Unit 2: The Revolution

Goals of Unit:• To recognize that colonial culture took on distinct American qualities in

such areas as religion, education, press freedom, and self-government.• To be able to explain why the colonies began to thrive economically,

their mercantilist relationships with England became strained.• To understand why England’s territorial clashes with other European

powers to protect the colonies, actually hurt their relationship with the colonists.

• To identify the reasons for England’s series of taxes and restrictions, the effects these had on colonial unity, and how the political, diplomatic, and rebellious responses of the colonists helped lead to a revolution.

• To be able to explain why a small, weak, and unorganized army of rebel colonists were able to win their independence from one of the most powerful empires in the world.

Day One: Introduce Unit

GOAL OF TODAY:

To understand how the culture and customs in the colonies transformed over

time and signaled a split from English identity.

Colonial Society in the 1700s• Most populated colonies were Mass, Penn, Virginia,

Maryland, North Carolina– 9/10 colonists lived in rural areas

• New racial makeup in the colonies (% by 1775)– 6% German (Lutherans) – “Pennsylvania Dutch”– 7% Scots-Irish

• Squatters, “lawless”, fierce, independent• March of the Paxton Boys (1764), Regulator Movement in North

Carolina– 5% Assorted European groups: French Huguenots, Welsh,

Dutch, Swedes, Jews, Swiss, Irish– Races start to mingle

Colonial Society in the 1700s• Mid 1700s – Richest 10% owned about 2/3 of the

wealth– Class system especially present in the south

• Professions developing:– Clergy most honored and powerful– Physicians and medical care outdated and ineffective

(malpractice common)• First medical school not opened until 1765

– Lawyers not much used or respected• Great orators, defenders of law…

• Roads slow and dangerous• Ineffective inter-colonial mail system

Colonial Society in the 1700s• Agriculture leading industry (90%)– Fishing less profitable

• Lumbering a large industry as well• Triangular Trade– Britain can’t keep up with colonists’ demand• Leads to a trade imbalance…• Colonists’ start looking towards foreign markets

– 1733 – Molasses Act – taxed non-British imports of molasses• Colonists smuggled

Colonial Society in the 1700s• Religious tolerance increasing• Anglican and Congregational Churches become the

two most dominant• Anglican (Church of England)– Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, parts of NY– Sermons opposite of “jeremiads”– College of William and Mary (1693)

• Trained young bishops• Congregational Church– Spawned from Puritan church– Spread in all of New England (except Rhode Island)

The Great Awakening

• Churches losing influence, followers• 1730s-1740s: The First Great Awakening– Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield• Fiery preachers using scare tactics• Faith through God brings salvation, not doing good• “old lights” skeptical of “new lights”

– Results in a revitalization of religion in America• Leads to opening of Princeton, Brown, Rutgers,

Dartmouth as “new light” centers

Colonial Society in the 1700s• Art and architecture becoming popular• Art– John Trumbell, Charles Wilson Peale– Some had to finish studying in England

• Architecture combined old world and new American influence– Log cabins from Sweden– Red brick “Georgian” style in 1720

• Colonial literature – average– Ben Franklin – leading literary figure, scientist

• “Poor Richard’s Almanack”– John Peter Zenger – NY newspaper printer goes to trial for

slandering a NY governor• Found not guilty…• Freedom of Press

Colonial Politics• By 1775:– 8 colonies had royal governors (appt by king)– 3 (Maryland, Delaware, Penn) under proprietors who

chose governors – 2 – (Conn, Rhode Island) elected own governors

• 2 house legislative body common– Upper house (council) appt by the crown or

proprietors– Lower house (popular branch) elected by the people

• Self taxation with representation• Who could vote?– White, male, landowners

Day 2: Clash of Empires

GOAL OF TODAY:

To understand how and why the presence of three major European power in the Americas would lead to a struggle for power for each,

and how the wars affected the colonists.

France in Canada

• France late in colonizing North America– Had internal social problems: Catholics vs. Protestants

• 1598 – Edict of Nantes– Grants limited religious freedom to French Huguenots

(Protestants)

• 1608 – King Louis XIV interested in new world– Quebec formed and lead by Samuel de Champlain– “New France” under direct control of French crown,

no representation

New France

• One valuable resource:– Beavers (fur trapping)

• French begin to spread:– Detroit (1701) by Antoine

Cadillac– Louisiana (1682) by Robert

de La Salle– New Orleans in 1718– Illinois – produced grain –

“garden empire”– Baton Rouge, Des Moines,

Grand Teton

Clash of Empires• King William’s War (1689-1697) and Queen

Anne’s War (1702-1713)– Struggle for territory– English colonists vs. French fur-trappers, Indians and

some Spanish– No “real” troops used– French and Spanish beaten badly– Wars end with treaty• British gain Acadia (Nova Scotia), Newfoundland, and

Hudson Bay, limited trading rights in Spanish America

War of Jenkins’s Ear (1739)

• “King George’s War in America”

• English Captain had ear cut off by Spanish commander

• Britain vs. Spain fought mostly in the Caribbean sea and Georgia– French joins Spanish side

• English capture Ft. Louisborg, Nova Scotia – Was captured by New

England colonists• 1748 – Treaty signed– England then gives Ft.

Louisborg back to French– Outraged New Englanders

Causes of French & Indian War• Past wars had been

largely indecisive and insignificant in regards to territory possession

• The fertileness of the Ohio Valley discovered– Desired by both the

French and English colonies

• 1754 – The French set up Ft. Duquesne to claim the Ohio Valley– (Pittsburgh)

• Virginia governor sends young Major George Washington and a militia of 150 to claim the fort

• Washington and his men shoot and kill French officer near Duquesne

• GW hastily builds Ft. Necessity– Overtaken by

vengeful French forces

– Use of guerilla warfare (“Indian style”)

– GW surrenders, returns to Virginia

Other causes of war

• Fearing an uprising, British evict French citizens of Nova Scotia (formerly French-owned Acadia)

• They were displaced far from Acadia– Many to New Orleans– “Cajuns”

• Acadian + Injun = Cajun

Day 3: French and Indian War

GOAL OF TODAY:

To understand how a major war between England and France would actually alienate the colonists from their English protectors.

War begins…

• The French & Indian War (1754-1763)– AKA “Seven Years War” (globally)In America:• English troops & American colonists & few native tribes

vs.• French troops & French colonists & more native tribes

In Europe:• England & Prussia (Germany) & Portugal

vs. • France, Spain, Austria, Russia

Colonies Unite?

• To unite or not?• 1754 – 7 of 13 colonies

meet in Albany Congress (NY)• Ben Franklin led debates urging for unity• Eventually unsuccessful…– Colonies didn’t want to give up their

sovereignty and power– Significance?• First step towards colonial unity

Braddock’s Defeat

• 1755 – English send General Edward Braddock to conquer Ft. Duquesne

• Braddock’s men ambushed en route by French and Indian forces using guerilla warfare tactics (“Indian style)”

• Braddock refused to adapt and fight back Indian style• Ends up being killed in the battle• His aide, Washington fights back using guerilla tactics

and avoids total defeat• Effects?– Realization that guerilla warfare was superior– Indian uprisings along the borders of the English

colonies

French and Indian War

• English mistakes in war – nearing defeat–Braddock fails–Attacks on French posts in Canada fail

• William Pitt takes over (1757)–Plan:• Fight less in French West Indies• Turn attention to Quebec and Montreal• Hired newer, younger, daring officers

Step One: Capture Ft. Louisborg (1758)

Significance: Cuts off supplies and reinforcements from France

Step Two: Quebec• James Wolfe – British general chosen to

capture Quebec– 1759 – Battle of Quebec• Quebec protected by cliffs• Wolfe leads men up cliffs to surprise French• Defeats the French on Plains of Abraham next to

Quebec• Wolfe and Marquis de Montcalm (French

general) both killed– With Louisborg and Quebec fallen, Montreal

surrenders in 1760– French doomed in America

Treaty of Paris - 1763

• Results:– France gives up all land

in North America– France keeps sugar

plantations in West Indies and two St. Lawrence islands

– France forced to give Louisiana territory to Spain

– Britain takes Florida from Spain

Aftermath of War• France kicked out of North America• Spain weakened

– Indian and slave difficulties in Florida• Colonists free to move westward (up to the

Mississippi River)– Indian land shrinking fast– Ottawan uprising in Ohio Valley ruthlessly

obliterated (Pontiac’s Uprising of 1763)– Daniel Boone leads settlers into Tennessee and

Kentucky• Proclamation Line of 1763

– Whites could not settle west of Appalachian Mountains• Colonists outraged, ignore decree

– British and Colonists feud growing

Effects of War in Colonies

• Confidence boost for Britain and colonies• British not invincible• Social friction between British and colonists

emerges– British see colonists as boors, scum

• British don’t trust colonists– Colonists had traded with enemies– Some colonists wouldn’t fight without pay

• Colonies realizing their commonness

Day 4: Dissention Brewing

GOAL OF TODAY:

To understand how and why the English passed certain taxes and restrictions on the colonies,

and what the results of these act were.

Already Independent from England?

• Geographically removed• Generationally distant• Felt separated – “more advanced”• Own political system emerging– republicanism: citizens elect representatives to govern

them– “radical Whigs”

• Political party in England critical of how king would appoint positions (nepotism, bribery, corruption)• Influenced American philosophy of government

Mercantilism

• Mercantilism – economic theory that in order to have a positive gold flow (expanding their economy) a country had to export more than it imported. – Colonies established so that mother country had source of cheap

raw materials– monopolized markets for their manufactured goods. – (England → American Colonies)

• Navigation Acts – 1650– established a mercantilist relationship between England and its’

colonies.– Trade to & from America had to be on English ships.– The colonies had to purchase all manufactured goods from

England.– Raw materials from the colonies had to be sold to England.– Americans were forbidden to manufacture any goods on a large

scale.

Navigation Act in America

• Navigation Act not enforced in America until 1763 – “salutary neglect”– Geographic separation– British indifference– Smuggling

• Prime Minister Grenville• Once enforced…– Held back American growth to keep below British– Americans felt exploited by system

New Acts and Taxes on America

• Britain has large debt after wars• Sugar Act (1764)– Taxed sugar to raise revenue in Britain– After American protest, tax is lowered

• Quartering Act (1765)– Colonists forced to provide food and shelter for

British troops at anytime

• The Stamp Act (1765)– Only stamps with proof of tax payment or authorized

stamped paper legal to use• Legal documents, newspapers, pamphlets, marriage

licenses, playing cards– Purpose was to support a new large British military to

protect the colonies• Americans outraged and protested• Skeptical – what enemy?

• Grenville wants Americans to pay fair share• “Taxation without representation”

• Stamp Act Congress (1765)– 27 delegates from 9 colonies assemble in NYC,

made formal protests:• Non-importation agreements– Pledged to boycott British goods

• Drew up a “Declaration of Rights and Grievances” against Parliament and the crown

– Informal protests:• Colonists boycotting British goods• Attacking tax collectors• Stealing from British officials

– Parliament repeals Stamp Act in 1766• Then passed Declaratory Act stating England still ruled

completely over the colonies…

• Townshend Tea Tax (1767)– Taxes paper, lead, paint, and tea• “Indirect tax” – price was included in the good

(hidden)–Comparatively smaller protests arose• “Overreaction” to protests by British leads to– Suspension of NY legislature– British troops sent to rowdy Boston to enforce

laws…

• Admiralty courts – no juries, guilty until proven innocent

Day 5:

GOAL OF TODAY:

To understand how the American Revolution started and what major events led to it’s

outbreak.

Boston Massacre• March 5, 1770• 10 redcoats open fire on crowd of 60

colonists protesting in Boston – 11 die– Crispus Attucks – ex-slave killed becomes martyr– 2 redcoats found guilty of manslaughter in

following trial• Punishment: branded on the hand• Colonists outraged

Seditious Committees of Correspondence

• 1770s – Townshend Acts largely unsuccessful–King George III & Prime Minister Lord North –Repeal Townshend tax, except for tea– Samuel Adams - Committees of

Correspondence• Letter-writing network• Spreads news, information – organization

Boston Tea Party• In 1773, British East India Company– Financial trouble, overstock of tea– Granted tea monopoly in America– Colonists saw it as a hidden tax

• “Taxation without representation”

• December 16, 1773– Led by Samuel Adams– Group of men invaded the harbor, dumped 350

chests of tea• Valued at about $1,000,000

– Reaction mixed: Some cheered, some considered it anarchism

“Intolerable Acts”• British reaction to Boston Tea Party:• 1774 – Repressive Acts

– AKA “Intolerable Acts” 1. Boston Port Act shuts down Boston harbor

• Huge financial blow to colonies2. Massachusetts charter revoked3. Americans right to assemble and rule limited4. British criminals in America had preferential treatment

• 1774 – Quebec Act• Benefits French-Canadians living in British America• Colonists outraged by each part of the act1. Guaranteed religious tolerance – Catholicism

• Threat to American Protestantism2. French could have trial without juries

• Threat to American court systems3. French allowed to settle in Ohio Valley

• Proclamation Line of 1763• Americans already beat French for rights to land

First Continental Congress

• Philadelphia (Fall of 1774)• 12 of 13 colonies present• Motives:– Not demanding independence– List of grievances to London– Declaration of Rights

• Meeting adjourned with plan to reconvene in 1775 if London doesn’t change laws and acts

Shot Heard ‘Round the World• Lexington, Mass – April 1775• British soldiers march from Boston to Concord to

confiscate weapons and arrest rebel leaders John Hancock and Sam Adams

• “Minutemen” assembled and tried to stop the British troops in Lexington– Standoff ensues, first shots of war were fired– British fight off Minutemen, march on– Minutemen reassemble, block bridge into Concord– British turn around, begin to march back– Minutemen ambush and pick off British troops the whole

way back using guerilla style of warfare

Day 6: War Begins

GOAL OF TODAY:

To understand the advantages and disadvantages for both the British and the

colonists during this war and analyze how they played out as the war started.

War Begins

• Advantages:– 7.5 million people– Dominant navy, wealth– Hired German

mercenaries• “Hessians”

– 50,000 Loyalist Americans

• Disadvantages:– International conflicts

already present• Ireland, threat of France

– British apathy, sympathy• Pitt

– Geographically isolated– Subpar officers in

America

• Advantages:– Better leadership

• Washington, Ben Franklin– French aid

• Guns, supplies, money• Troops, navy later

– Fighting for freedom– Geography

• Familiar with land• Defending land, not

conquering it• No central capital for British

to capture• Disadvantages:– 2 million people only– Lack of money and wealth– No navy – French aid would

have to beat British navy

America’s Weakness• Supplies and money very limited• Soldiers trained quickly and poorly• Many deserted

– Baron von Steuben hired• Drillmaster from Prussia brought to help

• African-American population split in war– Barred from fighting at first– Some fought for British, promised freedom

• American apathy– Farmers in remote locations not interested in fighting– Merchants favored British

• Brits paid in gold, Colonists paid in paper currency soon to be worthless– “Minority war”

• Small population dedicated themselves to the cause, fought

War Begins• After Lexington and Concord – minutemen

and patriots calling for war• Second Continental Congress meets

(Philadelphia, May 1775)– Plan: Pursue peace, but prepare for war– Actions:• Sends another list of grievances• Raises money for army, navy• Appoints Washington general of continental army

First Battles• May 1775– Benedict Arnold, Ethan Allen lead “Green Mountain

Boys” raided two British forts in Vermont• Ft. Ticonderoga• Crown Point

– Significance?• Colonists acquire weaponry from British forts

Bunker Hill

• June 1775, Boston• British troops attack Bunker Hill– Frontal, uphill assault by British–Americans defense held up

• British win, but at heavy costs– “Pyrrhic victory”

• Significance?–Proves Americans can win

Petitions for Peace• Continental Congress still seeking peace

and reconciliation King George III– Want to avoid full blown war with powerful British– “Olive Branch Petition”• Pledges loyalty and asks for peace

– King George III refuses• Significance?– Full war was inevitable– Justification for rebels– Ultimatum for all colonists

Battle of Quebec• Americans attack British-owned Canada• Dec. 1775 – General Montgomery,

Benedict Arnold march towards Quebec– Relied on French Canadians to join fight, but they refused,

resisted– Montgomery killed in battle, Arnold is wounded, men

retreat

• Significance?– Big blunder for Americans– Not defending their land – trying to conquer more

Still Seeking Peace?

• Early 1776, Americans still striving for peace resolution

• English burn:– Falmouth, Maine (Oct 1775)– Norfolk, Virginia (Jan 1776)

• British pushed out of Boston in March• Colonists win two battles in the south– Moore’s Creek Bridge (Feb.)– Charleston Harbor (June)

Day 7: The Turning Point

GOAL OF TODAY:

To understand how a strengthening of political unity among the colonies helped lead to a

shift of momentum in the war.

Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”

• Insisted on American independence– Physically bigger America, being ruled by smaller

England– Pamphlet disrespects King– Called for a republic– The time had come to break away… it was just

“common sense”– “Republicanism”• people elect representatives to rule for them – more

power to people• Paine’s idea of gov’t well received

Declaring Independence

• 2nd Continental Congress reconvenes (June 1776)– Richard Henry Lee• Virginian delegate calling for independence

– Congress finally decides to officially break from England• Declaration of Independence

– Written by Thomas Jefferson– Formal statement of intendance sent to Britain

1. Preamble2. Statement of rights

• Based on John Locke’s works• Unalienable rights – “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” …

“all men are created equal”3. List of grievances 4. Statement of separation

– Significance?• Officially rebels, allowed for foreign aid, Americans had to win war• Loyalists now official enemies

Battles of New York, Long Island

• March 1776 – British evacuate Boston, eye NY as new headquarters

• Huge British fleet arrives from Nova Scotia• Washington and 20,000 defend NY and

Long Island during summer and fall of 1776 and lose battles in:– Brooklyn, Harlem, White Plains, and

Long Island– Retreats to Pennsylvania

• Dec 26, 1776 – Launches surprise attack on Hessians in Trenton– Second victory comes a week later in

Princeton• Significance?– Boosts American morale– Americans had not lost the war yet

Britain’s New Plan for Victory• Focus on New England, divide

colonies– Three large armies (Leger,

Burgoyne, Howe) to join at Albany– Capturing Albany cuts off North

from South• Problems:

– Benedict Arnold stalls British near Lake Champlain

– Terrain was tough to navigate through

– Leger’s troops lose battle at Oriskany and turn back

– General Howe ditches plan and turns south to attack GW in Phila.• Washington and men retreat for

the winter• Howe occupies Philadelphia,

becomes “comfortable” there

Significance?-British unorganized-Poor leadership

Battle of Saratoga• (Sep 1777) Burgoyne and 7000 arrive in Albany

for battle–Tired, hungry, alone–American reinforcements arrive–Burgoyne outnumbered 6-1, surrenders

• Significance?–First major American victory–Huge boosts for American morale–Convinced French to aid Americans openly,

not just secretly

French Aid• Continental Congress sends delegates to Paris

seeking an alliance with France–French want revenge on British–London was willing to compromise after Battle

of Saratoga•Offered to meet all demands, except

independence• Franklin used this to his advantage to scare

French into an alliance• Franco-American Treaty (1778)–France official ally of America–France recognizes American independence–Pledged a military alliance

Day 8: Winning Independence

GOAL OF TODAY:

To understand how and why the Americans will end up victorious in the Revolutionary War

and gain their independence.

Colonial War Grows

• 1778 – England and France go to war• 1779 – Holland and Spain joined France– Spanish/French Navy now outnumbers British

• 1780 – Russia forms the “Armed Neutrality”– Allied neutral nations around the world against

England• Significance?– War in America becoming secondary

Effects of French Alliance

• France offered what America was lacking…–A Navy

• Britain’s naval blockade was in jeopardy now• Britain evacuates Philadelphia, moves to NY

to shorten supply lines–Battle of Monmouth (June 1778)• Americans attack British leaving

Philadelphia• Indecisive battle

French Arrive, War Rages On

• 1780 – 6,000 French troops arrive in Rhode Island–Comte de Rochambeau

• 1780 – Benedict Arnold trades sides• British attack in South–Guerilla style, better tactics favor Americans•Marion “The Swamp Fox”• Greene “The Fighting Quaker”

–General Charles Cornwallis’s troops exhausted

• Most Indian tribes side with British–Chief Joseph Brant leads raids in 1777-79–Treat of Ft. Stanwix (1779)•American-Indian treaty• Indians surrender most land

• George Rogers Clark–Lead attacks on British forts in the west

• American Navy disrupts shipping lines–John Paul Jones–Privateers (legal American pirates)

Yorktown (Fall of 1781)

• Cornwallis and men baited north to Chesapeake Bay–Wanted access to British naval

supply line• French navy seals off bay• Washington and Rochambeau

move south and close off peninsula–Trapped, Cornwallis fights and

surrenders• War “officially” over in America

Treaty of Paris• English lose in America, losing battles worldwide –

want to end war completely• Americans send delegates to Paris for peace treaty–Franklin, John Adams, John Jay• Jay suspicious of French intentions

• Treaty of Paris (1783)–Ends American Revolution–England recognizes American independence–Americans retain some fishing rights in North

Atlantic–Loyalists’ equal rights were guaranteed