The American Revolution: 1775-1783

1. The American Revolution: 1775-1783

4. What is meant by “salutary neglect” and how does this lead directly to the revolution? The Road to Revolution

6. What was the Revolutionary mov’t at its core really all about? The amount of taxation? The right of Parliament to tax? The political corruption of Britain and the virtue of America? The right of a king to govern America? The colonies’ growing sense of nat’l identity apart from Britain? Was the Revolution truly a radical overturning of gov’t and society - the usual definition of a “revolution - or something far more limited or even “conservative” in its defense of traditional rights? Revolution?

7. Varying viewpoints: whose revolution? Whose Revolution An ideological view of the Revolution as resulting from the colonists’ ideas about liberty and power. “The colonists believed they saw emerging from the welter of events during the decade after the Stamp Act a pattern whose meaning was unmistakable…They saw about them, with increasing clarity, no merely mistaken, or even evil, policies violating the principles upon which freedom rested, but what appeared to be evidence of nothing less than a deliberate assault launched surreptitiously by plotters against liberty both in England and in America…. This belief transformed the colonists’ struggle…” Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (1967) Progressive view of the Revolution as product of social conflict among colonial groups. “It was the opposition of interests In America that chiefly made men extremists On either side…. Those men who wished to take a safe middle ground, who wished neither to renounce their country nor to mark themselves as rebels, could no longer hold together” Carl L. Becker Beginnings of the American People (1915)

8. Parliament rejected the First Continental Congress’ petition April 1775 Br. Commander in Boston sent detachment of troops to nearby Lexington and Concord Shot heard around the world British lost 1/3 of their army

9. On the Eve of the Revolution ? • defensive fight • self sustaining agric • Moral advantage just cause • pop adv 3:1 • Naval power • Wealth • Professional army • Ireland worry • French backstab • No Wm Pitt to organize • Liked American cousins • disjointed/jealous • Badly organized • No currency Write this down!

10. May 1775 Conservative No well defined desire for independence Best political move - drafting G Washington Va to balance Ma - aristocrat to balance “masses” Second Continental Congress

11. Loyalist Strongholds

12. Washington’s Headaches • Only 1/3 of the colonists were in favor of a war for independence [the other third were Loyalists, and the final third were neutral]. • State/colony loyalties. • Congress couldn’t tax to raise money for the Continental Army. • Poor training [until the arrival of Baron von Steuben.

13. Exports & Imports: 1768-1783

14. One hand Americans trying to affirm loyalty to king and trying to patch up Other hand raising armies and shooting Br. Soldiers Make Up Your Mind!

15. Military Strategies The Americans The British • Attrition [the Brits had a long supply line]. • Guerilla tactics [fight an insurgent war  you don’t have to win a battle, just wear the British down] • Make an alliance with one of Britain’s enemies. • Break the colonies in half by getting between the No. & the So. • Blockade the ports to prevent the flow of goods and supplies from an ally. • “Divide and Conquer”  use the Loyalists.

16. Battle of Lexington & Concord April 19, 1775 Fort Ticonderoga May 10, 1775 Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775 Common Sense, Feb 14,1776 Siege of Charleston, June 1776 Declaration, July 1776 Battles for New York – August – October, 1776 Battles for New York – August – October, 1776 Handout • Trenton, December 26, 1776 • Princeton, January 2, 1777 • Saratoga, September 1777 • 2nd Saratoga, October 1777 • Valley Forge, Dec. 1777 – June 1778 • France joins the war against Britain, February 6, 1778 • British take Charleston, SC May 12 1780 • American victory at Cowpens, SC Jan. 17, 1781 • American victory at Guilford Courthouse NC Mar 15 1781 • British surrender at Yorktown Oct 19, 1781 • Treaty of Paris signed Sept 3 1783

17. Phase I:The Northern Campaign[1775-1776] May 1775: Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. Ticonderoga and Crown Point

18. Bunker Hill (June, 1775) The British suffered over 40% casualties.

19. Olive Branch Petition July 1775 REJECTED! Now it is treason - punishable by hanging! Then he hired Hessians! Second Continental Congress

20. Thomas Paine’sCommon Senseaka “pis*&^ing in the wind” Best seller Common sense said to completely rebel - Britain was smaller than us! Biblical language appealed to the masses

21. Thomas Paine’sCommon Sense Not just independence but whole new republic -where power comes from the people themselves Radical revert to Greece Traditional was “mixed gov’t” This suggestion was heard b/c Colonist experience in self - govt ex: New England Experience in democratic town meets Committees of correspondence showed republican gov’t working No hereditary aristocracy in the colonies

22. Citizen Virtue Because political power will no longer reside with the king Individuals need to sacrifice their personal self-interest to the public good **collective good of the “people” mattered more than private rights and interests Republicanism for them meant an end to hereditary aristocracy but not an end to all social hierarchy. Many still worried the revolutionary fervor for liberty would overwhelm the stability of the social order

23. What are the single most important 35 words in the English language? Declaration of Independence Handout Price they paid

24. Phase II: NY & PA[1777-1778]

25. New York City in Flames(1776)

26. Capture the Hudson River Valley, thereby cutting New England off from the rest of the country,squeezing it to death. sail down Lake Champlain and recapture Fort Ticonderoga. head through the forest to try and attack the Americans. Burgoyne was only traveling 22 miles, but it took him 20 days to cover it because he had 600 wagons going through the forest and the muddy marsh with him. Over 30 of them were carrying his own personal baggage because even in the wilderness, Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne ate off of silver plates. This gave the Americans time to prepare for the British. When the British got to Saratoga, their 6,000 man army was outnumbered and after a fierce battle, they lost. Shortly after, the French decided to help the American cause for freedom. These were the two major turning points in the war, which turned it in America's favor. Burgoyne’s Plan - 1777

27. Saratoga: “Turning Point” of the War? A modern-day re-enactment

28. Arnold Leading the Charge at Freeman's Farm During the second battle of Saratoga on Oct. 7, 1777, Arnold led a headlong charge, captured a key redoubt, was again wounded, and made the British surrender inevitable. One of his soldiers called Arnold "as brave a man as Ever lived."

29. His bitterness, along with a need for money to pay heavy debts, led Arnold to negotiate with the British. He conceived a plan to betray West Point, a post that he commanded ARNOLD’S TREASON His attempted treachery was revealed when John Andre (left), a British major, was captured in September 1780 carrying Arnold's message. Arnoldescaped to the enemy lines and was commissioned a brigadier general in the British army. For his property losses, he claimed and was paid about $10,000

30. Washington Crossing the Delaware Painted by Emanuel Leutze, 1851! Is it realistic?

31. There were 12,000 men and women of the Continental Army in Valley Forge on during the winter of 1777. The Commander-in-Chief was General George Washington. It was a difficult time for them. There wasn't enough food or shelter from the weather. They had lost battles at Brandywine in September and Germantown in October. They were discouraged and wondered if they could even win the war. The men were as young as eleven and as old as 60. Most of the soldiers were white, but there were some blacks and Indians. There were even some foreigners there who helped the soldiers. 2,000 died; the others stayed at their posts The People of Valley Forge

32. An important factor, and one not always remembered, was that the Continental Congress relied heavily on aid from abroad. Aid which included not only muskets and powder, but ultimately ships and men as well. This aid could only be brought to American shores by water, and to do it required a sea power to counterbalance that of England. The struggle for North America was fought not only at Trenton, Monmouth,and Saratoga, but also in the cold, gray seas off Ushant; off Cadiz, and in the shadows of grim Gibralter and in the tropical waters of the West Indies THE NAVAL WAR - it goes global!

33. Phase III:The Southern Strategy [1780-1781]

34. Britain’s “Southern Strategy” • Britain thought that there were more Loyalists in the South. • Southern resources were more valuable/worth preserving. • The British win a number of small victories, but cannot pacify the countryside [similar to U. S. failures in Vietnam!] • Good US General:Nathanial Greene

35. The Battle of Yorktown (1781) Count de Rochambeau AdmiralDe Grasse

36. Cornwallis’ Surrender at Yorktown: “The World Turned Upside Down!” Painted by John Trumbull, 1797

37. Recap of Important Battles 1. Lexington – Concord 1775 Shot heard @ the world 2. Breeds- Bunker Hill – 1775 Don’t fire ‘til you see the whites of their eyes 3. Trenton- Princeton 1776 G. Washington crosses frozen Delaware River Christmas Eve 4. Saratoga Oct 17, 1777 Howe and Burgoyne( Br) vs. Gates (colonist) Fr $ - Valley Forge 5. Yorktown Oct 17, 1781 * end war Cornwallis (Br) vs. G. Washington and Lafayette (colonist) 6. Treaty of Paris Sept 1783 United States recognized officially as a country

39. Why did the British Lose???

40. North America After theTreaty of Paris, 1783