🇺🇸 The American Revolution 🇺🇸

Key Terms (Simple Definitions)

People

• Abigail Adams: The wife of John Adams and remembered for the many letters of advice she exchanged with her husband during the Continental Congresses

• Benedict Arnold: One of the 3 Generals at the Battle of Saratoga (lost the sword of Burgoyne to Gates) and was best known for betraying the Americans and defecting to the British side in 1780

• Thomas Paine: Thomas Paine was an English-born American Founding Father, French Revolutionary, inventor, and political philosopher best known for writing the famous pamphlet Common Sense

• George Washington: Was appointed commander of the Continental Army in 1775. Despite having little experience commanding large, conventional military forces, his leadership presence and fortitude held the American military together long enough to secure victory at Yorktown and independence for his new nation in 1781.

• Joseph Brant: Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York and, later, Brantford, in Ontario, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution.

• Thomas Jefferson: During the American Revolution, he was an American Founding Father and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776).

• John Locke: John Locke was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". He was best known for his idea of natural human rights: life, liberty, and property.

• Molly Pitcher: Molly Pitcher is a nickname given to a woman who fought in the American Revolutionary War. She is most often identified as Mary Ludwig Hays, who fought in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Another possibility is Margaret Corbin, who helped defend Fort Washington in New York in November 1776.

Key Terms

• American Patriots/Whigs: Patriots, also known as Revolutionaries, Continentals, Rebels, or Whigs, were colonists in the Thirteen Colonies who opposed the Kingdom of Great Britain's control and governance during the colonial era, and supported and helped launch the American Revolution that ultimately established American independence.

• The Articles of Confederation: The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 states of the United States, formerly the Thirteen Colonies, that served as the nation's first frame of government. It was debated by the Second Continental Congress at Independence Hall in Philadelphia between July 1776 and November 1777, and finalized by the Congress on November 15, 1777.

• Common Sense: Published on January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine's 47-page pamphlet “Common Sense” helped sway the Thirteen Colonies toward independence with his persuasive and passionate case for separation from Britain.

• Confederation: A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Ex. Iroquois Confederation

• Continental Army: The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia after the war's outbreak. General George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and maintained this position throughout the war.

• Declaration of Independence: Mainly written by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress and came to be known as the nation's Founding Fathers. The Declaration explains to the world why the Thirteen Colonies regarded themselves as independent sovereign states no longer subject to British colonial rule.

• Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms: Written by Thomas Jefferson and revised by John Dickinson, this declaration was one of several addresses issued by Congress in the summer of 1775 with the object of justifying to the American people and to the world the necessity for armed resistance.

• Federalism/federation: the division and sharing of power between the national and state governments

• Hessians: From the city-state of Hessa, the Hessians were mercenaries (soldiers for hire) hired by the English to fight with them against the colonies.

• Lee Resolution: Although John Adams originally wanted to call the independence vote, Richard Henry Lee proposed the idea because he was much more well-liked.

• Loyalists/Tories: The terms Tory, Loyalist, Royalist, or King's men were used by Patriots to label those who remained loyal to the mother country Britain. The word Tory comes from several Middle Irish words meaning robbers, outlaws, or pursued men.

• Militia/militiamen: A militia is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional or part-time soldiers; citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of regular, full-time military personnel

• Native Americans (role in war): Many natives believed that the Americans’ wishes for greater expansion were more dangerous than the British. Four tribes in the Iroquois Confederacy joined the British side, and 2 tribes joined the Revolution. They had scouts and soldiers in the armies who all fought alongside the Americans and the British. In the end, it did not end well for the Natives as they suffered many losses on the Frontier.r

• Northwest Ordinance: The Northwest Ordinance chartered a government for the Northwest Territory, provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory.

• Olive Branch Petition: Written primarily by John Dickinson, the Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, and signed on July 8, 1775, in a final attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in America.

• Ordinances of 1784 and 1785: The Ordinances of 1784 and 1785 were drafted by Thomas Jefferson. The primary purpose of the ordinances was to create procedures for dividing the land east of the Appalachian Mountains and west of the Mississippi River for settlement.

• Paper money: After the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, the Continental Congress began issuing paper money known as Continental currency, or Continentals.

• Prohibitory Act: British legislation in late 1775 that cut off all trade between the Thirteen Colonies and England removed the colonies from the King's protection.

• Republican Motherhood: The key idea of republican mothers was that women were responsible for the early education of the boys who would someday become voting citizens. This was considered a major responsibility.

• Treaty of Alliance (1778): formalized France's financial and military support of the revolutionary government in America. Believing that they would benefit militarily by allying themselves with a powerful nation, the Colonies formed an alliance with France against Great Britain during the Revolutionary War.

• The Treaty of Amity and Commerce (1778): recognized the United States as an independent nation and promoted trade between France and the United States.

• Treaty of Paris (1783): The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and recognized the Thirteen Colonies, which had been part of colonial British America, to be free, sovereign and independent states.

• Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation: Congress commanded little respect and no support from state governments anxious to maintain their power. Congress could not raise funds, regulate trade, or conduct foreign policy without the voluntary agreement of the states.

• Women (role in the war): Women’s roles included having to take arms to fight British soldiers on the frontier and quartering British soldiers that came into their homes. Some women would spy for the patriots while serving teator the British and would listen to their conversations. Some women even enlisted their children to steal British plans.

• Second Continental Congress: From 1775 to 1781, representatives from all the colonies were at this congress, and America officially declared war. They created a real army, putting Washington as the commander. They decided to go to France for a navy and proposed the idea of independence.

Notable Events

• Annapolis Convention: Held September 11-14, 1786, the Annapolis Convention was a meeting of 12 delegates from five states (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia) that called for a constitutional convention. The formal title of the meeting was a Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government.

• Battle of Fallen Timbers: The Battle of Fallen Timbers (20 August 1794) was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Native American tribes affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and their British allies, against the nascent United States for control of the Northwest Territory. The battle took place amid trees toppled by a tornado near the Maumee River in northwestern Ohio at the site of the present-day city of Maumee, Ohio.

• Battle of Bunker Hill: The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War.[5] The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved. The American patriots were defeated but they proved they could hold their own against the superior British Army. The fierce fight confirmed that any reconciliation between England and her American colonies was no longer possible.

• Battle of Saratoga: To take Congress in Albany, the British planned a 3 prong attack, but only one general went, General Burgoyne. At the battle, Burgoyne was surrounded by the Green Mountain Boys, Daniel Morgan’s militia, Benedict Arnold’s army, and Horatio Gates’ army. After a few hours, Burgoyne surrendered. This was known as the turning point of the revolution because it proved to the French that the Americans could win the war and gave them access to the French navy.

• Battle of Yorktown: It was a decisive victory by a combined force of the American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington with support from the Marquis de Lafayette and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau and a French naval force commanded by the Comte de Grasse over the British Army commanded by British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The siege of Yorktown was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America and led to the surrender of General Cornwallis and the capture of both him and his army. The Continental Army's victory at Yorktown prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict.

Need To Knows

The States United

The divisions within the Second Continental Congress and the goals of each faction

• During the SCC, the founding fathers met for the second time in Philadelphia and this time, all of the colonies were there.

• They declared war → officially at war.

• Courses of action:

  • Create a real army

    • George Washington was named commander there f the army because he was known as a present and dedicated soldier

    • .Hamilton wanted the job → made aide-de-camp for GW (personal assistant)

  • Decided to find allies

    • Went to France for a navy

  • Proposed for independence

    • Although John Adams was behind the idea, he was not well-liked and decided not to propose it.

    • Instead, Richard Henry Lee proposed the idea of independence → the Lee Resolution.n

• The vote for independence needs to be unanimous.

• The SCC was split into two groups, the the conservatives—headed by John Jay of New York and John Dickinson of Pennsylvania—and the radicals, led by John Adams of Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.

  • The conservatives still believed that reconciliation with the British was possible, and on July 5, Congress authorized the Olive Branch Petition, which represented one final attempt at negotiation and affirmed the colonies’ loyalty to the Crown.

  • The radicals wanted full independence and the day after the Olive Branch Petition Congress issued the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, which explained and justified the 13 colonies’ decision to go to war. This had the effect of invalidating the Olive Branch Petition, which the British summarily rejected.

• Many representatives from the South were against independence, as they benefited from trade with Britain and many were still loyalists.

• To convince the others, a committee of five was created to write the Declaration of Independence.

  • Made up of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman

  • Thomas Jefferson did the most writing.

  • (in his first draft, he freed the slaves, but the issue wassweepd under the rug because the South would never let this pass)

• Once the Declaration was revised, it was passed by Congress and signed by all of the Founding Fathers.

How Common Sense addressed the problem of the aim of the war and its impact on American opinion

• Thomas Paine was a British-born man who only moved to America in 1774. Although he was English, he clearly saw the British tyrannical rule and wrote Common Sense.

• Common Sense, a pamphlet that reached all American colonists, gave justification to why America should be independent.

  • He wrote it in the vernacular so that everyone could understand

• Common Sense made a clear case for independence and directly attacked the political, economic, and ideological obstacles to achieving it.

• Thomas Paine relentlessly insisted that British rule was responsible for nearly every problem in colonial society and that the 1770s crisis could only be resolved by colonial independence.

The philosophical roots of the Declaration of Independence and the effect the Declaration had on the struggle.

• The Declaration was based on many ideas from European philosophers and enlightened thinkers.

  • One of them was John Locke. In the writing of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson adapted John Locke’s philosophy of natural rights, rights that all humans are given at birth.

  • John Locke originally said that people were all born with the rights to life, liberty, and property.

  • Thomas Jefferson revised this philosophy and stated, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

  • He also followed John Locke’s social contract.

  • The philosophy is simply when a group of people agrees to give up certain rights and accept a central authority to protect their other rights.

  • Thomas Jefferson did this by saying that there would be governments to protect the people and protect their rights.

• The Declaration of Independence helped people and the Southern countries see how British policy had impacted colonists throughout North America.

• Now many felt they were no longer just thirteen separate colonies protesting, they were self-governing states united behind a worthy cause.

The problems the Americans faced in providing the necessary supplies and equipment for the war and in paying for them

• Without access to British markets, finding supplies was difficult and shortages persisted to the end.

  • Gunsmiths could not keep up with the demand for arms.

  • Americans relied heavily on the weapons they captured from the British, and supplies from France.

  • When financing the war, congress could not directly tax the people. No states could even contribute more than a small part of their share. The government then had no choice but to issue paper money, which then caused inflation.

• To mitigate these issues, they reached out to other European nations, many of which had a grudge against England, and made allies.

• During the SCC, the Founding Fathers decided to reach out to France as an ally, to gain assistance in the military as well as the navy.

  • France agreed to be an ally and to provide the Americans with an army, but to get their navy, America needed to prove that they could win the war.

  • France sent two men to help the colonist army, Lafayette and Rochambeau

  • Marquis de Lafayette

    • He was a French man who loved America and was a soldier & philosopher

    • He was with Washington throughout the war and helped train troops in the colonial army

    • Oftentimes, Washington allowed Lafayette to lead the army in certain battles

  • Compte de Rochambeau

    • He was another French soldier who helped discipline the troops. Because of his strictness and odd last name, his name was used by soldiers as a war signal

    • He was also a strategist and aided Washington in his decision to go to Yorktown

• The colonists also reached out to the Kingdom of Poland

  • at the time, Poland was an economic rival of England and knew that a war would bring them down, so they agreed to ally with the colonists

  • They sent Kosciouso and Polaski who helped a lot in NYC, stopping the British from spreading out

• Another ally for the colonies was Prussia

  • Prussia was known as a country with an army, meaning that its aromas were extremely successful and powerful. They aided the colonists both financially and militarily

  • They sent Baron Von Steuben to help

    • He was known for disciplining troops

    • 1777: Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

      • disease, cold, starving soldiers

      • congress sent officers home but kept soldiers

      • Washington and Steuben stayed → respect for Steuben

• They also got financial aid from Netthe Herland and Spain

The American advantages in the struggle and why George Washington was selected as the best person to make the most of these advantages

• The American advantages in the struggle included knowledge of the terrain, motivation, and guerrilla warfare tactics.

• George Washington was selected as the best person to make the most of these advantages due to his leadership skills, experience, and strategic capabilities.

• Unlike the British troops who had hired the unmotivated Hessians, the Americans were very motivated and needed their independence, otherwise they could pay with their lives.

The two broad schools of interpretation that emerged as historians debated the origins of the American Revolution

• One school saw the revolution largely as a political and intellectual event and argued that the revolt against Britain was part of a defense of ideals and principles.

• Others view the revolution as a social and economic phenomenon and contend that material interests were at its heart.

The War for Independence

The initial setbacks in the war during 1776, and the significance of the Battles of Trenton and Princeton in this regard

• At the beginning of the war, George Washington had an untrained army → out of control, didn’t know how to fight, and was also paranoid that loyalists were spying on him.

• Congress couldn’t tax the American people → no funding for the army

Boston

• GW goes toward Boston with 28,000 men (not much less than the British)

  • After 3 days, the British are forced out of Boston

  • Leaves Charles Lee (second-in-command) in Boston

The Battle of New York City

• Washington heads to NYC → follows General William Howe from Boston (32,000 British troops)

  • England sends 500 naval ships into New York Harbor (General Richard Howe, older brother)

• Washington fights for weeks → loses over half his men

• Forced to retreat → end of fall 1776

Pennsylvania

• Washington moves through Pennsylvania to go toward Congress in Philadelphia.

• Weather turning, men struggling, many leave

• By the time he gets to Philadelphia, he has less than 3,000 men

• The army was very discouraged and felt as if they were going to lose → needed a sort of a pick-me-up for the Battles of Trenton and Princeton (1776)

• Washington needed a win → heard about a Hessian encampment in Trenton.

  • This was around Christmas time → knew Hessians celebrate big

• Washington attacks Hessian at Trenton on December 26th

  • Hessians used candles on Christmas trees, burned things down

• Loses only 6 men → morale boost for Americans

  • GW’s credibility starts to climb

The American diplomatic goals at the start of the war, the problems they faced, and the efforts made to overcome them

• The American diplomatic goals at the start of the war were to make the United States internationally recognized as an independent country and to make allies (both militarily and for economic reasons) for the war.

How the victory at Saratoga affected American diplomatic efforts, and how England and France responded to this news

• After the win in the Battle of Saratoga, it quickly became known as the turning point of the revolution because it proved to the French that the Americans could win the war.

• This resulted in France giving America access to their navy, which was a tremendous help to the American side.

Why did the British decide to launch a campaign against the southern colonies in 1778 and how the campaign in the South was conducted

• After the loss of Saratoga, the British began shifting their focus to the South, where they could obtain food, resources, and the support of the Southern loyalists.

• After Saratoga, Horatio Gates was promoted to the Commander of the Southern Armies and failed horribly

• .The British won a lot of battles in the South because of Gates’ bad leadership.

• The British could not fully take the South because they did not anticipate the militias → British had to get more resources and spend more energy.y

• Francis Marion was an important member of the American side in the South.

  • He was nicknamed “Swamp Fox” and would hide from the m British in swamps

  • The British would get stuck in the swamps → Marion would attack

  • British hired Colonel Tarleton (the Butcher) to take out Marion → never happened

The provisions of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and how the treaty affected relations among the U.S., France, and Spain

Defined Territories

• East of Mississippi, south of Canada, north of Florida

Provided Rights to the Mississippi

• Shared river with Spain

• had access to all the resources

• Spain was reluctant to encourage U.S. trade and settlement in a strategic frontier area and kept the Mississippi River closed to American shipping.

• Westerners were outraged and threatened war against Spain.

• In November 1784 and March 1785 respectively, the Virginia and Massachusetts legislatures instructed their delegates to Congress to urge that every effort be made to secure the navigation of the Mississippi.

• Britain surrendered ports

• Although America was now an independent nation under the treaty, nobody took America seriously, including France

• In the treaty, America also ended property seizures

  • During the revolution, if you were a loyalist, Congress would take your land

  • all loyalists still got land back → wanted to make sure everyone started on the same footing; no one was better than others → no hierarchy → everyone is equal

The problems the Treaty of Paris of 1783 failed to solve and the problems it created

• The Treaty of Paris of 1783 failed to resolve, or in some cases helped to create strain among the US, England, and Spain by creating disputes over boundaries of land between England and the US, creating tension over the Florida boundary and the rights to the Mississippi river between Spain and the US

War and Society

Who the Loyalists were, what elements in America remained loyal to the king, and their reasons

• Appointed government officials, ministers, merchants, and common folk were some of the people who remained loyal to the crown.

• Others like farmers, sailors, and laborers did not like the British Parliament but also did not want to participate in a war.

• Some of the Loyalists expected to be rewarded at the end of the war.

• Some wanted to protect their vast amounts of property (many people in the South)

• Many were professionals such as clergymen (who were dependent on the Church of England for their livelihood), lawyers, doctors, and teachers.

• Some Loyalists were servants or slaves.

The impact the Revolution had on Native Americans

• Many natives believed that the Americans’ wishes for greater expansion were more dangerous than the British.h

• Four tribes in the Iroquois Confederacy joined the British side, and 2 tribes joined the Revolution. on

• They had scouts and soldiers in the army who all fought alongside the Americans and the British.

• In the end, it did not end well for the Natives as they suffered many losses on the Frontier.

How the Revolution affected the way American women thought about their status and changes that resulted from this

Women’s Roles:

• Had to take arms to fight British soldiers on the frontier

• Had to quarter British soldiers that came into their homes

• Some women would spy for the patriots while serving teator the British and would listen to their conversations

• Some women even enlisted their children to steal British plans

Specific Examples:

• Margaret Corbin went to war with her husband and when he was killed, she took his post and fired the cannon.

• Mary Hays also took her husband’s post but was most well known as Molly Pitcher because she dodged shells to bring water to soldiers.s

• Deborah Sampson and Anne Marie Lane disguised themselves as men and served until they were “discovered” after getting medical attention.on

How Women’s Thoughts Changed

• The Revolution politicized women's roles, decisions, and actions as mothers at the same time as elite men restricted women's importance to their role as mothers within the confines of the home.

• Some men regarded women not as individuals or citizens, but as the maternal engine behind the Republic.

• The long struggle for women's rights began in the American Revolution, with the assertion of universal natural rights.

• Women were active in the struggle for American independence and supported the high ideals of the Revolution, even though they were not afforded the same political rights as men.

Changes the Revolution produced in the structure of the American economy

• The Revolution's most important long-term economic consequence was the end of mercantilism.

• The British Empire had imposed various restrictions on the colonial economies including limiting trade, settlement, and manufacturing.

• The Revolution opened new markets and new trade relationships.

• The Americans' victory also opened the western territories for invasion and settlement, which created new domestic markets.

• Americans began to create new manufacturers, no longer content to rely on those in Britain.

The Creation of State Governments

Why the concept of a republican government appealed to Americans

• After being under the rule of England for so long, the people were tired of a tyrannical central government that frequently implemented new taxes.

• The Founding Fathers decided to not tax the people and the government gave the states. All the power

How the Americans proposed to avoid what they considered to be the problems of the British system they were repudiating

• Their constitutions would be written down since the vagueness of England's unwritten constitution had caused corruption.

• There would be a legislative branch with multiple representatives from every state since many people felt that England had not represented them properly.

• They would not tax the people since England had highly taxed the people, angering the people and becoming one of the main causes of the revolution.

• There would be a weak federal government because England had been too tyrannical.l

The characteristics of the state constitutions written during the early years of the struggle, and how they reflected the general spirit of the Enlightenment—the belief that freedom was the natural state of humanity

• They viewed government in terms of a social contract and created an elected government rather than a hereditary monarchy.

• The newly penned state constitutions had many features in common with one another.

• Their similarity made easier the drafting of a workable federal charter later in time. In British tradition, a "constitution" was not a written document but rather an accumulation of laws, customs, and precedents; Americans invented something else.

• The documents they drafted were contracts that defined the powers of government, as did the old colonial charters, but they drew their authority from the people.

• As written documents, the state constitutions were intended to represent a fundamental law, superior to the transient whims of ordinary legislation (bill of rights).

• All of them deliberately created weak executive and judicial branches; there was a deep distrust of despotic governors and arbitrary judges (His Majesty's officials)

The impact the Revolution had on slavery in New England, in the middle states, and in the South

• In the Northern states after the Revolution, the states ended slavery and Congress made slave importation illegal.

• New England had a weakened slavery system and in Pennsylvania, Quakers opposed slavery and so it was abolished.

• Because slave importation was now illegal, the South had to make up for this by selling and trading more slave families.

• Slavery in the new states was also solved with religious freedom.

The Search for a National Government

The type of government the Articles of Confederation created and its major features.

1. Central Government

   • One branch of legislative government → limited and had only 8 general (and weak) powers

   • Was a confederation (loose government) → inspired by the Iroquois Confederation

2. State Governments

   • Power to the people

   • State constitutions outweighed everything

   • state constitutions included rights, separation of powers, and voting rights

3. End of the Old Order

   • Gets rid of hierarchy, “everyone is equal under the eyes of god”

   • Many gentry and other high-class members were not happy

     • GW created the Order of the Eagle to try and give himself and other military leaders more power and clout → shot down by Congress

How the Treaty of Paris of 1783 failed to resolve strain among the United States, England, and Spain

• America established itself as a nation and it directly bordered England's colony of Canada and the Spanish colony of Florida.

• In addition, although the French aided the Americans in fighting the British, the French were not included in the signing of the Treaty of Paris, creating strain.

• Because American trade was no longer under the British Empire, the newly independent America became a new competitor in Atlantic trade, outside of the British Empire.

• Outside of world trade, the growing land mass of America had natural resources that could be exported for Atlantic Trade.

The commercial arrangements American shippers and traders wanted above all others after the war had ended, why they felt this was needed, and how successful they were in accomplishing their aims

• They wanted full access to the British markets.

• They wanted this because Britain had large trading ports, but they were unsuccessful because Britain still did not recognize America as a nation even after the war ended

The effect the American westward movement had on diplomatic relations with Great Britain and Spain

• American westward movement greatly strained the relationship between Britain and Spain, since much of the land in question was either owned by Spain or was close to land owned by Spain

How the Confederation Congress attempted to resolve the problem of the status of western territory the states had ceded to the national government, and what interest groups favored which plans for the sale and distribution of land

Land Ordinance 1785

• Organization of land - Thomas Jefferson

  

• 1 square → 64 acres

• $1 per acre

• One person could only buy 1 square (avoid land speculation and rich owning all)

Northwest Ordinance 1787

• Requirements to become territories/states

  • Territory → 5,000 male voters (property-owning white men)

  • State → 60,000 people in a population

• Thomas Jefferson added that slaves would be illegal in these new states

The sources of the Confederation's postwar economic problems, how the government attempted to solve them, and the results | How paper money was seen as a solution to the economic problems of one element in American society, who opposed this, and why

• After the war, America was in a large debt to France

• Because of the weak central government, they had no money (no taxes)

• The government could ask the states for money, but that frequently did not work as the states did not believe that it was their problem

• Congress was able to print money, so they turned to paper money.

• They kept printing paper money and inflation skyrocketed

• Soldiers also had to be paid back for their service and were often paid in paper money.

  • Because of the inflation, the money soon became worthless and not enough to support soldiers.

• America also had a very difficult time paying back its debt to France as its paper money was not worth anything.

How Shays’ Rebellion related to the economic problem of the Confederation period and its significance

• A violent insurrection in the Massachusetts countryside during 1786 and 1787, Shays' Rebellion was brought about by a monetary debt crisis at the end of the American Revolutionary War.

• Although Massachusetts was the focal point of the crisis, other states experienced similar economic hardships.

• In particular, Continental Army and state militia veterans struggled, as many received little in the way of pay or reimbursement for their military service.

• Among these disgruntled former soldiers was the Continental Army Captain Daniel Shays, who led a violent uprising against debt collection in Massachusetts.

• The rebellion set the stage for George Washington's return to political life and highlighted weaknesses inherent within the Articles of Confederation.

• The United States emerged after Shays' Rebellion as a stronger nation, with a new Constitution and George Washington as its first President.

Description of All Main Battles

Battle of Bunker Hill

“Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!” - Israel Putnum

Aftermaths of Battle:

• Gage fired

• Howe hired

Battle of New York City

• 8/22/1776 → The British move 10,000 men to Long Island

• Washington thinks it’s diversion → doesn’t send troops

• General Howe hears this → sends more forces to Long Island and sends other soldiers to distract American soldiers

• 8/26/1776 → British is in position

• 8/27/1776 → British launch attack on Americans

• Fights for weeks → Washington refuses to surrender

• Forced to retreat during the night → fall of 1776

• Goes towards Philadelphia and Congress

Battle of Trenton

• Washington attacked Hessians at Trenton on December 26th

• Loses only 6 men

Battle of Brandywine and Germantown

• occurs just outside of Philadelphia

• Howe is sent to attack Congress and leaves NYC for Philadelphia

• Washington attempts to stop him

• one of the bloodiest and worst battles of the Revolution

Battle of Saratoga

Green Mountain Boys

• Commanded by Ethan Allen → were aggressive and uncouth

  • To be a GMB, a man had to be over 6ft, good at axe throwing, and a resident of the Vermont area

• In today’s Vermont but in New York territory at the time

• Existed before revolution → wanted to create Vermont

• When Burgoyne gets to Vermont, the GMB keeps cutting down trees to slow down Britain

• Allen then warns the people of Albany that the British are coming

The British Forces

• Congress left Philly after Brandywine & Germantown to Albany

• British still wanted Congress

• Creates the 3-point plan → attack Albany in a 3-pronged attack with 3 different generals

  • General Burgoyne (Canada) doesn’t make it to Albany after being ambushed

  • General Howe (Philadelphia) doesn’t go

  • General Barry St. Ledger (Frontier) doesn’t go

The Battle’s Results

• Battle only lasts a couple of hours, Burgoyne surrenders

  • There is a debate about who gets Burgoyne’s sword → brought to trial → Horatio Gates gets sword

• This battle is known as the turning point of the Revolution because it proved to the French that the Americans could win

Battle of Yorktown

• The battles in the South depleted the British of supplies → Cornwallis backed up to the York River and awaited supplies from the British blockade → sitting du. cks

• Rochambeau convinced Washington to go to York. town

  • Before GW attacked Yorktown, he sent some troops to New York to deceive the British → trick them into thinking the army was attacking NYC.

• Before attacking, GW’s army created trenches → spent days firing on Cornwallis → war of attrition (constant fire on the enemy)

• Cornwallis waiting for resources doesn't come → French broke through the British blockade and stopped British ships

• Finally, the British waved a white flag → British asked for a “Cessation of Hostilities” for 24 hours.

  • GW gave them 2 hr.s

  • Cornwallis surrenders