Cover Slide
The American
Pageant
Chapter 8
America Secedes from
the Empire,
1775-1783
The 2nd Continental Congress
► All
13 colonies present
► Delegates still not interested in
independence
► Took conservative position re: British rule
► Selected George Washington to head
Continental Army
► Olive Branch Petition (John Dickinson)
George
Washington
This fine portrait of George
Washington appears in multiple
versions depicting the victorious
general against different backgrounds,
including the battles of Princeton and
Yorktown. The painter, Charles Willson
Peale, served under Washington at
Princeton, and the French commander
at Yorktown, the Count de
Rochambeau, took an appropriate
version home with him in 1783.
Early Battles
►Ticonderoga
►Crown
Point
►Bunker
Hill
►Invasion
of Canada (1775)
 What was the outcome?
 Militarily? Political?
The Battle of Bunker Hill
A violent confrontation between
rifle-wielding colonial rebels and
British redcoats during the Battle of
Bunker Hill.
Independence??
►Most
Americans proud to be British
citizens
►Loyalty shifts in the mid 1700s
 Hiring of Hessians
 Burning of Falmouth & Norfolk
 Servile Insurrections Supported by Brits
►Impact:
persuaded many southern
elite to join New England in the war
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
► Instant
best-seller in the colonies
► Effective Propaganda
► Colonial policy was inconsistent
► Why should tiny England control huge
North America?
► Attacked Idea of Monarchies & Kings
► America on a “mission from God”
► Independence  French Financial &
Military Aid
► US should be a Republic
►
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezk0e1VL80o
Join or Die
When rotated, Franklin's snake imitated the North American coastline; he omitted Georgia, which was
newly founded and inhabited largely by convicts freed from British prisons.
Don't Tread on Me
The Gadsden flag, used initially by the U.S. Navy. By 1775 the lines indicating the divisions among the colonies
have disappeared. The snake has become the rattlesnake, a reptile unique to North America, and one with a highly
poisonous venom. "Don't Tread on Me" captured the revolutionaries' insistence that they fought only to defend
their liberties. Corbis / Bettmann
Images of a
Tea Party Rally
- 2009
The Declaration of Independence
 Written
by Jefferson; based
primarily on John Locke
 An effort to explain the
Revolution to the rest of the
world
 3 Parts: Preamble, List of 27
Grievances, Formal Declaration
 Based
on concepts of:
 Natural Rights
 Social Contract
 Popular Sovereignty
Patriots
&
Loyalists
for colonial rule
"whigs“
► Usually conservative:
educated & wealthy;
► American rebels who
fought both British
► fearful of “mob rule”
soldiers and loyalists ► Older / King's officers
► Most numerous in
► Anglican clergy /
New England
followers
► Constituted a
► Entrenched in NY, SC,
minority movement
PA, and NJ
► Least numerous in N.E.
► Ineffective gaining
allegiance of neutral
colonists
► Sometimes
called
► fought
Ch 9 & 10 Quiz
►Online
►In-class
Quiz Due by Tuesday Evening
Quiz on Wednesday Sept. 29th
Women in the Revolution
Many traveled with husband / soldiers
► Most did domestic chores
► Some actually fought in battle
► Margaret Corbin
► Mary Hayes aka “Molly Pitcher”
► Several women earned military pensions
as a result of their service
► Others ran family farms and businesses
► Abigail Adams – “Remember the Ladies!”
►
New Touch on the Times… By a Daughter of Liberty Living in Marblehead, 1779
New Touch on the Times… By a
Daughter of Liberty Living in
Marblehead, 1779
Americans on the home front as well as
in the front lines experienced crippling
wartime hardships. This illustration of a
female partisan holding a musket
accompanied a poem by Molly Gutridge,
whose theme was women's sacrifice and
suffering in a seaport economy upset by
war. (© Collection of the New York
Historical Society)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Articles of Confederation (1777)
► Set
up by 2nd Continental Congress
► organize a nation & an army; maintain order
► establish international recognition and
credit
► defend its territory from the British
► resolve internal quarrels and competition
► Did not go into effect until 1781
► 1st constitution in U.S. history
► Congress had power to: conduct war, handle
foreign relations & secure loans, borrow
money
► No power to regulate trade, conscript
troops, tax
Why the Colonists Won
► Effective
Guerilla Tactics
► British commanders unprepared / timid
► Outstanding Leadership
 Political / Diplomatic / Military
► French (& Dutch and Spanish)
Aid Key
► Luck!
► Historical
Inevitability
► Perseverance / Tenacity
► The costs & benefits of maintaining an
Empire
Costs of the War
►Over
25K Patriot Deaths
(most from Disease)
► Tremendous
US Foreign Debt
(Over $11 million)
► State
Debts totaling over $65 Million
► Massive Inflation
► Increased State Taxation
The Treaty of Paris, 1783
► Granted
US generous boundaries
► US gets share of Newfoundland fisheries
► Brits promised they would not take slaves
► Loyalists would not be persecuted
► U.S. states would pay British creditors for
debts long owed
►  partial cause of War of 1812
► America
alone gained from the war
► Britain lost colonies & other territories
► France got revenge but became bankrupt
► Spain gained little
North America after the Peace of Paris, 1783
The results of the American Revolution redrew the map of North America, confining Britain to Canada
and giving the United States most of the area east of the Mississippi River, though Spain controlled its
mouth for most of the next twenty years.
Ideas of
freedom &
equality
inspires
struggles
around the
world
Traditional
women’s roles are
challenged; Idea
of “Republican
Motherhood”
emerges
Britain
recognizes the US
as an
independent
nation
The American
Revolution
Indians are
pushed
further west
& face
increased
attacks
Ideas of
freedom &
natural rights
spread
CHANGE IN SOCIETY DUE TO
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Conservative Loyalists flee  Democratic Reforms
► Anti-slavery societies / abolition in the north
► Northwest Ordinance of 1787
► Slave trade abolished in 1808 under Constitution
► 1000s of slaves in the South became free blacks
► Yet, slavery remained strong in the South, especially
after 1793 (cotton gin)
► Stronger emphasis on equality / growth of patriotism
► Reduction of Property Qualifications for voting
► Abolition of ancient inheritance laws
► Growth of trade organizations
► Inspired US Patriotism
► Anglican / Congregational Churches disestablished
► Idea of “Republican Motherhood” took hold
►
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, author of the
Declaration of Independence and
future president of the United
States. Mather Brown, an
American artist living in England,
painted this picture of Jefferson
for John Adams while the two
men were in London on
diplomatic missions in 1786. A
companion portrait of Adams
that Jefferson ordered for
himself also survives. Brown’s
sensitive portrait of a thoughtful
Jefferson is the earliest known
likeness of him.
Ye Foil'd, Ye Baffled Britons
This print shows the capture of Major John Andre, the British agent who acted as
the go-between for British authorities and the American General Benedict Arnold,
who planned to turn over the American fortress at West Point to them. The three
militiamen who captured Andre, who was later hanged as a spy, reportedly
refused a bribe for his release. The strange facial expressions of all the
John Laurens
John Laurens who hoped to raise the
black troops in South Carolina as a
prelude to the general abolition of
slavery, was the only member of
George Washington's staff to be
killed in battle. This
commemorative portrait by Charles
Wilson Peale bears the Latin
inscription "sweet and proper it is to
die for one's country"
Bon Homme Richard
This engraving, published in
London 1779, shows an
apocryphal incident during the
battle in which John Paul
Jones' ship Bon Homme
Richard defeated the British
Serapis. During the fighting,
Jones supposedly shot an
American sailor who attempted
to lower the ship's flag as a
sign of surrender; actually
Jones only knocked him down
with a pistol. Legend (and the
artist) may have confused this
incident with an earlier onewhile Jones was still a
Scotsman- in which Jones did
kill a mutineer.
Yorktown 1781
American soldiers at Yorktown in 1781 as drawn by a young officer in the French
army, Jean-Baptiste-Antoine de Verger. The African American on the left is an
infantryman of the First Rhode Island Regiment; the next, a musketeer; the third,
with the fringed jacket, a rifleman. The man on the right is a Continental
artilleryman, holding a lighted match used to fire cannons.
George Washington, Appointed Commander
in Chief
On June 15th 1775, the Continental Congress elected George Washington
Commander in Chief of all forces raised for the defense of the Colonies.
Valley Forge, 1777
An illustration depicting General George Washington riding
into the snow covered encampment with ailing soldiers of the
Continental Army at Valley Forge in 1777.
Benjamin Franklin at the Court of France
Benjamin Franklin
conducted the
negotiations that
brought the French into
the American Revolution
against the British. Had
this not occurred, it is
doubtful that the
American colonists,
alone, could have held
out against the British.
George Washington's Revolutionary War Account
Book, pg 49
George Washington received no
salary, but did have his expenses
reimbursed, while Commander in
Chief of the Continental Army. This
image shows page 49 of his original
account book, submitted in 1783 to
the Continental Congress.
When Washington submitted his
expenses to Congress, he left the
door open to future claims: ''July 1,
1783: Amount of the Expenditures for
the Years 1777, 8 + 9, and 1780, 1 +
2, and to the pres't date[:] 160,074
[dollars] [;] 7070 [pounds sterling],
15 [shillings], 4 [pence]''
Hauling guns by ox teams from Fort
Ticonderoga for the siege of Boston
In the early stages of the Revolutionary War, capturing armament from the
British was as important as holding territory. Here, cannons captured at Fort
Ticonderoga are moved to the American lines surrounding Boston.
The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor, 1773
Copy of lithograph by Sarony & Major, 1846. Members of Boston's Sons
of Liberty, dressed as ''Indians'' to conceal their identity, dumped the
British East India Company's cargo of tea into Boston harbor in
December 1773, to protest taxes placed on tea and other ''necessities.''
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
This map shows the area around Boston, Massachusetts, where in April 1775
British and American forces fought the first military engagements of the
Early Fighting, 1775–
1776
As this map clearly reveals, even
the earliest fighting occurred in
widely scattered areas, thereby
complicating Britain’s efforts to
subdue the Americans.
The War in the
North,
1776–1777
Most of the fighting
between the British and
Americans during the
first part of the war
occurred in the North,
partly because British
authorities assumed that
the New England
colonies were the most
rebellious.
The War on the Frontier, 1778–1779
Significant battles in the Mississippi Valley and the frontiers of the
seaboard states added to the ferocity of the fighting and strengthened
some American claims to western lands.
The War in the South,
1778–1781
During the latter part of the
war, most of the major
engagements occurred in the
South. British forces won
most of the early ones but
could not control the
immense territory involved
and eventually surrendered
at Yorktown.
A View of the Town of Concord, 1775
A View of the Town of Concord, 1775
In 1775 an unknown artist painted the redcoats entering Concord. The fighting at
North Bridge, which occurred just a few hours after this triumphal entry, signaled the
start of open warfare between Britain and the colonies. (Courtesy of Concord
Museum, Concord, Massachusetts)
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Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation were
debated for almost as many years as they
were in effect. Proposed in 1775, they
were not ratified until 1781. Eight years
later, the Constitution replaced them.
Eighteenth-century citizens hotly
debated the virtues and shortcomings of
the Articles, and historians have
continued to disagree over the merits of
this blueprint for a first American
government. (The National Archives of
the United States published by Harry N.
Abrams, Inc. Photograph by Jonathan
Wallen.)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
Shortly after this incident, one Bostonian
observed that "unless there is some great
alteration in the state of things, the era of
the independence of the colonies is much
nearer than I once thought it, or now
wish it." (Library of Congress)
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Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party
In this 1775 drawing of the Boston Tea Party, bare-chested Americans, their hair
pulled back Indian-fashion, pour tea into the harbor. The British lion appears as the
figurehead of the tea ship, in case the true object of the protest was in doubt. The
artist also added a large crowd of colonists content to watch rather than do anything
to prevent this destruction of private property. (Library of Congress)
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Lafayette at Yorktown by Jean-Baptiste Le Paon,
1783
Lafayette at Yorktown by JeanBaptiste Le Paon, 1783
The brilliant young French general
appears here with his African-American
aide, a Virginia slave named James.
Among other services to Lafayette,
James spied on Cornwallis before the
latter's surrender. (Art Gallery, Williams
Center, Lafayette College )
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Mr. Rivington, pro-British editor, hanged in effigy
Mr. Rivington, pro-British editor, hanged in effigy
The Sons of Liberty, an organization that united elite and working class protesters, first
appeared in Boston but spread quickly to other American cities. In 1775 a pro-British editor in
New York, James Rivington, used this illustration while reporting that a New Brunswick mob
had hanged him in effigy. The New York Sons promptly made good on the threat to Rivington,
attacking his office, destroying his press, and forcing his paper to close. (Mr. Rivington:
Library of Congress)
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Pulling Down the Statue of George III by William Walcutt
Pulling Down the Statue of George III by William Walcutt
A statue of George III, standing in the Bowling Green in New York City, was one of
the first casualties of the American Revolution; colonists marked the adoption of the
Declaration of Independence by pulling it down. Much of the metal was melted to
make bullets, but in the twentieth century the head--largely intact--was unearthed in
Connecticut. (Lafayette College Art Collection, Easton, Pennsylvania)
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Stamp Act
protest
Stamp Act protest
A Boston crowd burns bundles of the
special watermarked paper intended for
use as stamps. (Library of Congress)
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The Alternative of Williamsburg by Philip Dawe, 1775
The Alternative of Williamsburg by
Philip Dawe, 1775
In this cartoon, drawn by Philip Dawe in
1775, armed patriots in Williamsburg,
Virginia, obtain a merchant's written
agreement not to import British goods.
The "alternative" is the containers of tar
and feathers hanging in the background.
(Library of Congress )
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The Edenton Ladies' Tea Party
The Edenton Ladies' Tea Party
In October 1774, fifty-one women
gathered at Edenton, North Carolina, and
declared it their "duty" to support the
boycotting of all British imports.
Nevertheless, the British man who drew
this cartoon chose to satirize the event as
an unruly "tea party." (Library of
Congress)
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A Rare View of a Black Woodcutter at Work in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, by William Booth, 1788
A Rare View of a Black Woodcutter at Work in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, by
William Booth, 1788
Black loyalists who settled in Nova Scotia faced serious racial discrimination and
open hostility from white refugees. This woodcutter may have been among the
African-American loyalists who chose to relocate to Sierra Leone in the 1790s.
(National Archives Canada, Ottawa, C-40162)
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Battle of Princeton by James Peale
Battle of Princeton by James Peale
At the Battle of Princeton in early 1777, American forces under George Washington
cemented the victory they had won a few days earlier at Trenton. This view was
painted in 1787 by James Peale, who fought in the battle. (Princeton University
Library)
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Eighteenth-century British military kettledrum, surrendered at Saratoga
Eighteenth-century British military kettledrum, surrendered at Saratoga
This kettledrum belonged to the band of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, a British
infantry unit that surrendered to the Americans at Saratoga. The drum was sent to
West Point, where it has remained ever since, a symbol of the new nation's first great
victory of the Revolution. (The West Point Museum Collection, U.S. Military
Academy, West Point, New York. Photo by Paul Warchal.)
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Eighteenth-century medicine chest
Eighteenth-century medicine chest
Measles, typhus, diphtheria, dysentery, and other diseases ravaged military encampments,
making medicine chests like the one shown here essential equipment for the army. Doctors
used crude remedies that often did more harm than good, for little was known about the causes
of such afflictions. Smallpox was one of the few epidemics that eighteenth-century doctors
could combat; inoculation was known to be an effective preventive measure as early as the
1720s. (The West Point Museum Collection, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.
Photo by Josh Nefsky.)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
George III by A. Ramsay, 1767
George III by A. Ramsay, 1767
Although unsure of himself and
emotionally little more than a boy upon
his accession to the English throne,
George III possessed a deep moral sense
and a fierce determination to rule as well
as to reign. (Indianapolis Musum of Art,
The James E. Roberts Fund)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
George Washington's copy of Common Sense
George Washington's copy of
Common Sense
That America's patriot leaders read
Thomas Paine's inflammatory Common
Sense soon after it was published in
early 1776 is indicated by this first
edition, owned by George Washington
himself. (Boston Athenaeum)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Joseph Brant by Charles Willson Peale, 1797
Joseph Brant by Charles Willson
Peale, 1797
Joseph Brant, the Iroquois leader who
helped to persuade the Mohawks,
Senecas, and Cayugas to support the
British in the latter stages of the
Revolution, as painted by Charles
Willson Peale in 1797. (Independence
National Historic Park Collection)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Surrender of the British at Yorktown
Surrender of the British at Yorktown
French naval power combined with American military savvy to produce the decisive
defeat of the British. (Library of Congress)
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Tarleton's Cavalrymen After the Battle of Cowpens 1781, by William Ranney
Tarleton's Cavalrymen After the Battle of Cowpens 1781, by William Ranney
In this painting patriots stand their ground against cavalrymen led by Lieutenant
Banastre Tarleton in a 1781 skirmish near Cowpens. As the painting shows, black as
well as white Americans supported the revolutionary cause in the South. (Collection
of the State of South Carolina. Photo by Hunter Clarkson, Alt Lee, Inc.)
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The Flutist, Barzillai Lew, African American fifer and drummer
The Flutist, Barzillai Lew, African
American fifer and drummer
Barzillai Lew, a free African American
born in Groton, Massachusetts, in 1743,
served in the Seven Years War before
enlisting with patriot troops in the
American Revolution. An accomplished
fifer, Lew fought at the Battle of Bunker
Hill. Like other freemen in the north, he
cast his lot with the revolutionaries, in
contrast to southern bondspeople, who
tended to favor the British. (Courtesy of
Mae Theresa Bonitto)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine
Having arrived in the colonies less than
two years earlier, Paine became a bestselling author with the publication of
Common Sense in 1776. (Art Gallery,
Williams Center, Lafayette College )
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Washington and Lafayette at Winter Quarters
Washington and Lafayette at Winter Quarters
Washington and Lafayette at Winter Quarters shows the commander and his friend, the young
aristocrat from France, sharing a moment of conversation while soldiers huddle together around
a fire at Valley Forge. While British officers enjoyed the social life of Philadelphia, General
Washington, his officers, and his men suffered from inadequate food, supplies, firewood, and
shelter in their winter encampment, a situation due, in part, to the corruption and greed of
military suppliers and the incompetence of the quartermaster corps. (Stock Montage )
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Map: Campaign of 1777
Campaign of 1777
The crucial campaign of 1777 was fought on two fronts: along the upper Hudson and Mohawk River valleys, and in the
vicinity of Philadelphia. The rebels won in the north; the British triumphed--at least nominally--in the south. The capture of
Philadelphia, however, did the redcoats little good, and they abandoned the city the following year.
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Map: Cession of Tribal Lands, 1775-1790
Cession of Tribal Lands, 1775-1790
The land claims of the United States meant little as long as Indian nations still controlled vast territories within the new
country's formal boundaries. A series of treaties in the 1780s and 1790s opened some lands to white settlement.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Map: Indian Land Cessions, 1768-1799
Indian Land Cessions, 1768-1799
During the last third of the eighteenth century, Native Americans were forced to give up extensive homelands throughout the
eastern backcountry and farther west in the Ohio and Tennessee River valleys.
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Campaign
The Burgoyne Campaign
The defeat of General John Burgoyne and his army at Saratoga was a major turning point in the war. It led to the recognition
of American independence by France and later by Spain and to a military alliance with both these European powers. This
map shows American and British troop movement and the locations and dates of the Saratoga battles leading to the British
surrender.
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Map: The Second Southern Campaign, 1778-1781
The Second Southern Campaign, 1778-1781
This map of the second attempt by Britain to crush the rebellion in the South shows the many battles waged in the Lower
South before Cornwallis's encampment at Yorktown and his surrender there. This decisive southern campaign involved all
the military resources of the combatants, including British, loyalist, French, and American ground forces and British and
French naval fleets.
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Map: The War in the South
The War in the South
The southern war--after the British invasion of Georgia in late 1778--was characterized by a series of British thrusts into the
interior, leading to battles with American defenders in both North and South Carolina. Finally, after promising beginnings,
Cornwallis's foray into Virginia ended with disaster at Yorktown in October 1781.
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Map: The War in the West, 1776-1782
The War in the West, 1776-1782
Carolina militiamen drove attacking Cherokees far back into the Appalachians in 1776. George Roger Clark's victory at
Vincennes in 1779 gave the United States effective control of the Ohio valley. In retaliation for their raids on New York and
Pennsylvania, John Sullivan inflicted widespread starvation on the Iroquois by burning their villages and winter food
supplies in 1779.
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