Transcript SSUSH1: The student will describe European

Explain how the American colonists came to the idea of
“Independence.”
After meeting for more than a year, the 2nd Continental Congress
reluctantly began to favor independence rather than
reconciliation. Fighting between Massachusetts and the British
and New York and the British had already broken out. Still, not all
of the colonies were in favor of separating from Great Britain. In a
last attempt at reconciliation, the Congress sent an Olive Branch
Petition to King George III. King George rejected it.
On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution
declaring the colonies to be independent. Five delegates, including
Thomas Jefferson formed a committee to write a statement in
support of Lee’s resolution.
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence, where did the
ideas come from and what did it say?
The Declaration was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and listed
specific grievances against George III’s government and also
expressed the basic principles that justified revolution: “We
hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.”
These ideas were not specifically Jefferson’s own, they were
based on the Enlightenment philosophies of John Locke: in
his writings he had expressed that all men were created
equal and should be allowed life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. Another Enlightenment thinker, Montesquieu,
had previously written that the best governments were
those that were created by those who were to be governed.
These two writers had a significant influence on the words
chosen by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.
What was the significance of the French alliance and foreign
assistance in the American Revolution? What role did
Benjamin Franklin play in this regard?
The colonists knew at the beginning of the war that they would need foreign
assistance to win the war against the British. They sent Benjamin Franklin as an
envoy to King Louis XVI to win their help. But it was not until after the colonial
victory at the Battle of Saratoga that the French were persuaded to come to the
aid of the Americans.
The French king thought he could weaken his country’s traditional enemy, Great
Britain, by helping undermine its colonial empire. The French had secretly aided
the colonists since 1775 with money and supplies. After Saratoga in 1778, the
French openly allied itself with the Americans. A year later, the Spanish and the
Dutch also entered the war against the British. The French alliance proved to be
the decisive factor in the struggle for independence because it widened the war
and forced the British to divert military resources away from America.
Who was the Marquis de Lafayette and what role
did he play in the American Revolution?
The Marquis de Lafayette outfitted a ship with his own funds and
sailed for America in 1777. He landed in South Carolina and joined
the forces of George Washington as an unpaid volunteer. He
returned to France in 1779 to promote American interests and
then came back in 1781 to lead American forces in Virginia against
Lord Cornwallis. He helped lead the American forces to victory in
the Revolutionary War and then served as a diplomatic aid to
Benjamin Franklin during peace negotiations.
Discuss how the Continental Army was organized and the
military role George Washington played in the American
Revolution.
George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the new
colonial army in 1775 by the Second Continental Congress. He was sent
to Boston to lead the Massachusetts militia and volunteer units from
other colonies. General Washington never had more than 20,000 regular
troops under his command at one time since most soldiers were
reluctant to travel outside of their own regions. They would serve in local
militia units and then leave to attend to their farms.
Washington’s army was chronically short of supplies, poorly equipped
and rarely paid. When the British offered freedom to any slaves that
joined their effort in the war, Washington decided to do the same.
Approximately 5000 African Americans fought as Patriots in the
Revolutionary War. The first three years of the war, 1775-77 went badly
for Washington’s army. It barely escaped complete disaster in the battle
for New York City in 1776.
What was the significance of the crossing of the
Delaware River and Valley Forge?
Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, occurred on December 25, 1776
during the American Revolutionary War, and was the first move in a planned
surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in
Trenton, New Jersey. Planned in partial secrecy, Washington led a column of
Continental Army troops across the icy Delaware River in a logistically
challenging and potentially dangerous operation. Other planned crossings in
support of the operation were either called off or ineffective, but this did not
prevent Washington from successfully surprising and defeating the German
troops.
By the end of 1777, the British occupied both New York and Philadelphia. After
losing Philadelphia, Washington’s demoralized troops suffered through a severe
winter of 1777-1778 camped at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. Conditions were
horrible. Washington lost 2000 of his 10,000 troops due to the conditions at
Valley Forge – starvation, disease and freezing cold.
What happened at Yorktown and who led the British forces
there?
In 1781, the last major battle of the Revolutionary War was fought
near Yorktown, Virginia on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay.
Strongly supported by the French naval and military forces,
Washington’s army forced the surrender of a large British army
commanded by General Charles Cornwallis. The Americans were
victorious as they French bottled up the British navy and the
colonial forces beat them on land. Cornwallis was defeated and
had to surrender.
The Revolutionary War was over and the colonists had their
independence.
What were the terms of the Treaty of Paris, 1783 that ended
the Revolutionary War?
In Paris in 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed ending the war. It
provided for the following: Britain would recognize the existence
of the United States as an independent nation, the Mississippi
River would be the western boundary of that nation and the
Americans would pay debts owed to British merchants and honor
Loyalist claims for property confiscated during the war.