American Revolution

Lexington/ConcordApril 19th, 1775

• Britain declared Mass. in open rebellion by April,1775

• April 18th, Brit General Gage ordered to capture Patriot leaders/supply depots

• April 19th, Patriot militiamen met Brit troops @ Lex., then Concord (end of day=73 Brits dead; 174 wounded to 49 Patriots dead & 39 wounded)

• George III issued Proc. for Suppressing Rebellion & Sedition in August 1775

Toward Independence 1775-1776

• After losing battles at Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill in 1775 the Continental Congress created a Continental Army headed by George Washington

Marketing the idea of Independence

• Idea of independence came slowly as most Amer. loyal to crown in 1775

• By 1776 Thomas Paine published Common Sense – which blasted the British system of mixed gov’t

• Paine’s message: “Monarchy and hereditary succession have laid the world in blood and ashes.”

Independence Declared

• July 4th, 1776 Congress approved Declaration of Independence

• Thomas Jefferson justified revolt by blaming King George III, not Parliament

The Perils of War1776-1778

• British Strategy: to isolate New England from the rest of the colonies

• Washington strategy was to draw Brits away from coast and extend supply lines (retreat/regroup/avoid being captured

The Turning Point: Saratoga 1777

• Brits. attempted three prong attack on

Albany• As Burgoyne waited

near Saratoga, over 2k militiamen left farms to defeat British

• Patriot victory assured success @ achieving French military alliance

Social and Financial Peril• 1000’s of civilians exposed to deprivation,

displacement, & death as War of Independence became bloody partisan conflict

• Committees of Safety organized to collect taxes & support for Continental Army

• State Gov’s on brink of bankruptcy printed paper worthless paper money

• Lacking authority to tax, Continental Congress borrowed 6 million in specie from France

• Continental Army suffered from lack of necessities; the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge took as many lives as 2 years of fighting

The Path to Victory

• Treaty of Alliance – Feb. 1778

• Ben Franklin & 2 others exploited the British/French rivalry to win explicit French commitment

War in the South

• After French allied with Patriots, British abandoned strategy of isolating New England moved So.

• British won key victories in taking Savannah (1778), Charleston (1780), & Camden (1780)

Southern Militia Forces hold their own-Cornwallis moved on Virginia

• Fighting in South =war of attrition

• Nathaniel Greene was Patriot commander in South

• B. Arnold led British forces in towns along James River

Yorktown - 1781

• Louis XVI ordered Admiral F. de Grasse to sail his large fleet to No. Amer. Instead of W. Indies

• Wash. Decided to launch major offensive against Cornwallis

• Cornwallis was surrounded & forced to surrender

Treaty of ParisSept. 3rd, 1783

• Provisions: • Great Britain recognized

Amer. Independence• Britain retained Canada

(Great Lakes = boundary)

• All land south of Great Lakes-between App. Mts.& Miss. River ceded to Amer.

Treaty of VersaillesSept. 3rd, 1783

Provisions:• Spain did not get

Gibraltar, but did get Florida & retained Louisiana

• France got small island of Tobago and quadrupled its national debt – sparked French Rev. 6 yrs. Late

Creating Republican InstitutionsState Constitutions: How Much

Democracy• 1776 – Congress urged states to

write new constitutions• Pennsylvania’s state gov. most

democratic – abolished property owning as citizenship req., allowed all male taxpayers to vote & hold office, created unicameral leg. with complete power

• Massachusetts – John Adams devised gov’t with separate branches & a bicameral leg

The Articles of Confederation• Articles = loose confederation in which

each state retained its independence• Confederation Gov’t had authority to

declare war & peace, make treaties, & decide disputes among states, print money, & ask for funds from states

• Major weakness included: lacked authority to impose taxes

• Congress asserted Confederation’s title to trans-Appalachian West so they could sell it & raise gov’t revenue

Shay’s Rebellion

• Uprising in Massachusetts caused by lack of debtor relief legislation

• Led by captain Daniel Shays in 1786, this armed rebellion continued throughout 1787

• Finally, the Mass. Military force was able to put down the rebellion as Shay’s army dwindled in the winter of 1786-87

The Constitution of 1787• Virginia leg. Met to discuss

tariff & taxation policies in 1786 & called for a convention in Phily to revise Articles

• In May, 1787, every state but Rhode Island sent delegates; most were wealthy who supported creditors’ property rights & a central gov’t

• George Washington was presiding officer & each state was allowed 1 vote on issues & majority of votes decided issue

Major Issues at Convention• Representation in Congress – James

Madison’s Virginia Plan called for a national gov’t w/ 3 branches; national gov’t could veto state laws – legislative branch consisted of proportional representation based on state population: New Jersey Plan – representation in Congress would consist of 1 vote for all states Great Compromise: bicameral legislature proposed- consisted of an upper house w/ each state = 2 votes & a lower house w/ states represented according to population

• 3/5ths Compromise – Slaves would count as 3/5ths person when deciding a state’s population

Ratification Debate• 9 of the 13 states must ratify it

before constitution could go into effect

• Nationalists called themselves “Federalists”, and supported Constitution & strong central gov’t

• Anti-federalists – feared states lost too much power & constitution lacked a declaration of individual rights

• Federalists addressed the lack of individual rights & promised to amend constitution with a Bill of Rights