The American Revolution: 1763-1783 - PowerPoint Presentation

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The American Revolution: 1763-1783Slide2

Prelude to Revolution

Great Awakening

allowed people to question many forms of established authority

encouraged independent thinking

broadened the range of religious options

Newspaper and pamphlet wars expanded the printing capabilities of the coloniesSlide3

Effect of the French & Indian War

The colonies emerged from the Seven Years' War with an increased sense of solidarity

The colonies were never more British than in 1763

However, the Proclamation Line of 1763 & increased attention from Britain led many to feel betrayed

France cedes Canada to Britain in exchange for Guadeloupe & Martinique

Gave Louisiana to Spain

Spain gave Florida to Britain in exchange for the Philippines & CubaSlide4

Proclamation Line of 1763

Declared by Britain in response to Pontiac's Rebellion and increased tensions everywhere between settlers and Native Americans

Indians could no longer play the French against the British & vice versa

increased sense of pan-Indian identity developed out of the French & Indian War for Native Americans as well

Angered colonists & was largely ignoredSlide5
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Consolidating the Empire

Britain realized anew the importance of the colonies in the French & Indian War

contributed soldiers & economic resources

believed that new regulations were necessary to ensure British prosperity & strength

Britain was enormously in debt due to the war

expected the colonist to help pay for their defense

took measures to prevent actions which evaded the Navigation Acts and passed additional measures to raise taxes Slide7

Wool Act 1699, Hat Act of 1732, & Iron Act of 1750

forbade colonial manufacture of these items

Molasses Act of 1733

prohibitive tax on French-produced molasses used in the making of rum

These were largely ignored by the colonistsSlide8

Board of Trade

was est. in the late 1740s to strengthen imperial authority & prevent the colonies from ignoring lucrative British laws

suspended due to the Seven Years' War Slide9

End of Salutary Neglect

Sugar Act 1764

reduced molasses tax from six to three pence per gallon

strengthened admiralty courts

prevented colonists from being tried by a jury & ensured their prosecution for smugglingSlide10

Stamp Act of 1765

newspapers, legal documents, books, etc. must carry a stamp indicating the payment of the tax

marked a departure from regulation of trade

imposed without the assent of local authorities

willing to defend their authority

colonists claimed that they were not represented in Parliament

others in England were only represented through virtual representation in the House of Commons as well

long history of neglect by England + direct representation = unwillingness to submit to an abridgment of usual rights Slide11

Other Regulations in 1764

Currency Act

reinforced an earlier ban on colonial assemblies issuing paper money as "legal tender"

Revenue Act

wool and hides were added to the enumerated list

previously traded with Holland, France, & southern EuropeSlide12

Patrick Henry's Resolutions

Virginia's House of Burgesses approved four of Patrick Henry's resolutions

Colonists enjoyed the same "liberties, privileges, franchises, and immunities" as residents of England

right to consent to taxation was the cornerstone of "British freedom"

rejected three of Henry's resolutions as too radical

One of the three advocated outright resistanceSlide13

Stamp Act Congress

October 1765

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twenty-seven delegates from nine colonies met to endorse Virginia's position

affirmed their allegiance to Great Britain & subordination to Parliament

Merchants soon agreed to boycott British goods until Parliament repealed the Stamp Act

first major act of cooperation among the colonies'Slide14

Resistance

Crowds forced people chosen to administer the taxes to resign, burned them in effigy, and attacked their houses

shipments of stamps were destroyed

organized by the Sons of Liberty

Alexander McDougall, Isaac Sears, & John Lamb

enforced the boycott Slide15

Repeal

1766: Britain repealed the Stamp Act

accompanied by the Declaratory Act

stated that Britain had the right to pass laws "in all cases whatever"Slide16

the Regulators

Conflicting land claims flamed into disputes between settlers, colonial governments, speculators, & Native Americans as people went west

settlers & small farmers challenged the claims of land speculators & large proprietors

Wealthy residents of the Carolina backcountry calling themselves Regulators sought to settle disputes caused by a lack of regularized land titles and bands of outlaws that committed "shocking outrages" against people & propertySlide17

Parallel movement in North Carolina involved small farmers

refused to pay taxes, kidnapped local officials, assaulted the homes of speculators, merchants, & lawyers

condemned the rich & powerful

Peak = 8,000 Regulators

1771: "battle of Almance" the farmers were suppressed by the colonial militiaSlide18

Tenant UpRising

In the mid-1760s, a different group men claiming to be the Sons of Liberty, tenants on the Livingston, Philipse, & Courtland manors on the Hudson River, stopped paying rent & began to seize land

suppressed by British & colonial troops

Green Mountain Boys

mid-1770s group of men led by Ethan Allen who resisted the outside claims to land in what was New York, but in the 1750s the governor of New Hampshire had given large land grants in the area to New England families

gained control of the region & it became Vermont

These conflicts revealed social tension in the coloniesSlide19

Townshend Crisis

1767: new taxes on goods imported to the colonies were imposed & a new board of custom commissioners were appointed to collect them & suppress smuggling

1768: ban on importing British goods is reinstated

became a virtue to wear colonial goods instead of imported British finerySlide20

Boston Massacre

Royal troops had been stationed in Boston since riots in 1768 following the seizure of the

Liberty

for violating trade regulations

March 5, 1770

fight broke out between a snowball-throwing crowd of Bostonians and British troops

5 colonists are left dead

commanding officer & 8 soldiers were put on trial

defended by John Adams

seven not-guilty, two convicted of manslaughter

Paul Revere stirs the feelings of the colonies with his print of the eventSlide21

end of the Townshend duties

1770: boycott of British goods was collapsing

British merchants push for the repeal of the Townshend duties

government agreed, but left a tax on tea

troops removed from Boston

boycott ends

Unrest remained as rumors of a plan to send Anglican bishops to America to establish religious courts surfacesSlide22

Tea Act

East India Company was given rebates & tax incentives to sell tea in America

undertaken to bailout the struggling company

undercut merchants & smugglers

tax on tea was not new

many insisted that it acknowledge Britain's right to tax the colonies

December 16, 1773

group of colonists disguised as Indians boarded three ships in Boston Harbor & threw 300 chests of tea into the water

Became known as the Boston Tea Party

in response, Parliament passes the Coercive Acts (AKA Intolerable Acts)Slide23

Intolerable Acts

Parliament closed the port of Boston until the tea was paid for

altered the Massachusetts Charter of 1691

curtailed town meetings

governor could appoint members to the council

Military commanders could lodge soldiers in private homesSlide24

Quebec Act

Extended the southern boundary of the Canadian province to the Ohio River

granted legal toleration to the Catholic Church in Canada

threw into question land claims in the Ohio country

convinced many Britain was trying to strengthen Catholicism in AmericaSlide25

Growing Tension

September 1774:

Worcester, MA

4,600 militia from 37 towns line both sides of the streets as British appointed officials were forced to walk the gauntlet between them

Suffolk Resolves

convention of delegates from MA towns approve a series of resolutions

urged Americans to refuse obedience to the new laws, withhold taxes, & prepare for warSlide26

Continental Congress

September 1774 in Philadelphia

leaders of 12 colonies (all except Georgia) met to coordinate resistance to the Intolerable Acts

endorsed the Suffolk Resolves & adopted the Continental Association which called for an almost complete halt to trade with Great Britain & the West Indies

encouraged domestic manufacturing

authorized local Committees of Safety to take action against "enemies of American liberty"

Local committees such as this became the political training grounds for people with little prior experience in governmentSlide27

Sweets of Liberty

Americans began to base their claims not on the rights of Englishman but on natural rights & universal freedom

Influenced by the Enlightenment thinkers such as John LockeSlide28

The Shot Heard Round the world

April 19, 1775

British troops marched on Concord, MA to seize arms being stockpiled there

Riders warn colonists & militiamen take up arms

skirmishes took place at Lexington & again at Concord

British retreat to Boston

49 colonists & 73 British troops die

British declared the colonies in rebellion, dispatched thousands of troops, & ordered the closing of all colonial portsSlide29

Second Continental Congress

May 1775

authorized raising of an army

printed money to pay for it

George Washington appointed the commanderSlide30

Early Conflict

May 1775:

Ethan Allen & the Green Mountain boys with militia from Connecticut led by Benedict Arnold surround Fort Ticonderoga & force its surrender

June 17, 1775:

Bunker Hill

British dislodged colonial militia from Breed's Hill at a heavy cost

March 1776:

Canons from Fort Ticonderoga are used to push the British out of Boston

Sir William Howe cuts down the original Liberty Tree before their retreatSlide31

1776

Colonists were at war with Britain but still pleading for rights within the empire

Many believed that anarchy would result if the colonies broke away

July 1775: Congress had sent the

Olive Branch Petition

to King George III

Thomas Paine

in his pamphlet

Common Sense

in January 1776 argued that the English monarchy was headed by a "royal brute" and the English constitution the result of two ancient tyrannies: monarchy & aristocracy

Stated that a democratic government based on frequent elections with the protection of citizen's rights by a constitution would be ideal Slide32

Paine's Impact

Ideas were not new

message was for the common man, not the educated elite

sold an est. 150,000Slide33

Declaration of Independence

July 2, 1776: Congress formally declared the United States a separate nation

2 days later, it approved the Declaration of Independence

clause condemning the slave trade was deleted at the insistence of Georgia & South Carolina

Cemented the idea of American exceptionalismSlide34

Balance of Power

seemed to favor the British

American soldiers

had fought in the Seven Years' War or undergone extensive militia training

fighting on their own soil for a cause they truly believed in

Britain

conquering the colonies would be an enormous & expensive task

not certain that British citizens would want to pay high taxes to finance such a warSlide35

Blacks in the Revolution

Washington was forced to accept them after Lord Dunmore's proclamation in 1775

drafted individual could provide a substitute, and many sent their slaves

many fought in integrated companies

free blacks were allowed to fight for all militias except in Georgia & South Carolina

not explicitly promised freedom, but many received it at the end of the warSlide36

first years of the War

Washington suffered many defeats, but avoided direct confrontations & kept his army intact

Eventually many soldiers went home bc they became demoralized

28,000 to 3,000 men

December 26, 1776

surprise attack on Hessian soldiers in Trenton, NJ

January 3,1777

defeat of the British force at Princeton

These wins improved American moraleSlide37

October 17, 1777

General John Burgoyne's defeat by Washington's troops at Saratoga

Led the French to sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with America in 1778

recognize the U.S. & send military assistance

soon Spain also joined the U.S. sideSlide38

Winter 1777-1778

British under Sir Henry Clinton encamp at Philadelphia

Washington's men encamp at Valley Forge

suffer tremendously from a lack of suppliesSlide39

War in the south

In 1778, the focus of the war shifted to the South

British were attempting to capitalize on social tensions and the presence of Loyalists

Actions of Colonel Banastre Tarleton convinced many to join the colonists

defeated at Cowpens January 1781

British position in South Carolina was eroded by hit-&-run attacks by Francis MarionSlide40

Yorktown

October 19, 1781

British under Cornwallis were defeated when Washington's troops trapped his forces on the peninsula by land and the French blocked their exit by sea

destroyed British support for the war

Treaty of Paris 1783

recognize the U.S. as independent

nation extended to the MS River

Americans must pay back British merchants & honor Loyalist land claims

right to fish in waters off Canada