Results of the Revolution and The Treaty of Paris 1783

Results of the Revolution

• 25,000+ Americans died in military service
• about 80,000 loyalist refugees left for canada
• a “conservative” revolution: government changed, but society not drastically re-shaped long term
• disruptions without decisive change:
  • greater democratic involvement, but still stratified society
  • women took on new political roles, but denied full rights
  • active in protest movements
  • active participants in war effort
  • black americans actions and revolutionary ideology make chattel slavery into a problem
  • 100k fled slavery during war (1/4 of enslaved population)
  • fought on both sides
  • used ideology for their own purposes

The Treaty of Paris 1783

• formal peace, british recognized US independence
• british cede Appalachian west by “right of conquest”
  • US believed it had “won” the west
  • undefeated native allies disagreed
  • britain expected US couldn’t hold this territory
• another key outcome of the war:
  • a government willing to sanction and support colonial expansion
  • land sales a key source of funding
  • US began as both:
  • an independent republic
  • an imperial power in its own right