Transcript American Revolution - mshughesushistoryclass

Why did Britain liked having the
Colonies?
Why did Britain liked having the Colonies?
 MERCANTILISM: a country’s ultimate goal was self-
sufficiency and that all countries were in a competition
to acquire the most gold and silver.
 American colonies were Britain’s main market to sell
their goods, and also a source for all their raw
materials.
 In order to finance debts from French and Indian War,
as well as other European, Parliament started taxing
the colonies.
What different acts were passed?
What was the colonists’ reaction to the acts?
What different acts were passed?
What
The Stamp
Act (1765)
was the
colonists’ reaction to the acts?
 The Stamp Act required colonists to purchase special stamped
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paper for every legal document, license, newspaper, pamphlet,
and almanac, and imposed special “stamp duties” on packages
of playing cards and dice.
People who disobeyed the law, were sent to trial, where
convictions were regular.
Protests to the Stamp Act
Sons of Liberty(SOL): a group of Boston shop-keepers,
artisans, and laborers organized a secret resistance group.
Founder Samuel Adams.
By the end of 1765 the SOL was harassing customs workers,
stamp agents, and royal governors.
The Stamp Act was effective on November 1, 1765, and the
colonial protests prevented any stamps being sold
What different acts were passed?
 Protests
Stamp Act
What
was to
thethe
colonists’
reaction to the acts?
 In October 1765, delegates from nine colonies met in
NYC. This was known as the Stamp Act Congress.
 They issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances,
which stated that Parliament lacked the power to
impose taxes on the colonies because the colonists
were not represented.
 The boycott worked and in March 1766, Parliament
repealed the Stamp Act.
 Declaratory Act: Parliament had the right to create
laws for the colonies.
What different acts were passed?
What was the colonists’ reaction to the acts?
 The Townshend Acts:
 Townshend acts: (1767) Parliament passed an indirect tax
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on imported materials (glass, lead, paint and paper) as they
came into the colonies from Britain.
This imposed a three-penny tax on tea, the most popular
drink in the colonies.
Protest to the Townshend Acts:
The colonists reacted with rage and well-organized
resistance.
“No taxation with representation.”
Wealthy women stopped buying British luxuries and joined
other women in spinning bees- a public demonstration of
colonists making their own clothes and made tea from
birch bark and sage.
Tension Mounts in Massachusetts
 June 1768 British
agents inin
Boston
seized the Liberty, a
Tension
Mounts
Massachusetts
ship owned by John Hancock and accused him of
smuggling.
 This cause riots against customs agents and the British
stationed 2,000 “redcoats” or British soldiers in Boston.
 This led to the tension in Boston.
Tension Mounts in Massachusetts
 The Boston Massacre
 Background: Tension started when the poorly paid soldiers were
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looking for extra work in local shipyards during off-duty hours
On March 5, 1770 a fist-fight broke out over jobs.
That night one guard, British Private Hugh White stands alone outside
the Custom House.
That night a mob gathered in front of the Customs House and taunted
the guards.
White is all alone, and calls for help. Captain Thomas Preston and 7
other guards come to help.
The crowd taunts the soldiers to fire.
Private Hugh Montgomery is knocked down and someone yells fire!
The soldiers shoot into the crowd.
In the end, Crispus Attucks and four other men were dead in the snow.
Tension Mounts in Massachusetts
 Boston Massacre Continued
 Samuel Adams and other colonial agitators labeled this
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confrontation the Boston Massacre, thus presenting it as a
British attack on defenseless citizens.
As English subjects they were tried in the Superior Court of
Judicature, the highest court in Massachusetts.
John Adams was their lawyer, one of our future Presidents.
The Loyalists wanted them pardon, the patriots wanted them
found guilty.
Kilroy and Montgomery faced the death penalty, but used the
“prayed the benefit of the clergy”.
The majority of the people couldn’t read. So if you could, you
were off for murder.
They were branded with a “M” on the right thumb so they
couldn’t use this again.
Samuel Adams wrote several articles for the Boston Gazette
under the name “Vindex” claimed that the soldiers escaped with
blood on their hands.
Tension Mounts in Massachusetts
 The Boston Tea Party
 In 1773 Lord Frederick North, the British Prime Minister,
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was having a problem.
The British East India Company was loosing a lot of money
due to the colonist’s boycott on tea.
Their warehouses had 17 million pounds of tea laying
around.
To solve this problem they enacted the Tea Act, which
would get rid of the tax that colonists had to pay on their
tea.
Instead the colonists hated the Tea Act, because it made
local tea more expensive compared to British tea.
On December 16, 1773, a large group of rebels disguised
themselves as Native Americans and proceeded to take
action against three British Tea Ships anchored in the
 The Intolerable Acts
Tension mounts in Massachusetts
 In 1774 Parliament responded to King George III
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responded by passing a series of measures that British
called the Coercive Acts or the colonists fondly called the
Intolerable Acts.
The Intolerable Acts included:
Shut down Boston harbor because colonists refused to pay
for damaged tea.
Quartering act: authorized British commanders to house
soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings.
General Thomas Gage, the commander in chief of the
British soldiers became the governor of Massachusetts. To
keep the peace he placed Boston under martial law.
The Colonies Unite
The Colonies Unite
 The First Continental Congress.
 The First Continental Congress came together in
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September 1773. 56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew
up a declaration of colonial rights.
They defended the colonies’ right to run their affairs.
They believed they had the right to fight against the British
if they were abusing their privileges.
They also agreed to met again in May 1775 if their demands
were not met.
Now minutemen or civilian soldiers began to stockpile
firearms.
The Colonies Unite
 Lexington and Concord
 Gage prepares to send men to Concord to destroy all the Minutemen’s
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arms.
Paul Revere was sent to warn the men of Concord that the British were
coming. He organized a network of riders who would spread the alarm.
On April 19, 1775 the king’s troops have reached Lexington.
They saw 70 Minutemen on the battlefield.
Someone fired and the British soldiers shot into the militia.
8 Minutemen were killed, 10 were wounded, but only 1 British soldier
was injured.
The battle lasted 15 minutes
It was known as the shot that was heard around the world.
They continued on to Concord where they found the arsenal empty.
The British soldiers were heading back up to Boston, when 3,000-4,000
Minutemen hide behind trees and stone walls. British soldiers fell by
the dozen.
The War Begins
The
WarContinental
BeginsCongress:
 The Second
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John Adams suggested the following:
Each colony set up their own government
The Congress declare the colonies independent.
Make the militiamen became the Continental
Congress and have a general to lead them.
 Congress agreed to recognize them as a Continental
army and appointed 43 year old George Washington.
 This time Congress began acting like an independent
government by printing paper money to pay troops
and organized a committee to deal with foreign
nations.
The War Begins
 The Battle of Bunker Hill
 On June 17, 1775 British General Thomas Gage sent
almost 2,400 British soldiers to meet the militiamen
on Breed’s Hill.
 The British army lined up in the customary broad
lines.
 They ran up the hill in 3 waves, and the British only
succeeded because the colonists ran out of
ammunition.
 The colonists lost 450 men, while the British lost 1,000
causalities.
 It was the deadliest battle of the war.
The War Begins
 Olive Branch Petition
 Many of the Colonists felt loyal to England and King
George III.
 On July 8, 1775 the loyalists sent the Olive Branch
Petition to the King in hopes to regain peace in the
colonies.
 King George said no and ordered Parliament to set up
a blockade of the American coast because the colonies
were in a rebellion.
Creating the Declaration of Independence
Creating the Declaration of Independence
 Common Sense:
 An anonymous 50 page pamphlet written by Thomas
Paine attacking King George III.
 It stated the following:
 It declared that the time had come for the colonists to
claim their independence.
 It was their “destiny” to trade freely to gain guns,
ammunition, and foreign aid to gain victory over Britain.
 That independence would give Americans the chance to
create a better society.
 It sold nearly 500,000 copies and was widely
applauded.
Creating the Declaration of Independence
 Declaring Independence
 By the summer 1776 the colonies were slowly declaring
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their independence.
The writers were: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin,
Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman
The Declaration of Independence drew on the ideas of
John Locke.
He stated that the people should enjoy “natural rights”
to life, liberty and property.
Jefferson described these rights as “Life, Liberty and
the Pursuit of Happiness”.
The Declaration also stated another one of Locke’s
ideas; that the government should take their power by
consent of the people.
Creating the Declaration of Independence
 The Declaration of Independence cont…
 The Declaration also stated another one of Locke’s ideas;
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that the government should take their power by consent of
the people.
Also that people had the right to change or abolish any
government that threatened their unalienable rights
(natural rights).
They also had the right to create a government that will
uphold these rights.
It also stated that “all men are created equal”.
This meant that all free citizens are equal political equals,
not that all men are equal.
On July 2, 1776 the delegates voted unanimously that the
American colonies were free.
July 4, 1776 they adopted the Declaration of Independence.
The War
The War
 The Loyalists and the Patriots
 The Loyalists were opposed to independence and
wanted to remain loyal to the crown.
 Some knew little of the revolution.
 They thought Britain was going to win the war.
 They thought the crown would protect their rights more
effectively than the new colonial governments would.
 Many slaves fought because they were promised their
freedom.
 Native Americans believed that the British were less of a
threat than the colonists.
The War
 The Patriots were supporters of independence.
 Patriots wanted freedom for many other reasons.
 Some saw economic opportunity.
 They wanted political freedom.
 They embraced many different people: farmers, artisans,
merchants, landowners, and elected officials.
 Patriots made up half of the population.
 Now America was fighting a war of Independence and a
Civil war between their own countrymen.
Military Strengths and Weaknesses
United States
Great Britain
Strengths
Weaknesses
Strengths
Weaknesses
Familiarity of
home ground
Most soldiers were
untrained and
undisciplined
Strong, welltrained army and
navy
Large distance
separating Britain
from battlefields
Leadership of
George
Washington and
other officers
Shortage of food
and ammunition
Strong central
government with
available funds
Troops unfamiliar
with terrain
Inspiring cause of
the independence
Inferior navy
Support of
colonial Loyalists
and Native
Americans
Weak Military
leaders
No central
government to
enforce wartime
policies
Sympathy of
certain British
politicians for the
American cause
Time Line of the War
The Empire Strikes Back!!!!
Time Line of the War
 Fort Ticonderoga, NY: May, 10 1775
 Located in upstate New York
 Mission: capture Britain's weapons.
 Led by Ethan Allen, who led the Green Mountain Boys and
Benedict Arnold.
 400 men are successful invaded the fort, it is significant because
the colonists got artillery and it raised their morale.
 Defeat in NY. – Battle of Long Island: June to September of
1776
 The British Soldiers: 22,000 men, including German
Mercenaries or Hessians, and Scottish Highland warriors.
American: 19,000 men.
 They were forced to retreat, due to being outnumbered and
poorly trained.
 Left with only 8,000 men.
Time Line of the War
 The Battle of Trenton, NJ:
 Washington was going to risk everything on 12/25/1776.
 He led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the Delaware River.
 They marched 9 miles through the snow to Trenton, NJ.
 The Hessians felt safe because of the storm, and were drunk and
asleep.
 Americans kill 30 enemies, took 918 captives and 6 cannons.
 The War: 1777
 The war was fought on four front
 Upstate NY and New England
 NJ, PA and downstate NY
 The South
 Western Frontier
 Diplomatic Front: France: diplomats John Adams and Ben
Franklin
Time Line of the War
 Battle of Princeton, NJ: January 2,1777
 General Charles Cornwallis planned to attack GW’s men at night
 GW sent troops to do a surprise attack
 January 3rd American General Hugh Mercer fought the two British
units.
 The line was fading, and GW rode into battle., and had a stunning
victory.
 They retired to Morristown, NJ
 Brandywine, PA: September 10, 1777
 GW was parading his men, not realizing the Howe landed his troops
near Philadelphia.
 They met at Brandywine, where GW had to retreat his men to the
capital. Congress and GW’s men fled, while Howe took the city.
 October 4: GW attacked the bulk of Howe’s men at Germantown, PA,
but was defeated.
Time Line of the War
 Valley Forge, VA
 Conditions at Valley Forge were harsh. Out of the 10,000
men, ¼ died to disease, starvation, and freezing to
death, while others fled.
 Prussian Officer, Baron Friedrich von Steuben trained
the soldiers. He was a captain and talented drillmaster
volunteer to help Washington get the soldiers ready for
war.
 Nathaniel Green, new quartermaster, who alleviated
many of the problems at the forge.
 The men were ready for battle, and May of 1778 France
declared war on England.
Time Line of the War
 Saratoga, NY: 1777
 General John Burgoyne wanted to end the war.
 He expected that General Howe would be at Albany to meet him
to cut off N. England from the rest of the colonies.
 He seized Fort Ticonderoga, lost men at Bennington, but was
destroyed at Saratoga by the leadership of General Benedict
Arnold.
 Guilford Courthouse, NC: March 15, 1781
 GW choose the general Nathaniel Greene to take over the
campaign in the South.
 He fought Commander Cornwallis, who defeated the colonists.
 Bright side: Cornwallis had to retreat some of his men to the
interior of NC and Britain finally realized this was not going to
be easy.
The War
 Yorktown: 1781
 Britain used the coast to move men and supplies
 Marquis de Lafayette: a brave, idealistic 20 year old French
aristocrat. He came to help Washington as well. He was able to
get French reinforcements in 1779, and commanded the
American troops in Virginia in the last two years of the war.
 Lafayette was able to convince King Louis XVI to send a fleet.
 Admiral Francois de Grasse arrived in the Chesapeake Bay on
August 5, and defeated the British navy.
 The French navy block Cornwallis’s escape route from the
Chesapeake Bay, and the 16,000 French and American troops
surrounded the British troops.
 The siege lasted 3 weeks, and finally surrendered on October 17,
1781.
 On October 19 General Charles O’Hara, representing Cornwallis,
handed over his sword to George Washington and the French. A
symbol of the British’s surrender.
The War
The War
 Civilians at War:
 As the men marched off, women had to take care of the
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home, farm and businesses.
Ben Franklin’s daughter, Sarah Franklin Bache, organized
volunteers to mend clothes for soldiers.
Many women made ammunition from household items
and some followed their husbands to battle to wash, mend
and cook for the troops.
Margaret Corbin replaced a gunner and was shot.
Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley took her husband’s place at
the cannon when he was wounded at the Battle of
Monmouth. She was known to carry around pitchers of
water and was known Molly Pitcher.
Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris
 Peace talks started in Paris in 1782
 Four nations were included and each of the nations were
focused on their interests:
 U.S.: wanted freedom.
 Britain: wanted to keep America
 France: wanted to make sure that America did not become
a world power
 Spain: wanted the land between the Appalachian
Mountains and the Mississippi
 John Adams, Ben Franklin and John Jay were sent to the
negotiations to ensure that America became a free
nation.
Treaty of Paris
 The Treaty was signed in September of 1783
 The Treaty included:
 Declared the U.S. independent.
 Set the boundaries: The U.S. now went from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Mississippi River.
 But…
 British made no attempt to protect their Native
American allies.
 British did not have to leave their forts.
 British creditors could collect their money from
American Colonists.