The Revolutionary War
“Shots Heard Round the World”
• Lexington and Concord
– 1st Battles of American Revolution
– April 19, 1775
The Mecklenburg Declaration
• May 1775
• British thrown out of
Mecklenburg County, NC
• Colonial government
• First Declaration of
Independence?
The Halifax Resolves
• North Carolina
• April 12, 1776
• First colony to call for total independence
from Great Britain
Second Continental Congress
Dates and places of sessions
•
•
•
•
•
•
May 10, 1775 – December 12, 1776, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 20, 1776 – March 4, 1777, Baltimore, Maryland
March 5, 1777 – September 18, 1777, Philadelphia
September 27, 1777 (one day only), Lancaster, Pennsylvania
September 30, 1777 – June 27, 1778, York, Pennsylvania
July 2, 1778 – March 1, 1781, Philadelphia
-1st Job:
Appoint General of Continental Army
(George Washington)
-2nd Job: Decide how to end war
The Declaration of Independence
-June 7, 1776
- Independence proposed by Richard Henry Lee
of Virginia
-Committee organized to draft document (John
Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman,
Robert Livingstone, Thomas Jefferson)
-Jefferson chosen to write document
-July 4, 1776; Declaration of Independence
adopted by Second Continental Congress
(America is now independent of England)
July 4, 1776 – Declaration of
Independence (NC Signers)
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
Primary Source Analysis:
Declaration of Independence
1. What does the Declaration say is “necessary”?
2. What 3 truths are “self evident”?
3. What rights do people have when governments become
destructive?
4. What are the words that state how the government should be
organized?
5. Under what conditions should governments be changed?
6. Who was the “despot” that the colonists were complaining
about?
Important Battles
Of the Revolutionary War
Battle of Saratoga
• Goal: British wanted to cut New England off from the rest of the
colonies and take back Fort Ticonderoga
•Date and Location: October 1777, Albany, NY
•Causaulties:
–British: 6600 troops, 300 killed, 370 wounded, 5,900 captured.
–American: 6600 troops, 30 killed, 100 wounded, 0 captured.
– COLONIAL VICTORY
Significance: Greatly boosted morale and led to increased foreign
support for the Patriots. Benedict Arnold forced British to retreat.
Burgone surrendered and the Patriots captured his entire army.
*** Math Connection: Take a moment and figure out
what percentage of each side’s army was killed, then the
percentage of each that was wounded.
Valley Forge
• Arrive December 1777
• Winter encampment
• 2,500 soldiers die of exposure
• NOT a battle, but a turning point
• Surviving the 6 month winter at Valley Forge made the army stronger (what
doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!) and were ready to fight the British
Battle of Guilford Courthouse
• Date and Location: March 15, 1781,Greensboro, NC.
• Casualties:
– British: 1,900 troops, 93 killed, 413 wounded, and 26 missing.
– American: 4,400 troops, 79 killed, 185 wounded, and 1,046
missing.
– BRITISH VICTORY
Significance: Bittersweet victory for the British who lost so
many men that “Another such victory would destroy the British
army.”
*** Math Connection: Take a moment and figure out
what percentage of each side’s army was killed, then the
percentage of each that was wounded.
Battle of Yorktown
• During the siege at Yorktown, the Patriots made a daring
attack that captured part of the British fortifications.
• Date and Location: 1781, Yorktown, Virginia.
• Casualties:
– British: 8980 troops, 309 killed, 326 wounded, and 8007
captured.
– American: 20,600 troops, 72 killed, 180 wounded, and 0
captured.
– COLONIAL VICTORY AND LAST BATTLE OF THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Significance: Cornwallis surrendered. Ended the American Revolution.
*** Math Connection: Take a moment and figure out
what percentage of each side’s army was killed, then the
percentage of each that was wounded.
Treaty of Paris 1783
• American delegates (including John Adams and Ben Franklin)
began negotiations with the British. The delegates took
more than two years to come to an agreement, but in the
end, Britain recognized the independence of the United
States. The treaty set the nations new borders.
– Northern Border: Great Lakes
– Southern Border: 31 degrees north latitude
– Western Border: the Mississippi River
• The British also accepted American rights to
settle and trade west of the original thirteen
colonies.
The Articles of Confederation
November, 1777
GOVERNMENT
Congress – Each State had One
Powers of Congress
1. Make Laws
2. Declare War & Make Peace
3. Make Treaties & Alliances
4. Borrow Money
5. Maintain Army & Navy
6. Other Less Important Matters
Vote.
Problems with the AOC
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Congress weak – Limited Powers (most needed 9 of 13
states to agree)
No Executive Branch – Enforce Laws
No Judicial Branch – Settle State Disputes
No Power to Tax
No Money = No Military
No Amendments – Needed Approval of all 13 States
Thirteen Tax and Trade Systems
Strengths of the Articles of Confederation:
Settling Western Lands
• The Land Ordinance of 1785, stated that land
in the west was to be surveyed using a grid
system to establish 6 mile blocks
• The Northwest Ordinance assisted in the
orderly expansion of the United States, it
outlined a plan for applying for statehood to
western territories
– 5,000 free males who own 50 acres can start govt
– Population of 60,000 could become a state
Settling Western lands

The Northwest Ordinance
provides an orderly
settlement process in the
West
 It promised

no slavery
 education
 freedom of religion
 trial by jury
Northwest Territory

The Northwest
Territory was east of
the Mississippi River
and north of the Ohio
River. The states of
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, and
Wisconsin would be
formed from this area.
Reasons for Shay’s Rebellion
• Wealthy lawmakers invested in the war as
well, and try to get that money back by
collecting the farmers debts
• Farmers are required to pay debts in gold,
they have no money because they were not
paid during the war
Shays’s Rebellion
• Poor farmers are not represented
in the Mass legislature and cannot
pass debt relief laws
• The rebellion aimed to free debtors
from prisons and close courts
hearing cases against farmers
Shays’s Rebellion: Results
• The Massachussetts militia is called in
• Poor farmers in 1791 elect officials who
support their stance and will close courthouses
and demand financial help from the Congress
• Shays’s Rebellion prompted national leaders to
create a stonger central government
The Philadelphia Convention
• The Constitutional Convention (May-Sept.
1787)
– Purpose: Meeting to fix the Articles of
Confederation
– How Conducted: 12 States represented (55
delegates) Rhode Island refused
– Leader: George Washington elected
president of the convention
– Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James
Madison all present (no Jefferson, Adams)
James Madison
• After short debate,
delegates agree to
scrap the AOC
• “The Father of the
Constitution”
• Primary writer
Problems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Representation
Slavery
Executive Branch
Trade
Checks and Balances/Separation of
Powers: The three branches have roles that
check, or limit, the others so that no single
branch can dominate the government.
Constitutional Compromises
Representation
1. Virginia Plan – Representation based on
population
*Bicameral -- 2 house legislative branch
* “Big State Plan” – unfair to small states
2. New Jersey Plan – Equal representation
* Unicameral – 1 house legislative branch
* “Small State Plan” – unfair to large
population states
The Great Compromise
• The “Connecticut”
Compromise, written
by Roger Sherman of
Connecticut
• Structure: Bicameral
legislature (2 houses)
– One house based on
population (House of
Reps)
– One house based on
equal representation
(Senate)
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
• 1st 2 political parties
• Federalists – supported the new Constitution
– Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
– Write Essays under penname Publius (Federalist
Papers)
– Argue for the new constitution
• Anti-Federalists – wanted more protections for
individual rights (AKA Democrat-Republicans)
– Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee
– Write papers known as the Anti-Federalist Papers
– Argue for individual rights
What was missing?
Will not be
added until
1796
The Bill of Rights (1791) –
Washington’s Major
Accomplishment
• 1. RAPPS
– Freedom of Religion,
Assembly, Press,
Petition, Speech
• 2. Right to Bear Arms
• 3. No Quartering of
Soldiers
• 4. No illegal Search and
Seizure
• 5. No Double Jeopardy,
Self Incrimination,
Eminent Domain, etc…
• 6. Speedy Public Trial,
Lawyer
• 7. Trial by Jury
• 8. No Cruel/Unusual
Punishment or
Excessive Bail or Fines
• 9. Constitution is not a
limited document
• 10. Reserved Powers