American Revolution 1763-1783 - PowerPoint Presentation

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American Revolution

1763-1783Slide2

Introduction

Events of 1775 and 1776 caused colonists in America to decide to declare their independence from Great Britain.

A war erupted between the American colonists and the British Crown for the next 8 years.

In this lecture, we will discuss:

Structure of colonial society in the mid-1700s.

Political issues in the colonies.

Taxation, colonial protests, and British reaction.

A declaration of independence by the American colonies.

The fight for American independence. Slide3

Colonial Society in mid-1700s

By the 1760s, the overall population in all 13 British colonies had exploded to over 2.5 million colonists (including slaves).

This population was unique in that over 60% of the population was under the age of 21.

The colonists prospered during this time period with the majority of the population able to afford not only a decent amount of food, clothing, and shelter, but also consumer goods that they simply just wanted to buy.

After the colonies won the French and Indian War in 1763, times were very good and colonists seemed to be extremely happy. Slide4

Political Issues in the Colonies

Political issues in the colonies originated with political issues in Great Britain.

Glorious Revolution of 1688: The British Crown officially recognized Parliament’s authority to create laws and to create new taxes.

Whigs- this was a dominant group of aristocrats within British Parliament that wanted to increase the power of Parliament in British politics.

1727-1760: King George II allowed the Whigs to run all of Great Britain’s affairs, except for the military. The Whigs and Parliament gained a massive amount of power during this time.

1760: King George III came to power and destroyed the relationship that his grandfather built with Parliament. George III selected the Earl of Bute (Scottish) as his chief minister, which made the Whigs extremely mad. By 1763, Bute left court and George III appointed and got rid of several ministers for the next several years, which created instability and distrust in British government. Slide5

Political Issues in the Colonies

By the 1760s, Parliament also started having problems with governing the American colonies.

parliamentary sovereignty- the doctrine that Parliament enjoyed absolute legislative (law-making) authority throughout Britain and its colonies.

Most American colonies were ruled by some sort of colonial assembly (self-governing body).

Can you remember some examples of colonial assemblies?

Whigs argued that all laws passed by British Parliament superseded any laws created by colonial assemblies. Slide6

Political Issues in the Colonies

Leaders of the colonies argued that most colonies had been ruled by bodies such as the Mayflower Compact, Virginia Company, House of Burgesses, etc. for as long as the colonies had been around.

These forms of self-governing bodies crafted colonial ideology into a right to self-government.

Most colonists had never been to England and had never met a single member of Parliament.

Colonists argued since they did not have a say in who was elected to Parliament, they did not have to abide by laws passed by Parliament. Slide7

Political Issues in the Colonies

Parliament argued that the colonies were “virtually” represented, since members of Parliament represented all members of the British Empire….in England, Scotland, Ireland, British Colonies, India, Africa, and the Caribbean islands. It did not matter if the colonists voted or not.

This issue of virtual representation upset the colonists, especially when the British started to tax the colonies.

Colonists argued……. “no taxation without representation”.Slide8

Political Issues in the Colonies

Remember, all of these political issues developed due to the Enlightenment and Great Awakening.

Colonists were drawing upon older documents written at the beginning of the Enlightenment to explain why they should be self-governed.

Also, remember that at this point, colonists just want to be represented in government according to their rights as British citizens…..they do not want to revolt just yet.Slide9

Political Issues in the Colonies

John Locke:

Locke was one of the most cited Enlightenment writers that the colonists used in their argument for representative and self-government.

Locke wrote

Two Treatises of Government

(1690) and argued for what a government should look like:

All people possessed natural and inalienable rights (life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness)

To preserve these rights, free men formed contracts with one another to be governed.

These agreements were the foundation of human society and civil government.

People gave their consent to be governed. (Government served the purposes of the populace….not the populace serving the purposes of the government.)

Governments could not coerce people into doing something they did not want to do. Slide10

Political Issues in the Colonies

Other Enlightenment ideas that the colonists picked up were:

public virtue- sacrifice of self-interest to the public good

power was dangerous, if it was not backed up by virtueSlide11

Political Issues in the Colonies

Another political issue in the colonies was Pontiac’s Rebellion:

After the Seven Years’ War, King George III left a small force in the colonies to help keep the peace between the colonists and the Indians.

In 1764, a Deleware Indian known as Neolin (an Indian spiritual leader), began telling the Delaware, Seneca, Ottawa, Creek, and Cherokee, to restore their Native cultures and to turn away from “white society”.

Neolin won over Pontiac (an Ottawa warrior) to his cause, and raised a small Indian army. Pontiac’s army attacked settlements in Virginia and Pennsylvania. The British army could not protect the colonists from these massive attacks.

This caused Americans to ask the following question:

If the British army cannot stop Indian attacks, what are they doing in the colonies? Slide12

Political Issues in the Colonies

One of the biggest political issues impacting the colonies was an issue of debt.

The Seven Years’ War placed GB with a massive amount of debt.

On top of that, King George III insisted on having a large peacetime military in the colonies and other British possessions throughout the world to keep the peace. (very expensive)

King George III appointed George Grenville as the chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) to help GB to pay off their debts.Slide13

Political Issues in the Colonies

Grenville argued that since the Seven Years’ War was fought

in

the colonies, and it was fought

for

the colonies, therefore, the colonists must pay the British debts off.

Grenville then began to issue several new taxes that the colonies had to pay GB. Slide14

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

Revenue Act of 1764 (Sugar Act)- placed a tax on all sugar trade in the colonies.

Colonial assemblies and merchants argued that they should not be taxed, since they were not represented in Parliament. However, most went ahead and paid the Sugar Act tax. Slide15

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

Stamp Act of 1765- placed a tax on newspapers and printed matter produced in the colonies.

With this act, Grenville made it mandatory that all printed material and documents to have a British seal stamped on it, which cost money.

Grenville thought that this would bring in over 60,000 pounds annually to Parliament.

It was scheduled to go into effect on Nov. 1, 1765.

Word of the Stamp Act reached America in May 1765 and some of the colonial leaders immediately protested. Slide16

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

Patrick Henry:

Virginia’s House of Burgesses assembled to discuss how to implement the new Stamp Act.

Late in the session, while older (more conservative/British-leaning) members had already left the meeting to go back to their plantations, Patrick Henry (a young, eloquent, and fiery Virginian) stood up and gave a speech that was later named the Virginia Resolutions.

Virginia Resolutions- Patrick Henry protested against the Stamp Act and gave 5 resolutions on why he was against the tax. In these resolutions, Henry argued the Stamp Act was “illegal, unconstitutional, and unjust, and has a manifest tendency to destroy British, as well as American liberty”. Slide17

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

Newspapers in the colonies heard about Henry’s fiery speech and printed it. However, they printed that the House of Burgesses in Virginia had passed his resolutions as colonial law. (Which they did not do)

The 13 colonies, as well as GB, thought that Virginia was taking a radical stance against the Stamp Act. Slide18

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

Stamp Act Congress:

The New England colonies read about the “Virginia Resolution” and determined not to be outdone by the Southern colonies.

Massachusetts called a meeting (9 colonies in New England and Middle Colonies) called the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765 in New York City to discuss the Stamp Act.

It was the first intercolonial meeting since the failed Albany Plan.

The delegates drafted petitions to King George III, saying that there should be “no taxation without representation” in Parliament. They were not calling for independence……they just wanted to have a colonial representative as a member of Parliament. Slide19

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

The Stamp Act not only affected printed material, but it soon placed a tax on property deeds, marriage licenses, and even playing cards.

By November 1765, the colonial stamp distributors in nearly all American ports resigned. (Without people to apply the stamps, the colonies would not have to pay the taxes.)

This actually worked for a moment….the Stamp Act was just barely enforced with most newspapers and printing presses running as normal.

But then one particular group pushed the protest a litter farther…..Slide20

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

Sons of Liberty:

A group of colonists, led by Samuel Adams, that sought to break away from British rule.

The Sons of Liberty used the Stamp Act to persuade colonists to boycott British goods.

By 1766, colonists were importing more British goods than they could afford, and the Sons of Liberty convinced several colonies to cut back on their spending habits.

The boycotts mobilized colonial women:

Women in the colonies could not vote or hold public offices.

However, they controlled their families’ pocketbook!!

The boycotts worked and by March, 1766, British Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act. Slide21

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

Townshend Acts:

In the summer of 1767, Charles Townshend became the new minister of finance in British government and decided to lower taxes in GB and to increase taxes again in the colonies.

Townshend Acts: a series of duties (tax on goods imported into the colonies) on items such as paper, glass, paint, lead, and tea.

Townshend hoped these taxes would be able to pay the salaries of colonial governors (taking away power of the colonial assemblies).

Townshend also reinforced the Quartering Act in the colonies.

Quartering Act- required the colonies to house soldiers in barracks, taverns, and vacant buildings, while suppling them with food, clothing, and firewood. Slide22

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

October 1768: Parliament transferred 4,000 regular British troops (redcoats) from Nova Scotia and Ireland to Boston to help “protect” the colonists from Indian attacks.

The redcoats were the lowest rank of British soldier and were low paid and treated very badly.

Since wages were low (or in some cases nonexistent), they competed with colonists in Boston for jobs, which made the Sons of Liberty upset.

Sons of Liberty printed pamphlets that said the redcoats were in Boston to take away civil liberties and to make sure the colonists were paying the Townshend Acts taxes. Slide23

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

March 5, 1770:

A small group of redcoats were at the Boston tax office, when some young boys started yelling insults at the soldiers, then started throwing snowballs. The crowd grew in numbers quickly and adults started throwing rocks at the soldiers.

One soldier was struck with a rock and pulled the trigger on his gun, which created a panic, and all the redcoats opened fire on the mob, killing 5 and wounding several more.

The Sons of Liberty printed pamphlets that said the redcoats were opening fire on colonists that would not pay their taxes and labeled the incident……..the

Boston Massacre

. Slide24

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

1770: Lord North (replaced Townshend after he died) became the minister of finances and tried to calm fears in the colonies.

North repealed all of the Townshend Acts, hoping the colonists would calm down.

1722: Sam Adams again refused to accept that the repeal of the Townshend Acts had secured colonial liberties:

He held public celebrations commemorating the repeal of the Stamp Act and Boston Massacre.

He suggested creating a committee of correspondence, in which, colonial leaders in Massachusetts wrote letters to each other, discussing local grievances against British rule. Other colonies copied his idea, and before too long, there was a massive network of communication between colonial leaders in America, independent of British authority.Slide25

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

May 1773: Parliament passed the Tea Act which placed a tax on imported tea, but also allowed the East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonists. (The colonists already smuggled tea into the colonies through Dutch tea merchants.)

December 16, 1773: British ships loaded with tea came into Boston Harbor, where they were met by colonists who would not let them unload their cargo until the following morning. John Adams and the Sons of Liberty dressed up like Mohawk Indians, boarded the British ships, and threw 340 crates of tea into the harbor (10,000 British pounds).

Colonial papers called this event the

Boston Tea Party

. Slide26

Taxation, Protests, and British Reaction

British Parliament, King George III, and financial minister North, finally had enough.

They passed the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts):

closed the port of Boston until the city compensated the British for the destroyed tea

restructured Massachusetts government by taking away elected officials and replacing them by ones appointed by Parliament.

required colonists to quarter British troops in their homes and supply them with whatever they needed

King George III appointed General Thomas Gage as Massachusetts new royal governor. (Gage was not afraid to enforce these laws by force.) Slide27

American Independence

Committees of correspondence decided that colonial leaders needed to meet to figure out how they could help Massachusetts.

September 1774: First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to discuss issues with Parliament.

55 elected officials from 12 colonies (Georgia did not send anyone, but agreed to follow in line with whatever decision was made) attended with notable Founding Fathers like Sam Adams, John Adams, Patrick Henry, and George Washington.

Delegates from the Middle Colonies wanted to proceed with caution, while Sam Adams urged all colonies to openly revolt.

The delegates agreed to stop all trade with British merchants and to start producing all goods in the colonies. (Basically, another boycott, but longterm.)Slide28

American Independence

April 18, 1775:

Colonists in Massachusetts (under the recommendation of Sam Adams) started to stockpile weapons and supplies.

Gage heard about these rebels and sent redcoats to find the stockpiles in the town of Concord.

Paul Revere heard that Gage was sending troops out and famously rode to Lexington and to Concord to alert colonists that the “British were coming!”

April 19….A group of farmers, boys, and old men in Lexington gathered their weapons and decided to stand on the village green to meet the British soldiers that were marching through to Lexington. No one planned to fight, but when the British arrived, shots were fired, and 8 American colonists were dead. Slide29

American Independence

The British soldiers resumed their march to Concord to confiscate the stockpile of weapons.

Local militias in Massachusetts sprung up overnight, called the Minutemen, and made their way to Concord. The British soldiers arrived and did not find any stockpiles. As they left, Minutemen hid in the woods and picked off the British soldiers one by one.

The shots of Lexington and Concord were labeled…… “The shots heard around the world”.

This was also the start of the American Revolution. Slide30

American Independence

May 1775: Second Continental Congress

This second meeting of colonial leaders did the following:

Created the Continental Army

Appointed George Washington as the commander of the army. (Mainly because he was not from Massachusetts)

Issued paper money throughout the colonies…..in order to pay for military supplies Slide31

American Independence

While the Second Continental Congress was in session, GB blockaded American ports, seized colonial ships, and tried to incite slave revolts in the Southern colonies.

In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote

Common Sense

which he argued:

Monarchies could be corrupted.

All governmental powers come from the people.

Paine argued that Europe as a whole, not just England, was the mother country of America, therefore, the colonies should break away from British rule. Slide32

American Independence

On July 2, 1776, the new Continental Congress voted for independence (12 states for, none against, and New York abstained).

2 days later, Thomas Jefferson (a young Virginia planter) led the draft of the Declaration of Independence, the document that officially declared American independence on July 4, 1776. Slide33

Revolutionary War

Great Britain vs. The United States of America

Advantages of Great Britain:

One of the great powers in Europe.

Possessed a large, professionally trained army.

Already went through Industrial Revolution and had a highly industrialized economy.

British officers were battle tested against the Ottoman Empire and the French.

GB had the world’s largest navy. Slide34

Revolutionary War

Advantages of United States:

3,000 miles away from GB…..the British had to transport massive amounts of troops over a long distance.

America’s landmass was huge…….the British could take control of several ports on the coast, but it was nearly impossible to hunt down all American army members on the North American continent.

Americans had political ideology that banded them together…….the majority of the Continental Army was made up of volunteer’s from all walks of life. Slide35

Revolutionary War

The Continental Army:

Washington had one major goal for the Continental Army……build a large enough army to survive long enough to get help from another European nation.

Washington built a large professionally (albeit quickly trained) trained army, as well as having help from local militias.

Washington’s Continental Army faced the British in large-scale battles, while the local militias employed guerrilla style-fighting tactics to pick off British officers. Slide36

Revolutionary War

Early Battles:

Sir William Howe replaced Gage as commander of the British forces and Parliament sent 50,000 British troops to the New England coast.

The British tried to seize Boston, but failed, then tried to seize New York City. Washington sent many of his inexperienced soldiers to the battle and was thoroughly defeated.

Howe then drove Washington’s forces out of New York state and into New Jersey with another battle.

Howe then announced that he would pardon any American fighting in New England if they swore allegiance to George III.

Over 3,000 men and women that lived in British-occupied areas took the oath.

However, as soon as the British left the area to conquer a new area, the American turncoats usually went back to their rebellious ways. Slide37

Revolutionary War

Early Battles:

In December 1776, Washington’s army was forced out New Jersey and into Pennsylvania.

The Continental Army lacked basic supplies, food, and some of the men started to leave.

The Continental Army would have been destroyed if the British would have attacked with all their forces in the winter of 1776.

However………Slide38

Revolutionary War

Howe made a mistake. He broke the British army into small units and spread them across all of New Jersey.

The militia units started picking off smaller British units throughout the winter.

The British tried rally by the summer of 1777:

7,000 British, Canadian, and Native Americans came down from Canada and into the Hudson Valley (NY) to destroy the Continental forces. (They were accompanied by a band, 2,000 camp followers, and lots of liquor.) Along the way, the militias picked off large parts of this army in the wooded areas. Slide39

Revolutionary War

After the British issues with the militias in the summer of 1777, Howe unexpectedly moved the main British forces from New York City to Philadelphia.

Washington tried to stop Howe’s forces, but eventually gave up Philadelphia.

In October 1777, Washington tried to counterattack Howe’s forces outside of Philadelphia in Germantown, but the Americans were outnumbered, scared of the foggy conditions, and ultimately retreated.

Winter 1777: Washington’s Continental Army dug in at Valley Forge (20 miles outside of Philly) for the entire winter in order to not give up anymore ground to the British. It was such a harsh winter that fighting stopped. The Continental Army had very few supplies, very little food, and disease killed over 2500 soldiers that winter. Hopes for the Americans to win the war was bleak. Slide40

Revolutionary War

By 1778, the Americans were barely keeping the Continental Army together when commander Horatio Gates led the army in the Battle of Saratoga and surprisingly defeated the British.

The Battle of Saratoga gave the Americans new hope and led to a new ally for the Americans.

Benjamin Franklin had been in France during the war, begging the French to join America’s side. The Battle of Saratoga finally convinced the French to become the ally of the US.

Feb. 6, 1778- France officially recognized the independence of the United States and officially joined the war to fight the British. Slide41

Revolutionary War

When France entered the war, it became more of a worldwide conflict.

The French and British immediately went to battle in international waters, in India, in the Caribbean, and in Africa.

The French then convinced the Spanish to join their side against the British.

The French were able to keep British reinforcements from reaching the fight in America. Slide42

Revolutionary War

Battle of Yorktown:

(October 1781) After the British lost the Battle of Saratoga, Howe was replaced by General Henry Clinton and his second-in-command, Lord Cornwallis.

Clinton and Cornwallis invaded the South and initially had success in capturing Charles Town (Charleston, SC). Clinton left the South to help out with the New England theater of war, and Cornwallis decided to leave Charles Town to engage in guerilla warfare in the countryside.

Cornwallis fortified Yorktown (In Virginia, where George Washington grew up) and brought all 6,000 of his men to the fort. Washington brought the majority of the Continental Army and a large force of well-trained French troops to Yorktown and trapped the British forces. On October 19th, Cornwallis surrendered. Slide43

End of the War

Treaty of Paris of 1783:

On Sept 3, 1783, America, France, GB, and Spain agreed to end the war.

The United States of America became an independent nation.

The British territory east of the Mississippi River became part of the US. (Except for Florida)

The Revolutionary War was over and the Americans were out from under British rule, however, the battle amongst Americans on how to be governed was just beginning.