The American Revolution

Great Britain• Had become a world

superpower during the 1700s, establishing colonies on 6 continents

• Maintained a powerful navy to protect and supply its overseas colonies

• Empire, however, is expensive, and Britain was nearly broke even though they had won the Seven Years War

“Mad” King George III• 1738 – 1820• Reigned 1760 – 1810• Was determined to manage the

Empire himself, ignored his prime minister & cabinet, bullied Parliament

• His policies proved disastrous, ultimately costing Britain its American colonies

• Spent the last 10 years of his life nearly blind, arthritic, and insane; was forced to turn rule of Britain over to his son, George IV

What mistakes did George make?

• George supported mercantilist policies which kept American colonists in debt to British banks

• George demanded that American colonists provide the revenue to cover the expense of their protection

• George refused to allow the American colonists to have representation in Parliament, even though he was taxing them

British Taxes• Stamp Act of 1765

– Required that all documents, permits, contracts, wills, newspapers, and even playing cards have a stamp on them showing that a tax had been paid

• Townshend Acts of 1767– Taxed all goods imported into

the colonies– Colonists responded by

boycotting imported goods and assisting smugglers

• Dozens of other taxes were imposed as well, on goods such as tea and sugar

Colonists’ Objections• In reality, the taxes

imposed by the British were very low, and most colonists were not opposed to paying taxes

• American colonists argued that taxation without representation, however, was a violation of their rights as English citizens under the terms of the Magna Carta

Early Violence• The Boston Massacre (1770)

– Resentment over the number of soldiers stationed in the colonies led to a clash between colonists and British troops, resulting in five colonists being killed

– Soldiers were ruled to have acted in self-defense at trial

• The Boston Tea Party (1773)– Attempts at forcing colonists to

purchase British tea led to colonists attacking a tea ship and destroying its cargo

– No colonists were ever arrested or punished

The Intolerable Acts• British closed the port of

Boston and banned self-government in Massachusetts as punishment for the unrest

• British soldiers accused of crimes would be tried in England, not America

• British soldiers would be housed and fed at the expense of colonists

The Committees of Correspondence

• Colonists began to organize themselves to present a united front of opposition to British policies by creating “Committees of Correspondence” which tied the Thirteen Colonies together

• Patriots such as Sam Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry all served on the committees

• Eventually, the colonists would create their first united government, the Continental Congress

Battles of Lexington & Concord• April 19, 1775: “The Shot heard

‘round the world”• British tried to seize gunpowder

and muskets stored by the colonial militias, but, thanks to patriots like Paul Revere, were met with armed resistance

• In the course of the two battles, about 100 men were killed and 200 wounded

• Colonists “won”, but were stunned that fighting had actually broken out

Battle of Bunker Hill• Colonists rallied their militias

after Lexington and Concord and laid siege to British troops in Boston

• June 17,1775: The two forces clashed on Breed’s Hill – the British won, but at terrible cost, taking over 1000 casualties, including over 100 officers

• The battle proved both the colonists’ resolve and fighting ability to the British

Second Continental Congress• After fighting started, the

Second Continental Congress met

• Created the Continental Army and placed it under the command of George Washington

• Issued the Olive Branch Petition to King George in hopes of preventing any more fighting, but George declared the colonies to be in rebellion

Declaring Independence• Left with no choice, the

Continental Congress authorized Thomas Jefferson to write a formal Declaration of Independence in which the colonists complaints against the king were laid out and the founding principles of the United States were explained

• Congress approved the Declaration on July 4, 1776

The Articles of Confederation• The Continental Congress also

created the United States’ first governing document, the Articles of Confederation, in 1777

• Was not ratified by all states until 1781

• The Articles, however, left the central government too weak and the individual states too strong

• Was replaced after the war (1787) by the United States Constitution

Paine’s Common Sense• Despite the fighting, many

Americans did not understand or support the revolutionary cause

• In 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense, a pamphlet which laid out the rationale for the rebellion in plain English, rather than lofty Enlightenment ideology, making it easier for the less-educated “common man” to understand why it was in their interest to support the revolution

Fighting the War• When forced to stand

and fight, the Continental Army almost always lost, so for the most part, Washington tried to avoid fighting major battles, preferring instead to engage in guerrilla tactics and harassing skirmishes

The French Enter the War• France had been

supplying the Americans since the beginning of the revolt, but formally agreed to enter the war on their side in 1778 (in effect, making the Revolution a global war between England and France)

Battle of Yorktown• The British army under Lord

Cornwallis found itself cornered by American and French forces in Yorktown, Virginia

• Cornwallis surrendered on October 17, 1781

• After the surrender, Parliament refused to continue the war effort due to its expense and entered into peace negotiations to end the conflict

Treaty of Paris (1783)• Britain recognized the

United States as an independent nation

• Set border between the United States and British Canada

• Made Mississippi River a free river to be used by Americans, British, and Spanish

A Conservative Revolution • Not fought to create new liberties

but rather to preserve old ones. • Not fought to resolve class

conflicts or inequalities in wealth.

• The leaders were uniquely rational men, not revolutionaries in the classic sense. They were immune to the “enthusiasms” and utopian visions of later revolutionaries

• Did not lead to chaos, a “reign of terror,” or the imposition of a dictator.

• The American Revolutionaries did not redistribute property and, arguably, never abandoned the rule of law