End to the Revolution

British invade the South

• British seized Savannah, Georgia in late 1778.• Then captured Charleston, South Carolina in

1780, along with its 5,000 soldiers• Spanish attacked British along the Gulf Coast

and captured Mobile, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida

British are Driven Back

• British couldn’t gain control of the southern countryside

• In the South, it became a fight between Patriots and Loyalist militias– Plundered and killed civilians– Kings Mountain (Oct. 1780): Patriots crushed a

Loyalist militia and executed prisoners

Continental Army

• Strong leaders such as George Washington, Nathaniel Greene, and Daniel Morgan• Cornwallis encountered heavy losses at the

battles of Cowpens in South Carolina and Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina

• Cornwallis marched north to Virginia

George Washington

Nathaniel Greene

Daniel Morgan

Charles Cornwallis

Patriot Success

• Four main factors contributed to their success: – British made tactical mistakes – British misunderstood the political nature of the

conflict– Patriots were highly motivated and benefitted from

George Washington’s leadership– French support of the Patriots

Cornwallis’s Surrender• Washington marched his troops south to trap

Cornwallis and his troops in Yorktown, Virginia• French fleet arrived to block British navy from

entering the Chesapeake Bay.• Trapped by land and sea, Cornwallis

surrendered his 8,000 man army on October 19th, 1781– French were critical in this surrender because their

numbers greatly strengthened the Patriots

Battle of Yorktown

Cornwallis’s Surrender

Cornwallis’s Surrender

Treaty of Paris (1783)

• British public was fed up with casualties and high taxes that went along with the war.

• American delegation met with British officials and negotiated a treaty

• Recognized American independence and generous boundaries were created.– Far more land was negotiated for than what the Patriots

had actually won

• Strained relations with French– Hoped/expected to control negotiations

Aftermath of the American Revolution

• Patriots were the greatest winners– Neglected: Loyalists and Native Americans

• British abandoned Loyalists and Native Americans, who were seeking refuge after the war.

• “Republican Mothers”: idea that women and mothers instill republican virtue in their children, and thus, in society.

• Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams advocated for the rights and protection of women– She was ignored by her husband

Abigail Adams

Slavery after the Revolution

• Accepted as natural• Patriots were mocked as hypocrites by the

British and Loyalists for their ideas of liberty• Patriot governor of New Jersey: slavery was

“utterly inconsistent with the principles of Christianity and humanity; and in Americans, who have idolized liberty, peculiarly odious and disgraceful.”

Revolution and Emancipation

• Led to emancipation in the North, where slavery was not critical to the economy

• Many northern slave masters sold their slaves to the South before laws were passed that banned slavery

• Manumission: planters voluntarily freeing their slaves– Occurred in small numbers in Maryland and

Virginia

American Revolution Influence

• Spread the idea of liberty– Idea that “all men are created equal” was very

radical

• Over the next 3 centuries, Patriot ideas of liberty inspired revolutions around the world.– French Revolution (1789)– Latin America (19th century)