American Revolution

Motivations for First Continental Congress

- Punitive Intolerable Acts (see Colonial Protest outline) drove all colonies except Georgia to meet in a convention in Philly

- Purpose of Continental Congress -> to respond to what the delegates viewed as Brit's alarming threats to their liberties

- Americans had no desire for independence at this point

→ They just wanted to protest parliamentary infringements of their rights & restores relationship w/ Brit prior to Seven Years' War

Actions of the First Continental Congress

- series of measures intending to change Brit policies w/o offending moderate & conservative colonists

Convention adopted these measures:

→ Suffolk Resolves

→ Declaration and Resolves

→ Created Continental Association

→ Declared that if colonial rights still not recognized, delegates would meet again in May 1775

- MA had support of Continental Congress, but no official American army

Suffolk Resolves

- ordered for immediate repeal of Intolerable Acts & for colonies to resist them by making military preparations and boycotting Brit goods

Declaration and Resolves

- urged king to redress colonial grievances & restore colonial rights

- In a conciliatory gesture, it recognized Parl's authority to regulate commerce

- Backed by moderate delegates

Continental Association

- a network of committees to enforce the economic sanctions of the Suffolk Resolves

- Enforce boycott of Brit imports & block exports

- Wanted colonies to publish names of public violators of boycott

Events that lead up to Lexington & Concord

- King dismisses petitions of 1st Cont. Cong

- King declared MA to be in state of rebellion & sent additional troops to put down further disorders

- Led to violent clashes in MA-> these clashes became first battles of Amer Rev

Lexington

- General Thomas Gage, commander of Brit troops in Boston, sent large force to seize colonial military supplies in Concord

→ Kept writing to Brit for more reinforcements-> Brit thought colonists too weak to worry abt

- Warned of Brit march by 2 riders, Paul Revere & William Dawes, the minutemen of Lexington assembled on village green to face Brits

→ Towns had previously made military preparations (minutemen)

- Americans forced to retreat under heavy Brit fire w/ 8 killed after brief encounter

→ Only 70 minutemen

Concord

- Continuing their march, Brits entered Concord & found little military supplies

- Marching back to Boston, long column of Brit soldiers attacked by thousands of minutemen firing behind stone walls

- Brit suffered 250 casualties & humiliation at being so badly mauled by "amateur" fighters

Events @ Bunker Hill

- Brit's strat @ beginning of Rev-> contain Rev in Boston so it doesn't spread everywhere else, then it'll end

- Colonial militia of MA farmers fortified Breed's Hill, next to Bunker's Hill, for which the ensuing battle was wrongly named

- Brits wanted to take colonial militia out of Boston → colonists got wind of plans, set up @ Breed's Hill

- Each time colonists fired on Brit frontline soldiers, Brits regrouped for another attack until Americans ran low on supplies

- Brit force attacked colonists' position & managed to take hill, suffering over a thousand casualties

Result of Bunker Hill

- Americans claimed victory of sorts, having succeeded in inflicting heavy losses on attacking Brits

- Americans lost the battle w/ 400+ casualties → Brit won but lost 1000 men

Proved strength of American troops

- Americans won control of Boston w/ cannon support → forced Brits to Nova Scotia

Motivations for Second Continental Congress

- after Lexington & Concord, around same time as Bunker Hill

- One grp of delegates, mainly from New Eng, thought colonists should declare independence

- Another grp, mainly from middle colonies, hope conflict could be resolved by negotiating new relationship w/ Brits

Actions of the Second Continental Congress

- Congress adopted Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking up Arms

- Called on the colonies to provide troops

- George Wash appointed commander in chief of new colonial army & sent to Boston to lead MA militia & volunteer units from other colonies

- Congress also authorized force under Benedict Arnold to raid Quebec in order to draw Canada away from Brit empire

- American navy & marine corps organized for purpose of attacking Brit ships

- later, after Bunker Hill → Olive Branch Petition

Peace Efforts by the Second Continental Congress

- At first → congress adopted contradictory policy of waging war while also seeking peaceful settlement

- Many in colonies valued their heritage & Brit's protection, so they didn’t want independence

→ Instead, they wanted a change in their relationship w/ Brits

- Thus, delegates voted to send an "Olive Branch Petition" to King George III July 1775

What did the Olive Branch Petition say?

- colonies pledged their loyalty & asked king to intercede w/ Parl to secure peace & protection of colonial rights

- Still blamed Parl for probs, not the King

- Wanted the previous harmony btwn colonies & G.B. to come back

- States Parl had right to regulate trade

King’s Reaction of Olive Branch Petition

- King dismissed congress's plea & agreed instead to Parl's Prohibitory Act

- Declared colonies are in rebellion

- A few months later, Parl forbade all trade & shipping btwn Brit & colonies → lined coast w/ navy

Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” Pamphlet 1776

- after Prohibitory Act

- Argued it was contrary to common sense for:

→ large continent to be ruled by small & distant island

→ for ppl to pledge allegiance to king whose gov't was corrupt & laws were unreasonable

- Blamed tyranny on king & attacked idea of monarchy, unlike others who blamed Parl previous to this pamphlet

- Pamphlet spread rapidly & ignited public demands for independence

According to Thomas Paine, what could the colonies do after the gained independence?

→ Receive guns & ammo

→ Protection for Amer soldiers if caught → prisoner of war instead of rebel

→ Get foreign aid

→ Chance to create better society

Declaration of Independence

- After meeting for more than a year-> 2nd Cont Cong gradually began to favor independence over reconciliation

→ urged colonies to create state gov'ts

- Richard Henry Lee of VA introduced resolution declaring colonies to be independent

→ John Adams, Benj Frank, Thomas Jeff, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman wrote Declaration in support of Lee's resolution

- Declaration drafted by Jefferson listed specific grievances against king's gov't & expressed basic principles that justified revolution

→ Inalienable rights: life, liberty pursuit of happiness

→ Ideas from both Locke & Paine

- Congress adopted Lee's resolution calling for independence on July 2nd, and then adopted Jefferson's work (Declaration of Independence) on July 4th 1776

British Advantages during Rev War

- Far greater resources than colonists in general

- 3x population

- Wealthy economy that could finance war

- Large & well trained army

- Most pwrful navy in world

- Used 50k Loyalists

- Enlisted help from Natives

British Disadvantages during Rev War

- Had to deal w/ issues in Ireland --> had to send some troops there

- France seeking revenge & allying w/ colonies

- Gov't unable to deal w/ war effectively

- Brit ppl largely didn't support war effort

→ Whigs sympathetic to war effort against Tories

- Generals 2nd rate & treated soldiers terribly

- Across Atlantic ocean

→ Bad communication

- Cities not centralized → hard to recapture whole country

- Unfamiliar land & poor maps

→ sucked @ fighting in North Amer environment (Seven Years’ War…)

Patriots Advantages During Rev War

- Home field advantage/defensive war

- Leadership of Washington

- Diplomacy of Franklin (w/ French)

- Volunteerism of Euro officers (poor & unemployed)

→ Euros who volunteered to help the Amers

- Marquis de Lafayette (major general in colonial army)

- Self-sustaining w/ food

- Fighting for a cause

→  strong commitment to independence so they provided solid core of ppl resilient enough to undergo hardships

- Alliance w/ France later on

Patriots Disadvantages During Rev War

- Badly organized

- Lacked unity

→ Jealousy/individual states wanted sovereignty/sectionalism

- Economic probs

- Lacked sufficient military supplies (firearms)

- Manufactured goods in short supply (clothes)

- Unreliable troops

- Lacked sizeable navy

- soldiers were rarely paid

What are some economic problems the Patriots faced during the Rev War?

→ Afraid to tax

→ Printed paper $ (continentals)-> led to inflation

→ continentals become worthless

→ Had to borrow $

→ British occupation of American ports-> 95% decline in trade in 1st three yrs of war

→ Goods = scarce

How were Patriot troops unreliable during the Rev War?

→ Poorly trained

→ Couldn't hold line in battle

→ Poor moral

→ Soldiers would serve in local militia unites for short periods, leave to work their farms, then return to duty

→ Even tho many soldiers overall-> Washing never had more than 5% of them w/ him

African Americans during the Rev War

- Initially, Washing rejects idea of Afr Amers serving in Patriot army

- But when Brits offer freedom to enslaved ppl who joined their side → Washington & Congress quickly made same offer

→ Around 5k joined

- Most free citizens from north who fought in mixed racial forces, although some units composed entirely of Afr Amers

Where were most of the Patriot soldiers from?

New Eng & VA

Tories in Rev War

- Rev War lowkey like a civil war bc anti-Brit patriots fought pro-Brit Loyalists

- Those who maintained allegiance to king called Tories, after majority party in Parl

- Almost 60k tories fought nxt to Brits, supplied them w arms & food, & joined in raiding parties to pillage Patriot homes & farms

- War divided some fams

→ Ex. Benj Frank & his son William

- Tories mostly in #s in major port cities except Boston

→ Lol they were prob merchants!

- In NJ, NY, GA-> they were prob in majority

- Tended to be wealthier & more conservative than Patriots

- Most gov't officials & Anglican clergy → loyal to crown

Native Americans during Rev War

- At first tried to stay out of war

- Eventually attacks from colonists prompted many to support Brits

→ Brits promised to limit colonial settlements westward if Natives joined their army

Initial American Losses & Hardships during Rev War

- 1st 3 yrs of war-> went badly for Patriots

- After losing Philly, Washington's demoralized troops suffered thru severe winter at Valley Forge in PA

- Economic troubles added to Patriots' bleak prospects

Battle of Saratoga

- Turning point for Patriots -> victory in Battle of Saratoga

- Brit forces marched from Canada in effort to join forces marching from west and south

→ Objective = cut off New Eng from rest of colonies

- Troops attacked @ Saratoga by Patriot troops & Brits forced to surrender

Results of Battle of Saratoga

- Diplomatic outcome more important than military result

- News of surprising American victory persuaded France to join war against Brits

→ Didn’t care abt colonial cause → Wanted to weaken foe by undermining colonial empire

- French had secretly provided supplies to Patriots prior, but now they openly allied themselves

- This alliance = decisive in Amer struggle for independence as it widened war, forcing Brits to divert military resources away from Amer

Victory in Amer Rev

- Faced w/ larger war, Brit decided to consolidate forces in Amer

- Brit troops pulled out of Philly → NY became base of Brit operations instead

- In campaign led by Patriot George Rogers Clark, they captured series of Brit forts in Illinois country to gain control of parts of vast Ohio territory

- Brit army adopted southern start focusing its military campaigns in VA & Carolinas, where they were more Loyalists

- Battle of Yorktown

- Treaty of Paris

Battle of Yorktown

- Last major battle of Rev War fought near Yorktown VA

- Strongly supported French naval military forces helped Washington's army to force surrender of large Brit army

- News of Brit defeat in Yorkton → heavy blow to Tory Party in Parl that was conducting war

- War becoming unpopular in Brit anyway, partly bc heavy strain on economy & gov't's finances

Treaty of Paris

- after Battle of Yorktown

- Lord North & other Tory ministers resigned & were replaced by Whig leaders opposing war

- Brits surrender

- Treaty states:

1. Brit would recognize existence of U.S. as independent nation

2. Mississippi Rvr would be western boundary of nation, FL is southern boundary

3. Americans would have fishing rights off the coast of Canada

4. Americans would pay debts owed to Brit merchants & return land to Loyalists whose properties had been seized during war

-separate treaty gave FL back to Spain from Brit

Role of Women in Amer Rev War Efforts

- provided supplies to fighting forces

- some women followed men into armed camps & worked as cooks/nurses

- in a few instances-> women fought in battle either by:

→ taking their husband's place (Mary McCauley also known as Molly Pitcher)

→ passing as man & serving as solider (Deborah Sampson)

- Female Loyalists also provided support to colonial & Brit troops

Women’s role in the economy during Rev War

- Most important contribution of women during war → maintaining colonial economy

- While men away fighting → women ran fam farms & businesses

- Provided much of food & clothing necessary for war effort

Status of enslaved Afr Amers during Rev War

- Institution of slavery contradicted spirit of Revolution & idea that "all men are created equal"

- For a time, leaders of Rev recognized this & took corrective steps

→ Cont Cong abolished importation of enslaved ppl

→ Most states went along w/ this

→ Several northern states ended slavery, while in south, some owners voluntarily freed their enslaved laborers

- Slavery was in decline, many leaders wanted it to end

- However, ppl like James Madison couldn't envision world w/ free Black ppl & White ppl-> just hoped freed Afr Amers would go back to Africa

- This view of slavery changed dramatically w/ cotton gin in 1793

→ Cotton production more efficient -> inc demand for low-cost labor

→ Slaveowners believed enslaved labor = essential for their prosperity & ideals of Rev didn't apply to ppl they owned

Native Americans & Independence during Rev War

- Natives generally supported Brits-> didn't benefit from colonists' win

→ Colonists' racism & greed for land caused them to view Natives as obstacles to settlement that should be removed

- Very few colonists believed ideas of liberty & equality applied to Natives

International impact of Amer Rev

- Just as Amer rev shaped by Euro Enlightenment ideas → influenced events elsewhere too

- Ideas that ppl had right to govern themselves, all ppl are created equal, & indivs had unalienable rights → wide appeal

- Used Declaration of Independence as inspo:

→ French Revolution overthrowing monarchy

→ United Irishmen rebelling against Brit rule

→ Haitian Rev that ended slavery

→ Several Latin Amer countries rebelling against Euro control

Causation: How did the violence around Boston in the spring of 1775 affect proceedings in the Second Continental Congress?

- Despite the bloody events at Lexington & Concord → most delegates in the Congress still hoped for the conflict to be resolved through reconciliation

- Congress adopted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms

→ called on the colonies to provide troops for the conflict while simultaneously trying to seek a peaceful settlement between themselves and the British

- this policy was contradictory b/c they were waging war while also trying to create peace

- After the battle at Bunker Hill →Congress decided to foster a new relationship w/ Brits one last time through the Olive Branch Petition

→ restated the colonists’ loyalty to the king, Parliament’s right to regulate trade, and even asked the king to intercede w/ Parl to secure the peace & protection of colonial rights

Developments & Processes: Why was control of New York City Britain’s first military objective in the emerging war?

- In order to demonstrate Britain’s military superiority, Lord North ordered General William Howe to capture New York City

- Military strategy = gain control of the Hudson Rvr and thereby isolate radical Patriots in New England from the colonies to the south

- Theoretically the British would have been able to stop the rebellion from spreading.

- Outgunned and outflanked, the British did successfully force the Continental army to retreat from New York in the Battle of Long Island.

Developments & Processes: What factors made it difficult for the Continental Congress to create an effective army?

- Yeomen refused to be taken away from their families and farms, and thus only served in local militias.

- many only joined if paid

→ Inexperienced & panicked in the face of British soldiers

→ unwilling to conform to discipline of military life

- difficult to make these recruits effective

- soldiers who stayed resented the contempt and disrespect their officers had for the women who made to do with the little supplies provided to feed and care for the troops

- poorly supplied→ barely any food, ammunition, or weapons

- Army held in suspicion by Radical Whig Patriots who believed that this standing army was a threat to liberty

→ many preferred militias

Causation: What were the keys to Patriot victory in the South?

- guerrilla warfare

- British lost several guerrillas in the south against the Patriots

→ weakened by war of attrition → Brit general decided to concede the Carolinas to General Greene

- same guerilla led to a Patriot victory when France sent powerful fleet to North America & Washington's strategy further prevailed in Battle of Yorktown

Argumentation: How did women’s participation in the American Revolution impact the roles of women in American politics and society?

- maintain colonial economies while men were at war

→ most significant contribution

→ ran farms & businesses

→ provided much of food & clothing needed for war effort

- development of Republican Motherhood

→ led to expansion of education for women & inc importance of women in new nation/gov’t (though as significant as today’s role of women)

- before war even began→ women organized to oppose British actions, such as boycotting British goods

Continuity and Change: What impact did republican ideals have on gender roles and expectations during the Revolutionary era?

- tested idea that only men could engage in politics

- though men controlled all public institutions, many upper-class women engaged in political debate discussed their opinions on public issues

- women believed they should have freedom to learn

- wanted to put an end to restrictive laws & customs against women

- women spoke out against the hypocrisy that although Americans sought freedom from despotism and emancipating all nations, the men still were set on retaining absolute power of their wives

Contextualization:  How did the Revolutionary commitment to liberty and the protection of property affect enslaved African Americans and western Indians?

- emerging Amer gov’ts promised to protect the property of yeomen

- squatters in the west (ex. Tennessee and Kentucky) expected their claims to be recognized to ensure their loyalty

- Thus, gov’t extinguished Native American claims in the Ohio River Valley

- Also, southern slaveholders used ideas from Rev to defend right to own human property

→ They had “risked their lives in fortunes” in order to secure the possession of their liberty and property (included human property) which is slaves

- ideas deemed as liberties to white Americans = acts of oppression towards Natives and African American slaves

How did the British & the Patriots arrive at a peace agreement?

- Cont Cong sent Adams, Franklin, Jay to Paris

→ Instructions to keep French "in the loop" w/ negotiations

→ French were influencing the letter from Congress

→ Found out that French had territorial ambitions

→ Spain wanted land where Americans had already settled, too

→ Jay opted to deal only w/ Brit delegates

- Brit willing to agree to peace w/ Amers bc

→ it would pull Amers away from alliance w/ France

→ give French less pwr agreed to Mississippi border to strain French/Amer relations

- Franklin smoothed things over w/ French

Legacies of Amer Rev

- New form of gov't est

→ Political experiment/model

- Abolition of titles

→ No nobility/aristocracy

- Separation of Church & state

- Women -> hoped for change, but little occurred

→ Abigail Adams "Remember the Ladies"

- Slavery continues -> on exception to ideas of Rev

→ Some states took steps to abolish it, only in North b/c relatively few there

- Example of Rev to world/usage of Enlightenment ideals