America Secedes from the Empire 1775-1783

The Second Continental Congress

Convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, representing all thirteen colonies.
Despite the recent bloodshed, a strong conservative element still hoped for reconciliation with Britain.
Appeals were drafted to the British people and King George III, seeking a redress of grievances, but these were rejected.
Recognizing the possibility of continued conflict, the Congress initiated measures to raise money, create an army, and establish a navy.

George Washington's Appointment

The Congress selected George Washington to lead the Continental Army.
Washington, a Virginia planter, had limited military experience, never exceeding the rank of colonel.
Despite lacking military genius and losing more battles than he won, Washington possessed exceptional leadership qualities, strength of character, patience, courage, self-discipline, and a sense of justice.
His moral force and integrity made him a symbol and rallying point for the American cause.
Washington insisted on serving without pay, only submitting expense accounts.
His selection was also politically motivated, as a commander from Virginia, the largest colony, would help assuage the distrust of the New England army.
Washington's wealth and status as an aristocrat reassured his peers that he would prevent excesses from the masses.

Early Military Engagements

American forces captured British garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown Point in May 1775, securing valuable gunpowder and artillery.
In June 1775, colonists seized Bunker Hill (actually Breed’s Hill) to menace the British in Boston.
The British launched a frontal assault, suffering heavy casualties against the entrenched American sharpshooters.
The colonists were eventually forced to abandon the hill due to a shortage of gunpowder.

Olive Branch Petition

In July 1775, the Continental Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition, professing American loyalty to the crown and seeking to prevent further hostilities.
King George III rejected the petition and declared the colonies in rebellion in August 1775.

Hiring of Hessian Mercenaries

King George III arranged to hire thousands of German troops, mainly from Hesse, to suppress the rebellion.
The hiring of Hessians shocked the colonists, who viewed it as a family quarrel and resented the use of foreign mercenaries known for brutality.
Many Hessians were more interested in booty than duty, and hundreds deserted, enticed by American promises of land, and became respected citizens.

Invasion of Canada

In the autumn of 1775, American rebels launched a two-pronged invasion of Canada, believing the French population would support them.
The invasion aimed to add a fourteenth colony and deprive Britain of a base for striking at the colonies.
General Richard Montgomery captured Montreal, and General Benedict Arnold's army marched through Maine to join him at Quebec.
The assault on Quebec on the last day of 1775 failed; Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was wounded.
The remnants of the American forces retreated, and French Canadian leaders showed little desire to welcome the invaders.

Continued Warfare and British Actions

The British burned Falmouth (Portland), Maine, in October 1775.
In January 1776, the British set fire to Norfolk, Virginia.
The British were forced to evacuate Boston in March 1776; this day is celebrated annually in Boston as Evacuation Day.
Rebellious colonists won victories in 1776 at Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina and Charleston harbor.

Thomas Paine's Common Sense

Loyalty to the empire was ingrained, and colonial unity was weak, making open rebellion dangerous.
Thomas Paine's Common Sense, published in 1776, advocated independence and republicanism.
Paine argued against the control of the larger American continent by the smaller island of Britain.
The pamphlet sold 120,000 copies within a few months and convinced many colonists that independence was necessary for foreign assistance.

Paine and Republicanism

Paine called for a republic where power came from the people, not a monarch.
Government officials should derive authority from popular consent.
Republicanism, with roots in classical Greece and Rome, appealed to those critical of excessive power in the hands of a king.
Citizen virtue, where individuals sacrifice self-interest for the public good, was considered fundamental to a successful republic.
Some Patriots favored a republic ruled by a "natural aristocracy" of talent, fearing the radical leveling of the "lower orders."

The Declaration of Independence

Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moved that the colonies should be free and independent states on June 7, 1776.
The motion was adopted on July 2, 1776, marking the formal declaration of independence.
Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence to explain the reasons for separation, appeal to other British colonies and foreign nations, and rally resistance at home.
The Declaration invoked the "natural rights" of humankind and listed grievances against King George III, including imposing taxes without consent, dispensing with trial by jury, and hiring mercenaries.
The Declaration cleared the air and allowed foreign assistance to be solicited.

Patriots and Loyalists

The War of Independence was a war within a war, with colonials loyal to the king (Loyalists) fighting American rebels (Patriots).
Loyalists were called “Tories,” and Patriots were called “Whigs.”
The American Revolution was a minority movement, with many colonists apathetic or neutral.
Patriot militias played a crucial role in political education, convincing colonists that the British army was unreliable.
Loyalists, about 16 percent of the American people, included people of education, wealth, and those with ties to the crown.

The Loyalists

Many Loyalists viewed themselves as the “better sort of people,” while seeing their adversaries as “lawless mobs” and “brutes.”
Loyalism was not confined to the well-to-do; it also appealed to British veterans and recent immigrants.
Ethnic minorities, such as members of Dutch, German, and French religious sects, supported the British due to the promise of greater religious tolerance.
Native American groups and thousands of African Americans also fought on the side of the British, hoping to protect their land claims or escape from bondage.
White Loyalists faced arrest, exile, property confiscation, and loss of legal rights, resulting in about eighty thousand fleeing abroad.

Persecution of Loyalists

Before the Declaration of Independence, persecution of Loyalists was relatively mild, involving tarring and feathering.
After the Declaration, harsher methods prevailed as rebels sought a united front.
Loyalists were handled roughly, imprisoned, and some noncombatants were hanged, though there was no widespread reign of terror.
About fifty thousand Loyalists bore arms for the British, served as spies, incited Indians, and kept Patriot soldiers at home.

British Strategy in New York

After evacuating Boston in March 1776, the British concentrated on New York as a base of operations due to its central location and numerous Loyalists.
A British fleet of five hundred ships and thirty-five thousand men appeared off New York in July 1776.
General Washington, outnumbered, could only muster eighteen thousand ill-trained troops.

Military Campaigns and Key Battles

Outgeneraled and outmaneuvered, the Americans were routed at the Battle of Long Island in the summer and fall of 1776.
Washington retreated across the Hudson River to New Jersey and then to the Delaware River, avoiding complete destruction of his forces.
Washington stealthily recrossed the ice-clogged Delaware River and captured a thousand Hessians at Trenton on December 26, 1776.
A week later, he inflicted a sharp defeat on a smaller British detachment at Princeton, boosting American morale.

Burgoyne's Invasion and the Battle of Saratoga

London officials planned to capture the Hudson River valley in 1777 to sever New England from the rest of the states.
General John Burgoyne would push down the Lake Champlain route from Canada, while General Howe's troops in New York would advance up the Hudson River.
Benedict Arnold's efforts delayed the British advance, preventing them from recapturing Fort Ticonderoga in 1776.
Burgoyne's invasion in 1777 was slowed by heavy baggage, and American militiamen gathered on his flanks.
General Howe attacked Philadelphia instead of assisting Burgoyne, ultimately leading to Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga on October 17, 1777.

The French Alliance

France sought revenge against Britain and saw the American quarrel as an opportunity to diminish British power.
The American revolutionaries needed help to throw off the British yoke, setting the stage for an alliance with France.
The Continental Congress drafted a Model Treaty to guide commissioners to the French court, emphasizing no political or military connections, only commercial ones.
Benjamin Franklin's appearance in Paris defied diplomatic norms, endearing him to ordinary Parisians and shocking the royal court.

Revolution in Diplomacy

After the humiliation at Saratoga, the British Parliament offered the Americans home rule within the empire.
France, fearing Anglo-American reconciliation, offered the Americans a treaty of alliance on February 6, 1778.
The treaty bound the allies to wage war until the United States had fully secured its freedom and both agreed to terms with the common enemy.

Global Conflict and British Strategy

England and France came to blows in 1778, and Spain and Holland later entered the conflict against Britain.
The war was fought in Europe, North America, South America, the Caribbean, and Asia.
France provided the rebels with guns, money, equipment, and naval strength, enabling the Americans to continue the fight.
Britain decided to evacuate Philadelphia and concentrate their strength in New York City due to the presence of powerful French fleets in American waters.

Military Campaigns and Key Figures

In the summer of 1780, a French army of six thousand regular troops, commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau, arrived in Newport, Rhode Island.
General Benedict Arnold turned traitor in 1780, plotting to sell out West Point to the British for $£6,300$ and an officer’s commission.
The British devised a plan to roll up the colonies, beginning with the South, overrunning Georgia in 1778–1779 and capturing Charleston, South Carolina, in 1780.
American riflemen wiped out a British detachment at King’s Mountain and defeated a smaller force at Cowpens, turning the tide in the Carolinas.
General Nathanael Greene distinguished himself with his strategy of delay, exhausting General Charles Cornwallis in vain pursuit.

Frontier Conflicts and Naval Engagements

The West was ablaze during the war, with Indian allies of George III, such as Mohawk chief Joseph Brant.
In 1784 the pro-British Iroquois were forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Stanwix.
The infant American navy, led by officers like John Paul Jones, disrupted British merchant shipping.
American privateers, numbering over a thousand, captured some six hundred British prizes.

Yorktown and the Final Curtain

Inflation and bankruptcy plagued the American cause in 1780–1781, causing despair and mutiny.
General Cornwallis blundered into a trap at Yorktown, where he was besieged by American and French forces.
Admiral de Grasse blockaded the British by sea, and Washington beset them by land, leading to Cornwallis’s surrender on October 19, 1781.
The triumph was as much French as American, with French providing essentially all the sea power and about half of the regular troops.

Negotiations and Terms of Peace

After Yorktown, Britons were weary of war and ready to come to terms.
Three American peace negotiators—Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay—gathered at Paris.
France desired an independent United States but sought to keep it confined east of the Allegheny Mountains.
John Jay, suspicious of French intentions, secretly made separate overtures to London, contrary to his instructions from Congress.

The Treaty of Paris

By the Treaty of Paris of 1783, the British formally recognized the independence of the United States.
The Americans were granted generous boundaries, stretching to the Mississippi on the west, the Great Lakes on the north, and Spanish Florida on the south.
The Yankees were to retain a share in the fisheries of Newfoundland.
Loyalists were not to be further persecuted, and confiscated Loyalist property was to be restored.
The states vowed to put no lawful obstacles in the way of collecting debts long owed to British creditors.

A New Nation Legitimized

Britain was attempting to seduce America from its French alliance, so it made the terms as alluring as possible.
The American representatives made a separate peace, which the Paris Foreign Office formally approved.
Persisting in the colonial conflict might well have bled Britain dry.
America gained from the world-girdling war, beginning their national career with a splendid territorial birthright and a priceless heritage of freedom.

Key battles

Lexington and Concord - April 19, 1775
Bunker Hill - June 17, 1775
Long Island - August 27, 1776
Trenton - December 26, 1776
Princeton - January 3, 1777
Saratoga - October 17, 1777
Monmouth Court House - June 28, 1778
Kings Mountain - Oct. 7, 1780
Cowpens - Jan. 17, 1781
Yorktown - Aug. 30–Oct. 19, 1781