Colonial America and the War for Independence

Colonial America and the War for

Independence

Causes of the War…

1. British tighten control of colonies…

Stamp Act (1765)• Colonists required to buy

“special” paper for legal documents (those who did not comply with these face vice-admiralty courts, courts with out jury or lawyers

Townshend Acts (1767)– Indirect taxes on things like

paper, lead and glass.

British Tightens control continued...

– Boston massacre (1770)• Fighting over jobs between

colonists and soldiers erupts

• British soldiers kill 5 men (among the Crispus Attucks)

– Intolerable Acts (1774)• Aka Coercive Acts

• Reaction from the Boston Tea party

• Closed the Boston Port

• Enacted the Quartering Act-housed soldiers in private homes

• Martial Law established - British military forces set and enforce rules.

2. Colonies protest British Policies…

The Sons of Liberty – Led by James Otis then Samuel

Adams – Led boycotts of goods and protests

Stamp Act Congress (1765)– issued declaration that Parliament

could not tax because the colonies did not report to Parliament but to the king

No “taxation without representation”– No colonists held seats in

parliament

Colonies protest continued…

Boston Tea Party (1773)– Colonists boycotted British East India Company tea

because of Tea Act tax– Britain allowed BEIC to sell directly to colonies so

that tea could be sold cheaper • Hoped that colonists would stop buying smuggled tea

– Even though it was cheaper, tea was still taxed– Resulted in 15,000 pounds of tea being dumped in

the Boston Harbor

Colonies protest continued…

Committees of Correspondence (1774)– Colonies set up committees to communicate

with each other about threats to American liberties.

1st Continental Congress (1774)– Colonies got together in Philadelphia to draw

up a declaration of colonial rights• Ignored by King George and parliament

– Decided that they would meet up again

Second Continental Congress

Authorized printing of paper money to pay troops.

Organized a committee to deal with foreign relations– Olive Branch Petition

• July 8,1775 • Effort to restore

former relations with England

Urged colonies to form their own governments

3. Colonies create the militia Civilian “soldiers” to

protect the interests of the colonists.

Second Continental Congress turns militia into the Continental Army– Named George

Washington commander

4. Declaration of Independence… Written by Thomas Jefferson Adopted on July 4th 1776 by 56 delegates from

the colonies Inspired by John Locke

– Englishman from the Enlightenment

Declaration continued…

Declared our independence to the world

People should have natural rights to life, liberty, and property

Idea of a social contract where people obey their government as long as it protects their natural rights

“all men are created equal”– did not mean women, natives, slaves

Patriots vs. Loyalists

Many colonists were divided on the issue of independence– Loyalists-those who opposed independence

and remained loyal to the crown– Patriots-supporters of independence

Some Africans fought with Patriots others sided with British

Common Sense (1776)

Propaganda pamphlet Written anonymously

by Thomas Paine Tried to persuade

colonists to support Independence

The Revolutionary War

1775-1783 France sided with the

colonists Native Americans

sided with the British First American Flag

adopted 13 stars 13 stripes

Continental Army Strengths

– Familiar with terrain– Strong

leadership(Washington and others)

– Inspired cause-INDEPENDENCE

Weaknesses– Untrained soldiers– Shortage of funding, food

and ammo– Inferior navy – No central government to

enforce wartime policies

Great Britain’s military Strengths

– Strong, well trained army and navy (professionals)

– Strong central government with $$

– Support of colonial loyalists and natives

Weaknesses– Large distance between

battlefields and Britain (communication)

– Not familiar with terrain– Weak military leaders

Battles at Lexington and Concord (April 1775)

-British find out that militia has weapons stockpiled at Concord

-they go to retrieve them-minutemen/militia are waiting-small skirmish on the way at Lexington and then

again at Concord“the shot heard round the world”

-no weapons found-British return to Boston

Battle of Bunker Hill (MA)June 1775

Colonists stay and fight until third attack After running low on ammunition,

colonists retreat Bloodiest battle of the war British lose 1,000 Colonists lose 311 Important because colonists fought

“European style”

Battle of Saratoga (NY)October 1777

British attempting to “cut off” New England from the rest of the colonies

British troops surrounded and surrendered Turning point in the Revolution

– American hope restored as British can be beat– Increases French support to the Americans

Battle of Yorktown (VA)October 1781

French fight with Americans

Blocked the Chesapeake Bay and surrounded the British

British surrender

The Americans “Win” The Treaty of Paris-

1783– Signed by Americans,

Spain, France, Great Britain

– Confirmed US independence

– US borders from Atlantic ocean to the Mississippi river, from Canada to the Florida border

United States in 1781 13 States United States establishes its own

government and creates the Articles of Confederation

Faces economic problems because of the war

States begin to create their own separate constitutions

Republic vs. Confederation

Which type of government should the United States have?

Republic– government in

which citizens rule through elected capable government officials (white property owners)

Confederation– -alliance between the states

where powers are“shared”. – State governments were

supreme in some matters and the national government was supreme in others.

– States would have majority of power over themselves.

American thought democracy left power in the hands of the uneducated masses

Articles of Confederation(1781)

Creates government of U.S.National Government(Congress)

Gave powers to the two forms of government– National

• Power to declare war, make peace and sign treaties

• Could establish postal service and “deal” wit the natives

• Could borrow money, set standards for coins weights and measures

– State

• Power to do all else

Flaws/problems with the Articles of Confederation

Didn’t create executive branch to enforce acts of congress

No court system to decide meanings/interpret the laws Congress could not tax Congress could not regulate trade in the states or

abroad Each state has 1 vote regardless of population Needed 9 out of 13 states to agree for law to be passed Articles could only change if all 13 states agreed Lack of unity

Conflict over Western Lands

Who gets western lands and how should they be governed?

– Land ordinance of 1785• created a plan for surveying and

dividing land (present day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan)

– Created townships of 36 miles square miles

• Each square mile could be sold to individuals

• 1 square mile in every township would be for school buildings

Western lands continued…

Northwest Ordinance of 1787– Congress passed procedure for dividing land– Set requirements for admission as a state

• Congress to appoint a territorial governor and judges

• When territory = 5,000 voting residents, could write temporary constitution and elect government

• When total population = 60,000 then settlers would write state constitution

– had to be approved by congress before granted state hood

Shay’s Rebellion (1786) Massachusetts farmers

(former soldiers in the revolution) lead revolt due to debt

Forced courts to close so that they could not foreclose on farms

Governor can’t get national government to help– Restriction of the Articles of

Confederation

*cause for worry…new government is not strong enough or adequate!

The Constitutional Convention

Causes– Articles of confederation

prove ineffective– Strain of economic

problems disrupts the nation

55 delegates from colonies meet in Philadelphia

George Washington Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin

lawyers, merchants

and more

James Madison is considered the “father of the constitution”

3 major conflicts at the Convention

1. Central government vs. strong states– Central government should be stronger– States should be stronger to prevent abuse of

power– *Compromise = new stronger federal government

established with 3 branches that will “check and balance” each other to prevent abuse of power

• Legislative (make the law = congress)

• Judicial (interpret the law = courts)

• Executive (enforce the law = president, VP, executive offices)

3 Major Conflicts Continued...

2. Large states vs. small states– Large states wanted more delegates due to larger

population– Small states wanted to keep 1 vote for each– *Compromise = creation of bicameral (2 house)

legislature

• Senate - each get 2 votes

• House of Representatives - votes determined by

state population

Major conflicts continued…

3. North vs. South– North did not want slaves counted as population to

determine # of representatives but wanted them to count for levy of taxes

– South wanted slaves counted representation purposes but not levy taxes

– *The 3/5ths compromise- allowed for 3/5ths of the state’s slaves to be counted as population for both representation and taxation

– Constitution did not allow congress to interfere with the slave trade for at least 20 years

Ratification of the Constitution

Constitution had to be ratified by each state’s voters

Date each state ratified the is considered their of statehood

9 of 13 had to ratify– eventually all states ratified

• due to the promise of the addition of the Bill of Rights and because it could be amended (changed)

New government starts in 1789

Federalists vs. Ant federalists

Federalists-in support of Constitution– Federalist Papers-written by Federalist leaders they

were essays defending and supporting the Constitution

Anti-federalists-not in support of the Constitution – Opposed strong central government– Constitution didn’t have a Bill of Rights (formal

summary of citizen's rights and freedoms)

Effects of Constitutional Convention

The national government strengthened Confidence increases in national

government George Washington elected as the first

president *The flexibility of our constitution makes

it a model for governments around the world.