Colonial America and
the War for
Independence
Causes of the War…
1. British tighten control of
colonies…
 Stamp Act (1765)
• Colonists required to buy
“special” paper for legal
documents (those who did not
comply with these face viceadmiralty courts, courts with out
jury or lawyers
 Townshend Acts (1767)
– Indirect taxes on things like
paper, lead and glass.
British Tightens control continued...
– Boston massacre (1770)
• Fighting over jobs between
colonists and soldiers erupts
• British soldiers kill 5 men
(among the Crispus Attucks)
– Intolerable Acts (1774)
• Aka Coercive Acts
• Reaction from the Boston Tea
party
• Closed the Boston Port
• Enacted the Quartering Acthoused soldiers in private
homes
• Martial Law established British military forces set and
enforce rules.
2. Colonies protest British
Policies…
 The Sons of Liberty
– Led by James Otis then Samuel
Adams
– Led boycotts of goods and protests
 Stamp Act Congress (1765)
– issued declaration that Parliament
could not tax because the colonies
did not report to Parliament but to
the king
 No “taxation without representation”
– No colonists held seats in
parliament
Colonies protest continued…
 Boston Tea Party (1773)
– Colonists boycotted British East India Company tea
because of Tea Act tax
– Britain allowed BEIC to sell directly to colonies so
that tea could be sold cheaper
• Hoped that colonists would stop buying smuggled tea
– Even though it was cheaper, tea was still taxed
– Resulted in 15,000 pounds of tea being dumped in
the Boston Harbor
Colonies protest continued…
 Committees of Correspondence (1774)
– Colonies set up committees to communicate
with each other about threats to American
liberties.
 1st Continental Congress (1774)
– Colonies got together in Philadelphia to draw
up a declaration of colonial rights
• Ignored by King George and parliament
– Decided that they would meet up again
Second Continental Congress
 Authorized printing of
paper money to pay
troops.
 Organized a committee
to deal with foreign
relations
– Olive Branch Petition
• July 8,1775
• Effort to restore
former relations with
England
 Urged colonies to form
their own governments
3. Colonies create the militia
 Civilian “soldiers” to
protect the interests of
the colonists.
 Second Continental
Congress turns militia
into the Continental
Army
– Named George
Washington
commander
4. Declaration of Independence…
 Written by Thomas Jefferson
 Adopted on July 4th 1776 by 56 delegates from
the colonies
 Inspired by John Locke
– Englishman from the Enlightenment
Declaration continued…
 Declared our independence to
the world
 People should have natural
rights to life, liberty, and
property
 Idea of a social contract where
people obey their government
as long as it protects their
natural rights
 “all men are created equal”
– did not mean women, natives, slaves
Patriots vs. Loyalists
 Many colonists were divided on the issue
of independence
– Loyalists-those who opposed independence
and remained loyal to the crown
– Patriots-supporters of independence
 Some Africans fought with Patriots others
sided with British
Common Sense (1776)
 Propaganda pamphlet
 Written anonymously
by Thomas Paine
 Tried to persuade
colonists to support
Independence
The Revolutionary War
 1775-1783
 France sided with the
colonists
 Native Americans
sided with the British
 First American Flag
adopted 13 stars 13
stripes
Continental Army
 Strengths
– Familiar with terrain
– Strong
leadership(Washington and
others)
– Inspired causeINDEPENDENCE
 Weaknesses
– Untrained soldiers
– Shortage of funding, food
and ammo
– Inferior navy
– No central government to
enforce wartime policies
Great Britain’s military
 Strengths
– Strong, well trained army and
navy (professionals)
– Strong central government
with $$
– Support of colonial loyalists
and natives
 Weaknesses
– Large distance between
battlefields and Britain
(communication)
– Not familiar with terrain
– Weak military leaders
Battles at Lexington and Concord
(April 1775)
-British find out that militia has weapons
stockpiled at Concord
-they go to retrieve them
-minutemen/militia are waiting
-small skirmish on the way at Lexington and
then again at Concord
“the shot heard round the world”
-no weapons found
-British return to Boston
Battle of Bunker Hill (MA)
June 1775
 Colonists stay and fight until third attack
 After running low on ammunition,
colonists retreat
 Bloodiest battle of the war
 British lose 1,000
 Colonists lose 311
 Important because colonists fought
“European style”
Battle of Saratoga (NY)
October 1777
 British attempting to “cut off” New
England from the rest of the colonies
 British troops surrounded and surrendered
 Turning point in the Revolution
– American hope restored as British can be beat
– Increases French support to the Americans
Battle of Yorktown (VA)
October 1781
 French fight with
Americans
 Blocked the
Chesapeake Bay and
surrounded the British
 British surrender
The Americans “Win”
 The Treaty of Paris1783
– Signed by Americans,
Spain, France, Great
Britain
– Confirmed US
independence
– US borders from
Atlantic ocean to the
Mississippi river, from
Canada to the Florida
border
United States in 1781
 13 States
 United States establishes its own
government and creates the
Articles of Confederation
 Faces economic problems
because of the war
 States begin to create their own
separate constitutions
Republic vs.
Confederation
Which type of government
should the United States have?
 Confederation
– -alliance between the states
– government in
where powers are“shared”.
which citizens rule
– State governments were
through elected
supreme in some matters
capable
and the national government
government
was supreme in others.
officials (white
– States would have majority
property owners)
of power over themselves.
 Republic
American thought democracy left power in the hands of the
uneducated masses
Articles of Confederation
(1781)
 Creates government of U.S.National
Government(Congress)
 Gave powers to the two forms of government
– National
• Power to declare war, make peace and sign treaties
• Could establish postal service and “deal” wit the
natives
• Could borrow money, set standards for coins
weights and measures
– State
• Power to do all else
Flaws/problems with the
Articles of Confederation
 Didn’t create executive branch to enforce acts of
congress
 No court system to decide meanings/interpret the laws
 Congress could not tax
 Congress could not regulate trade in the states or
abroad Each state has 1 vote regardless of population
 Needed 9 out of 13 states to agree for law to be passed
 Articles could only change if all 13 states agreed
 Lack of unity
Conflict over Western Lands
 Who gets western lands and how
should they be governed?
– Land ordinance of 1785
• created a plan for surveying and
dividing land (present day
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Wisconsin, Michigan)
– Created townships of 36
miles square miles
• Each square mile could
be sold to individuals
• 1 square mile in every
township would be for
school buildings
Western lands continued…
 Northwest Ordinance of 1787
– Congress passed procedure for dividing land
– Set requirements for admission as a state
• Congress to appoint a territorial governor
and judges
• When territory = 5,000 voting residents,
could write temporary constitution and elect
government
• When total population = 60,000 then settlers
would write state constitution
– had to be approved by congress before granted
state hood
Shay’s Rebellion (1786)
 Massachusetts farmers
(former soldiers in the
revolution) lead revolt due to
debt
 Forced courts to close so that
they could not foreclose on
farms
 Governor can’t get national
government to help
– Restriction of the Articles of
Confederation
*cause for worry…new
government is not strong
enough or adequate!
The Constitutional Convention
 Causes
– Articles of confederation
prove ineffective
– Strain of economic
problems disrupts the
nation
55 delegates from
colonies meet in
Philadelphia
George Washington
Alexander Hamilton,
Ben Franklin
 lawyers, merchants
and more
 James Madison is considered the “father
of the constitution”
3 major conflicts at the Convention
 1. Central
–
government vs. strong states
Central government should be stronger
– States should be stronger to prevent abuse of
power
– *Compromise = new stronger federal government
established with 3 branches that will “check and
balance” each other to prevent abuse of power
• Legislative (make the law = congress)
• Judicial (interpret the law = courts)
• Executive (enforce the law = president, VP,
executive offices)
3 Major Conflicts Continued...
 2. Large states vs. small states
– Large states wanted more delegates due to larger
population
– Small states wanted to keep 1 vote for each
– *Compromise = creation of bicameral (2 house)
legislature
• Senate - each get 2 votes
• House of Representatives - votes determined by
state population
Major conflicts continued…
 3. North vs. South
– North did not want slaves counted as population to
determine # of representatives but wanted them to
count for levy of taxes
– South wanted slaves counted representation purposes
but not levy taxes
– *The 3/5ths compromise- allowed for 3/5ths of the
state’s slaves to be counted as population for both
representation and taxation
– Constitution did not allow congress to interfere with
the slave trade for at least 20 years
Ratification of the Constitution
 Constitution had to be ratified by each
state’s voters
 Date each state ratified the is considered
their of statehood
 9 of 13 had to ratify
– eventually all states ratified
• due to the promise of the addition of the Bill of
Rights and because it could be amended (changed)
 New government starts in 1789
Federalists vs. Ant federalists
 Federalists-in support of Constitution
– Federalist Papers-written by Federalist leaders they
were essays defending and supporting the Constitution
 Anti-federalists-not in support of the Constitution
– Opposed strong central government
– Constitution didn’t have a Bill of Rights (formal
summary of citizen's rights and freedoms)
Effects of Constitutional
Convention
 The national government strengthened
 Confidence increases in national
government
 George Washington elected as the first
president
 *The flexibility of our constitution makes
it a model for governments around the
world.