Transcript Chapter8Notes

America Secedes from the Empire 1775 - 1783
After the humiliation served Britain at Concord, 20,000 militia
men converged on Boston to surround the British forces.
May 10, 1775 – one month after Lexington and Concord –
delegates to the Second Continental Congress gathered to
do several things:
 They
drafted a DECLARATION OF CAUSES AND
NECESSITIES FOR TAKING UP ARMS, a call for the
colonies to provide troops.
 George
Washington was named Commander in Chief of the
Continental Army (because he was a Southerner; VA was the
largest colony; GW was an aristocrat; he was NOT a NE
Radical).
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
The Battle of Breeds Hill / Bunker Hill

June 17, 1775 – colonials had fortified Breed’s Hill on the
Charlestown peninsula, across the river from Boston. It
overlooked a smaller hill, Bunker Hill.

Under General Howe, the British charged the hill twice,
losing scores of men. On the third frontal assault, the
British succeeded in taking the fort after the colonials ran
out of ammo and were forced to retreat.

The British suffered 228 dead and 800 wounded in a battle
that mistakenly went down in history as Bunker Hill.

Even after this bloodshed, the colonists hoped for
reconciliation, not revolution.

July 1775 – Congress sends to KG THE OLIVE BRANCH
PETITION that professed loyalty to the Crown and the hope
for an end to the fighting.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
The King’s Response

August 1775 - KG says “wouldn’t be prudent” and
declared the colonies to be in rebellion, a crime
punishable by death.

Parliament shuts down all shipping between England
and America, and KG hired thousands of HESSIANS,
German soldiers with an ancestry of warfare and
military training.

This shocked many colonists that thought of growing
tensions as a dispute between family.

Fall/winter 1775 - British burn Falmouth, MN; Colonials
attack Montreal and Quebec; British burn Norfolk, VA;

January 1776 – Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
The
Philadelphia journalist’s pamphlet changed
people’s way of thinking and clarified how colonials
felt about the war. Pamphlet sold 120,000 copies in
3 months and was repeatedly reprinted.
Paine
accused KG of enslaving the American
people.
Paine
said that it was against common sense that
the huge continent of NA should be dominated by
the small British isles – a whole ocean away.
England
(Corrupt Old Power) vs. America (New
Power / “Asylum of Liberty”) that should be an
independent republic. Must declare intentions.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Inching closer to Independance

June 7, 1776 – Richard Henry Lee of VA proposed that the
colonies should become free and independent states.

Lee’s motion was adopted on July 2, 1776

The declaration of the motion was approved on July 4, 1776.
It was the work of TJ, and equated to an explanation to the
world of the radical actions being undertaken. TJ borrowed
liberally from John Locke and Rousseau.

Jefferson’s phrase “All men are created equal” would haunt
our nation for generations. Why?

The Declaration ends with a list of grievances against KG
and outlines the things that he did to provoke the separation.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Patriots, Loyalists, and Neutrals
(Whigs) – stand behind the declaration of war. They
tended to be younger, Presbyterian, professionals (lawyers).
 Patriots
(Tories) – still showed strong support for the king.
They make up 20% of colonial population and tended to be
older, more conservative, wealthy, educated, and Anglican.
 Loyalists
 Throughout
the revolution, many Tories were persecuted and
forced to flee to Canada and abroad. In many cases, they lost
their land and businesses. Their lands were then divided up
and sold to pay for the cause.
 In
1776, the British leave Boston to set up a base of ops in
NYC. (Good harbor to hold 500 ships).
1776 – 35,000 British Regulars and Hessians, compared
to GW’s 18,000 relatively untrained troops.
 Mid
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Washington’s Victories at Trenton / Princeton

Summer / Fall 1776 – American troops retreated to
Manhattan Island and then crossed the Hudson to
NJ, and then barely escaped across the Delaware
River to PA.

General Howe failed to pursue the rebels across the
DE River, setting the stage for Washington’s most
brilliant maneuver in the winter of 1776.

In the dead of the night on December 26, 1776,
Washington’s troops cross the DE River and attack
a camp of Hessians at Trenton; captured 1K.

GW captured Princeton a week later.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Divide and Conquer
– The British devise a plan to isolate New England
from the rest of the (states).
1777
General
John Burgoyne (Gentleman Johnny) would
come down from Canada and General Howe would
advance up the Hudson from NY to meet Burgoyne at
Albany.
A third
force would advance from the west under
Colonel St. Leger.
Benedict Arnold
tied up Burgoyne’s forces at Lake
Champlain. Rather than sticking to the plan, Howe
attacked Philadelphia, defeating Washington on the
way at Brandywine Creek and Germantown.
St.
Leger was halted at Oriskany.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Divide and Conquer
1777 – Burgoyne had to surrender his entire
force to General Horatio Gates after a defeat at
Saratoga, New York.
October
Saratoga
bolstered the rebel soldier’s morale. (very
important heading into the winter at Valley Forge.)
Ben
Franklin had been desperately trying to recruit
French assistance, and this battle proved to the French
that the Americans could defeat the British. The French
could now openly support the upstarts.
France
had lost face after F&I War; she wanted to
regain a foothold in the Americas; and she wanted to
see the British lose power.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Divide and Conquer
1777 – Burgoyne had to surrender his entire
force to General Horatio Gates after a defeat at
Saratoga, New York.
October
Saratoga
bolstered the rebel soldier’s morale. (very
important heading into the winter at Valley Forge.)
Ben
Franklin had been desperately trying to recruit
French assistance, and this battle proved to the French
that the Americans could defeat the British. The French
could now openly support the upstarts.
France
had lost face after F&I War; she wanted to
regain a foothold in the Americas; and she wanted to
see the British lose power.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
A World War?!?
Some Americans
were leery of becoming allies with the
French, particularly after France’s loss of its
landholdings in North America. But America needed
Frances help.
1778
– England declares war on France.
– Spain joins France in war against Britain,
making the American Revolution a world war.
1779
For
the remainder of the war, France supplies money
and manpower, ½ of the regular troops, and a strong
fleet that could challenge the British naval blockade.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Valley Forge Demonstrates Harsh Realities of War
1777 – 78 was a brutal experience for the
Continental Army at Valley Forge.
Winter
11,000
rebel soldiers were isolated, freezing for lack of
clothing, starving for lack of food, holed up in miserable
huts.
Demonstrated
problems that plagued Washington’s
army throughout the war; a Congress that had neither
the money to pain and maintain the troops nor an
efficient system of dispensing provisions to the troops.
The
rebels were losing the war for the “hearts and
minds” of the people because most farmers and
merchants preferred to supply the British who could pay
in gold.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Help is On the Way . . .
One
bright spot was the arrival of Baron Von Steuben, a
Prussian soldier of fortune. Von Steuben instilled
discipline in the troops by drilling in formations.
Von
Steuben’s tactics increased morale and
camaraderie, enabling the weary soldiers to make it
through the winter.
– The British chose to leave Philadelphia for New
York. Washington engages them at Monmouth, NJ; he
spends much of the remainder of the war keeping the
British hemmed in NY.
1778
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
The Southern Campaign
– 79 – After their loss at Saratoga, the British
begin a new strategy to conquer the colonies from the
south.
1778
Battles
in Georgia and South Carolina, particularly in
Charleston in 1780, are characterized by severe
fighting between loyalists and patriots in the countryside
(the back country).
Most
of these battles were under the command of
British Commander Clinton. He leaves his command to
Charles, Lord Cornwallis
Two
notable rebel victories were Kings Mountain and
Cowpens in 1781, both under the rebel command of
Nathaniel Greene.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Fighting on the Frontier
Throughout
the war, the frontier was the scene of
bloody battles involving innocent civilians. The British
enlisted the help of their Native American allies,
including the tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy.
George
Rogers Clark played an important role in many
of these battles, particularly in the Illinois territory,
where he captured Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes.
Why did the Native Americans side with the British?
They
remembered the Proclamation of 1763 and
assumed that they had better chance with the British
than with the land-grabbing Americans.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
Caught Between a Rock and A Hard Place
Cornwallis
continued his southern trek up the coast and
ended up at Yorktown awaiting supplies.
Cornwallis
was confident that the superior British naval
fleet would protect him.
Unfortunately
for him, the British ships were busy in
their own seas, defending Gibralter.
By
the end of September 7,800 Frenchmen, 5700
Continentals, and 3200 militia men had Cornwallis
cornered at Yorktown.
After
a victory in the Caribbean, the French navy sailed
up from the West Indies to blockade the Chesapeake
Bay.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
The World Turned Upside Down
19, 1781 – as the band played “The World
Turned Upside Down” Cornwallis’ second in command
surrendered his sword.
October
He
initially tried to surrender to Rochambeau, the
French commander,** but the Frenchman refused,
pointing to Washington, who then pointed to his second
in command.
Fighting
continued for a year after Yorktown, but that
battle sounded the death knell for the British forces.
The
Treaty of Paris (1783) was negotiated by Ben
Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay.
They
made a “separate peace” with the new Whig govt.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas
The Treaty of Paris (1783)
Great
Britain recognized American Independence.
United
States territory would run west to the Mississippi,
North to the Great Lakes, and South to Florida.
The
United States promised to stop persecution of
Loyalists and Congress agreed to recommend the
restoration of Loyalists’ property.
Congress
also agreed that the states would put no
lawful obstacles in the way of British creditors collection
of debts owed by the Americans.
The
end result was a tremendous loss of power and
money on a world wide basis for Britain. France also
lost a great deal in the negotiations with the Americans.
Chapter 8 Notes :: America Secedes from the Empire :: Mr. Davis’ IB History of the Americas