History study guide - American Revolution

Revolution

a drastic change

• two different side in the American Revolution

colonists:

• patriots

• minutemen

• confidential army 

• colonial militia ( volunteers)

Whings

poltical party in England - support confidential constitution

British

• red coats 

• lobseterbacks

• loyalists 

Hessians 

german mercenaries - $$ 20- 30k to fight

Torries

potical party in england ( supports absolute monarchy)

 Benjamin Franklin

a political advocate, a key diplomat, and a foundational contributor to the new nation's core documents

John Adams

Leaded

George Washington

Commander of army

Thomas Paine

Influential writer and political thinker during the American Revolution

Thomas Jefferson

Author of Declaration independence

• served as governor of Virginia

Baron von Steuben

Helped transform the American army into a strong and effective fighting force

• helping the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Charles Cornwallis

British general during the American Revolution who is best known for his surrender at Yorktown in 1781, which effectively ended the war and led to America’s independence.

French and Indian war

1754-1763) was a major conflict between Britain and France in North America. It was part of a larger global struggle called the Seven Years’ War.

• ended with treaty of Paris

• • Britain gained control of:
    

    • Canada from France

    • Florida from Spain

    • Land east of the Mississippi River

  • France lost almost all of its territory in North America.

Proclamation of 1773

British King George enforced a law that prohibited the colonists from settling West of the Appalachian Mountains to prevent war with the Native Americans after fighting war with them

• angered farmers and land speculators

Sugar act

British law that helped pay the debts of the British from the French and Indian war

Stamp act

• Everything that was produced on paper was taxed- newspaper, wills, deeds, mortgages, licenses, diplomas, dice, playing cards

• 1 direct tax put on the colonists 

Even Brit merchants were unhappy with Taxes 

Non importation agreement- signed by merchants pledging not to buy British 

Goods

British - thousands of jobs lost with all protests in America and Britain - act is repealed on March 18,1766 ( passed on 3.22.1765 & into effect 11.1.1765)

Boston Massacre

deadly confrontation on March 5 ,1770,  when British soldiers fired into a crowd of taunting colonist in Boston, killing five and wounding several others. This incident escalated rising tensions between Britain and its American colonies over taxation and occupation, with figures like Crispus Attucks becoming Martys. 

This event fueled anti-British sentiment and propaganda, ultimately becoming a significant factor  in the American Revolution.

Townsend Act

• Import tax on glass, paper, tea, lead…

• Charles Townshend

• Riots in Bos-Bri soldiers sent to maintain order

Daughters Of liberty 

• Women get involved in start spinning their own cloth - “homespun”

Tea act

• To help bail out the British East India Co. 

• British repeal Townshend Acts

• British govt give the company a monopoly & sale of Tea

• Tea now shipped directly from England to the colonies - no American traders involved

• British company had more than 17 pounds of tea needed to sell

• The act enraged merchants and angered colonist who didn't want to pay the tax.

Intolerable act

were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 to punish the American colonists—especially those in Boston, Massachusetts—for the Boston Tea Party and other acts of rebellion.

Boston Tea party

• December 16, 1773 

• Boston Harbor - Griffin’s Wharf - at night 

• Planned by the sons of Liberty - Sam Adams - Leader 

• Dressed up as Mohawk Indians ( 60 ish) 

• 342 chests of tea dumped - worth- 1-2 mill (today) - 90k pounds of tea 

• 3 ships: Beaver, Dartmouth, Eleanor…

• 1 person is harmed ( not killed) 

• Roughly three hours 

• Goal was to protest the tea act, not an attack

• Led to the intolerable acts 

• Call the tea party - 50 years later

Lexington and Concord 

900 British soldiers arrive at 5 am to arrest Hancock and Adams - to Lexington

The British, led by Major Pitcarin

British encounter 60-70 minutemen 

Lex militia led by a captain. John Parker 

Minutemen told to disperse - get off the green  

Declaration of Independence 

• july 4, 1776

• adopted during the second continental congress in Philadelphia Pennslvania - written mainly Thomas Jefferson

Saratoga

• took place in 1777

• Two battles were fought about 3 weeks apart 

• American forces led by General Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold defeated the British army commanded by General John Burgoyne 

• This battle boosted American confidence, convinced the French to join the Americans

• money,supplies, and troops were given to the troops by French

Valley Forge

• 1777-1778

• winter camp of the continental army during the American Revolution 

• 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,

• under the command of General George Washington - faced extremely harsh conditions - cold weather, hunger, disease, lack of supplies 

Yorktown 

The final major battle of the American Revolution was fought in 1781 in Yorktown, Virginia, defeat of the British Army and led directly to America’s independence

Treaty of Pairs 

ended the American Revolution and recognized the United States of America as an independent nation - signed in Paris, France on September 3, 1783 by representatives from the United States and Great britian

 Effects of the French and Indian War

• huge war debt - taxing American colonies 

• British victory - gained control of Canada

• Tighter control over the colonies

• colonial unity and tension 

 Franklin’s Join or Die political cartoon

• snake seprated into eight peices - labeled the American regions/ colonies

• colonies needed to Unite and work together or they would die ( fail or be defeated)

Paul Revere’s Boston Massacre engraving

• titled “bloody massacre in King street - showed British soldiers firing at an unarmed crowd of colonists, making it look brutal and planned attack

Why the Intolerable Acts were passed

to punish the American colonists - especially in Boston, Massachusetts, from the Boston Tea Party and the act of resistance - protested taxes by dumping chests of tea into Boston harbor - angered King George III

• limited town meetings, British soldiers to stay in colonists homes, british avoid trials in colonies- punish and control instead united the colonies against british 

Significance of the Battle of Saratoga

secured a critical alliance with France, boosted American morale, and ended the British strategy of isolating New England. The American victory convinced France that the revolutionaries had a viable chance of defeating Great Britain and were worthy of formal support.

Thomas Paine’s message in his Common Sense

American colonies should declare immediate independence from Great Britain and establish a republican government. Writing in plain, accessible language in early 1776, Paine turned the ongoing conflict into a public debate and profoundly shifted popular opinion toward outright rebellion.

  Strengths/Advantages of the Continental Army

a strong sense of purpose, a home-field advantage, and the leadership of General George Washington. Though outmatched in size, training, and resources, these strengths allowed the Americans to endure and eventually defeat the professional British military.

  Enlightenment & Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is deeply rooted in the philosophical principles of the Enlightenment, an intellectual movement of the 18th century. Enlightenment thinkers championed the use of reason and questioned traditional authority, particularly the divine right of kings, advocating instead for the rights of the individual and the idea of a government based on the consent of the governed. Thomas Jefferson drew heavily from these ideas when drafting the document in 1776.

1 event

1 contiental congress - Sept 74

2 event

Paul revere ride - April 75

dorechester heights

76

lexington and Concord

April 75 

fort Ticonderoga

may 75

bunker hill

June 75

signing of decelartion of Independence

76 - after dorechester heights

John Hancock 

serves as presiding officer 

• By default served as our 1st national government

Thomas Paine 

Common Sense - Pamphlet encouraging colonists to declare independence and monarchy was wrong… common sense to govern themselves