the american revolution - brown's hist...
TRANSCRIPT
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