Independence and Revolutionary Changes, American Foundations Exam 2

Declaration of Independence

Who: Jefferson and Continental Congress.

What: Announced and justified separation from Britain.

When: July 4, 1776.

Where: Philadelphia.

Why significant: Used natural rights, consent, and grievances to justify revolution. It asserted existing rights rather than creating a constitution; slavery exposed contradictions in its equality claims.

Saratoga

Who: American and British armies.

What: American victory forcing a British army’s surrender.

When: 1777.

Where: New York.

Why significant: Boosted morale and demonstrated that independence was achievable. Helped persuade France to ally with the United States in 1778, supplying essential military and financial assistance.

Yorktown

Who: American-French forces and Cornwallis’s British army.

What: Siege ending in British surrender.

When: 1781.

Where: Virginia.

Why significant: French naval forces prevented relief. The defeat weakened British willingness to continue, demonstrating the importance of foreign assistance; peace came in 1783.

Loyalists

Who: Colonists opposing independence.

What: Supported continued British ties; some fought against Patriots.

When: Revolutionary era.

Where: American colonies.

Why significant: Their presence disproves the idea of unanimous revolutionary support. Some suffered confiscation or exile, showing that the war also divided communities internally.

Northern gradual emancipation

Who: Northern state governments and enslaved people.

What: Measures moving toward abolition, often freeing children only after a specified age.

When: 1777–1804.

Where: States north of Maryland.

Why significant: Revolutionary liberty encouraged challenges to slavery, but freedom was delayed and did not establish racial equality.

Essay: Why did Americans win the Revolutionary War?

Thesis: Victory depended on organized endurance, foreign assistance, and military cooperation.

Argument 1: The Continental Army sustained resistance rather than relying only on individual riflemen.

Argument 2: Saratoga helped secure French alliance.

Argument 3: French navel power and combined cooperation at Yorktown helped make continued war unacceptable to Britain.

ESSAY: How revolutionary was the Revolution?

Thesis: It transformed political legitimacy while leaving major inequalities intact.

Argument 1: Republican government replaced monarchy, but elites restricted participation.

Argument 2: Religious tolerance and northern emancipation expanded unevenly.

Argument 3: Slavery, women’s exclusion, Loyalist persecution, and Native dispossession limits the reach of revolutionary freedom.