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Chapter 8. America Secedes from the Empire, 1775–1783. Congress Drafts George Washington.
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Chapter 8 America Secedes from the Empire, 1775–1783
Congress Drafts George Washington • The Congress selected George Washington (43 years old) to lead the hastily improvised army besieging Boston. He had never risen above the rank of a colonel in the militia. He was gifted with leadership and a strong character. He was a moral force rather than a military mind. • His selection was largely political. Already wealthy, he couldn't be accused of being a fortune-seeker. He was from Virginia and as an aristocrat he could be counted on to check the "excesses of the masses.“ He was honorable, dutiful and honest.
Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings • The clash of arms continued on a contradictory basis. On one hand, many Americans were emphatically affirming their loyalty to the King and earnestly voicing their desire to patch up difficulties. • On the other hand, most were also raising armies and shooting down his majesty's soldiers. • May 1775 - A tiny American force under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold surprised and captured the British garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown Point (New York) • They secured a store of gunpowder and artillery for the siege of Boston.
Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings • June 1775 - Colonists seized a hill, now known as Bunker Hill (but actually called Breed's Hill at the time). • British blundered badly when they launched a frontal attack with 3,000 men. • Americans mowed down the British but they ran out of ammo and then fled. It was a defeat but the Americans won because the British would have no army left in America at that rate.
Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings • July 1775 - The Continental Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition, professing American loyalty to the crown and begging the King to prevent further hostilities. • But following Bunker Hill, the King slammed the door to all hope of reconciliation. • Because most of these soldiers-for-hire came from the German principality of Hesse, the Americans called all Euro-mercenaries Hessians. • Hessian hirelings proved to be decent soldiers but many were unreliable unless paid regularly.
The Abortive Conquest of Canada • Colonists invaded Canada in the fall of 1775. • They believed Canada was restless and open to joining their cause. They also wanted to deprive the British of a supply base. • Montreal fell to a force led by Richard Montgomery, and Benedict Arnold moved on Quebec City. • However, the French did not support the American presence, and the attack on Quebec City failed when Montgomery was killed and Arnold wounded. • The whole campaign indicated America was not truthful when claiming they were only fighting in self-defense.
Thomas Paine Preaches Common Sense • Loyalty to the empire was deeply engrained, and many Americans continued to consider themselves part of a transatlantic community in which the Mother Country played a leading role. Gradually the Americans were shocked into recognizing the necessity of separating from the Crown. • Common Sense (1776) – was one of the most influential pamphlets ever written. Its author was the radical Thomas Paine; it became a best seller. • He went a long way to convey the American colonists that their true cause was independence rather than reconciliation with Britain, for without independence they could not hope for foreign assistance (from France or anyone else).
Paine and the Idea of “Republicanism” • Paine's protest not simply for independence but for the creation of a new kind of society, a (republic) where power flowed from the people themselves, not from a corrupt and despotic monarch. • Republicanism did not originate from Paine. It was created in Ancient Greece and had flourished during the Renaissance. • The colonists' experience with local governance had prepared them well for Paine's summons to create a republic. • Colonists had no hereditary aristocracy. • Because political power no longer rested with the authority of the King, individuals in a republic needed to sacrifice their personal self-interest to the public good. The collective "good of the people" mattered more than the private rights and interests of individuals. • However, some conservative colonists were not convinced an independent America needed to be a Republic.
Jefferson’s “Explanation” of Independence • June 7, 1776 - Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moved that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.“ • July 2, 1776 - The motion was adopted; the passing of Lee's resolution was the formal "declaration" of independence by the American colonies. • But Congress appointed a committee to prepare a more formal statement of separation.
Jefferson’s “Explanation” of Independence • Thomas Jefferson served on the committee to write the Declaration. Of the five men, he was probably the best writer. • July 4, 1776 - The Declaration of Independence was formally approved by Congress. • Jefferson gave his appeal universally by evoking the “natural rights" of mankind. • He then set forth a long list of the presumably tyrannous misdeeds of George III. • The assertion that “All Men Are Created Equal” was to cause much trouble in the future, and would be hotly debated for decades to come.
Jefferson’s “Explanation” of Independence • Since then, the Declaration of Independence has become an inspiration to countless other revolutionary movements. • Lafayette hung a copy on his wall in his home, leaving beside it room for a future French Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Patriots and Loyalists • The war of independence was a war within a war. Colonists loyal to the King (loyalists) fought the American rebels (Patriots) while the rebels also fought the British redcoats. • Loyalists were derisively called "Tories," after the dominant political factions in Britain, whereas Patriots were called "Whigs" after the opposition factions in Britain. • The American Revolution was a minority movement. About 16% of colonists were loyalists. Many people of education and wealth, of culture and caution, remained loyal. • Loyalists were older people; young people make revolutions. • Loyalists were less numerous in New England, more numerous in the South and where Anglicanism was the strongest. • Also, Loyalists were common where Mercantilism was mutually beneficial and self-government was weak.
The Loyalist Exodus • Patriots regarded the loyalists as traitors. About 80,000 loyalists were driven out, or fled to Canada or England. Their estates were confiscated and sold. • Compared to other revolutions, the treatment of the Tories was quite forgiving. • Most Loyalists stayed, especially if their support of the Crown had been rather mild. Some were merely taxed or lost some of their property.
General Washington at Bay • Fall 1776 – Washington was outnumbered and ill-prepared to meet the British army in open battle. • He was routed at the Battle of Long Island where panic seized the raw recruits. By the narrows of margins and thanks to a favoring wind and fog, Washington escaped to Manhattan. • He was fortunate to escape with his army, but could not stay in NYC and kept retreating into New Jersey as the winter set in.
General Washington at Bay • On December 26, 1776, at Trenton, Washington surprised and captured 1000 Hessians who were sleeping off their Christmas feast. • One week later he crossed the Delaware River a second time and defeated a small British force at Princeton. • These two patriot victories helped boost morale and aided Washington’s ability to hold the Continental Army together over the harsh winter.
Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion • London offers a complicated scheme for capturing the vital Hudson River Valley in 1777, which would sever New England from the rest of the colonies. • Plan: General Burgoyne would push down the Lake Champlain route from Canada. • General Howe's troops in New York, if needed, could advance up the Hudson and meet Burgoyne in Albany. • A 3rd and much smaller British force commanded by Colonel Barry St. Leger would come in from the west by way of Lake Ontario and the Mohawk River valley.
Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion • However, Benedict Arnold (after the Quebec failure) fell back to Lake Champlain to impede the British advance. • The British stopped to build a huge navy to defeat Arnold’s flotilla, which was destroyed. Arnold gained time - winter set in and British had to go back to Canada and restart in Spring. • Had Arnold not contributed the British most likely would have recaptured Ticonderoga and Burgoyne could have succeeded in taking Albany. • St. Leger is turned back after losing the Battle of Oriskany, NY and that part of the advance is forfeited.
Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion • General Howe deliberately embarked for an attack on Philadelphia instead of starting up the Hudson to help Burgoyne. Washington quickly transferred his troops to Philadelphia – but was soundly defeated at Brandywine Creek and Germantown. • Washington retired for the winter to Valley Forge; his troops were cold and hungry. Baron Von Steuben whipped the colonial troops in shape (those that didn’t desert). • Meanwhile, Burgoyne's troops bogged down, had their supply lines cut, and the Patriots surrounded them. • Burgoyne surrendered his entire army after the decisive Battle of Saratoga on October 17, 1777.
Revolution in Diplomacy? • France was eager to get revenge on Britain, and secretly supplied the Americans throughout much of the war. • The Continental Congress sent delegates to France; the delegates were guided by a "model treaty" which sought no political or military connections but only commercial ones. • After the Saratoga humiliation, the British offered the Americans a measure that gave them home rule - everything they wanted minus independence. • But the Americans rejected it and sought closer ties with the French.
Revolution in Diplomacy? • After Saratoga, France finally was persuaded to enter the war against Britain. • Louis XVI's ministers argued that this was the perfect time (1778) to act because if Britain couldn’t regain control of America, it might try to capture the French West Indies as compensation for the loss. • Now was the time to strike, rather than risk a stronger Britain with its reunited colonies. • France, in 1778 offered a treaty of alliance, offering America everything that Britain had offered, plus recognition of independence. • Americans accepted the agreement with caution, since France was pro-catholic but they took the needed help with a helping of secret disdain for the French.
The Colonial War Becomes a Wider War • England and France thus come to blows in 1778 and the shot fired at Lexington rapidly widened into a global conflagration. In 1780 the imperious Catherine The Great of Russia took the lead in organizing the Armed Neutrality. • Soon the Spanish and Dutch also joined the war, and their fleets practically laid siege to the British Isles. • The Americans deserve credit for having the war going until 1778, with secret French aid. • In June 1778 the withdrawing redcoats were attacked by General Washington at Monmouth, New Jersey. They were not decisively defeated, but Washington hounded the British back into the defenses of New York. Philadelphia was liberated.
Benedict Arnold • Benedict Arnold turned traitor in 1780, when he offered to sell secret plans for West Point to the British. • Arnold had fought bravely at Quebec City, Lake Champlain, and Saratoga, but he felt like he hadn’t gotten enough attention, credit, and financial compensation. • His defection staggered American morale after spirits were high from the French alliance.
Blow and Counterblow • The British decided to switch their efforts to the southern colonies, which were lightly defended and home to many loyalists. • Georgia was overrun by 1779, and Charleston fell by 1780, which was a huge loss in men and materials to the colonies. • A civil war broke out in North Carolina, with militias from both sides battling at Cowpens, Kings Mountain and Camden.
The Land Frontier and the Sea Frontier • Indians mostly sided with the British, because they believed that a British victory in the war would help restrain American expansion. • American frontiersmen defeated the Iroquois by 1779 and eventually signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, where the Indians surrendered much of their land to the U.S. • The treaty was the first Indian treaty ever negotiated by the U.S. government. • George Rogers Clark attacked British forts in Illinois and some have argued that this ensured America would gain this territory after the war.
The Land Frontier and the Sea Frontier • American warships (John Paul Jones) never won any naval battles but harassed British merchant ships and almost completely stopped the triangular trade routes. • This brought in much needed gold and boosted American morale. • British merchants began to bring increasing pressure on Parliament to end the war so they could resume business as usual.
Yorktownand the Final Curtain • Although things were grim in America in 1780-81, especially financially, British General Lord Cornwallis blundered into a trap. • The British moved to Yorktown, Virginia for resupply from the British navy. However, the French fleet concentrated and drove the British away. • The French army also assisted in surrounding Cornwallis, and Washington force marched his army from New York to accept the surrender of Cornwallis. • This was the final major military engagement of the war, but militia skirmishes and guerrilla war continued, especially in the southern U.S. • Washington had a hard time keeping his army together.
Peace at Paris • The three American negotiators (Franklin, John Adams, John Jay) were specifically instructed to make no separate peace with Britain and to consult France before making any agreements. • However, Jay decided to approach the British and cut a separate deal. The British were eager to end the war and drive a wedge between America and its French allies. • Britain gave America generous terms: - America got complete independence. - America was given all of the land out to the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, and south to the Florida border. - Americans had the right to share the N. Atlantic fishery.
Peace at Paris • But America had to make concessions as well. • Loyalists were supposed to be left alone, no more violence. • Loyalist property was to be returned to them. • British creditors were to be given free reign to collect pre-war debts. • America broke all of these assurances. • It was a good thing Britain ended the war when it did. This peace treaty gave the British some breathing room to rebuild their empire and prepare for the rise of Napoleon, who they would only defeat thirty years later because the foundation was laid with the Treaty of Paris.
A New Nation Legitimized • France quickly approved of the treaty, because they had racked up a massive debt helping the Americans. • Britain was badly damaged and lost other possessions around the globe. The Whig government was soundly defeated after the treaty was passed. • America alone gained from this war. • “Seldom, if ever, have any people been so favored.” – American Pageant, p 152.
