Chapter 6
The Revolutionary Republic
23 slides
6 images/maps
Declaring Independence on July 4, 1776 was only the beginning.
Over the next ten years the small colonial rag tag forces defeated the British
army in a prolonged war, fought loyalists in a civil war, wrote state
constitutions, and finally in 1787, wrote the Constitution of the United States.
Revolutionary War was longer and more costly than either the Americans or the
British had anticipated.
Most Indians and slaves – when given a choice - sided with the British.
For more than 5 years the war dragged on – with a weak Congress, illprepared, ill-fed, unpaid colonial army they fought against the worlds largest
professional and disciplined army and navy.
Finally on Oct 19, 1781, Washington’s army forced the surrender of General
Cornwallis’ forces of 8000 men at Yorktown Virginia. In early 1782, Lord
North’s government in London resigned and within a year, Britain recognized
the independence of the colonies.
While the war waged – other colonists formulated Constitutions. The first,
Articles of Confederation proved ineffectual – drafted 1776 – 1777. In effect
until 1787.
What the colonists did learn from the war was a fear of power and a respect for
power – respect for the republican citizenry over the British imperial state and a
fear that the same forces could overwhelm the republican ideals fought for and
replace them with the very essence of what they so opposed in British control.
When the new Constitution was finally ratified by New Hampshire in 1788, the
Americans had created a new government with what promised to be a balance
of liberty, equality, and power.
Revolutionary Republic
WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE
1776 – 1781
I. IMBALANCE OF POWER
a) The Numbers
i. The British
ii. The Colonists
b) The Loyalists
i. How Many
ii. Slaves
iii. Indians
c) Patriot Chances
d) The French and Others
i. French
ii. Spanish
II. THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT
TRY MEN'S SOULS
a) The
i.
Northern Campaign 1776 – 1777
British Offensive

Battle for New York
b) Campaigns of
1777
Traditional Warfare
ii. Battle of Trenton
iii. Human Failings
i.
III. The Tide Turns. The French, again.
IV. Treaty of Paris
a)1783
i. 6 major points
V. Various Revolutionary Spin-Offs
I. IMBALANCE OF POWER
a) The Numbers
i. British:
110,000
Howe, Clinton, Bourgoyne
- mercenaries including Germans
- Regulars
- Loyalists
- blacks slaves/former slaves
- Indians
worlds largest navy
Disciplined, trained, armed.
HMS Victory, 1884

ii. Colonists:



Farmers, laborers, apprentices
Most –
Least –

Most colonists took up arms, not because they hated England, but to
restore the empire to what it had been before 1763.

Washington -

Colonial Navy
 Small rag tag force
b) The Loyalists
i)
How Many
Some figures give it an even 1/3:
Approx 1/6 of all whites in North America
Of the 1/3 in favor of independence – most in the North.
-
ii.
100,000 leave for Canada
slaves
Southerners
Property
Slaves
Some fought, some ran away
iii. Indians
c) Patriot Chances
Defensive war.
In England, sentiment moved in favor of
Edmund Burke
John Wilkes
-hope European powers would intervene.
 d) The
i) French
French and Others

Condescending attitude toward colonists.

Loaned or gave support and supplies:

Demanded colonists demonstrate a victory before the French would involve themselves.
ii) Spanish

never intervened but wanted access to the victory party!
II. These are Times that try men’s souls
a)The Northern Campaign 1776 – 1777
i. The British Offensive

In June of 1776 the largest expeditionary force ever
launched to date began to arrive in New York harbor under
Britain's Admiral Richard Howe.
 Battle
for New York

7/2/76 - Howe landed on Staten island with 21,000 men

Washington divided his 20,000 soldiers in two groups – 1) Long Island, 2) Manhattan.

On September 15, Howe landed about 14,000 on lower Manhattan, quickly taking control of
New York City.

For colonial forces, losses such as New York were disheartening. Morale dropped and would
drop with every such loss while British morale went up and the desire to continue fighting.
Emanuel Leutze’s
‘Washington crossing the Delaware’
b) Campaigns of 1777
i) Traditional warfare
-Land
-Sea
-Seasons
Cornwallis chased Washington into New Jersey. Then the British camped for winter.
ii) Battle of Trenton
December 26, 1776
iii) Human Failings
Howe - plan to cut off the colonies (take MA) while another force from Montreal came south.
Burgoyne and Howe didn't get along and Howe wouldn't play games so he changed tactics.
Burgoyne was vastly overconfident.
Burgoyne would come down with aide from General Howe and Henry Clinton. Howe failed to
move, and Clinton moved too late.
Initially successful – Ft Ticonderoga
Weather
Horatio Gates. – October 17, 1777
Convention
George Washington
III. THE TIDE TURNS - The French, again
By 1779, most major battles occurred in the South The French saw Saratoga as a sign that the colonists could win.
Commonwealth?
French officially recognized the colonies as an independent nation 12/17/77
Admiral DeGrasse – August 1781, 29 ships of the line and 3200 men
He held off the British reinforcements – 19 ships
While Lord General Cornwallis settled in Virginia where he believed the war would be
won. Where the NY river runs into the Chesapeake Bay.
John Trumbull’s painting of the British surrender at Yorktown, October 1781
Cornwallis refused to surrender - instead, Brigadier General Charles Ohara presented the sword of surrender to Rochambeau. Rochambeau
shook his head and pointed to Washington. O'Hara offered it to Washington, but he refused to accept it, and motioned to his second in
command who had been humiliated by the British at Charleston.
US Casulaties:
Battle deaths: 4435
Wounded: 6188
IV. Treaty of Paris, September 1783
a) 1783
signed on September 3, 1783, ratified by the Confederation Congress on
14 January 1784 and by the King George on 9 April 1784.
John Adams, Ben Franklin, and John Jay for the US
and David Hartley for the King.
i. 6 major Points
-free and independent
-boundary between US and British North America
-fishing
-lawful contracted debts
- Prisoners of war
- Mississippi river
Spain
Ongoing issue:
V. Various Revolutionary Spin-Offs
Virginia Resolutions of 1765
Pennsylvania
Changes in women’s rights
Republican Mother
Northwest Ordinance
Shay’s Rebellion – Daniel Shays, 1786-1787