American Revolution

Lecture 1

• Before the war even began, there were attempts to avert the war.

  • One such attempt was the conciliatory proposition - attempt at giving the colonists everything they wanted

    • Not towns of duties, no taxes on luxury goods. It essentially was like going back to seven years.

    • The only stipulation was that there were voluntary contributions to pay for the defense of the empire - no one was going to hold them to it, though. It was a promise to save face for the monarchy.

• Despite the attempts, war seemed inevitable, so Frederick North (the prime minister) order Thomas Gage, a British general, to get ready for war since it seemed inevitable.

  • People knew gage, since he was the military governor in Massachusetts since 1774.

  • Gage began to move forces from places like Canada in New Jersey and metropolitan areas.

  • Something interesting to note is that the British tended to swap their generals out through the war, and Washington would stay appointed from the start.

• What would fully start the war and get people to switch to the side of revolution was “the shot heard round the world” - The battles of Lexington and Concord.

  • Named from an 1836 poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

  • These were the first skirmishes of the world.

  • Gage attempts to travel to Concord to seize weapons and ammuniations the colonists had begun to stockpile (Groups like the sons of liberty were gathering them in the event war would break out). As Gage traveled to Concord, they ran into “Minutemen”, people who could be ready in an instant for defense and attack.

  • it is unclear who fired the first shot, but a chain reaction started afterward. Eight minutemen died and one British soldier was injured. The British headed to Concord, but were held up in Lexington. Thanks to Paul Revere, Adams and Hancock are tipped off, and they were prepared to fight.

  • The British would march and would continually be harassed by the militia that was coming along their path. They would wind up killing 273 British troops.

  • These skirmishes would lead to the Continental Congress meeting again

• On May 10th, 1775, the congress decided that it might be worth it to put off the revolution, since their is loss of life on both sides.

  • What occurs afterward is an olive branch petition, which expressed their loyalty as British citizens. It indicated that Congress wasn’t ready for a full-scale rebellion.

  • However, though the petition is put out, they still decide to arm soldiers and form the Continental Army - full on soldiers, different from Militias whose occupations lie elsewhere. “THey would die as freeman rather than slaves” - although slavery exists in the colonies.

  • George Washington was appoitned as the commander of the new army - why?

    • He was from Virignia - it is a populous state with a lot of power

    • He was known for two things - his good and calm judgment, and being a good leader.

    • He also has a military track record

    • He knew the British army

    • He had a reputation for bravery.

    • He is a big guy for the time - 6’3.

• The battle of bunker hill - june 17, 1775

  • The British Outnumber the now called Americans by a difference of about 500 to around 2000. Gage is trying to end the war quickly by choking out Boston - control the harbor, you control the trade. No munitions, no food, no anything.

  • Around a thousand British would pass, though the American would retreat after running out of supplies and suffered about 400 casulaties. While the battle was a loss, it was a huge moral victory.

• What was infusing the political climate at the time?

  • Common Sense by Thomas Paine.

    • He groups his ideology into what he calls “commonsensical ideas” that infuse the American Political thought. He says that government at its best is a necessary evil, and at its worst, an intolerable one.

    • Americans begin to think about what a proper governemnt is, as they mistrust the current governmental systems

    • Paine would sell more than 100,000 copies of his book. It would turn The american sentiment to notions of independence.

• In 1775, George III officially declared the colonies in a state of rebellion and authorized the military to put it down.

• On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson and read for approval for the Second Continental Congress. It was voted on July 2nd and approved on July 4th.

  • It argued the proof of universal rights and declared the colonies free from British control.

  • It is not a legal document, but more so and aspirational kind of declaration about what the revolution should be about.

  • Again, when he says men, he means white men.

  • However, some people ask about what it means that all men are created equal, and some say its too radical. Countries like France are heisetant to back them up for this. Are they advocating to throw off all universal monarches?

  • The declaration blames the king for inciting indian attacks, taking rights away from the colonists, establishing an arbitrary governemnt - he has “excited deomestic insurrections amonst us”

Lecture 2

• Wide Historical Context of the time

  • What were the diadvantages for the colonists during the Revolution?

    • They do not have a common government

      • There is no overarching organization beyond the continental congress.

      • We do not have a federal government like today and there is not a history of collective action in regards to the colony working together (Remember the Albany Plan) - they just wanted mutual defense from each other.

    • The population is really small

      • Especially compared to the British Empire!

      • There is a little less than three million people in American at the time, and some of them oppose the war (Which brings further challenges)

    • The militias they had were small and underfunded

      • The have a limited capacity to produce guns, gunpowder, etc.

    • There is no credit system

  • What were the disadvantages for the British?

    • They are very far away

      • It is going to take them at least one to two weeks at minimum to resupply people from Britain or even Canada.

    • Their military leaders are dependent on a hierarchical system

      • Commanders are waiting on orders from the higher ups to act

    • The leaders cannot get along

      • They have different ideas on the nature of the war, and some feel conflicted about it

    • They are very in debt

      • The revolution continues to deepen the debt that they already have.

• Some Americans began to come over to the side of independence. Some came after the incident of Lord Dunmore’s proclamation

  • Dunmore was a royal governor of Virginia and proclaimed any enslaved persons that took up arms for Britain would recieve their freedom - essentially called for slave rebellion in the south - why did he tell them this?

    • It would disrupt economic interest

    • it shuts down southern colonies - the carolinas, georgia, and virignia

• Another incident was the Second British Campaign

  • It decreed that British subjects are authorized to take any property they deem necessary to feed themselves or sustain themselves to sustain the war effort.

  • This was troublesome, as you could be a neutral party and the British could take their houses and other properties for now repurcussions.

• The British military history in the revolution occured in a different couple of compaigns

  • The first was Gage in Lexington and Concord

  • The second was generall Howe

    • Under him, the British would capture and occupy New York in 1776 and they push Washington out completely.

    • This led to some questioning if a new commander was needed, and morale was lost.

    • Washington, however, would surprise attack by crossing the Delaware River on Christmas eve of 1776 and regains Princeton, giving back morale to the colonists.

    • They continue to fail under Howell, and cannot control New England.

    • Eventually, the split into three groups which is much more manageable for the colonists to not lose - they just can’t be captured here.

    • The colonists would take over Albany and New York and capture Fort Ticonderoga, getting France’s attention to be an ally in the war, especially after the victory of the Valley of Saratoga.

    • After these loses, Howell decides that he will destroy Washingon’s army - but they keep running, attacking somewhere, adn running again. Howell would then take over Philadelphia (he finds a lover there).

    • France would sign a treaty of alliance on Feburary 6, 1778, giving money and a navy to the US.

    • Winter hits, and Washington’s army takes it hard - people are starving and his soldiers are suffering and deserting.

    • Because Washington only has to keep his army intact, he outlasts Howe.

• The third was Clinton

  • Clinton decides to take the war into the south, whilst still mainting forces in the north to get Washington. He sends General Cornwallis - a harsh man. He thinks all the colonists are rebels and does not restrict his actions. Howe and Clinton wanted to rehabiliate some of the colonists, but Cornwallis wanted to decimate them.

  • Clinton and Cornwallis wanted to take over there areas, march down and up respectivly, and meet up together.

  • However, they don’t know Washington has been training his soldiers

    • General von Stuyven, a Prussian military commander, trains the US soldiers and drills them hard into organized and disciplined men.

  • Still, they face loses - the battle of Camden sees Horatio Gates be crushed by Cornwallis with about half the men, and goes onto to try and destory Charlotte.

    • The American forces in response try to destory Cornwallis by showing up at random intervals along his way to Charlotte, which ultimately hurts his plan.

    • Gates would be replaced by Nathaniel Green - the fighting quaker. Cornwallis, frustrated at his loses, decides to decimate the North Carolina, pilaging their food and going from east to north carolina.

    • The battle of Kings Mountain - Major Ferguson and his soldiers are beaten by the Americans, adding another loss.

    • At the Battle of Calpens, Cornwallis’ second hand man, Tarleton, and his calvery are lost, and he loses to guerrilla warfare. His march to north carolina is stalled again.

    • His men would get malaria, and on a march to Virginia, he and his men become trapped in Yorktown in the summer of 1781 - 5000 French men join with the Patriot troops, and CornWallia and his 6000 are cut off by around 18000 combined AMerican and French troops. Cornwallis surrenders, effectively really ending the war.

• After the battle of yorktown, the Peace of Paris is created, in which Britain acknowledges that the North American colonies are free independent states, stretching to the Miss. River. Britain cedes Florida to Spain (a somewhat helpful ally), and France gets territory as well.

• The revolutionary government promised loyalists that they would not be viewed as the enemy and could return to America (many fled to Canada), though in many cases this was not followed and they lost their property anyway.