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EARLY GROWTH OF THE
UNITED STATES
OVERVIEW
American Revolutionary War
Progress in Flight
Between Wars
War of 1812
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Most Influential Military Event in American History
Armies that contested the war
The British
George Washington’s Continental Army
Both tiny by modern standards
Militia Units
Only American forces available at start
Not real effective against regular troops
Myth created that militia was all we needed
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Issues
Relationship between the King in London and colonists
Most colonists considered themselves loyal subjects
King tried to impose obligations without rights
Taxation and quartering of British troops
Costs associated with defense of the American colonies
French and Indian War
Indians on frontier
Royal Proclamation of 1763 placed a boundary on
the westward expansion of the American colonies
Goal to force colonists to negotiate with the Native
Americans for the lawful purchase of the land
Cost of mercenaries
2 ways the colonists could contribute; taxes and trade
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Significant Events
New Taxes (p. 1-17)
Tea and Sugar Acts
Stamp Act
Quartering Act
Boston Massacre (1770)
Accident, British sentry
knocked down a boy
Got out of hand
Crispus Attucks
Fugitive slave???
Bunker Hill (1775)
British tried to collect militia
military supplies
Paul Revere
5 years after Boston
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Political Objective/Purpose
Basic U.S. military policy was influenced by two factors
A distrust of large standing armies and belief militia
would be enough
Glorious Revolution in England
Overthrow of King James III by parliament and the
Dutch, 1688
King had standing army, parliament had militia
A firm belief in isolationism
Oceans to east and west
Weak countries to north and south
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Political Objective/Purpose
Colonists began Revolution without clear political objective
Define the reasons for war, then visualize how you want
the end to look and determine how the war would be
fought to achieve objectives
Colonies didn’t want independence at first
The military situation forced a political purpose, rather
than having a political purpose before the war began
England viewed leaders of revolution as traitors and
would hang them if they could catch them
Independence was only way to stay alive; win or die
British objective was to maintain sovereignty (control)
over the American colonies
Many British felt demands reasonable or not worth
fighting over
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Participants
George Washington, commander-in-chief, accepted the
position without any compensation, except
reimbursement of his expenses
Elected by Continental Congress
Both minutemen (militia) and reserve companies fought
at Lexington and Concord (Bunker Hill)
Professional armies were small by today’s standards
Thousands, not hundreds of thousands or millions
Hard to field even 15,000 at any one time
Generals/Colonels appointed by assemblies
Most other officers elected by troops
Continental Congress took over the existing New England
army; militia supported by states
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Participants
Integrated army, first and last until Korean War
On October 8, 1775, General Washington and his staff
discussed the question of using Black troops, and on
November 12 an order was issued.
Afraid of Black troops; they might fight against them
for their independence
In November 1775, all free Blacks that were able and
willing to bear arms were given the right to enlist
Of the 30,000 soldiers who served in the professional
Continental Army during the Revolutionary War,
approximately 5,000 were Black
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Preparation
American colonies in the seventeenth century were too
poor to pay a standing army solely for the preparation of
war in defense of each colony
Military Forces
The colonies patterned their military forces after the
militia they had known in England
Militia mostly free
Increase numbers of regular army/navy when needed,
decrease numbers when not needed
The Legislature kept watch over their activities and
retained ultimate control
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Military Objectives and Strategy
Colonists would not negotiate
British victories were often, but not decisive
No vital centers to capture
Colonists could drag it out until British costs became too
much for them to want to continue to pay
(sound like Vietnam, Iraq, only in reverse?)
Colonists waited for right time/place for military victory
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Military Objectives and Strategy
Three options to regain sovereignty
Destroy the rebel army
Occupy the important places (New York, Boston,
Washington, Philadelphia, etc.
Win hearts and minds of population
The Revolution actually in four phases
Phase One, throw the British out, Bunker Hill (Mar 1770)
Phase Two, independence, Declaration of
Independence (July 1776)
Phase Three, French (Feb 1778)
Phase Four, after victory at Yorktown (Oct 1781)
Treaty of Paris (1783)
U.S. Constitution (1787)
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Better State of the Peace
The American Revolution achieved its (eventual) political
objective of independence with the signing of the Treaty
of Paris in 1783
Declaration of Independence only said the colonies were
independent, but didn’t actually make them independent
No need to continue to fight
England didn’t accept
Treaty of Paris gives colonies independence
England agrees
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Military Technology and Technique
Weapons
Flintlock musket w/ bayonet and some artillery, mostly
captured from British, .69 to .75 caliber,
5 feet long, 12 pounds, ¾ inch bore,
Max range 250 yards, effective range 50-100 yards
Balls and buckshot
2 rounds per minute, 3 if highly trained
Battles were few and relatively bloodless
Yorktown
16,000 British vs 7,500 Americans/French
200 killed, 20 Americans
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Military Technology and Technique
Land Transportation
Horse, wagon, walking
Communication
Horse, ship, signals
Training
SMALL professional army
Mostly militia
Often poorly trained
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Lessons Learned
Following the Revolution, the American people still felt
that a strong military force could threaten individual
liberty
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
Steps to Prevent Future Conflict
The Philadelphia Convention, 1787, produced the United
States Constitution
The articles directly affecting military matters
included power to declare war, raise armies, and
provide for a navy
The constitution authorized three branches of
government, with the President as commander in chief
of the armed forces and director of foreign relations
The secretary of war became directly responsible to
the President instead of to Congress