle of Trenton (New Jersey Campaign)
Dec. 1776: Washington re-crosses the Delaware River,
surprises and captures 1,000 Hessians at the Battle of Trenton.
Washington Crossing the Delaware
River just before the Battle of Trenton
Phase II:
NY & PA
[1777-1778]
The Battle of Saratoga
 British General Burgoyne attempts to capture the Hudson
River.
 British Burgoyne surrendered entire command at Saratoga
in Oct. 1777.
 This colonial win made it possible for France to provide
aid to the colonies.
The Battle was an Important Turning Point in the War:
 Benjamin Franklin goes to Paris to negotiate a treaty of
alliance with France, 1778
 French aid: guns, money, equipment, troops, and naval
strength
 1779: Aid from Spain and Holland
 America started to win
 Marquis de Lafayette: Helped the Patriots train
at Valley Forge
France Becomes Most Important
American Ally: (Why Become an Ally?)
• Revenge on British for Seven Year’s War
• Victory at Saratoga showed ability of the colonists
to beat the British
• Promised recognition of American independence
• Marquis de Lafayette also convinced the French
government to back the Patriots
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
 Washington’s men were tired, hungry, frostbitten
 Feb 1778, Baron Fredrick Von Steuben, Prussian
Drillmaster, shaped them into a professional
army
Colonial General Benedict Arnold became a
Traitor: schemed to sell out the key stronghold
of West Point, which commanded the Hudson
River, to the British for £6,300 and an officer’s
commission.
View of West Point, NY Before
1802 Unknown
Oil, c. 1785
American Commander John Paul Jones
• Father of the American Navy
• Battle of Bonhomme (Bonami) Richard vs. Serapis in the
North Sea
– Chief contribution: destroying British merchant
shipping
– Didn’t affect British navy
• American Privateers: privately owned ships authorized
by Congress to attack British ships – captured 100’s of
British merchant ships.
• Brought in gold and helped American morale
Frontier Campaigns
• Control west of Appalachian
Mountains
• Cherokees attacked in the south
• Iroquois led by Chief Joseph
Brandt raided western New York
Phase III: The Southern
Strategy [1780-1781]
General Nathanial
Greene, the “fighting
Quaker”, exhausted his
foe by “standing and
retreating” and
succeeded in clearing
GA and SC of most
British Troops.
Battle of Yorktown
British Fleet Blockaded by French
Fleet
Battle of Yorktown
– Last major battle of the war.
– French Admiral de Grasse - blockaded Chesapeake
Bay. British Ships unable to enter.
– Washington made a 300 mile march to Chesapeake
from NY.
– With Rochambeau’s French Army, Washington
attacked British Army by land and French Admiral de
Grasse attacked by sea.
– Oct. 1781: British General Charles Cornwallis
surrendered his force of 7,000 men
– War continued for 1 more year
John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, and John
Adams negotiated the agreement in Paris
Towards Peace
• Lord North’s political party
collapsed 1782
• New Whig ministry more
sympathetic to Americans
came into power
• U.S. & Britain sign
preliminary treaty in 1782
• Signed September 3rd
**Britain formally recognizes
U.S. independence!
Indian Land Cessions:
1768-1799
Disputed Territory Between Spain & U. S.:
1783-1796
North America After Treaty of Paris, 1783
Treaty of Paris of 1783
• Britain formally recognized independence of U.S.
• British to remove troops and lose territory.
• Americans must pay loyalists and British creditors
(but some states never did)
• Colonists gain more land: trans-Appalachian area –
included land up to the Mississippi River.
• American concessions: loyalists couldn’t be
prosecuted, loyalist property was restored.
• Spain got Florida
Surrender at Saratoga