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

\