American Pageant Chapter 8 Study Guide

republicanism

• drove American revolutionaries to reject monarchy for a government where power resided in the people, electing representatives

• citizens must be virtuous, public-spirited, and prioritize the common good over self-interest

• appealed to British politicians critical of excessive power

liberalism

• belief in inherent rights to life, liberty, and property

• governments are formed by the consent of the governed to protect these rights

• power should be limited

• all men are created equal

natural rights

the belief that everyone is born with the same rights (life, liberty, and property)

consent of the governed

• governments must derive their authority from the people’s approval, expressed through elected representatives

• consent was primarily given through elected representatives

• people have the right to alter or abolish a government

declaration of independence

• written by TJ in 1776

• basically gave a list of complaints for why the King was a tyrant

• gave reasons for why the Americans were justified in wanting independence

common sense

• written by Thomas Paine

• 120k copies sold in the first couple months

• spread the revolution and essentially shut out any idea of wanting reconciliation (not Loyalists)

• called for a new kind of political society where power flowed from the people themselves

• Paine argued that all government officials should get their authority from the people

• appealed to British politicians critical of excessive power

olive branch petition

• last straw to independence

• americans asked the king ONE LAST TIME for independence, but he said no

  • declared that the colonists were in rebellion

• king bought hessians after this

articles of confederation

• first governing document

• established a weak central government

• failed due to its inability to tax, regulate trade, or enforce laws, leading to the stronger federal system under the Constitution

• purpose: unified war effort, preserve state sovereignty

• Structure: a league of friendship where states held power, had one legislative body where each state had one vote, regardless of population

Patriots

revolutionaries

loyalists (tories)

people loyal to the king

neutrals

• people who did not choose a side

• commonly fought over by the loyalists and patriots

• patriots would win most of the time

france

• America’s biggest ally

• joined the war in 1778

• France offered the americans a treaty of alliance after Franklin preyed on their fears of Anglo-American reconciliation

• France wanted to make sure Britain would not retain their global empire and wanted to bring it down to the same level as France

armed neutrality league

when everyone in Europe agreed to be hostile to Britain

Mercy Otis Warren

• American activist poet, playwright, and pamphleteer

• used her writings to gain Patriot support, criticize British rule, and document the Revolution’s history

• corresponded with the Founding Fathers like John and Sam Adams, shaping public opinion

GWash

• leader of the army

• elected by Congress

• NOT, ABSOLUTELY NOT (BY ALL MEANS NO NO NO NO) a good military schemer

• known for his ability to command authority and respect, NOT for being a good tactician

• he was NOT a good general, but a good leader

• he was TERRIBLE at devising tactics

TPain

• wrote common sense

• republicanist

TJ

• liberalist

• helped BF in France

• wrote the declaration of independence

RHL

• Virginian

• said that the colonies should become independent states in June 1776, and they did so

John Dickinson (not cool enough for an abbr)

• served as one of Delaware’s dels to the First and Second Continental Congresses

• established his opposition to the Declaration of Independence

  • believed that the colonies were unprepared

• later served the cause by drafting the articles of confederation

Governor Thomas Hutchinson

• last royal gov of MA

• prominent Loyalist who became a primary target of colonial revolutionaries due to his support for British policies like the Stamp and Tea Acts

• exiled to England in 1774 after these acts

BF

• scientist, diplomat

• revolutionized diplomacy

• made all Parisians adore him due to sticking to his guns instead of changing

• convinced the French to help

MDL

• young french aristocrat

• became a crucial major general in the continental army, serving under GWash in the war at 19

JBR

• played a critical role in the Siege of Yorktown

  • helped GWash march down

• French Royal Army officer

Lexington and Concord

• British were supposed to capture weapons that they suspected were being kept there by the patriots

• Paul Revere started warning the Minutemen

• British started rampaging, and the colonists struggled

• colonists ran away while the British marched towards Concord

• a bunch of minutemen came from Boston, so the British retreated back to Boston

Bunker Hill

• Colonists had the British surrounded in Boston, but didn’t have the ammunition to take Boston back

• Howe’s plan was to take the high ground in Boston; Bunker Hill

• British weren’t aware of American spies who found out about the plan

• June 1775 → colonists built defenses to stop the British from getting to Bunker Hill

• Howe was prepared to take Bunker Hill via frontal attacks

• Colonists waited for the British to come close to begin fire

• British continued to make a frontal attack

  • Colonists ran out of ammunition, so the British got Bunker Hill

Saratoga

• 1777

• General Burgoyne was heading the British

  • Developed a 3 pronged attack to capture the Hudson River

  • North (Burgoyne), South (Howe), West (St. Ledger)

• St. Ledger started the ruin of the plans

  • Tried to take a fort, but never worked, so he turned around

• Howe tried to take Philly instead of Albany

• Burgoyne had no idea, so he went down and took Ticonderoga

• Daniel Morgan tried to slow down the army by cutting down forests and shooting the guides

• Burgoyne ALSO had to take a lot of women and a lot of supplies

• Horatio Gates went up and defeated Burgoyne in Saratoga

Yorktown

• GWash was camped in NYC, waiting for French reinforcements

  • He was gonna attack soon after

• Cornwallis wanted to go up and trap GWash in NYC with Clinton at his side

  • Had to march to Yorktown to get reinforcements from British ships

• Mdl told GWash that Cornwallis was trapped in Yorktown

  • De Grasse told him that the ships were going to Yorktown

  • He and Rochambeau decided to march down to Virginia and trap Cornwallis

• Americans and French troops began to surround Cornwallis

  • French naval fleet broke through the British blockade, stopping Cornwallis’ escape route

• Cornwallis surrendered after 8 days

Treaty of Paris

• American peace negotiators went to Paris

  • Had strict instructions to make no separate peace and to consult with the French at all stages

• French did not want the US to be actually independent; they wanted the US to be stuck in the east of the Allegheny Mountains to promote French interests and policy

• John Jay (himothy) saw this and went to London

• British officially recognized the independence of the US with this treaty

  • Granted boundaries stretching to the Mississippi on the west, to the Great Lakes on the north, and to Spanish Florida on the south

    • Americans still retained a share of Newfoundland, and Loyalists were not to be persecuted