The american revolution

1. The American Revolution

2. What was the Revolution?
• NOT only the war!
• The Revolution was:
1763-1776 - Colonists’ change in self-perception from
British subjects in 13 separate colonies to a united,
independent American nation.
1775-1781 - The War of Independence
1783 - British recognition of American independence in
the Treaty of Paris

3. Acts of Union, 1707
England and Scotland formed
United Kingdom of Great Britain.

4. Anne died
• Last Stuart monarch
• Had no children
George I
• Throne passed to new
Hanoverian Dynasty
1714

5. Georgian Era
Hanoverian kings played a much smaller political role than
earlier dynasties. Prime Ministers controlled Parliament.
George I,
1714-1727
George II,
1727-1760
George III,
1760-1820
George IV,
1820-1830

7. 1756-1763: Seven Years’ War (aka French and Indian War)

8. North America in 1763

9. Rule Britannia?
• In 1763, most Americans still bound to England - culture,
consumer goods, religion, military victories
• Americans thought of themselves as partners in Empire
• British think of “American” as “not quite English”

10. Colonial Products and Trade

11. 1763  Pontiac’s Rebellion
Fort Detroit
British “gifts” of smallpox-infected
blankets from Fort Pitt.
Aftermath of the French and Indian War:
Tensions Along the Frontier

12. Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)

13. Proclamation Line of 1763

14. British National Debt, 1691-1785
British national debt almost doubles
during the Seven Years’ War!

15. 1. Sugar Act - 1764
3. Stamp Act - 1765
2. Quartering Act - 1765
Grenville’s Program, 1763-1765
To Recoup War Expenditures

16. Stamp Act, 1765
Stamps validate documents

17. Patrick Henry and the Virginia Resolves
unite the population in protest

18. Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams protest –
riots, mob violence, and boycotts.

19. Stamp Act Congress petitioned
King George III and Parliament for repeal

20. Declaratory Act, 1766
Parliament repealed Stamp Act but also passed
Declaratory Act.
• Parliament sovereign over America “in all
cases whatsoever”
• Estranges colonists from British gov’t officials

22. Townshend Duties, 1767-1770
• Tax American imports of paper, lead, glass, and tea
• American Board of Customs Commissioners
created to collect duties

23. 1. John Dickinson  Letters from a
Farmer in Pennsylvania (1768)
2. Sons of Liberty boycott British
goods
3. Riots against customs agents
Colonial Response to
Townshend Duties

24. Boston Massacre, 1770
• 4000 British troops to Boston
• March 5, 1770—British soldiers fire on civilian
crowd, kill five Americans
• Townsend Duties repealed except tea

25. The Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770

26. Last Days of the Old Order, 1770–1773
• Customs collectors
antagonize wealthy colonists
such as John Hancock
• Committees of
correspondence build up
alternative political structure

27. The Tea Act, 1773
• 1773—Parliament passes Tea Act to help East
India Company (EIC) sell tea in America
• Radicals protest tea tax as violation of
American rights and a ploy to get them to
consume taxed tea
• Dec 1773—Boston Tea Party - protestors
dump the tea into the harbor

28. Boston Tea Party, 1773

29. The Coercive Acts, 1774
• Port of Boston closed
• Mass. colonial government re-structured - upper
house made royal appointive body; town
meetings permitted only 1x/yr
• British officials to be tried in England, not
America
• British Army authorized to quarter troops in
civilians’ homes

30. Québec Act, 1774
• Gives land north of Ohio R. (present-day OH, IN, IL,
MI, WI) to Québec; negates sacrifices of the Seven
Years’ War!

31. First Continental Congress, 1774
Agenda:
How to respond to the
Coercive Acts and the
Quebec Act?

34. Toward Independence
• Sept. 1774— First Continental Congress to
respond to Coercive & Quebec Acts
• Congress’ “Suffolk Resolves” urging forcible
resistance
• Militias organize and stockpile arms
• Inter-colonial “Association” halts commerce
with Britain until Coercive Acts repealed

35. Exports &
Imports:
1768-1783

36. Phase I: The Northern Campaign
[1775-1776]

37. • April 19, 1775— British Army marches into Mass.
countryside to seize arms stockpile
• Paul Revere & William Dawes make midnight ride
to warn the Minutemen of approaching soldiers
“The Regulars are coming!”

38. • Fighting
breaks out in
Lexington and
road to
Concord
• English
retreat to
Boston with
heavy losses
The Shot Heard ’Round the World!
Lexington & Concord
April 18, 1775

39. Man on a
Mission
June 1775— Second
Continental Congress
appoints George
Washington to head
new Continental Army

40. Battle of Bunker Hill
The British suffered over 40% casualties.
June 17, 1775—
British march on
Patriot camp outside
Boston  Battle of
Bunker (Breed’s) Hill
Result: British victory
at heavy price

41. The Battle of Bunker Hill

42. Olive Branch Petition

43. Thomas Paine: Common Sense
January 1776— Thomas
Paine’s Common Sense
convinces colonists to sever
ties with Britain.
Europe, not England, “is the
parent country of America”

44. Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776

48. Loyalist
Strongholds

49. The Loyalist Dilemma
• 100,000 Loyalists leave U.S. at war’s end
• Treated poorly by both sides - British never trust
Loyalists; Patriots seize property, imprison,
execute some

50. Military Advantages
1 million people
Home turf
Ideological cause
Americans British
10 million people
More resources
Naval supremacy
Long supply chain

51. Military Strategies
Win by attrition
Insurgent war  don’t
have to win, just wear
British down
Guerilla tactics
Ally with Britain’s
enemies
Americans British
Divide colonies in half –
N & S
Blockade ports to
prevent flow of supplies
from ally
“Divide and Conquer”
 use Loyalists
Incite slave revolt

52. Phase II:
NY & PA
[1777-1778]

53. “The Times That Try Men’s Souls”
Summer 1776— British Gen. Howe captures NYC;
3000 accept pardon for loyalty oath to Britain;
Washington retreats through NJ

54. Washington Crossing the Delaware
Painted by Emanuel Leutze, 1851
Dec. 25, 1776 — Washington captures 900 Hessians
in Trenton, NJ

55. Battle of Princeton
Jan. 3, 1777 — Washington captures Princeton, NJ;
British leave NJ in patriot control; victories re-kindle
American patriotism

56. 1777: Victory in a Year of Defeat
• British strategy = cut New
England off from other colonies;
lure Continental army into
decisive battle.
• Gen. Burgoyne’s army moves in
from Canada; defeated at
Saratoga (turning point of the
war?)

57. Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga

58. French Alliance
Saratoga convinces
France that colonists are
serious
British sue for peace;
offer repeal of all laws
since 1763, respect for
colonial taxation rights
February 1778—
Benjamin Franklin
conclude Treaty of
Alliance

59. Valley Forge, 1777-1778
Howe takes Philadelphia;
Washington winters at Valley Forge, PA

60. Help Arrives
Washington joined by Marquis de Lafayette
and Baron Friedrich von Steuben

62. Phase III: The Southern Strategy
[1780-1781]

63. Britain’s “Southern Strategy”
Britain thought more
Loyalists in South
Southern resources more
valuable
British take Savannah, GA
and Charleston, SC but
cannot pacify countryside
Good US General:
Nathanial Greene

64. The Battle of Yorktown (1781)
Count de
Rochambeau
Admiral
De Grasse
British Gen.
Cornwallis moves
into VA; gets
trapped on
peninsula near
mouth of
Chesapeake Bay
October 19, 1781—
surrender to
combined French-
American forces

65. Cornwallis’ Surrender at Yorktown:
Painted by John Trumbull, 1797
“TheWorldTurnedUpsideDown!”

66. Winning the Peace
American delegates John Jay, Ben Franklin, and
John Adams play France against Britain for best
terms
Treaty of 1783 -
• U.S. independence recognized
• U.S. gets all territory east of Miss. R. between
Canada and Florida
• U.S. will help British merchants and Loyalists
collect debts

67. North America After the Treaty of Paris, 1783

68. Preserving Independence
• The next step = the construction of new form
of government
• Question remains: a government of the elite
or a government of the people?