From the Chaos of Rebellion to a From the Chaos of Rebellion to a Movement for IndependenceMovement for Independence

North America Before the War

Ascendance of the Radicals and Early Skirmishes

• The First Shot at sea: Margaretta v. Unity, June 14, 1775

• Lexington and Concord

• Bunker Hill: Out of Defeat, Victory

The Ascendance of RadicalsThe Ascendance of Radicals

John Adams, Patrick Henry, Tom Paine

“The history of our Revolution will be one continued lie from one end to the other. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin’s electric rod smote the earth and out sprang George Washington. . . . I read it [history] as I do romance, believing what is probable and rejecting what I must.”

-- John Adams

“Liberty can never subsist without equality, so when men’s riches become immeasurably or surprisingly great, a people who regard their own security ought to make strict inquiry, how they came about them. But some will say, is it a crime to be rich? Yes, certainly, at the public expense. . . . All men are by nature on a level; born with an equal share of freedom, and endowed with capacities nearly alike.”

-- The Independent AdvertiserSamuel Adams, editor, 1747.

“All government is dissolved [and] we are in a state of nature. . . The distinctions between Virginian, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englander are no more. I am not a Virginian but an American.”

-- Patrick Henry

The Revolutionary WarThe Revolutionary War

Stage I: Initial Sparring, April 15, 1775Stage I: Initial Sparring, April 15, 1775

1706 Version1706 VersionOur 'prentice Tom may now refuseOur 'prentice Tom may now refuseTo wipe his scoundrel Master's To wipe his scoundrel Master's

Shoes,Shoes,For now he's free to sing and playFor now he's free to sing and play

Over the Hills and far away.Over the Hills and far away.Over the Hills and O'er the Main,Over the Hills and O'er the Main,To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,The queen commands and we'll The queen commands and we'll obeyobeyOver the Hills and far away.Over the Hills and far away.

We all shall lead more happy livesWe all shall lead more happy livesBy getting rid of brats and wivesBy getting rid of brats and wivesThat scold and bawl both night and That scold and bawl both night and

day -day -

Over the Hills and O'er the Main,Over the Hills and O'er the Main,To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,The queen commands and we'll The queen commands and we'll obeyobeyOver the Hills and far away.Over the Hills and far away.

Courage, boys, 'tis one to ten,Courage, boys, 'tis one to ten,But we return all gentlemenBut we return all gentlemenAll gentlemen as well as they,All gentlemen as well as they,Over the hills and far away.Over the hills and far away.

Over the Hills and O'er the Main,Over the Hills and O'er the Main,Over the Hills and far away.Over the Hills and far away.To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,The queen commands and we'll The queen commands and we'll obeyobeyOver the Hills and far away.Over the Hills and far away.

Impasse

• Edmund Burke, 1767: “The Americans have made a discovery that we mean to oppress them; we have made a discovery that they intend to raise a rebellion against us. We know not how to advance; they know not how to retreat.”

Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775.

British lose nearly half of their 2,200 troops in taking the hill

British officer:

“If we have eight more such victories there will be nobody left to bring the news.”

Stage II: Conventional War in the North, 1775-1777

War in the North

The Question of a Professional army or Citizen Militias

George Washington

Leads the Way

Stalemate is victory

Modern Weapons, 1776

Horatio Gates John Burgoyne

Saratoga: The First of (and one of the few) Great Victories

General Burgoyne Surrenders 6000 British Troops to General Gates at Saratoga

Winter of Discontent: Valley Forge

General Von Steuben: Thank God for Gays in the Military

Trenton, 1778: Bringing in the French

The Revolution as World War

The Revolution as World War

• Spanish and French Help was Critical to Colonist’s Revolution

• Missed Opportunity?: The Caribbean and Canada

• The Role of Native Americans in the Revolution: Neutrality or British Allies

• Spain and France as Uncomfortable Allies, Thanks to Tom Paine

The Continental Navy: Return of the Privateers (aka: Pirates!)

John Paul Jones: American Privateer

The Revolution as Guerilla War: South and West

Native Americans

• Neutrality, Indecision, Division– Experience of the French-Indian War and the

attempt to remain neutral– The Split in the Iroquois Confederation

• Tuscarora and Oneida join the Rebels• Other Tribes Join or Oppose the British but often

try to remain Neutral

The Rebellious Colonists and the Terror Campaign Against Loyalists

80,000 Loyalists Leave the American Colonies

- “Grand Tory Rides:” Tar and Feathers and the Rail

- Murder and Arson

Stage III: “Pacification” in the South, 1778-1781

“The limits of the British government in America are their out-sentinels.’”

-- General Nathaniel Greene

Yankee Ingenuity . . . Almost Worked

Grrrl! Power: Women at War

Deborah Samson and Molly Pitcher

Yorktown: The Final Showdown and British Surrender

Aftermath and Loose EndsAftermath and Loose Ends

A Map Remade/Peace of Paris, 1783A Map Remade/Peace of Paris, 1783

The Revolution and Native AmericansThe Revolution and Native Americans

New Territories: The Frontier of Exclusion/ New Territories: The Frontier of Exclusion/ The Issue of Slavery and a “Poison Pill” in The Issue of Slavery and a “Poison Pill” in the Constitutionthe Constitution

Wrestling with History and MythWrestling with History and Myth

North America After the War

There are some who claim the Peace Treaty of 1783 dud not actually grant independence, but rather a limited, revocable autonomy.

“lay waste all the settlements around. . . that the country may not be merely overrun but destroyed.”

-Washington’s order for the war against the Iroquois, 1779

Perpetuating the Frontier of Exclusion

• One historian calls the campaign against the Indians, “the most ruthless application of sorched-earth policy in American history.” Looting graves, skinning bodies, killing women and children. Iroqois retaliate in summer 1780 with their own attacks on American settlements.

• The new United States will swing from one pole to the other throughout the 19th Century

The Pendulum Swings from Exclusion to Genocide

. “On the morning of March 7, 1782. . . . militiamen dragged the helpless Delewares by two and threes to a cabin later described by the militiamen as ‘the slaughter house.’ One of the militiamen bludgeoned fourteen Indians with a cooper’s mallet before turning the job over to another solider. “My arm fails me,” he said. “Go on with the work, I have done pretty well.” Williamson’s men scalped the corpses and divided the trophies.” Burned the village to the ground. “Only two of the 96 Delaware's survived to spread word about the massacre.”

The Myth of the “Minutemen” and Citizen Soldiers

“[A] band of brotherhood. . . [we] sympathized with each other in trouble and sickness, assisted in

bearing each other’s burdens, [and] endeavored to conceal each other’s faults.” -- John Plum Morton.

“There is a hundred times more enthusiasm for this Revolution in any Paris café than in all the colonies together.”

-- Louis Duportail, Chief Engineer of the Continental Army, 1777

Throughout the War, Colonists will Remain Divided over the Issues of Independence and Revolution

Only about a quarter to a third of colonists support Independence of England, even by the end of the war. (ranges from 25-40 percent depending on the historian you read.)

Class Divisions within the Ranks, Class Divisions within the Ranks, Among Citizens and in BritainAmong Citizens and in Britain

Mutiny in the Continental ArmyMutiny in the Continental ArmyOpen Class Warfare in PhiladelphiaOpen Class Warfare in PhiladelphiaLegacy of Rebellion and the Postwar EraLegacy of Rebellion and the Postwar Era– Among the many things it did, the Revolution fueled a Among the many things it did, the Revolution fueled a

revival of the idea of a moral economy that revival of the idea of a moral economy that condemned the untrammeled manipulation of the condemned the untrammeled manipulation of the market. . . . In the view of those who held to the idea market. . . . In the view of those who held to the idea of a ‘moral economy,’ the exchange of goods and the of a ‘moral economy,’ the exchange of goods and the setting of prices were not simply impersonal setting of prices were not simply impersonal transactions governed by the laws of supply and transactions governed by the laws of supply and demand operating across a vast Atlantic commercial demand operating across a vast Atlantic commercial network. Rather, they were intensely personal and network. Rather, they were intensely personal and local transactions that must work for the greater good local transactions that must work for the greater good of the community.of the community.

“Our country, ever mindful of its suffering army, opened her sympathizing heart so wide upon this occasion as to give us something to make the world stare. And what do you think it was, reader? Guess. You cannot guess, be you as much of a Yankee as you will. I will tell you: It gave us half a gill [4 oz.] of rice and a tablespoon of vinegar! [With] this extraordinary superabundant donation, we were ordered out to attend a meeting and hear a sermon delivered upon the happy occasion. . . . the army was now not only starved but naked. The greatest part were not only shirtless and barefoot but destitute of all other clothing, especially blankets.”

-- John Plum Morton on the national day of “Thanksgiving” for the Continental Army, Dec. 18, 1777

First Signs of Irreconcilable Disagreement

• Philadelphia during the Revolution

• Philadelphia Mechanics/Artisans and seamen versus Merchant Elite

• The Elite Cave into the British

• The Working Classes and Fort Wilson

“. . . a republic is not any particular form of government.” -Tom Paine

Philadelphia Militia

• “In the midst of money we are in poverty and exposed to want in a land of plenty. . . . Down with your prices, or down with yourselves. For by the living and eternal God, we will bring every article down to what it was last Christmas, or we will [put] down. . . those who opposed. We have turned out against the enemy and we will not be eaten up by monopolizes and forestallers.” – Philadelphia Artisan

Mercy Otis Warren called the Continental dollars “immense heaps of paper trash.” “Not worth a Continental” became a common saying. By 1779, continental dollar is worth 4 cents in gold.

Take Down the Union Jack

The American Revolution as Britain’s Vietnam War

The countries which possess the colonies of America, and which trade directly to the East Indies, enjoy, indeed, the whole show and splendour of this great commerce. Other countries, however, notwithstanding all the invidious restraints by which it is meant to exclude them, frequently enjoy a greater share of the real benefit of it. The colonies of Spain and Portugal, for example, give more real encouragement to the industry of other countries than to that of Spain and Portugal. . .

After all the unjust attempts, therefore, of every country in Europe to engross to itself the whole advantage of the trade of its own colonies, no country has yet been able to engross to itself anything but the expense of supporting in time of peace, and of defending in time of war, the oppressive authority which it assumes over them. The inconveniencies resulting from the possession of its colonies, every country has engrossed to itself completely. The advantages resulting from their trade it has been obliged to share with many other countries.

At first sight, no doubt, the monopoly of the great commerce of America naturally seems to be an acquisition of the highest value. To the undiscerning eye of giddy ambition, it naturally presents itself amidst the confused scramble of politics and war, as a very dazzling object to fight for. The dazzling splendour of the object, however the immense greatness of the commerce, is the very quality which renders the monopoly of it hurtful, or which makes one employment, in its own nature necessarily less advantageous to the country than the greater part of other employments, absorb a much greater proportion of the capital of the country than what would otherwise have gone to it. .

A Prophecy for AmericaA Prophecy for America In the flames stood & view'd the armies drawn out in the skyIn the flames stood & view'd the armies drawn out in the sky

Washington Franklin Paine & Warren Allen Gates & Lee:Washington Franklin Paine & Warren Allen Gates & Lee:And heard the voice of Albion’s Angel give the thunderous And heard the voice of Albion’s Angel give the thunderous command:command:His plagues obedient to his voice flew forth out of their cloudsHis plagues obedient to his voice flew forth out of their cloudsFalling upon America, as a storm to cut them offFalling upon America, as a storm to cut them offAs a blight cuts the tender corn when it begins to appear.As a blight cuts the tender corn when it begins to appear.Dark is the heaven above, & cold & hard the earth beneath;Dark is the heaven above, & cold & hard the earth beneath;And as a plague wind fill'd with insects cuts off man & beast;And as a plague wind fill'd with insects cuts off man & beast;And as a sea o'erwhelms a land in the day of an earthquake; And as a sea o'erwhelms a land in the day of an earthquake;

Fury! rage! madness! in a wind swept through AmericaFury! rage! madness! in a wind swept through AmericaAnd the red flames of Orc that folded roaring fierce aroundAnd the red flames of Orc that folded roaring fierce aroundThe angry shores, and the fierce rushing of th'inhabitants The angry shores, and the fierce rushing of th'inhabitants together:together:The citizens of New-York close their books & lock their chests;The citizens of New-York close their books & lock their chests;The mariners of Boston drop their anchors and unlade;The mariners of Boston drop their anchors and unlade;The scribe of Pennsylvania casts his pen upon the earth;The scribe of Pennsylvania casts his pen upon the earth;The builder of Virginia throws his hammer down in fear. The builder of Virginia throws his hammer down in fear.

Then had America been lost, o'erwhelm'd by the Atlantic,Then had America been lost, o'erwhelm'd by the Atlantic,And Earth had lost another portion of the infinite,And Earth had lost another portion of the infinite,But all rush together in the night in wrath and raging fireBut all rush together in the night in wrath and raging fireThe red fires rag'd! the plagues recoil'd!The red fires rag'd! the plagues recoil'd!

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