The American Revolution

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

The Birth of the United States

UNHAPPY COLONISTS The colonists, who were

used to salutary neglect and very little interference by the British, grew unhappy with active British involvement.

The colonists saw Proclamation of 1763 as limiting their freedom and perceived the British sending 10,000 troops as a police force rather the colonies rather than protect them.

They also resented the navigation and sugar acts as unjust taxes

STAMP ACT The Stamp Act was

passed in 1765 and required colonists to buy a stamp for every legal document including newspapers, licenses, pamphlets, play cards and dice.

The colonists also had to pay the tax with British currency, not the commonly used colonial money.

Main purpose was to raise money for the British.

PROTEST OF THE STAMP ACT Colonists were furious

over the tax. Sons of Liberty- a group

founded by Sam Adams to protest and resist British taxes and policies.

Colonial Merchants boycotted British goods until The Stamp act was repealed

Virginia Legislature also voiced opposition with Patrick Henry- ‘no taxation without representation.”

Protests of the Stamp Act Cont. Stamp Act Congress – Nine of the colonies

came together to disapprove of the Stamp Act. In order to show express their thoughts to the king they issued the Declaration of rights and grievances.

The colonists’ actions worked and Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766

MORE TAXES AND PROTESTS Determined to assert their power over the colonies

and to raise revenue, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which placed import tariffs or duties on tea, paper, glass and paint.

Once again colonists were outraged and resolved to boycott British goods.

In 1768 The British seized a ship of John Hancock. John Hancock – a wealthy colonist from Boston who

was anti British. As a result riots broke out and the British sent 2,000

more troops to Boston

BOSTON MASSACRE March 5, 1770 Colonists

were taunting British soldiers, Some one threw a snowball at them and a British soldier fell.

His gun went off and the other Brits fired thinking they were fired upon. The “Massacre” killed five men and others were wounded.

Crispus Attucks black colonist who was killed in the conflict.

Sam Adams and other Patriots (agitators) were eager to call the event a massacre and stir up public outrage afterwards

BOSTON TEA PARTY Boston Tea Party –

1773 Members of the Sons of Liberty, dressed as Mohawk Indians, boarded British tea ships in the Boston Harbor and threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor. They were expressing anger Parliament allowing a British tea company to sell tea without paying the taxes that colonists had to.

THE LAST STRAW

Determined to punish the colonists and force them to submit to British authority, King George urged parliament to pass the Intolerable Acts

The Intolerable Acts- (Coercive Acts)-

1. Closed the port of Boston until payment was made for tea

2. British officials would be tried in England rather than America

3. (Quartering Act) British troops to be quartered in any town in Mass. Including private homes

Quebec Act- extended the Canadian province of Quebec south to the Ohio River

Uniting of the Colonists- First Continental Congress

meets in Philadelphia in Sept. 1774

It defends colonial rights and supports protests

Declaration of Rights and Grievances The First Cont. Congress – sent this

document to King George, which Denounced every revenue raising act taken by British since French & Indian War.

The Congress also supported fighting back against the British, should they use force.

SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE FIRST BATTLE

After the first continental congress, towns started organizing militia and preparing for military conflict Secretly stockpiled

weapons and ammunition.

Minutemen- civilian soldiers who if called would defend their colonial towns

LEXINGTON & CONCORD In April 1775 British General Gage

sent a detachment to Concord to find and destroy hidden colonial weapons.

On the night of April 18 Paul Revere rode to warn that “The British are Coming”

April 19 When the British troops marched through Lexington going to Concord, a colonial militia was waiting for them. The fighting was short with 8 minutemen and British were killed.

The British then marched on to Concord, where 3 to 4,000 waited for them behind trees and stone walls.

Several British soldiers were killed and wounded as they limped back to Boston.

Second Continental Congress After Lexington and Concord, colonial leaders

met and convened the Second Continental Congress in May 1775.

Members debated a course of action, as King George III prepared to send more troops to squash what he saw as a outright rebellion.

While no consensus was reached, the congress did two significant acts Recognize the colonial militia around Boston

as the Continental Army Appoint 43-year-old French and Indian

veteran George Washington as Commander of the army.

The Battle of Bunker Hill Before Washington could

get to his new army, General Gage who was in charge of the British forces in Boston, attacked Colonial forces dug in at Breed’s Hill

On June 17, 1775 Over 2,000 British troops attempted to take the hill by marching up it and against colonial fire

The British lost over 1,000 troops, but still took the hill because colonists ran out of ammo.

Common Sense Thomas Paine, a British

immigrant to the American colonies wrote a pamphlet in 1776 called Common Sense.

The “book” expressed that it was common sense for a independent American nation to be created because of all the wrongs done to its people by the King.

It was a powerful force in convincing many colonists that the time for action was at hand

PATRIOTS AND LOYALISTS In 1776 1/3 the population were

Patriots, 1/3 were loyalists, and 1/3 were undecided

Patriot – Colonists who supported Independence ex: Sam Adams, John Hancock

Loyalist – Colonists who opposed Independence and supported the King.

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE In June of 1776 a

young Virginian lawyer, Thomas Jefferson, was appointed to draft a formal Declaration of Independence

It was to reflect the ideas of the 2nd Cont. Congress

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE CONT.

July 4, 1776 The Second Continental Congress adopted the document and a new nation was formed

The Document stated “ We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and in order to preserve these rights the colonies had to create their own nation.

THE EARLY STAGES OF THE WAR After the British evacuated Boston,

30,000 troops attacked New York. Washington and the Cont. Army tried to defend the city but lost the battle and suffered many casualties

The army retreated from the British losing battle after battle

The Continental Army was undertrained and had few resources to work with.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES British Strengths

Strong well trained army and Navy

Strong central govt. with a lot of resources

Support of loyalists and Natives

British Weaknesses Soldiers fighting far from

Britain Troops unfamiliar with land Weak military leaders Sympathy of some British

politicians for the American cause

Colonial Strengths Familiarity of home ground Leadership of George

Washington Inspiring cause of

independence Colonial Weaknesses

Untrained and undisciplined soldiers

Shortage of Food and ammo Almost no Navy No central govt. to raise

money, etc.

IMPORTANT EARLY VICTORIES Washington needed

something positive to keep men in the army and morale high enough to fight.

Battle of Trenton - On Christmas night (1776), Washington crossed the icy Delaware river and routed the hung-over British Hessian forces - Germans hired by British to fight for them.

Battle of Princeton – eight days later Washington attacked and took the town of Princeton from 1200 british troops

IMPORTANCE OF EARLY VICTORIES Washington’s victories gave both troops and

people hope that the cause for independence could be won.

It caused many soldiers to reenlist It boosted the morale of troops

SARTATOGA In 1777 the British took the capital city of

Philadelphia and the Cont. congress fled the city. General Horatio Gates’ defeated British General

Burgoyne at Saratoga as his forces were trying to march south from Canada to New York.

Saratoga was one of the most important victories of the war for two reasons It changed British strategy from keeping or

sending forces to the interior France agreed to support the new nation and their

war effort against the British

VALLEY FORGE In the hard winter of 1777

and 1778 Washington’s army camped at Valley Forge outside of Pennsylvania.

The winter was especially tough on the underdressed, underfed, and unsheltered troops.

Soldiers suffered from frostbite and many died.

In all over 2000 troops died from the elements at Valley Forge

MAP OF EARLY BATTLES

FOREIGN MILITARY ADVISORS Friedrich Von

Steubon – A Prussian Captain who helped Washington train militia

Marquis de Lafayette - a French General who joined Washington’s army at Valley Forge and was influential in mediating French support

THE BRITISH MOVE SOUTH In 1778 Britain changed

their strategy and moved the war to the south, hoping to rally loyalist support.

General Corwallis – commanded the British army in the south.

Corwallis and Br. Forces took Charlestown, an important southern city in South Carolina, in 1780.

Captured over 5,000 American troops

Cornwallis also won a big victory at Camden.

THE DECISIVE BATTLE In 1780 French forces

arrived, including 6,000 troops and two French fleets

French and American forces combined and surrounded the British forces on the Yorktown Peninsula

Battle of Yorktown 1781– French fleet defeated the British at sea and prevented an escape as American and French forces defeated Cornwallis’ forces and they had to surrender.

It turned out to be the last major battle of the war.

THE TREATY OF PARIS In 1782 Britain, France,

Spain and America started peace talks

John Adams, Ben Franklin, and John Jay negotiated the American cause.

In 1783 the Treaty of Paris officially confirmed

American Independence set the boundaries of the

new nation from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River

DAY 1 Opener

State Trivia – How many states have 4 letters?

List them In-Class Schedule

Alabama county map test Notes sl. 1-6 Founding Fathers video segment 1

Homework

DAY 2 Opener

Our properties within our own territories [should not] be taxed or regulated by any power on earth but our own." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1774

In-Class Schedule Notes Sl 8-12 Tea Party P. Source Reading Pay stub analysis

Homework Section 2 Vocab

DAY 3 Opener

DQ Were the patriots right in revolting against the British?

In-Class Schedule Notes sl 13 – 18 DOI Worksheet (analysis) Truth Detective Segment 2 Founding Fathers

Homework Section 3 Vocab

DAY 4 Opener

Brain Teaser - What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space; The beginning of every end, and the end of every race?

In-Class Schedule Join or Die pol. Cartoon w.s. British Acts pol. Cartoon Patriot / Loyalist pamplet

Homework Finish projects if needed

DAY 5 Opener

Quote -"One of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one's house. A man's house is his castle." -- James Otis, 1761

In-Class Schedule Notes Sl. 19-22 Revolutionary War battle map Vocab Quiz? Segment 3 Founding Fathers

Homework

DAY 6 Opener

City Trivia What city on Lake Michigan is the Windy City?

In-Class Schedule Notes SL 23- 29 Show battle scenes from The Patriot Siege of Work town handout

Homework Section 4 Vocab

DAY 7 Opener

Personal Reflection “I may not ever make it famous, but I’ll never bring it shame”

Dirks Bentley In-Class Schedule

J-town to Y- town Timeline Cause and Effect W.S.

Homework

DAY 8 Opener

DQ- What was the most revolutionary aspect of the American Revolution?

In-Class Schedule Rev. Battles Map test Segment 4 Founding Fathers

Homework

DAY 9 Opener

Quote “Freedom is the Almighty God’s gift to every man and woman” George W. Bush

In-Class Schedule Ch. 4 Test

Homework