In Review - THE French and Indian War

2. In Review - THE French and Indian War • In chapter five we came to understand the mindset of the American people • The wealthy colonial leaders were well read and highly influenced by John Locke’s enlightened thinking • There was community support from with local churches to expect their leaders to be forthright and honest and to provide a strong community of faith. • The end of the French and Indian War provided England with a vast amount of land to control. They were low on funds and wanted the American colonist to share in the expenses. The English leaders also wanted to maintain an economic control over the colonies through their mercantile practices. • The mindset of the American people was as such that they felt empowered to challenge the British leadership, question the benefits of their English citizenship and break all ties with England in their desire for a self-determination future.

3. In Review - THE End of Salutary Neglect • Following the French and Indian War, the British abandon the hands off policy of Salutary Neglect. • The English Parliament recognizes their need to maintain financial control of the colonies (Mercantilism). • The colonists were starting to exert their desire for involvement in decisions that Parliament made. • Parliament needs to keep these colonist in check, after all the primary purpose of the colonies were to totally support England, the Mother Country.

4. In Review - THE American Response • The more the colonists questioned the English authority, the more taxes were initiated to maintain financial control. • Who ever controlled the money controlled the power. • The English sought to control all economic aspects of the colonists. • Meeting establishing committees for communications. • Publishing articles in papers and handing out leaflets. • Boycott • Mass protests (Mobs formed) • Waged economic warfare • Non Importation, Non Exportation • Organized representative meetings • Stockpile weapons, ammunition and gunpowder • Spies

5. Lexington and Concord • The Battles of Lexington and Concord signaled the start of the American Revolutionary war on April 19, 1775. The British Army set out from Boston to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington as well as to destroy the Americans store of weapons and ammunition in Concord. • The Battle of Lexington was a very small fight. Neither side expected to actually fight, but in the midst of the confusion a gunshot went off forcing the British to attack. Some of the colonists were killed and the rest fled. • After the Americans fled from Lexington, the British marched to the city of Concord. When they first got to Concord, they met little resistance. The Americans had retreated to the outskirts of Concord where they defeated the British troops at the North Bridge. • With these battles, the American Revolution had officially begun. Shots had been fired, thousands of militiamen surrounded Boston, and the Americans felt they had pushed back the British giving them the courage to continue to unite and fight.

6. The War Pushes America Into a Civil War • The issue of separating from Britain divided American society. Historians estimate that 20 to 30 percent of Americans were Loyalists, 40 to 45 percent were Patriots, and the rest were neutral, or not favoring any one side. • Most Southern states did not allow African Americans to enlist. They feared that armed African Americans might lead slave revolts. In contrast, the British offered enslaved persons their freedom if they joined British forces. Many slaves ran away to fight for the British. In the North, however, about 5,000 African Americans served in the Continental Army. • The American Revolution was the largest Indian war in American history. All Native American nations east of the Mississippi were caught up in the fighting. Some Native Americans joined the British because they feared Americans would take Native American land. Others, who lived within areas settled by the colonists, sided with the Americans

7. Washington Prepares the Continental Army In June 1775, Congress named George Washington commander of the Continental Army. This army faced many problems. At first, this new national army was formed from state militias, made up of untrained and undisciplined volunteers. The militia were part-time, emergency fighters who were not prepared for the hardship of a long war. Washington’s main goal was to keep the Revolution alive. To do so, he needed to keep an army in the field, win some battles and avoid a crushing defeat. He knew he could not win a major battle until he had a large, well-trained army. Many British viewed the Americans as disorganized, inexperienced rebels who would be easily defeated. In contrast to Washington’s troops, the British army was experienced and professional. But the British military faced problems of its own. For personal and political reasons, many British officers refused to fight the Americans. Many British people were not enthusiastic about the war, so the king had trouble recruiting soldiers in Britain. In addition, British soldiers signed up for life, which discouraged enlistment. Because of these problems, Britain had to hire mercenaries from the German region of Hesse.

8. The British Strategy To win the War • The British believed that New England was the source of the rebellion. If they controlled the Hudson River valley, they could cut off New England from the other states. The strategy called for three armies to meet at Albany, New York. General John Burgoyne would lead a force south from Canada. Lt Colonel Barry St. Leger would come down the Mohawk valley. General Howe would follow the Hudson north from New York City. • Gentleman Johnny threw elaborate parties to celebrate victories. However, the countryside filled with rebel sympathizers. They burned crops and drove off cattle, leaving no food for the British. Burgoyne would soon learn: they were not simply fighting an enemy army, they were fighting an entire people. • Burgoyne still looked forward to the rendezvous in Albany. But Burgoyne received a message that Howe would not be coming north; instead, he had decided to try to capture Philadelphia. And St Leger was forced to retreated to Fort Oswego. Now no one was left to rendezvous with Burgoyne. • Burgoyne’s army moved slowly to a former army camp at Saratoga. By the time they arrived, the men were exhausted. The Continental Army then surrounded Burgoyne’s army and fired on it day and night until Burgoyne surrendered. The series of conflicts that led to this surrender is known as the Battles of Saratoga.

9. Americans Get Support from France &Spain • After hearing of the American victory at Saratoga, France publicly recognized U.S. independence. As part of its new alliance, France promised to send badly needed funds, supplies, and troops to America. France also persuaded Spain to help the American cause. • By entering the war against Britain, France and Spain forced the British to fight a number of enemies on land and sea. For instance, the British expected to have to fight the French in the West Indies, so they sent troops there. And thousands of British troops were busy fighting Spain in the west. The British now had to spread their military resources over many fronts. • In Valley Forge, Washington’s army lacked supplies. Many soldiers had only blankets to cover themselves. They also lacked shoes. The barefoot men left tracks of blood on the frozen ground as they marched. The soldiers’ condition did not improve at camp. Over the winter, the soldiers at Valley Forge grew weak from not having enough food or warm clothing. Roughly a quarter of them died from malnutrition, exposure, or diseases such as smallpox and typhoid fever. Because of this suffering, the name Valley Forge came to stand for the great hardships that Americans endured in the Revolutionary War.

10. The Americans Wear Down England and Win • After three years of fighting in the North, the British were no closer to victory. They didn’t have enough troops to control the countryside. In 1778 the British decided to move to the South. • However, the British were having difficulty controlling the South. The countryside was hostile and filled with more rebel sympathizer. Rebel guerrillas repeatedly attacked British messengers which made it difficult for British forces moving inland. British commanders in the South were discovering the countryside was a dangerous place for the British army. • In January 1781, the American Army was sent south to confront the British. The Americans won a spectacular victory. The victory proved that Americans could stand up to the British Army. • It was at the Battle of Yorktown the British tried to protect themselves by encircling the town with numerous redoubts or small forts. These forts were meant to keep the allies’ artillery at a distance from the town. But as the Americans captured these British redoubts, they able to bring their artillery closer to the town’s defenses. The American and French cannon bombarded Yorktown, turning its buildings to rubble. Cornwallis had no way out. On October 19, 1781, he surrendered his force of about 8,000 men.

11. The End of the War • By their persistence, the Americans won independence even though they faced many obstacles. The American army lacked training and experience. American soldiers served only for short periods of time. They often lacked proper supplies and weapons. In contrast, the British forces ranked among the best trained in the world. Yet the Americans had advantages that had not been obvious at first; only as the war progressed did American strengths become apparent. • The British were defeated not only by the American army, but by civilians who kept the resistance alive. The British were not prepared for a popular uprising. In Europe, only armies fought the wars, and civilians either fled or hid before advancing forces. In America, however, the British discovered that large segments of the population were actively involved in a political cause. Even if the British had succeeded in defeating an American army, they likely would never have been able to conquer the American people.

12. The Treaty of Paris 1783 • Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay began formal peace negotiations with the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War and was signed on September 3, 1783. • The Americans won favorable terms in the peace treaty: • The United States was independent. • Its boundaries would be the Mississippi River on the west, Canada on the north, and Spanish Florida on the south. • The United States would receive the right to fish off Canada’s Atlantic Coast, near Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. • Each side would repay debts it owed the other. • The British would return any enslaved persons they had captured. • Congress would recommend that the states return any property they had seized from Loyalists. • Neither Britain nor the United States fully lived up to the treaty’s terms. Americans did not repay the prewar debts they owed British merchants or return Loyalist property.