America Secedes from the
Empire
American History
Chapter 8
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1
Overview
Following Lexington and Concord, 20,000
musket bearing “Minute Men” swarmed
around Boston
 There was still hope that the king and
parliament would see things as the
colonists saw them—several appeals were
rebuffed
 Plans made to raise money for army and
navy
 War was close

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Congress Drafts George
Washington

Most important move to draft George
Washington as the military leader
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Most experienced—but experience thin
Already in uniform
Forty three years old
Distinguished Virginia planter
Risen to rank (actually, grade) of Colonel
His largest command to date was 1,200 men
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Congress Drafts George
Washington
Washington was not a great military
genius—lost more battles than he won
(but he was outnumbered and
outgunned)
 Washington had many other attributes

◦ Outstanding powers of leadership
◦ Immense strength of character
◦ Patience, courage, self-discipline, and sense of
justice
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Congress Drafts George
Washington

Washington…
◦
◦
◦
◦
Great morale force
Great symbol and rally point
People instinctively trusted him
Sensed he was committed—ready to “go
down with the ship” if necessary
◦ Insisted serving without pay—but kept an
expense account—amounted to $100,000
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Congress Drafts George
Washington

Washington…
◦ Sternly reprimand steward for providing
enemy with supplies—steward under duress
◦ Washington preferred they burn his mansion
◦ Prudence had suggested a commander from
Virginia rather than from a northern colony—
Virginia was the most populist
◦ An aristocrat, already wealthy personally and
by marriage
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Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings
The war was fought for 14 months, April
1775-July 1776, before independence was
declared
 The tempo of the war gradually increased

◦ British garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown
Point in upper New York captured in May
1775
 Leaders were Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold
 Gunpowder and artillery secured
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Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings

June 1775, colonists seized Bunker Hill
(actually Breed’s Hill)
◦ Able to menace the redcoats in Boston
◦ British launched an ill-thought-out frontal
assault on the colonists
 Sharpshooting Americans, about 1500, mowed
down the advancing redcoats
 Gunpowder gave out—forced to abandon the hill
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Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings

As late as July 1775, the Continental
Congress adopted the “Olive Branch
Petition”
◦ Professed American loyalty to the crown
◦ Begged the king to prevent further hostilities
◦ After Bunker Hill, King George III refused
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Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings

King George III
◦ Formally declared colonies in rebellion August
1775
 Skirmishes were now treason, a hanging crime
 Hired thousands of German soldiers to help “seal
the fate” of the colonies
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Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings

King George hires Hessians
◦ Six German princes needed the money
◦ King George III needed the men
◦ Most of German forces came from the
German principality of Hesse—thus the
Americans called them Hessians
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Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings

Colonists were socked with news of the
German hirelings
◦ This is a “family” fight
◦ Why bring in the Germans
◦ Germans known for their butchery

Many Hessians were seduced by land
offers made by the colonists, deserted
their posts and became American citizens
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The Abortive Conquest of Canada

The rebels (colonists) attacked Canada
◦ Goal was to add 14th colony
◦ Rebels underestimated French loyalty to
Britain who had treated them well in the
Quebec Act of 1774
◦ Rebels defeated
◦ General leaders were Richard Montgomery
(killed) and Benedict Arnold (wounded)
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The Abortive Conquest of Canada
Most Americans continued to disclaim
desire for independence
 January, 1776, British set fire to Norfolk,
Virginia
 In March, the rebels forced the british
from Boston

◦ Evacuation Day is still celebrated in Boston
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Thomas Paine Preaches Common
Sense

Loyalty to Britain was deeply ingrained in
the colonists
◦ Felt like part of a trans-atlantic community—
Britain play a leading role
◦ Colonial unity was poor
◦ Open rebellion was dangerous—especially
against Britain
◦ Irish rebels were hanged, drawn, and
quartered
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Thomas Paine Preaches Common
Sense
Five months before declaring
independence, officers of Washington’s
mess were toasting, “God save the king”
before they would eventually toast “God
save the congress”
 Gradually, they were shocked into
accepting separation from the crown

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Thomas Paine Preaches Common
Sense

Thomas Paine writes the pamphlet
Common Sense
◦ Paine—once impoverished corset-makers
apprentice
◦ Pamphlet sold 120,000 copies in a few months
◦ “Shilly-shallying” of colonists was contrary to
“common sense”
◦ Nowhere in the universe did smaller bodies
control larger ones
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Thomas Paine Preaches Common
Sense

Thomas Paine…
◦ Why should tiny Britain control the vast
America
◦ The king in nothing more than “the Royal
Brute of Great Britain”
◦ Paine certainly considered a radical for his day
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Paine and the Idea of
“Republicanism”

Thomas Paine
◦
◦
◦
◦
Eloquent
Compelling
Doubly radical
Called for more than independence—he
called for creating a new kind of political
society: a republic
 Power flows from the people themselves, not from
a monarch
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Paine and the Idea of
“Republicanism”

Paine was not new with his “republican”
recommendation
◦ Since classical Greeks
◦ Republican thoughts survived within British
government
◦ British politicians critical of too much power
with the king wrote about republicanism
◦ American colonists were in agreement
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Paine and the Idea of
“Republicanism”

Paine’s radical prescription—reject the
monarchy and empire and embrace an
independent republic—fell on receptive
ears
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Paine and the idea of
“Republicanism”

New Englanders had
experienced a type
of republicanism in
townhall meetiings
Thomas Paine
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Paine and the Idea of
“Republicanism”
Americans saw virtue as necessary to any
form of republican government
 Power not with central “king” authority
 Republicanism means—among other
things--collective good of the many
matters more than the personal and
private rights of the individual

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Paine and the Idea of
“Republicanism”

Not all colonists agreed with the
“ultrademocratic” form of republicanism
Paine spoke to
◦ Many thought a natural aristocracy of talent
◦ Concern for end to the social order
◦ Concern for an end to stability
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Paine and the Idea of
“Republicanism”

The fear of conservative republicans
◦ Would “lower orders” of society have too
much power
◦ What will the laboring classes: poorer
farmers, tenants, and laboring classes, do with
more power
◦ Lower classes seem to embrace “runaway
republicanism” that amounted to radical
“leveling”
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Jefferson’s “Explanation” of
Independence

Members of Philadelphia Congress edged
toward break
◦ Richard Henry Lee, June 7, 1776
 “these united colonies…ought to be, free and
independent states”
 Motion was adopted July 2, 1776
 This was the formal “declaration” of independence
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Jefferson’s “Explanation” of
Independence
John Adams said July 2 should be forever
celebrated
 Something more was required

◦ To inspire the remaining colonists
◦ To invite international assistance
◦ To rally resistance from home
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Jefferson’s “Explanation” of
Independence

Congress appoints committee to draft
formal declaration of independence
◦ Thomas Jefferson chosen to draft it

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



Tall
Freckled
Sandy hair
Lawyer
Thirty three years old
Recognized as brilliant writer
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Jefferson’s “Explanation” of
Independence

Jefferson’s writing of the “independence’
was couched in lofty style—and it was
magnificent
◦ Invoked “natural rights” of humankind, not
just British rights
 Because king had flouted these rights, the colonists
were justified in cutting their connection
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Jefferson’s “Explanation” of
Independence

Jefferson proceeded to “detail” the
specific offenses against the colonists
◦
◦
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◦
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Imposing taxes without consent
Dispensing with trial by jury
Abolishing valued laws
Establishing a military dictatorship
Maintaining standing armies in peacetime
Cutting off trade
Burning towns
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Jefferson’s “Explanation” of
Independence
Jefferson was assigned the task, through
his writing, of being the “prosecuting
attorney”
 Sometimes called, “the world’s greatest
editorial”
 He owned many slaves

◦ His “all men are created equal” would haunt
him and his fellow citizens for generations
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Jefferson’s “Explanation” of
Independence

The “declaration” cleared the air for
action
◦ Aid could be sought from other countries
◦ Patriots of America were now clearly rebels
◦ Franklin remarked that patriots must hang
together or hang separately
◦ “We mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes,
and our sacred honor”
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Jefferson’s “Explanation” of
Independence

Lafayette hung a copy on the wall in his
home back in France
◦ Would use it during the French Revolution
that he played a major part
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Patriots and Loyalists

War for Independence was war within a
war
◦ “Loyalists” fought the “patriots”
◦ Rebels fought the redcoats
◦ Loyalists called “Tories”—from dominant
political faction in Britain
◦ Patriots called “Whigs”—after the opposition
factions in Britain
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Patriots and Loyalists

The American Revolution was a minority
movement
◦ Many colonists apathetic—”on the fence”
◦ The militiamen were able to effect more
“political education” with the people and won
many converts as the war went on
◦ “the Americans would be less dangerous if
they had a regular army”—one British officer
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Patriots and Loyalists

Loyalists were about 16%
◦ Split over separation from Britain
◦ Benjamin Franklin was a patriot, his son a
loyalist
◦ Loyalty normally seen as a virtue
◦ Had King George III won, the loyalists would
have been the patriots
◦ Many wealthy and older colonists
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Patriots and Loyalists
Young people make revolutions
 Patrick Henry—at the Virginia Assembly

◦ “I know not what course others may chose,
but as for me, give me liberty or give me
death”
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Patriots and Loyalists
Loyalists included the kings officers and
the Anglican Church
 Washington felt he was fighting in “the
enemy’s country” in some places

◦ His men were starving and local farmers were
selling food to the British
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The Loyalist Exodus
Before the Declaration of Independence,
loyalists would often be tarred and
feathered
 After the “Declaration”

◦
◦
◦
◦
Loyalists were roughly treated
Some loyalists hanged
Some loyalists put in jail
But…no wholesale bloodshed like in the
French and Russian revolutions
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The Loyalists Exodus

Loyalists were apt to flee to the British
side
◦ About 80,000 loyalists driven out
◦ Hundreds of thousands permitted to stay—
more mild in their politics
About 50,000—one time or another—
took up arms for the British
 Some loyalist served as spies
 Britain didn’t make full use of loyalists

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General Washington at Bay

In July 1776, the British fleet of 500 ships
and 35,000 troops appeared off New York
◦ Washington’s troops were routed when panic
set in
◦ Washington barely able to escape
◦ The British would chase them with buglers
giving fox-hunting calls
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General Washington at Bay

The British General Howe could have
pursued quickly and perhaps crushed
Washington’s army
◦ Not a good general
◦ Remembered Bunker Hill
◦ Didn’t like Winter fighting
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General Washington at Bay

December 26, 1776
◦ Washington crossed the Delaware River and
surprised the sleeping Hessians
 Capture 1000

Washington defeats a detachment of
British at Princeton
◦ Had left his campfires burning as a ruse
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Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

Trying to capture the Hudson River Valley
◦ Attempt to sever New England from the
other colonies
◦ Three armies moving to meet in the Hudson
Valley
◦ Generals Burgoyne and Howe led two of the
armies
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Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

General Benedict Arnold was retreating
from Canada
◦ General Burgoyne pursued Arnold but was
not able to defeat him until after a long
struggle
◦ The delay caused General Burgoyne to hold
up for the Winter in Canada
◦ Burgoyne made the mistake of starting at
Montreal instead of further south at Fort
Ticonderoga
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Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion
A “heavy” caravan of troops, baggage,
several women (many officers’ wives), etc.,
slowed the progress of General
Burgoyne’s advance
 General Howe should have been
advancing up the Hudson to join
Burgoyne at advancing south on lake
Champlain—instead, he attacked
Philadelphia

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Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

Howe wanted to force an engagement
with Washington’s army
◦ An attempt to destroy it
◦ Then leave the path for Burgoyne’s final
advance
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Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

Washington transferred his army to
Philadelphia
◦ Washington was defeated in two quick pitch
battles
 Brandywine Creek
 Germantown
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Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion
Howe “Wintered” in Philadelphia
 Burgoyne floundering in upper New York
 Washington settled in at Valley Forge

◦ Hilly site 20 miles north of Philadelphia
◦ Miserable Winter for his men
◦ Prussian drillmaster Baron von Steuben whips
the army into battle shape
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Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

Burgoyne gets bogged close to Albany
◦ Militiamen, sensing the kill, swarmed around
him
◦ Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga
 Surrenders to American General Horatio Gates,
October 17, 1777
 Saratoga ranks high among decisive battles in
American and world history
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Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

Significance of Saratoga
◦ Revived faltering colonial cause
◦ Made possible urgently needed aid from other
nations—like France
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Revolution in Diplomacy

France was eager to “even the score”
with Britain
◦ Without its American colonies, Britain would
not be front-rank power
◦ France might gain its former prestige
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Revolution in Diplomacy

Americans stood for revolution of
political ideas at home and internationally
◦ An end to colonialism and mercantilism
◦ Supported free trade and freedom of the seas
◦ Hoped to substitute the rule of law over
reliance of raw power to arbitrate affairs of
nations
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Revolution in Diplomacy

The new republics great seal proclaimed
◦ “A new order for the ages”
◦ Novus ordo seculorum
◦ To apply to international and domesticate
affairs
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Revolution in Diplomacy

Continental Congress drew up draft of
treaty—a model for the American
commissioner going to the French
court—lots of John Adams input
◦ No political connection…
◦ No military connection…
◦ Only commercial connection…
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Revolution in Diplomacy

The “model treaty” represented an
emerging school of thought
◦ Military conflict abandoned
◦ Commercial interests would guarantee peace
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Revolution in Diplomacy

Benjamin Franklin led the negotiations
with France for an alliance
◦ Wanted his appearance to herald in the
diplomatic revolution America wanted to
achieve
◦ Clothing and demeanor violated diplomatic
norms
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Revolution in Diplomacy

Violating diplomatic norms…
◦
◦
◦
◦
No ceremonial sword…only a walking stick
No ermined robes or fancy wigs
Shocked the court, but…
Ordinary Parisians adored him—devoid of
pretense and ornament
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Revolution in Diplomacy

British offered the Americans home rule
◦ This was all the Americans had earlier asked
for
◦ Franklin now played on the possibility of
Anglo-American reconciliation
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Revolution in Diplomacy

February 6, 1778, France offered the
Americans a treaty of alliance
◦ Not exactly in conformance to the Model
Treaty
◦ Against its better judgment, America
concluded its first entangling military alliance
and would soon regret it
◦ But, America was officially recognized as
independent and added military heft
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Revolution in Diplomacy

The agreement…
◦ Both allies agreed to wage war until America
had secured its freedom
◦ Both agreed to terms with the common
enemy

The America Revolution was hence a
world war
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The Colonial War Becomes a Wider
War
England and France came to blows in
1778
 Spain entered the war against Britain in
1779—so did Holland
 Combined Spanish and French fleets
outnumbered British

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The Colonial War Becomes a Wider
War

Other nations began to line up against
Britain—some more passive
◦ Catherine the Great of Russia demanded
more respect from Britain on the high seas
◦ Europe, North America, South America, the
Caribbean, and Asia—requiring Britain to
abide by the laws of the high seas
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The Colonial War Becomes a Wider
War

French help from 1778-1783
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

Guns
Money
Equipment
Half of regular armed forces
Most of naval strength
But independence was achieved when the
war went international—too big for
Britain to handle
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The Colonial War Becomes a wider
War

France’s powerful fleets influenced the
decisions made by Britain
◦ Had to move from Philadelphia to New York
◦ Once centralized in New York area,
Washington could exploit the situation
◦ Washington attacked at Monmouth
 Many Hessian deserted
 Washington remained in Monmouth hemming in
the British
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Blow and Counterblow
French army of 6,000 regular troops land
in Newport, Rhode Island
 General Benedict Arnold becomes a
traitor

◦ Plotted to sell out West Point—commanding
position on the Hudson river
◦ Arnold was dashing, brilliant, etc., he was also
ambitious, greedy, unscrupulous, and believed
his services were not fully appreciated
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Blow and Counterblow

British had a plan to “roll-up” the colonies
beginning in the South
◦ Georgia, South Carolina, etc.
◦ British captured 5,000 men and arms
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Blow and Counterblow

Fighting intensifies in the Carolinas
◦ Often, men on both sides were butchered in
cold blood after giving up—frustrations of
war
◦ General Nathanael Greene, the Fighting
Quaker”, distinguished himself through
strategy of delay
 He wore down the British troops under General
Cornwallis by “hit and run” tactics
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The Land Frontier and the Sea
Frontier

The Indians take sides
◦ 1777 was known as the “bloody war” on the
frontier
◦ Many Indian nations sided with the Americans,
including the Iroquois, others sided with the
British
◦ Joseph Brant sided with the British—he
thought the British would hold back the
expansion of the Americans on the frontier
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The Land Frontier and the Sea
Frontier

In the wilds of Illinois, the British were
vulnerable
◦ George Rogers Clark conceived a plan to
attack forts
◦ Clark floated down the Ohio and captured
several forts in succession
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The Land Frontier and the Sea
Frontier

America had small infant navy—not much
of a dent in the war machine of Britain
◦ Had some impact intercepting British supply
ships
◦ Most famous among commanding officers was
John Paul Jones—hard fighting young
Scotsman
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The Land Frontier and the Sea
Frontier
Privateers (legal pirates) were authorized
by congress to attack British ships
 The British navy also intercepted
hundreds of ships coming to America with
supplies

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The Land Frontier and the Sea
Frontier

Privateering had a positive for the
Americans
◦
◦
◦
◦
Brought in gold
Harassed the enemy
Raise morale
Cause insurance British insurance rates to
skyrocket
◦ Put pressure on parliament to end the war
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Yorktown and the Final Curtain

Americans see “dark” days
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
1780-1781
Runaway inflation
Hard to pay debts
Despair
Talk of mutiny
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Yorktown and the Final Curtain

General Cornwallis falls back to the
Chesapeake and into a trap
◦ Not well protected by the British navy
◦ French Admiral de Grasse, with powerful fleet
in West Indies, gets word to Washington he
can help with assault on Cornwallis at
Yorktown
◦ Washington seizes the opportunity—300 mile
forced march to the Chesapeake Bay
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Yorktown and the Final Curtain
With de Grasse cutting off retreat by sea,
and Washington surrounding Cornwallis
by land, Cornwallis surrendered entire
force of 7,000 troops on October 19,
1781
 Accompanying Washington was French
General Rochambeau’s army
 French supplied all the navy and half the
troops

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Yorktown and the Final Curtian

King George III still didn’t give up
◦ War continued for another year
◦ Still 54,000 British troops in North America

Washington was able to achieve his goals
during this period
◦ Keep the cause alive
◦ Keep the army in the field
◦ Keep the states together
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Yorktown and the Final Curtain

Baron von Steuben—Prussian general—
explains the difference between American
troops and others
◦ “The genius of this nation is not in the least
to be compared with that of the Prussians,
Austrians, or French. You say to your soldier,
‘Do this’ and he doeth it; but I am obliged to
say, ‘This is the reason why you ought to do
that,’ and then he does it.”
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Peace at Paris

King George’s “power base” was
crumbling
◦ Lord North’s ministry collapsed—Whig
ministry replaced Tories—and were friendlier
to Americans
◦ Brits tired of war and were economically
affected
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Peace at Paris

Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John
Jay sent to Paris to discuss treaty
◦ Told not to make separate peace, and
◦ To keep French informed at every step

Representatives didn’t like these
directions—they knew French had been
involved in writing them
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Peace at Paris
France’s wanted to keep Americans east
of the Allegheny Mountains
 France’s ally, Spain, wanted more
American land—land that Americans
were coveting
 John Jay was not willing to play France’s
game

◦ Jay, against instructions, appealed to Britain
and made peace arrangements
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Peace at Paris

By the Treaty of Paris of 1783, the Bits
recognized American independence
◦ Generous boundaries were granted
 West to the Mississippi
 North to the Great Lakes
 South to Florida
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Peace at Paris

America concessions
◦ Loyalists not to be persecuted
◦ Confiscated loyalist property restored
◦ No obstacles for collecting debts owed to
Britain
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A New Nation Legitimized

Why was Britain so generous?
◦ Seduce America away from France
◦ Whigs more generous
◦ Open trade channels for benefit of all

France approved of the treaty
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A New Nation Legitimized

America came out the real winner
◦
◦
◦
◦
Independence
Great territorial increase and birth
Heritage of freedom
Highly unusual blessing on a people
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