the american revolution - brown's hist...

Chapter 5

32k men strongGerman (Hessian) 17k

Staten Island

GW 19k men to NY

Battle of Long IslandGW outflanked (rear)

Looses 20%Captured/killed/wounded

Retreats to Pennsylvania

Torytown

December 23, 1776

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

D. Washington’s attack on Trenton, Christmas 1776

After Battle of Long IslandOnly 3000 stay

2400 men across Delaware

Surprised 1500 HessiansOnly 500 not killed

E. Washington’s second minor success at PrincetonF. Washington wintered in Morristown, New Jersey

Two battles saved the cause

GW learned only way to win is to outlast the British army with selective confrontations

II. American society at warA. Division of support in the colonies1. Three groups: Patriots, Tories, & an indifferent middle group

Patriots (Whigs)

Tories (loyalist)Port towns such as NY & Philadelphia

Anglican ministers

Many different social levels

Middle

B. Analysis of the colonial war effort1. The militia

Served as home front protection

Helped supplement the Continental Army

“come in, you cannot tell how, go, you cannot tell when, and act you cannot tell where, consume your provisions, exhaust your stores [supplies], and leave you at last at a critical moment.” –GW

2. The Continental army3. Supplies obtained directly from farmers4. Difficulties of financing the war5. Washington orders mass inoculation at Morristown

Guns as various as uniforms

First winter at Morristown1000 stuck out winter

“$20 and 100 acres of land” offer” brought up to 9000 during spring

III. Setbacks for the BritishA. Problems of the British war effortB. Three-pronged attack in New York led to turning point of the war

September 11 Howe occupies Philadelphia

Washington to Valley Forge for the winter

Continental Congress to York, Pennsylvania

Burgoyne vs GatesOnce in same regiment

Fort StanwixDefend to “last extremity”

Gates holds off until Iroquois desert British

Mohawk River valley secured

4. Battle of Saratoga

Starts off in Bennington, VT

Burgoyne pulls troops back to Saratoga

Surrounded British troops

10/17/1777 -Burgoyne surrenders 6000 troops

“You CANNOT conquer America.” P.M. William Pitt

C. Saratoga escalated war to worldwide proportions1. French entered war to help Americans2. Spain entered as ally of France3. Britain declared war on the Dutch

Treaty of Amity and commerce

Recognize US and offer trade concessions

Treaty of Alliance

1. Fight until American independence

2. No truce/peace until consent of other

3. Each guaranteed each others land in America

4. France would seek more possession in North America

Lord North declares unwinnable

House of Commons gives American rebels all demands made prior to Revolution

Repealed the Townshend tea duty, the Massachusetts Government Act, Prohibitory Act

Sent peace commissioners

Congress refuses negotiations until Brits recognize independence or withdrew its forces

2. Winter at Valley Forge (Dec. 19, 1777)a. Sufferings of the troopsb. Contributions of von Steuben and Lafayettec. A renewed army

3. Stalemate10,000 troops

Feb 7000 unfit for duty

More than 2500 die

1000 deserted

50 officers resign in one day

Several hundred more left later

March saw a different army

Both in training and moral

Formal French military alliance

Extra pay and bonus promised

Brits retreat to NY

B. Western successes of colonials1. George Rogers Clark in Illinois2. Iroquois power broken

British encouraging loyalist and Natives to attack on frontier

175 men down Ohio R., march and take Fort Kaskakia (French inhabitants)

Then to Cahokia

Took Vincennes only to have

it retaken

Goes back…

V. Southern campaignA. Reasons for the move southB. Reasons for lack of British success in the South

George sure of loyalist support

But failed:1. Wasn’t much support

2. British encouraged Indian attacks forced undecided to choose patriots

3. British behavior so harsh others switch sides

C. Savannah and Charleston captured by the BritishD. Cornwallis routed Gates’s forces at Camden, South Carolina

November 1778

Brits take Savannah then Charleston

5500 Americans surrendered

Horatio Gates takes command of new army for the south (Congress not GW choice)

Gates retreats 160 miles away, ruining his career

E. Tarleton and Ferguson defeated at Kings MountainRecruited a loyalist militia

Burn villages, free slaves, destroy livestock

Scot-Irish in the back country mobilize after threats

*proved British weren’t invincible in the South

*couldn't get loyalist to join after Kings Mountain

*colonist follow charismatic militia leaders

F. Greene placed in command of colonials in the SouthG. Morgan’s victory at Cowpens

Dec 1780

Patient, fighting Quaker

Battle of Cowpens (Jan 1781)Sent Daniel Morgan (700)

Against Tarleton who rushed

H. Cornwallis fights his way northwardI. Benedict Arnold’s contributions to the BritishJ. Exploits of the American navy

Green inflicts such loss Cornwallis retreats north to get resupplied

Arnold’s plan fails but he gets away to met up with Cornwallis at Petersburg, VA (7200 troops)

“We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”

Greene

K. Cornwallis defeated at Yorktown1. Nature of the Yorktown campaign2. Results and their significance

Yorktown perfect for CornwallisWashington in NY

Chesapeake Bay controlled by British NavyUS navy weak and merely annoying

K. Cornwallis defeated at Yorktown1. Nature of the Yorktown campaign2. Results and their significance

French land 6000 in RI

Washington plans to use them on British NY

Gets word de Grasse is sailing in Chesapeake Bay with 3000 French soldiers

French ships slip out of RI to Chesapeake Bay

9/06/1781 de Grasse lands troops, attacks British naval reinforcements away then begins to ferry troops from South to Yorktown

More than 16,000 to Cornwallis 9,000

VI. Peace negotiationsA. NegotiatorsB. Nature of the problems with France and with SpainC. American initiatives with BritainD. Terms of the Peace of Paris, September 3, 1783

Adams, Franklin and Jay

“Trans-Appalachia” given to the colonies

Florida back to Spain

Brit merchants “should meet no legal impediment” in collecting money

Congress would “earnestly recommend” states return property to Loyalists

VII. The political revolutionA. Nature of the revolutionary concepts developed in America1. Nature of republican governmental ideas2. The necessity of a virtuous citizenry

Nation with citizens equal before law and governed themselves through the elected

End game not to preserve balance as the British did with monarchy…

Must preserve rights from govt

Limit authority in writing

Govts with elected governor and senate instead of chosen governor and assembly

Had separation of powers & Bill of rights

*limit powers of governor, increase legislature’s

C. Articles of Confederation1. Difficulties in obtaining ratification2. Powers of central government under the Articles

Confederation Congress in March 1781

A.o.C. had draft as early as July 1776

No courts or power to enforce its resolutions

Couldn't’ tax

Nine states need to approve

War, treaties, coinage, finances, army navy

Unanimous to levy tariff

No head of govt just head of congress

VIII. The social revolutionA. Loyalists abandon AmericaB. Impact of independence on lower socioeconomic groupsC. Impact of the Revolution on land tenure

Flocked to NYC, Charleston and Savannah

80k refugees leave AmericaLoyalists, free blacks, freed slaves, Indians

Some go to Florida, others to Canada

Tories lost land, common men cold afford new land west of Royal Proclamation of 1763

Salves are free if they fight for Loyalist

1000 within a year join

Backfired on Britain as it anger many southerners

Several hundred thousand escape slavery

Many N. states end slavery during or soon after the fighting

E. Impact of the Revolution on womenF. Impact of the Revolution on IndiansG. Impact of the Revolution on religion

Women gains little rights, varying state to stateAbigail Adams

Indians ‘allies’ caused chaos on frontier after lies

IX. Emergence of an American cultureA. Independence DayB. General impact of nationalism—America’s special destiny

1777 Congress forgot until the 3rd

No antiquity ties to Old World

Ethnic diversity

But America was to be a special place…a New World