Chapter 6:
The Revolutionary Republic
The Northern War, 1776-77
 The American success of 1775-76 did not last
 Fort Ticonderoga, May-July 1776
 British ships sailed up St. Lawrence River, forcing the Americans to
retreat to Lake Champlain, NY
 New York, September 1776
 British General William Howe and Admiral Richard Howe amassed
a huge garrison on Staten Island
 George Washington decided to split his force between Manhattan
and Long Island, digging in at Brooklyn
 By December, Washington had abandoned New York City, and
much of the surrounding area was also captured by the British
 Many felt the war was over as the Continental Army crossed the
Delaware River into Pennsylvania
 Thousands of troops either abandoned or did not reenlist
Trenton and Princeton
 Washington had to do something to turn the tide of the war
 Troops refusing to reenlist
 Troop morale very low
 Bold action by Washington on December 25, 1776 boosted
morale
 Surprised a Hessian garrison at Trenton
 Crossed the Delaware River by night, taking over 1000 prisoners
 Outwitted British General William Cornwallis on January 2, 1777
at Princeton
 Snuck away at night and moved north away from the British
garrison
 British troops marching from Princeton to Trenton were surprised
again, giving the Continentals two victories in a week


Boosted troop morale and slightly increased reenlistments
Loyalists began coming over to the American cause
Struggles and Successes of 1777
 Fort Ticonderoga was taken by the British in May 1777
 The Continental capitol of Philadelphia was taken by the British in
September
 Losses at Brandywine Creek and Germantown forced Washington to
seek help
 Baron von Steuben and Frederich Wilhelm, two Germans, Marquis de
Lafayette, a Frenchman, and other professional soldiers from Europe
came to his help


Instilled a training regimen to make the military more professional and
disciplined
Holed up at Valley Forge, near Philadelphia, for the winter of 1777-78
 However, the turning point of the war came in October 1777 at
Saratoga, NY, near Fort Ticonderoga
 British General Burgoyne was continuously hounded and cut off from
supplies, finally surrendering on October 17
 The American victory convinced the French to formally recognize the
United States, to which two treaties were signed in 1778
 Also brought Spain, informally, into the war
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War for Independence 1776-1777
Revolutionary Crisis
 Loyalists, or Tories, hampered colonial, or patriot,
progress
 Slaves often times backed the British
 Many slaves fled bondage during the war
 Thousands left the United States for other parts of the
British Empire afterward
 While neutral in the beginning, the Native American
tribes of the colonies sided with the British
 By 1779-1780, Army morale was so low, the Army was
nearing collapse
The British Southern Offensive
 In 1780, the British launched a very successful offensive to
take the Deep South
 Started with the taking of Savannah, GA
 Both Carolinas were also taken very quickly
 However, the colonists were able to hold their own
 General Nathanael Greene of the Continental Army ravaged
the British forces
 By 1781, only Savannah and Charleston, SC were held by the
British
 Greene retreated his forces into Virginia
 British General Cornwallis followed
 Set up the final battle at Yorktown, starting in August 1781
Yorktown
 While Greene lured Cornwallis to Virginia, the rest of the
Continental Army was preparing
 The French Navy defeated the British Navy off the coast of
Virginia, blocking escape by sea
 George Washington was marching reinforcements from New
York
 Cornwallis, needing supplies, marched his forces onto a
small peninsula at Yorktown
 Not aware of the defeat at sea or the Continental advances
 Surrounded and beseiged, Cornwallis surrendered his army
on October 19, 1781
 Yorktown brought down the British government in early
1782 and led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783
 Recognized American independence
 Mississippi River western boundary
 Gave America rights to fishing waters off of Newfoundland
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Yorktown Campaign, 1781
The New Nation
 Several changes took place after the end of the war
 Articles of Confederation
 National government, giving power to the states
 Very weak, eventually failed
 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, 1786
 Guaranteed freedom of religion, basis for Bill of Rights
 States, especially in the North, began to enact emancipation laws
 PA first in 1780
 South continued to use slave labor
 Atlantic slave trade outlawed in 1808
 Lands west of the Appalachians settled more and more
 Kentucky and Tennessee especially popular
 Made possible by Daniel Boone and his group that opened up a trail
through the Cumberland Gap
The New Nation
 Land Ordinance of 1785
 Outlined rules for the Northwest Territories, the eventual
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and
Minnesota
 Divided land into areas 6 miles square called townships
 Defined rules for sale of land at auction
 Northwest Ordinance of 1787
 Organized settlement in the territories
 Agreed to divided into 2-5 states
 Required a school for every township
 Outlawed slavery
 Established rules on how territories would become states
Northwest Territory, 1787
The Failing Union
 The United States struggled mightily in the years following the
war
 Articles of Confederation had several weaknesses



No power to tax or regulate commerce
Could not regulate foreign relations
Could not raise an army
 Debt from the war was enormous
 Shays’ Rebellion in 1786 proved that something needed to be
done
 Daniel Shays, a Revolution veteran, led a group of protestors against
judges and debt collectors that were foreclosing homes and farms
 The rebellion was eventually put down, but the government had a
hard time rallying a militia to end it
 Representatives from several states agreed to meet in May 1787
to fix the Articles
The Constitutional Convention
 Convention opened in May 1787 in Philadelphia
 George Washington elected president of the convention
 James Madison recorded all actions of the months long convention
 Addressed several concerns, often in very heated discussions that
almost ended the convention
 Proposed several plans for a new government
 Virginia Plan: representation based on population, bicameral
legislature
 New Jersey Plan: representation based equality and the power to tax
and regulate commerce
 Connecticut Compromise: combination of both plans, with a
bicameral legislature


House of Representatives: population based representation
Senate: two senators per state, regardless of size
 Approved and sent to the states for ratification on September 17, 1787
Federalists v. Anti-Federalists
 Two distinct groups formed after initial approval
 Federalists: for ratification of the Constitution
 Anti-Federalists: against ratification, feeling it gave too much
power to the government and lacked a Bill of Rights
 Federalists wrote a series of essays, the Federalist Papers,
justifying the cause
 Insisted that checks and balances would prevent tyranny between
the president, Congress, and courts
 Promised to add a Bill of Rights upon ratification
 Eventually, enough states ratified, allowing for the first Congress
to meet in 1789
 Rhode Island and North Carolina, holdouts of ratification,
eventually ratified as well
 The Bill of Rights was debated and ratified in 1789 as well
For Further Information…
 http://www.usconstitution.net/constconart.html
 http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
 http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights.htm
l
 http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Constitution.ht
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 Copy and paste these links into your browser for more
information on the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and a
comparison of the Constitution to the Articles of
Confederation