CHAPTER 5
Wars for Independence,
1764 - 1783
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Realignments in the Spanish
Borderlands
 Britain gains Florida after Seven Years’ War
 Spain retains Louisiana and port city of New
Orleans

General Alexander O’Reilly
 Spanish forts in Southwest grow in number,
Spain faces more threats from Apaches and
Comanches
The British Colonies Resist Imperial
Reform
 Sugar Act attempts to end smuggling by lowering
tariffs
 Writs of assistance
 Currency Act forbids colonists from producing
paper money
 Stamp Act angers colonists and leads to
formation of Sons of Liberty

Patrick Henry
 Colonists in lower South are unhappy with both
Parliament and their own colonial elite
Imperial Reform (cont.’d)
 Townshend Revenue Act worsens feelings

Raises revenue without representation
 Results in Letters from a Farmer in
Pennsylvania, uniting colonists
 Result is series of nonimportation agreements
 Boston becomes center of conflict
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
Boston Massacre
John Adams
 Burning of Gaspée and formation of Committees
of Correspondence indicate colonial unrest
Boston Tea Party
 Boston Tea Party of 1773 demonstrates colonial
defiance

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
Tea Act designed to protect British East India Company
by removing duties on its tea
Bostonians dump tea to protest manipulation
Britain responds with Coercive Acts, designed to get
Boston under control
 Quebec Act
 Coercive Acts
 First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia
in fall of 1774
Resistance Becomes a War for
Independence
 First shots fired in April 1775, at Lexington and
Concord
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
British losses 73 dead, 200 wounded
Boston losses 49 dead, 43 wounded
 Green Mountain Boys capture Fort Ticonderoga
 Second Continental Congress meets in May,
selecting George Washington to command the
new Continental Army
 Battle of Bunker Hill leads George III to declare
colonies in rebellion

Olive Branch Petition
Battles in Eastern Massachusetts
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Taking Sides
 Colonists find themselves having to choose sides
 Loyalists usually wealthy
 African American support ill received by Whigs
 Patriots resort to conscription
 Women support cause in many ways
 Continental Congress ratifies Declaration of
Independence in July 4, 1776

Thomas Jefferson
 In mid-July, adopted Articles of Confederation
 Confederation of sovereign states
 Congress conducted foreign affairs
 Congress had no power to tax or raise troops
The War in the North, 1776-1779
 Britain invades New York
 Battle of Brooklyn Heights
 British dominate war
 Continentals use guerilla tactics
 British occupy Philadelphia during winter of
1777-1778
 Washington turns troops into effective army at
Valley Forge

Baron von Steuben
 Battle of Saratoga brings French into war on
side of colonists
 Patriots continue to suffer from economic
problems
Northern Campaigns, 1776-1778
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The War Moves West and South
 Fighting intensifies on frontier
 Natives attacked on entire frontier
 Fort Vincennes
 Iroquois and Delaware ally with British
 Continental forces devastated Native Americans
 Britain invades South, seeking Loyalist support
there, but plan backfires
 British force to retreat North
 Lord Cornwallis surrenders to Washington at
Yorktown, October 1781
Southern Campaigns, 1778-1781
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Virginia and the Yorktown Campaign
Peace Settlement
 Treaty of Paris (1782) ends hostilities but leaves
problems
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New nation extends from Atlantic coast to Mississippi
River, and from Canada to 31st parallel
Britain agrees to remove troops promptly, then fails to
do so
Loyalists are assured of protection, but many face
discrimination and leave country
20,000 slaves freed by British left with them, over
protest of Americans
War of Independence was a success, but left many
unresolved issues
Discussion Questions
 Why were Americans unwilling to support the
various “acts” put forth by Britain to raise
revenue from the colonies?
 What were the causes of the American
Revolution? What advantages and disadvantages
did each side have?
 What role did natives and African Americans play
in the Revolution?
 How did the Revolution help establish a national
identity for the United States?