Hist 110
American Civilization I
Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer
Upper Iowa University
Lecture 6
Comparing the Opponents
 Britain’s obvious advantages

Greater population (11 vs. 2.5 million),
powerful navy, & well-trained army
(48,000 soldiers supplemented with
German mercenaries)
 Britain less obvious disadvantages
Long lines of supply and
communications, which made it difficult
to mount and coordinate military
campaigns in America
 Fragmented character of authority in
America—no rebel nerve center whose
capture would end the war

 American situation:
Small, inexperienced, & ill-trained army
(rarely more than 5,000 men)
supplemented with unreliable militia
 Yet this army only had to avoid complete
defeat and survive to win

Lecture 6
Revolutionary War: Early Setbacks
 North the focus of war from 1775-77
Partly by default: fighting started in that
region
 British also believed it to be the focus of
the rebellion, especially Massachusetts

 Battle for New York (Aug.-Sep. 1776)
Seen by the British as key to controlling
the northern colonies—jumping off point
to control Hudson Valley and isolating
New England from the other colonies
 George Washington unsuccessfully tried
to face the British on their own terms
using conventional tactics
 Was forced to retreat into New Jersey,
losing many men
 New York City would be under British
control until 1783
 Gained an important port, but the city
was effectively isolated by Patriot
forces for most of the war
 Would try but never succeed in
capitalizing from NYC’s capture

British forces land in
New York City
September 1776
Lecture 6
1777
 From George Washington’s early defeats
he learned key lessons


Strategy: caution & delay
Committed his troops as much as possible
only at times and places of his choosing
 Trenton (Dec. 1776)
 Britain’s failed northern offensive (1777)
Three-pronged: 1) Burgoyne invades from
Canada; 2) Howe marches north to meet
him in the Hudson Valley; 3) St. Ledger
raids Mohawk Valley from the west
 Howe instead targeted Philadelphia
 Burgoyne’s disaster:
 Delayed south of Lake Champlain
 Lost men to failed raid on
Bennington, Vt. and “strategic
consumption”
 Battles of Saratoga: 1) Sept. 19; 2) Oct.
7—further bled British strength
 Cut off and with growing Patriot
forces Burgoyne surrendered
 British campaign failed due to bad
strategy and poor coordination

 American victory at Saratoga convinced
France to ally openly with the Americans
The story of the murder of
Jane McCrea by British allied
Native Americans motivated
American militia at Saratoga
Lecture 6
Patriot Difficulties
 Despite the victory at Saratoga, things
remained difficult for the Patriot cause
 A British naval blockade and military
activity disrupted the American
economy resulting in shortages

Shortages compounded by requisitioning
of supplies by Continental forces
 War also divided communities between
Patriots (1/3), Loyalists (1/5), and those
on the fence

It should not be forgotten that the
Revolutionary War was also a civil war
between Americans
 Lacking reliable revenue the state
governments and the Continental
Congress printed money to fund their
operations which led to hyperinflation

The financial problems of the Patriot
cause led to suffering in the Continental
such as occurred at Valley Forge during
the winter of 1777-1778
Continental paper currency
issued during the Revolutionary War
So many were printed they
became virtually worthless
Lecture 6
The War Shifts South
 British changed their strategy and focus
after 1778
 New British strategy
 Pacify the South, then use it as a base
to recapture the North
 Believed more Loyalists in the South
 Early British victories
 Savannah (Nov.-Dec. 1778)
 Charles Town (May 1780)
 Waxhaws (May 1780)
 Southern strategy flawed
 British won most conventional
engagements in the South
 Victories mean little since they
could never identify and neutralize
Patriot “centers of gravity”
 British unable to establish stable
colonial government or protect
supporters from Patriot reprisals
 Patriot guerillas key to British
failure
 Loyalists support that existed hurt as
much as helped
 Persecuted neutrals as well as
Patriots
Lecture 6
American Victory
 Major Southern Battles



Camden, S.C. (Oct. 1780): British victory
Cowpens, S.C. (Jan. 1781): Patriot victory
Guilford Court House, N.C. (Mar. 1781):
British victory
 Many other smaller engagements in the
South, mostly British victories, but none
really got them closer to winning war
 Campaigns in the South degraded the
British Army there to the point by late
Spring 1781, that its commander, Lord
Cornwallis, moved them up to
Chesapeake Bay in Virginia

Access point for reinforcements and resupply from Great Britain
 Siege of Yorktown
 French navy turn back British relief
expedition
 Patriot and French troops lay siege to
Cornwallis in late Sept. 1781
 Cornwallis forced to surrender on Oct. 17,
1781
 British suspend operations, sign peace
treaty in 1783 ending war
Lecture 6
Writing State Constitutions
 The governmental lesson many
Americans initially drew from their
experience with the British was that
concentrated power in the hands of
monarchy or executive authority was not
desirable
 In writing constitutions after
independence many states created
governments with a weak executive

Pennsylvania went to the logical extreme
and eliminated the office of governor
 Some members of the elite, such as John
Adams, worried about the democratizing
tendencies inherent in these radical state
constitutions
Men like Adams worried about the
judgment of ordinary Americans and
wanted to limit the franchise through
property qualifications for voting
 He also advocated a system of mixed state
governments with a bicameral legislature,
elected governor with veto power, and
appointed judiciary
 New York state adopted this system in
their state constitution

John Adams
Abigail Adams
Judith Sergent
Lecture 6
Social Impact of the Revolution

Women



As the cases of Abigail Adams and
Judith Sergeant, the Revolution led some
women to question their inferior status
Republican Motherhood: wanting
greater responsibility in the new nation
women gradually adopted the role of
raising virtuous citizens, which
encouraged education for women to
prepare them for that role
African Americans
As result of the Revolution, slavery came
to a gradual end in the North
 This development helped sow the seeds
for the Civil War decades later


Loyalists


American victory led to the departure of
about 100,000 Loyalists, who found
refuge in England, the Caribbean, but
mostly in Canada (called there “United
Empire Loyalists”)
High profile Loyalists often had their
property confiscated
African Americans served in
armies on both sides of the
Revolutionary War - black soldier
pictured here served in a Patriot
regiment from Rhode Island
Lecture 6
Articles of Confederation
 The desire for limited central
government shaped the first constitution
of the United States – the Articles of
Confederation
No executive or judiciary branch

Unicameral Congress, with all states
having one vote each

Congress given limited authority
(declare war, make treaties, settle
disputes between the states, borrow
and print money, requisition funds
from the states)

Central government could not levy
taxes
The Americans won the Revolutionary War
despite not because of the Articles
It also resulted in an overly weak government
after the war unable to respond to problems
abroad and at home as witnessed by Shay’s
Rebellion in Massachusetts (1786-87)



Robert Morris, who led
an unsuccessful effort to
amend the Articles of
Confederation to give
the national government
the authority to tax
Lecture 6
Constitutional Convention
 Met in the Summer of 1787

Men of property and education from the
elite
 James Madison’s Virginia Plan

Proposed replacing the Articles with a
strong central government
 The New Jersey Plan


Proposed amending the Articles only
Rejected in favor of the Virginia plan as
basis for further discussion
 Divisive issues


Slavery and representation
Representation of small states
 Great Compromise
Slavery: 3/5 of each slave counted for
representation
 Small states: equal representation in
upper house

 Congress: could tax and regulate
interstate commerce
 Executive (President)


Had veto power
Chosen by electoral college
 Judiciary established but organization
not defined
James Madison
Father of the
Constitution
Lecture 6
Ratification
 Anti-Federalists
Probably a slight majority of the
population
 They feared the strong centralized power
of the new Constitution

 Federalists (Nationalists)
Much better organized than the AntiFederalists
 Federalist Papers: organized by Madison
and Alexander Hamilton
 Federalist No. 10: argued that the size
of the United States would prevent
any one interest group from becoming
too powerful
Ratification process stacked in favor of success
 State legislatures cut out of ratification
process to avoid their strong opposition
 Only 9 of 13 states needed to agree for
ratification
 Promise of Bill of Rights helped secure
final ratification by June 1788

