us history the war for independence
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THE WAR FOR
INDEPENDENCE
Why can’t Britain leave the colonies alone?
Stamp Act (1765)
Required to buy stamped paper Affected elites – (publishers & lawyers) Widely hated in colonies
Sons of Liberty
Organized to protest Stamp Act Boycotts Threatened & harassed customs officers Samuel Adams Patrick Henry Benedict Arnold John Hancock Paul Revere Benjamin Rush
How is the Stamp Act protested?
Colonial assemblies refuse to cooperate Colonial merchants refuse to import British goods Parliament repeals
What are the effects of the Stamp Act?
- Colonies bound together against Britain- Britain bends, but believes it can still assert authority
Townshend Acts (1767)
Taxes on imports 3 cents tax on tea Boycotts of British goods English goods fall out of fashion 2,000 British soldiers in America to stop
smugglers
The Boston Massacre (1770) Growing tension
between soldiers and citizens Why?
clash between a mob and soldiers
Shots ring out: five dead
Committees of correspondence
Tea Act (1773)
British East India Company can sell tea without paying taxes
Violent protests result Boston Tea Party: 18,000 lbs of tea dumped
into Boston Harbor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eytc9ZaNWyc&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s&index=6
(4:50)
Intolerable Acts (1774)
Boston Harbor shut down Quartering Act: British
soldiers housed in private homes
Martial law declared in Boston
First Continental Congress: supports protests & asserts colonial rights
Lexington & Concord
British attempt to destroy munitions stockpile in Concord
Colonists organize to meet the soldiers British soldiers destroyed marching back to
Boston
Separation vs. Reconciliation
John Adams John Dickinson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCBgYMRBe-M
Second Continental Congress Debating separation vs.
reconciliation Arguments:
Militiamen are now “Continental Army”
Prints money Sends delegates to foreign
governments
Olive Branch Petition
What does it mean to “extend an olive branch”?
Urges a return to “the former harmony”
Rejected by King George III Declares colonies in revolt Orders blockade
Declaring Independence
June 7, 1776: Richard Henry Lee moves an independence resolution
Thomas Jefferson writes a formal declaration.
Why is it important to include Virginians?
July 2: Congress votes for independence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ0Nkdi-GpE
Declaration of Independence Draws from Locke’s theory of “natural rights” Government’s power comes from the people What did “all men are created equal” mean?
Declaration of Independence Intro: “We have a right to declare independence.” Preamble: “Revolution is just when natural rights are harmed.” Indictment: “These are the ‘repeated injuries’ of the king.” Conclusion: “Our case is made; the fault lies with Britain.” We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Taking Sides
Loyalists Patriots
Taking Sides
Native-Americans:
African-Americans:
Revolutionary War
Four Questions Who’s fighting?
Who won?
Where is it fought?
Why?
Advantages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EiSymRrKI4 (3:13)
Continental Army
British Army
Battle of Trenton https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwT_eLpdrmI
Winter, 1776: Britain winning war Continental army less than 8,000 men Dec. 25, 1776: Americans surprise attack at
Trenton Eight days later, victory at Princeton
Burgoyne’s Plan
Burgoyne marches down from Canada Plans to meet up with Howe in Albany Goal:
Burgoyne’s Plan (American Story of US)
Why does Burgoyne’s Plan fail?
Aftermath of Saratoga
The Home Front During the War Over printing of money causes inflation Continental army poorly equipped Profiteering a problem
Women during the War
left to run farms, shops, and families Make clothing, ammunition Some women fought in battles
European Help
Friedrich von Steuben whips colonial troops into shape.
Marquis de Lafayette lobbies for French aid
Surrender at Yorktown
French navy block British at Chesapeake Bay
French & Americans converge on British at Yorktown
Siege of Three Weeks; British surrender
Treaty of Paris 1783
Adams, Franklin & Jay: American Independence or bust.
US: Atlantic to Mississippi – Canada to Florida Unresolved issues of the Treaty?
Aftermath of War
Rise of egalitarianism…for some
Now what…
How Revolutionary Was It?