Transcript Chapter 7 - The American Revolution, 1776-1786

Out of Many
A History of the American People
Seventh Edition Brief Sixth Edition
Chapter
7
The American
Revolution
1776-1786
Out of Many: A History of the American People, Brief Sixth Edition
John Mack Faragher • Mari Jo Buhle • Daniel Czitrom • Susan H. Armitage
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
The American Revolution
1776-1786
•
•
•
•
The War for Independence
The United States in Congress Assembled
Revolutionary Politics in the States
Conclusion
Chapter Focus Questions
• What were the major alignments and
divisions among Americans during the
American Revolution?
• What were the major campaigns of the
Revolution?
• What role did the Articles of Confederation
and the Confederation Congress play in
the Revolution?
Chapter Focus Questions
• In what ways were the states the sites for
significant political change?
North America and Valley Forge
A National Community Evolves at
Valley Forge
• Approximately 11,000 men and 700
women gathered in Valley Forge.
• Men and women at Valley Forge created a
common identity and strong bonds among
themselves.
• Leaving Valley Forge five months later,
Washington commanded a much stronger
and united army.
The War for Independence
American soldiers during the Revolution
The War for Independence
• With vastly greater resources, the British
underestimated the American capacity to
fight.
• The British falsely assumed the colonial
rebellion was the work of a small group of
disgruntled conspirators.
• Resistance was widespread and
geography stymied British strategy.
The Patriot Forces
• The militia was important in the defense of
their homes but fought poorly in major
battles.
• Final victories resulted from consistent
struggles of the Continental Army.
• Colonial social gradations in the army, with
a wide chasm between officers and
enlisted men.
The Patriot Forces (cont'd)
• Continentals and militias pressured
Congress when shortages of food and pay
erupted.
• The shared experience developed national
community.
The Toll of War
• Regiments of the Continental Army
suffered casualty rates as high as 40
percent.
• More than 25,000 Americans died in the
war.
• The South suffered more civilian
casualties than New England or the midAtlantic states.
Patriot mob torments Loyalists
The Loyalists
• Between a fifth and a third of the colonial
population remained loyal to the Crown
 including African Americans, Indians, ethnic
minorities, tenant farmers, British colonial
officials, and Anglican clergy.
• Patriots cracked down on Loyalists.
• As many as 50,000 fought for the king and
80,000 fled the country after the
Revolution, many reluctantly.
The Loyalists (cont'd)
• The most infamous British supporter was
Benedict Arnold whose name is
synonymous with treason.
Women and the War
• Women remained at home and ran the
family farms and businesses.
• Many women joined their men in the
military camps.
• On rare occasions, women played roles on
the battlefields.
• While Mercy Otis Warren’s essays brought
her fame, other women became folk
heroes.
Portrait of Mercy Otis Warren
MAP 7.1 Campaign for New York and New
Jersey, 1775–77
The Campaign for New York and
New Jersey
• The British plan: cut off New England from
the rest of the colonies by:
 Marching north from New York; and marching
south from Canada.
• Washington driven out of New York City
and pursued into New Jersey.
The Campaign for New York and
New Jersey (cont'd)
• After victories at Trenton, and Princeton,
he adopted a defensive strategy of
avoiding confrontation to insure survival of
the Continental Army.
MAP 7.2
Northern
Campaigns,
1777–78
The Northern Campaigns of 1777
• In 1777, the British tried to achieve the
goal of cutting new England off from the
rest of the colonies.
• General Burgoyne’s large army was
surrounded at Saratoga and surrendered.
• Washington lost Philadelphia and was
forced to retreat into Valley Forge.
• Congress fled Philadelphia but continued
to function.
The Northern Campaigns of 1777
(cont'd)
• After two years of war, Britain had not
been successful in suppressing the
rebellion.
A Global Conflict
• During the first two years of conflict,
French and Spanish loans helped finance
the American cause.
• The victory at Saratoga led to an alliance
with France and later with the Dutch. In
1779 Spain joined the war, though without
a formal American alliance.
• Both France and Spain worried about
American expansion.
A Global Conflict (cont.)
• The French entry into the conflict forced
the British to withdraw troops from the
mainland to protect their Caribbean
colonies.
• While France provided men and
resources, Spain waged campaigns on the
Gulf Coast and in the Mississippi Valley.
A Global Conflict (cont.) (cont'd)
• The war at sea was mainly fought between
British and French vessels, but
Continental ships raided the British
merchant shipping.
Joseph Brant, the brilliant chief of the Mohawks
MAP 7.3 Fighting in the West, 1778–79
Indian Peoples and the Revolution in
the West
• Although many Indians preferred a policy
of neutrality, their fears of American
expansion led many to side with Britain
including the Iroquois and Ohio Indians.
• Thousands of frontier civilians died at
native hands.
• American forces launched punitive
campaigns against the Iroquois and
Cherokee.
Indian Peoples and the Revolution in
the West (cont'd)
• George Rogers Clark’s victory at
Vincennes challenged British control of the
West.
MAP 7.4 Fighting in the South, 1778–81
The War in the South
• By the late 1770s, the British had shifted
their focus to the South, capturing
Savannah and Charleston.
• Violence between Loyalists and Patriots
created unrest.
• Patriot militias won battles at Kings
Mountain and Cowpens.
The War in the South (cont'd)
• General Greene harassed British forces,
persuading Cornwallis to march towards
the Chesapeake seeking reinforcements.
The Yorktown Surrender
• In 1781, Washington led 16,000 French
and American troops to southern Virginia.
• The French navy trapped Cornwallis at
Yorktown.
• After weeks of siege, the British
surrendered on October 19, 1781.
• Word of the defeat put pressure on
George III, who reluctantly opened peace
negotiations.
Famous moment during the Battle of Cowpens
that took place in January 1781.
The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis
The United States in
Congress Assembled
The Continental Congress
printed currency to finance
the Revolution
MAP 7.5 State Claims to Western Lands
The Articles of Confederation
• The Articles of Confederation created a
loose union of autonomous states.
• Congress had limited central power,
reserving powers such as taxation to the
states.
• Maryland held up ratification for three
years until the eight states with western
land claims ceded them to the national
government.
Financing the War
• Though benefiting from foreign subsidies,
Congress and the states financed the
revolution mainly by issuing paper
currency that caused runaway inflation.
• Secretary of Finance, Robert Morris, met
interest payments on the debt, but did not
persuade Congress to come up with an
independent source of income.
Negotiating Independence
• Peace negotiations began in 1782
 Resulted separate treaties between Great
Britain and the United States, France, Spain
• Spain regained Florida but France was left
without reward.
Negotiating Independence (cont'd)
• The United States gained:
 independence;
 the promise of the withdrawal of British
troops;
 land to the Mississippi River; and
 fishing rights off the Canada coast.
The Crisis of Demobilization
• Congress had neither paid the soldiers nor
delivered the officers their promised
postwar bounties or land warrants.
• Several officers stationed at Newburgh
contemplated action if Congress failed to
act, but they were shamed into accepting
civilian rule by George Washington, who
resigned his commission.
The Crisis of Demobilization (cont'd)
• Instead of military dictatorship, civilian
control of the military was firmly
established.
North America after the Treaty of
Paris, 1783
• The map of European and American
claims to North America was radically
altered by the Revolution.
MAP 7.6 North America After the Treaty of Paris,
1783
The Problem of the West
• Western land settlement raised new
issues, including:
 land losses for several Indian tribes.
 tens of thousands of Americans rushing into
the newly acquired Ohio River Valley.
American Commissioners of the Preliminary
Peace Negotiations with Great Britain, 1783–1785
The Problem of the West (cont.)
• Three land ordinances provided for
organizing the land for settlement, selfgovernment and eventual statehood.
• They also provided for orderly division of
land into townships, regular land sales,
and the abolition of slavery in the
Northwest Territory.
The Problem of the West (cont.)
• Despite its weaknesses, the Confederation
proved capable of addressing problems in
the national interest.
MAP 7.7 The Northwest Territory and the Land
Survey System of the United States
• Page 167 insert Chart
The last page of the Treaty of
Paris, signed in Paris on
September 3, 1783
Revolutionary Politics in the States
the 1776 constitution of New Jersey
A New Democratic Ideology
• Most states had greatly expanded the
electorate, bringing rural and western
farmers and urban artisans into
government.
• By eliminating Tories from politics, there
was a shift to the left.
A New Democratic Ideology (cont'd)
• Many Americans accepted a new
democratic ideology that asserted that
governments should directly reflect
popular wishes.
The First State Constitutions
• Democrats demanded government by the
people.
• Conservatives argued for balanced
government, fearing majority tyranny could
lead to a violation of property rights.
• Fourteen states adopted constitutions
between 1776 and 1780.
The First State Constitutions (cont'd)
• The new state constitutions were shaped
by the debates between radicals and
conservatives.
The First State Constitutions (cont.)
• Democrats had seized power in
Pennsylvania in 1776 and drafted a
constitution that placed all power in a
unicameral assembly elected by all free
male taxpayers.
• Conservatives controlled Maryland and
designed a constitution to keep rulers and
citizens separate.
The First State Constitutions (cont.)
• Other states drafted constitutions between
these extremes.
Declaration of Rights
• Virginia’s Declaration of Rights provided
the model for other state guarantees of
such rights as freedom of speech,
assembly, and the press.
• State bills of rights were important
precedents of the United States Bill of
Rights.
Declaration of Rights (cont'd)
• Led by Thomas Jefferson, states
abolished aristocratic inheritance customs
and established religious freedom.
• The Revolutionary generation proved
better at raising questions than achieving
reforms.
A Spirit of Reform
• The 1776 New Jersey constitution
enfranchised women, but most questions
regarding women were related to the
family.
• The Revolution did more to raise women’s
expectations than to change their status.
• Led by Thomas Jefferson, states
abolished aristocratic inheritance customs
and established religious freedom.
A Spirit of Reform (cont'd)
• More radical reforms failed, showing the
limits of the Revolutionary impulse.
African Americans and the
Revolution
• Contradiction between a revolution for
liberty and the continued support for
slavery:
 Northern states—abolish slavery; and Upper
South relaxed bans on emancipation
• Few Southerners went further than
Washington
 He only freed slaves in his will
African Americans and the
Revolution (cont'd)
• A free African American community
 Racially defined churches, schools and other
institutions
• African American writers
 Phyllis Wheatley
African American poet Phyllis Wheatley
Conclusion
The American Revolution,
1776–1786
• Independence was born out of conflict and
violence. While a national political
community began to emerge in the
Revolutionary era, state and local
community loyalties remained strong,
pointing to future challenges.
Chronology