American Independence Flashcards

Colonial Grievances and the First Continental Congress

• The British government, to the colonists' dismay:

  • Granted greater liberties to Catholics, a group distrusted by the Protestant colonial majority.
  • Extended the boundaries of the Quebec Territory, hindering westward expansion.

• First Continental Congress (1774):

  • All colonies except Georgia sent delegates.
  • Included diverse perspectives (e.g., conservatives like Joseph Galloway, radicals like Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry).
  • Goals:
    • Enumerate American grievances.
    • Develop a strategy to address grievances.
    • Formulate a colonial position on the relationship between royal and colonial governments.
  • Outcomes:
    • A list of laws colonists wanted repealed.
    • Agreement to boycott British goods.
    • Formation of a Continental Association to enforce the boycott through local committees of observation.
    • These committees evolved into de facto town governments.
    • Defined limited parameters for justified Parliamentary interference, asserting colonial autonomy in other matters.
    • Signified a major break with British tradition and a step toward independence.

Escalation of Conflict

• Committees of observation expanded powers:

  • Supplanted British-sanctioned assemblies in many colonies.
  • Engaged in acts of insubordination (tax collection, disrupting courts).
  • Organized militias and stockpiled weapons.

• John Adams's perspective: "The Revolution was effected before the war commenced…in the minds and hearts of the people."

The Shot Heard 'Round the World

• British misjudgment:

  • Believed arresting leaders and confiscating arsenals would avert violence.
  • Dispatched troops to Concord, Massachusetts, in April 1775 to seize weapons.

• Battles of Lexington and Concord:

  • Lexington: British troops confronted a small colonial militia (minutemen).
  • A shot was fired (origin disputed), leading to British return fire.
  • Minutemen suffered 18 casualties (8 dead).
  • Concord: A larger militia contingent awaited the British.
  • The militia inflicted numerous casualties, forcing a British retreat.
  • The colonial farmers' ability to repel the British army was a monumental event, hence "the shot heard 'round the world."

The Second Continental Congress and Shifting Loyalties

• Period of Rallies

  • Time used to rally citizens to the cause of independence

• Loyalists:

  • Included government officials, devout Anglicans, merchants dependent on British trade, and some religious/ethnic minorities.
  • Some enslaved people believed the British offered a better chance of freedom (strengthened by the Virginia governor's offer of freedom to those who joined the British army).
  • Increase in Insurrections: The Pre-Revolutionary War Era saw an increase in the number of slave insurrections, dampening Southerners' enthusiasm for revolution.

• Patriots:

  • Mostly white Protestant property holders and gentry, as well as urban artisans (especially in New England).

• Second Continental Congress:

  • Convened shortly after Lexington and Concord.
  • Prepared for war:
    • Established a Continental Army.
    • Printed money.
    • Created government offices.
  • George Washington chosen to lead the army (popular and a Southerner).

Attempts at Reconciliation and the Declaration of Independence

• Olive Branch Petition:

  • Pushed by John Dickinson, advocating reconciliation with Britain.
  • Adopted by the Continental Congress on July 5, 1775.
  • King George III rejected the petition, viewing colonists as in open rebellion.

• Declaration of Independence:

  • Preamble: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…"
    • Reflects Enlightenment ideals and outlines American philosophy of government.
  • Lists grievances against George III and the British government:
    • Taxation without representation.
    • Dissolving local representative government.
    • Keeping standing armies in the colonies during peacetime.
    • Cutting off trade.
    • Depriving colonists of trial by jury.

The Power of Propaganda

• Common Sense:
  • Pamphlet by Thomas Paine (January 1776).
  • Advocated colonial independence and republicanism.
  • Aimed to rally colonists to the cause.
  • Very successful, surpassing James Otis's The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved.