The Revolutionary War And The War Of 1812

Chapter 2

Colonialism and Restricted Trade• Like other European nations, England hoped to

benefit from the economic system of colonialism. Under this arrangement, colonies were supposed to supply England with raw materials. England would manufacture these materials and sell them back to the colonies as finished products. England wanted exclusive control over colonial markets, but in North America the Dutch violated England’s trading monopoly (a market in which there is only one supplier). Dutch traders took advantage of trading routes while England was engaged in a civil war (1640s). England wanted to regain control.

• In an effort to stop Dutch trading with the English colonies, Parliament passed the first Navigation Act (1651), requiring that only English ships carry goods to and from the colonies. England passed other Navigation Acts over the next 50 years which further restricted colonial trade. The Navigation Act of 1696 allowed customs officials to seize any unlawfully shipped goods and required that merchants accused of smuggling be tried without a jury because colonists on the jury would not usually convict the merchants goods.

Restricted Rights• The British colonies in North America had long enjoyed a

great deal of independence in their dealings with Britain because the relationship was profitable for both. However, when George III (1738-1820) became king in 1760, he tried to gain more control over colonial trade. The British government issued writs of assistance, search warrants that gave customs officials the right to search anywhere for illegal goods ( goods that had been bought or sold without being taxed). James Otis (1725-1783), a lawyer representing Boston merchants who had their businesses searched under these writs, passionately defended the rights of the merchants and brought many important leaders into a larger discussion about personal liberties.

• During the mid 1700s, both the British and the French began competing with each other to gain lands in North America and elsewhere in the world. Great Britain successfully colonized the eastern seaboard of the present-day United States, while France occupied the Mississippi River region and the St. Lawrence River region. The last and most decisive of these competitions for colonies happened between 1754 and 1763. This war was called the Seven Years’ War in Europe, and, in the United States, it is known as the French and Indian War. During this, war Great Britain and France fought each other for control of North America and the Indian Subcontinent. In North America, the British colonies and soldiers fought the French and their Native American allies, the Algonquins and the Hurons. The British also formed an alliance with the Iroquois nations, who were long-standing enemies of the Algonquins. Both in North America and in India, the British were victorious. As a result, France had to withdraw all claims to land east of the Mississippi River.

• With the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, Great Britain had won claim to lands west of the Appalachians from the French. However, in the Proclamation of 1763, the British informed settlers that they could not move west because the colonies had to respect the rights of the Native American nation. This proclamation infuriated settlers who wanted to move further west. To enforce this proclamation, Great Britain sent 10,000 troops to the colonies to uphold the law. These soldiers tended to stay in the cities. The British government also used these soldiers to enforce new taxes that Great Britain placed on the colonists to pay for its expenses during the French and Indian War.

Taxation Without Representation• The colonists were not allowed to have representatives in the British Parliament, so

each tax became law without their consent. This policy of “taxation without representation” angered the colonists and generated strong responses from the British government and the colonists.

• The Sugar Act (1764) - Previous to this time, the British taxed molasses at a high rate but did not enforce the law, so traders usually smuggled molasses into the colonies This new act lowered the tax on molasses, but this time British troops strictly enforced the law.

• The Stamp Act (1765) – This act created a tax on all paper items. Colonists had to pay a tax on their legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, etc. Because this was the first tax placed directly on the colonists, not just on trade, it led to riots in many colonies. A secret group of colonists called the Sons of Liberty came together to organize a boycott, refusing to buy British goods. The Daughters of Liberty did their part by weaving their own cloth, so they would not have to but it from Britain. The British policy of taxation without representation began to unify the colonists in opposition to the British government. Due to colonial opposition, the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766.

• The Townshend Acts (1767) – Though Parliament repealed the controversial Stamp Act, it established a tax on all imported glass, paper, lead, and tea sold in the colonies. With the authority of writs of assistance, British soldiers searched any home, building, or ship to see whether anyone had bought or sold goods without paying this tax. In response, mobs attacked British customs officials, and the colonists organized another boycott.

Other Events Leading to Colonial Separation• The colonists in Boston regularly insulted the

British troops who enforced the Townshend Acts. On March 5, 1770, things came to a head when colonists shouted insults at the troops at the Boston Customs House. For some reason, a soldier heard the word “Fire!” and began firing on the colonists standing there. In all, the soldiers killed five people, including Crispus Attucks (1723-1770), a free black sailor who was active in the Sons of Liberty. Infuriated at this action, the colonists held the soldiers responsible and called this event the Boston Massacre.

• Because of colonial unrest and pressure from British merchants who were losing money from the colonist’ boycott, the British removed all taxes, except the tax on tea. The colonists boycotted the tea because it affirmed the British Parliament’s right to tax the colonies. On December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams (1722-1803) and other Sons of Liberty dressed up as Native Americans and boarded ships carrying teas. They cut open the crates of tea with their tomahawks and threw the tea into Boston Harbor. This action became known as the Boston Tea Party.

• Tensions rose as Parliament passed several measures to punish the people of Boston for this action. These measures included forcing citizens to house British soldiers in their homes, shutting down the port of Boston to shipping, restricting town meetings to once per year, and ordering that British high officers charged with major crimes should be tried in the courts of Great Britain. The Patriots (colonists who wanted independence from Britain) called these laws the Intolerable Acts. In response to these acts, colonial leaders organized the First Continental Congress (1774) in Philadelphia. At this congress, colonial leaders agreed to boycott all British goods and to stop exporting colonial goods to Great Britain until the acts were repealed.

The Revolutionary War Begins• Patrick Henry (1736-1799) was a prominent burgess

(representative) in Virginia. His “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!” speech in Virginia’s House of Burgesses (March 1775) aroused colonial leaders to revolt against Great Britain and fight for freedom. Anticipating conflict with the British, colonists in Massachusetts strengthened their militia. The volunteer soldiers were called minutemen because they were ready to fight at a moment’s notice. The conflict soon came. Shortly before midnight on April 18, 1775, about 700 British soldiers left Boston on their way to Concord, Massachusetts. They intended to confiscate the weapons stored there by the colonists. As soon as Paul Revere (1735-1818) saw the troops moving, he rode on horseback through the neighboring towns shouting, “The British are coming!” At this warning, the minutemen rushed to Lexington, a town between Boston and Concord.

• The British forces met the minutemen at Lexington on the morning of April 19. Later sources do not agree on who fired the first shot, but with this battle, the Revolutionary War began. After killing eight colonists and wounding ten others, the British soldiers marched on to Concord, where they met hundreds of minutemen waiting on them. The intense fighting of the minutemen forced the British to retreat, suffering 73 casualties and 200 wounded soldiers by the time they returned to Boston. A growing number of volunteers joined the Massachusetts militia, gathered around Boston, and surrounded the only British troops in North America.

• The conflict in Massachusetts was important news for the delegates who gathered in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775 for the Second Continental Congress. The moderate members of the Congress wanted to negotiate a compromise with Britain. The radical members, led by John Adams (1735-1826) and his cousin Samuel Adams, called for independence even if it meant war. Public support for independence was growing.

• Two weeks after the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775), Massachusetts asked the Continental Congress to take control of the army that was forming around Boston. The Congress unanimously chose George Washington (1732-1799) as commander because he supported colonial independence, he was a strong leader, and as a Virginian, he would help unite the southern colonies with the rebellion in New England. On July 3, 1775, he arrived in Cambridge to take charge of the rag-tag band of militiamen.

• Even as war preparations continued, the Congress sent one last peace proposal to King George III on July 8, 1775. It came to be called the “Olive Branch Petition.” His response to the colonists’ offer of peaceful reconciliation was the Prohibitory Act (August 1775) which declared that the colonies were in a state of rebellion and empowered royal officers and loyal subject to “bring the traitors to justice.” Some Patriots considered the king’s response a declaration of colonial independence on his part.

Declaration of Independence• By the spring of 1776, colonial legislatures were calling for

independence. Eventually, the Continental Congress created a committee to draft a formal declaration of colonial independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence had the following key features:

• Became the foundation for a new American government that guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

• Principles:

1) All men are created equal.

2) All people have certain unalienable (given at birth) rights.

3) Government exists only by the consent of the governed.

4) Government must be changed if it becomes unjust.

• Written by Thomas Jefferson and signed on July 4, 1776.

• Inspired the colonists to fight for freedom from England.

Summary of Factors Leading to Colonial Separation from England

1. Colonialism –England bought raw materials from the colonies at low prices and sold products made from these materials back to the colonies at high prices.

2. Navigation Acts(1650s) –England required American colonies to ship products only on English ships and trade solely with England.

3. Writs of Assistance(1751) –British officials could search any home, building, or ship without the owner’s permission.

4. The Stamp Act(1765) –England placed tax on all printed material.

5. Boston Massacre(1770) –British troops killed five American civilians.

6. Boston Tea Party(1773) –Colonists protested the tax on tea by dumping a shipment of tea into Boston Harbor.

7. Intolerable Acts(1774) –English Parliament passed laws that limited trade and self-government in the colonies.

Major Battles in the Revolutionary War• April 19, 1775–The Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts began the

War. Paul Revere and other Patriots rode from Concord warning that the British were coming.

• June 17, 1775–At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Massachusetts, the British suffered heavy casualties even though the Patriots ran out of ammunition.

• Oct. 17, 1777-At the Battle of Saratoga, New York, the French decided to fight for the colonies’ independence from Britain.

• Winter 1777-78-George Washington trained his tired and poorly equipped troops at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. With the help of other foreign generals, General Washington was able to instill discipline and lift morale during that winter.

• 1778-1781-Fighting shifted to the South. Nathanael Greene led forces in the South to victory against the British at the Battle of Cowpens(1781) in South Carolina. In the South, Patriots fought using guerilla war tactics. They would strike quickly and then disappear into the woods or swamps.

• Sept.-Oct., 1781-French naval and army forces joined General Washington and the Patriots in defeating the British troops at Yorktown, Virginia on October 18, 1781. This was the final blow to the British war effort.

The Treaty of Paris• After nearly two years of difficult negotiations,

representatives of Great Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. In this treaty, Britain recognized the independence of the United States, as well as the border of the new nation. The border extended to Canada in the north, to the Mississippi River in the west, to the northern border of Spanish Florida in the south, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the East.

The War of 1812Events Leading to Another War with Great Britain

• The British and the French were fighting each other on the open seas. They would frequently take sailors from United States ships and force them to serve in the British or the French Navy. This activity is called impressment. As a result, the United States refused to ship goods to either nation.

• Napoleon, leader of France, agreed to stop conscripting sailors from the United States. After this announcement, the Unites States dropped its embargo(prohibiting entry or departure of ships) of French goods and opened trade with France.

• In Congress, “war hawks” from the South and the West pressed for war with Great Britain. These politicians were infuriated by the British not respecting the rights of United States sailors. They also felt that war with Britain could produce land gains for the United States in British Canada, as well as in Spanish Florida because Spain was a British ally at the time.

• As settlers moved into the West, they would trick or force the Native Americans off their land, resulting in frequent fights. Two Native American Shawnee leaders, Tecumseh, and his brother, The Prophet, organized many native tribes and allies themselves with the British Canadians in case of war with the United States.

• After years of pursuing neutrality, President James Madison (1809-1817) decided that war with Britain was necessary for the good of the United States. New Englanders opposed any motion for a war because it would hurt their trade with Great Britain. However, on June 18, 1812, Congress agreed with Madison and declared war on Great Britain.

Important Battles in the War of 1812• Battle of Horseshoe Bend(March 27, 1814)- With the help of the

Cherokee nation, Andrew Jackson(1767-1845) defeated the Creeks, Tecumseh’s allies in the South. As a result, the Creeks had to give up much of their land to the United States.

• Battle of Fort McHenry(September 13, 1814)- The British gave up their attack on this well-defended fort. At a scene of this battle, Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star Spangled Banner,” which later became the national anthem of the United States.

• The Treaty of Ghent(December 24, 1814)- The United States and Great Britain negotiated to end the war with the Treaty of Ghent. The treaty did not address any of the reasons for which the countries went to war.

• Battle of New Orleans(January 8, 1815)- Andrew Jackson’s troops suffered 71 casualties(soldiers wounded or killed) while the British suffered over 2,000. This victory gave people in the United States great people great pride in their country and made Andrew Jackson a hero.

Consequences of the War• The United States and Great Britain agreed to return their land

boundaries to pre-war agreements. The “war hawks” hopes for land gains were dashed.

• Other European nations recognized the rights of the United States as a nation. Even though there was no clear winner in the war, the United States proved that it could defend itself.

• Feelings of nationalism(devotion to one’s country) grew in the people of the Unites States. The people felt the need to protect and promote the interests of the United States.

• New England Federalists had been so angered by the war that they talked of seceding(withdrawing from the Union). The victory at New Orleans and the Treaty of Ghent embarrassed the angry Federalists and resulted in the end of their political party.

• The manufacturing industry grew in the United States. The lack of manufactured goods from Britain during the war pushed the United States to develop its own industries.