AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Chapters 5-7
MAP
 Land claims before the war
 Area of conflict
 Ohio River Valley
 When: May 1754: Beginning
of the French & Indian War
 Why: British & French
competition over the Ohio
River Valley
 Why would the French want
this territory?
 Why would the British want
this territory?
ALBANY PLAN OF UNION
 1754
 Called by Ben Franklin
 2 goals:
 Persuade the Iroquois to take the colonists/British
side
 Plan of defense (raise taxes, unite the colonies)
FIGHTING
 British fought in straight lines
 French & Indians used guerilla
war fare
 British Prime Minister, William Pitt,
raised taxes & borrowed money for
the war
 Colonial soldiers wanted to be
commanded by colonial of ficers;
British said that was treason. WHY?
 Many colonial soldiers were sent
home & not allowed to fight.
 How would this create tensions
between the colonists & the British
troops?
7 YEARS WAR
 French & Indian War spread to Europe & Asia
 Conflict is called the 7 Years War
HOW DID THE BRITISH WIN?
 British raised taxes to support the military
 British army began to defeat the French & Native American
allies
 Iroquois switched sides & supported the British after the
French abandoned forts & went to Canada
EFFECT
Native Americans
Colonies
British
• British took revenge on
tribes who sided with
the French
• Tribes who sided with
the British felt betrayed
when settlers moved
onto land promised to
them = Pontiac’s War
• Began to regard the
• Huge amount of debt
British military as weak • Raised taxes to pay
• Sowed the seeds of
debt
Revolution
• Gained all French
• British ended policy of
territory east of the
salutary neglect
Mississippi River (gave
• Raised taxes to pay for
Louisiana to Spain) &
British debt
Spanish Florida
• Proclamation of 1763
(returned Cuba to
Spain)
POST WAR MAP
PROCLAMATION LINE OF 1763
 British could not control vast
area of land gained from the
French
 Headwaters of rivers flowing
into the Atlantic became a
temporary western boundary
line for colonial settlement
 How do you stop people from
settling?
US HISTORY BELL RINGER 9/29
1.
2.
Who is this man?
What did he write?
Take out your Opposing Viewpoints
on “America Should/Should Not Be
Independent”
15 minutes… read Thomas Paine’s
perspective.
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
 Thomas Jef ferson wrote
 4 parts
 Preamble: reasons for the document, why colonists chose to separate
from England
 Political Principles: identifies the ideas underlying the rights of the
people, John Locke’s Ideas
 Complaints: lists the unfair acts perpetrated by the British
government; charged King with 27 crimes
 The Declaration: The statement that 13 colonies are now
independent
 Anyone who signed was committing an act of treason
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
 Independence vs. interdependence – on phones, look up definition
 “as Free & Independent States” that “have full Power to levy war,
conclude Pease, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do
all other Acts & Things which independent States may of right do”
 Declaration of Independence
 A bid for France’s support?
 For a country to mediate a peace between the Americas & Great
Britain, custom demanded a declaration of American Independence
 France could not negotiate peace WITHOUT the declaration
 A country could not be expected to aid those they considered rebels
against another monarch UNLESS they had a list of grievances
 Declaration ensured the Americas as a reliable trading partner
 Franco-American Alliance: Feb. 1778
EXIT
 On the same sticky note, draw a line under your bell ringer
answers and answer the following question.
 How does the song’s lyrics relate to men who wrote & signed
the Declaration of Independence?
BELL RINGER 9/30
 Take out your Opposing Viewpoints: The Colonies
Should/Should Not Be Independent
 15 minutes
 Read Charles Inglis’ view & answer the questions
ASSIGNMENT
 Read the Declaration of independence
 While you read, look for the following items
1. Find evidence of Enlightenment ideas in the declaration
2. What reasons do the colonists cite for separating from
England (name 5)
3. List the complaints of the Colonists (list 3)
4. Why does Jef ferson say the colonists should separate (see
paragraph 4)
5. What acts of war do the colonists claim the king has
perpetrated?
YOU SHOULD BE IN
CHAPTER 6
Information
will be
found
starting on
pg. 147
PATRIOT, LOYALIST OR NEUTRAL
 Which of the following was most likely to have been an active
patriot?




City artisan
African American slave
Anglican clergyman
Pennsylvania Quaker
• Which of the following was most likely to have been a loyalist?
• A city artisan
• A yeoman farmer
• An Anglican clergyman
• Scots-Irish settler in the southern backcountry
• Which of the following was most likely to have remained neutral?
• Member of the Chesapeake gentry
• Scots-Irish settler in the backcountry
• Scottish settler
• City artisan
TAKING SIDES
Patriot
Loyalist
Neutral
• 2/5 of population
• 1/5 of population
• 2/5 of population
• Supported the
• Rejected the idea of
• Allegiance shifted
Revolution but were not
independence
depending on who was
united in reform ideas. • Defending the King =
winning
• Limited political vs.
keeping personal honor • Cared little about
extensive political vs.
politics; did whatever
social & economic
those in power asked
What about women, African Americans & Native Americans?
• Women: generally did what their husbands or dominant male in the house told
them to
• African Americans: varied depending on location
• Native Americans: urged to remain neutral by British
AFRICAN AMERICANS
New England: few slaves; free African
Americans enlisted in the patriot militaries
Middle Colonies: slaves were a small but substantial
portion of the population; more divided on
independence
Maryland & Virginia: slave population was
considerable; potential for slave riots raised
occasional fears
South Carolina & Georgia: slaves were +1/2 of the
population; less enthusiastic about resistance
Goal: Independence & how to best escape slavery
74 – 75: offered freedom if they joined the British army
Nov. 75: Virg. Gov. Lord Dunmore offered freedom to any slaves & indentured servants
willing to join the British forces
BRITISH STRATEGY
1. Patriot forces could not withstand the assaults by trained
British regulars. Sent +370 ships w/ 32,000 troops, tons of
supplies, 73 naval vessels & 13,000 sailors.
2. Adopted a conventional strategy of capturing major
American cities & defeating the rebel army with minimal
casualties.
3. Assumed that military victory would achieve the colonies’
allegiance
GEORGE WASHINGTON
 2 nd Continental Congress chose General George Washington to
lead the Colonial Army
COMMON SENSE BY THOMAS PAINE
 “In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture
chronology, there were no kings; the consequence of which was
there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throws mankind
into confusion.”
 “To bring the matter to one point, Is the power who is jealous of
our prosperity, a proper power to govern us? Whoever says, No,
to this question, is an independent, for independency means no
more than this, whether we shall make our own law, or, whether
the king, the greatest enemy which this continent hath, or can
have, shall tell us there shall be no laws but such as I like.”
 “Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its
best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an
intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same
miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country
without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting
that we furnish the means by which we suffer...”
5
4
1
2
3
Don’t make me
turn this boat
around
Do you wanna
build a
snowman?
Can I say
something
crazy?
I love
crazy!
For the first time
in forever…
BATTLE OF TRENTON & SARATOGA
 Trenton
 George Washington attacked
Hessian (German mercenaries) in
the early morning hours
 Battle lasted 2 hours
 Washington captured almost
1000 German soldiers & killed
30; 3 Americans were injured
 Saratoga
 American victory that convinced
the French to join the Americans
 Americans killed 800 of
Burgoyne’s German mercenaries
 Burgoyne & +6000 men
surrendered on 10/17/77
SURRENDER AT YORKTOWN
 Washington faces of f with
7000 French & American men
against Br. Gen. Cornwallace
& traitor Benedict Arnold who
moved to fortify Yorktown
 Cornwallace moves up river &
Fr. Gen. DeGrasse’s fleet
moves in to block & defeat
ships sent into reinforce
Cornwallace
 Cornwallace surrenders
 Parliament votes to cease
operations in America
COST OF THE WAR
 +35,000 Americans killed
 ¼ in battle
 ½ while British prisoners





What about the other ¼?
Warfare destroyed crop lands & plantations
Loss of slaves in the south ruined the economy
Colonial governments were cripples
Few people could pay taxes
CREATING A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC
Ancient History /Popular
Government
• Educated elite
• Republics could
succeed only if they
were small &
homogenous
• If a republics’ citizens
were not virtuous &
willing to sacrifice for
the common good, the
republic would collapse
• “Natural” rank & file
instead of inherited
titles
• Virtue manifested in
frugality & self-sacrifice
Economic Theory
Egalitarian
• Other elites & skilled
• Called for widening
craftsmen
men’s political
• Emphasized
participation
individuals’ pursuit of
• Government responds
rational self-interest
directly to the needs of
• People work to improve
the “ordinary folk”
their economic & social • Virtue became
circumstances the
justification for
entire republic benefits
including propertyless
• Virtue achieved through
free men as voters
pursuit of individual
interests
• Virtue would prevent
self-interest from
becoming vice
REFORM
 Art:
 expected to reflect the idea of virtue
 Education:
 if people were to resist vice & become useful citizens, they needed to be
educated;
 northern states began opening public schools;
 mothers were educated
 Abigail Adams:
 “don’t forget the ladies”
 Emancipation:
 postwar witnessed a gradual abolition of slavery in the North;
 did not mean equality; a lot of racism
 some argued that African slaves character had been shaped by
enslavement
 slave holders argued that people of African descent were less then fully
human
 leaders defined the republic as a white male enterprise
DESIGNING A GOVERNMENT
 State Constitutions:
 sought permission from the people before establishing a new
government & submitting it to the people
 Framers concerned themselves with outlining the distribution
of & limitations on state governments
Governor elected annually; term limits & little independent authority
Expanded legislative powers
Lowered property qualifications for voting
Explicit limitations on government authority to protect the rights of
the individual citizens
 Independent judiciary was to uphold those rights
 Freedom of religion with restrictions
 Focus was more on preventing a tyrannical government




ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
Who was our 1st American President?
a. George Washington
b. Thomas Jefferson
c. John Hansen
d. Alexander Hamilton
 Take our your US Constitution & turn to page 65
 What were some of the flaws of the Articles of Confederation?
 According to the Articles of Confederation what was the main
duty of the government?
BREAKDOWN OF ARTICLES
Article(s)
1&2
State sovereignty
3&4
Interstate relations
5
Representation in Congress
6
Powers denied to states
7&8
War Preparation
9
Powers of Congress
10
Committee of States
11
Canada
12
Debts of Congress
13 &
Conclusion
Pledge of perpetual union
PEACE TREAT Y PROVISIONS
 Article 4: payment of war debts (owed by Americans to British
merchants)
 State laws passed denied the British the right to sue for recovery of
debts
 Article 5: recommended that states allow loyalists to recover
property
 Sale of loyalists property helped finance the war & many wealthy
purchased that land… who really owns it?
 Because states refused to comply with Article 4 & 5, the
British used it as an excuse to maintain military posts on the
Great Lakes
 Federal Congress could do NOTHING
ORDINANCE OF 1785
 Ordinance of 1785
 Townships of 6 sq. miles each/ 36 sections/ 640 acres each ( 1 sq.
mile)
 Sale from section 16 went to public education
 Proceeds became revenue available for the national gov’t
NORTHWEST ORDINANCE OF 1787
 Northwest Ordinance of 1787
 Bill of rights for settlers: freedom of religion, right to jury
trial, forbid cruel & unusual punishment & nominally
prohibiting slavery
 Allowed for slave owners to recover escaped slaves
 Specified how territorial residents could organize state
governments & seek admission to the Union
ANNAPOLIS CONVENTION
 1786 – Nationalist convention to discuss economic problems
 12 delegates from 5 states attended = failed convention
 Another meeting set for Philadelphia 1787
SHAY’S REBELLION
 Massachusetts legislature passed a tax to paid in specie
 Farmers could not pay & complained to legislature
 Daniel Shays led march to Springfield & Congress could do
nothing
 Demonstrated citizens willingness to defy the government if
they felt it acted against them
 Convention met early to strengthen the government & avoid
civil unrest… this time 12 states sent delegates
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION





Wrote the US Constitution in 4 months
55 delegates from 12 states (RI did not attend)
James Madison: “Father of the Constitution”
1 st act: Elect George Washington as President
Some wanted to amend the Articles others wanted to get rid
of it
2 PLANS
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Bicameral (2 house) Legislature
•Reps sent based on size of states
population
Unicameral ( 1 house) Legislature
•Same number of reps from each state
Congress:
•right to tax
•regulate foreign trade
• interstate commerce
•Veto
•Use force against states
Congress:
•Power to tax
•Regulate foreign trade
•Interstate commerce
Executive branch
Executive branch
Judicial branch
Judicial Branch
Large states liked
Small states liked
COMPROMISE
The Great Compromise
Created a Legislative branch: 2 houses
House of Representatives (Virginia Plan)
Senate (New Jersey Plan)
The 3/5 Compromise
How should slaves be counted?
3/5 of the states total slave population would
be counted toward representation
FEDERAL & STATE POWERS
National Government
Concurrent Powers
State Government
Powers delegated to the
Nat’l government
Powers both share
Not specifically given to
the states but not denied
Ex: Declaring War
Ex: taxes & establishing
courts
Ex: education system
Federal System of Government: Powers are shared among state &
national governments
Separation of Powers
Judicial Branch
Legislative Branch
Executive Branch
Interprets the Law
Makes the Law
Carries out the law
CHECKS & BALANCES
ELECTORAL COLLEGE?
WHAT’S THE POINT?
 A shield between the government & the people
 Indirect election of the President
 States are given electors equal to the number of members in
Congress
 Less populated states have more % of say using electoral college
than they would if it was direct election
RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION
Federalists
•Supported the Constitution
•Wanted a strong national government
•Federalist Papers: 85 essays supporting
passage of Constitution in NY (
•Feared people more than government
•Opposed the Bill of Rights
Anti-federalists
•Opposed the Constitution
•Constitution posed a threat to state
governments
•President would be a King
•feared government more than people
•Favored the Bill of Rights
9 of 13 states needed to ratify – going to be difficult
HOW THE FEDERALISTS WON
1.
2.
3.
4.
Drew on anti- Articles feelings
Federalists were united around the Constitution
Well organized & in regular contact with each other
George Washington
BILL OF RIGHTS