Chapter 5: The American Revolution

The Origins of the American Revolution

• Britain had largely failed to have a coherent relationship with the colonies
  • They were constantly at war (expensive)
  • There were competing visions of the empire (Old Whigs/Tories vs. Radical Whigs)

Causes of the American Revolution

• Attempts to reform the British Empire after the Seven Years’ War was not received well
  • Royal Proclamation (1764)
  • It formally ended the Seven Years’ War and forbade all British settlements west of a line drawn along the Appalachians because the territory was given to the French
  • Sugar and Currency Act (1764)
  • An act passed to raise revenue by stopping the smuggling trade of sugar and molasses
  • Stamp Act (1756)
  • An act that imposed a direct tax on colonists and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper made in Britain
  • Resistance took three forms: legislative, economic, and popular protest
  • Townshend Act (1767)
  • An act that introduced a series of taxes and regulations to fund the administration of the British colonies in America
• There were new forms of resistance that were united despite class
  • Non-importation and non-consumption
  • Committees of correspondence

Independence and the War

• The Revolutionary War began in 1775 and ended in 1781
• The British initially had the upper hand and believed the threat of war would quell the rebellion
• A few key victories (Battles of Trenton and Saratoga) turned the tide of the Continental Army
  • Convinced the French to sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (which made it a global war of sorts)
• Eventually, the British turned to the South with the belief that they had friends there, but they did not have the manpower to hold it
  • The costly war began to lose support in Britain, especially since they were also fighting Holland, Spain, and France
• War ended with the Battle of Yorktown (1781)

Consequences of the Revolution

• The Revolution unleashed powerful political, social, and economic forces that would transform the new nation’s politics and society
  • States drafted constitutions
  • Political participation increased
  • Mercantilism ended, opening new markets and trade relationships
  • Slavery remained

\