The American Revolution

(1754–81, Revolutionary War 1775). The American Revolution

The American Revolution • The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free of the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America.

Liberty – The American Revolution • http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5602751196414323436# • (53.56 mins)

Colonies • Colonists migrated from Europe to the Americas: • for economic reasons and • religious freedom • Life was difficult for the first settlers . They built cities from scratch, and brought civilization to the wild lands. • Before and during the French and Indian War, from about 1650 to 1763, Britain essentially left its American colonies to run themselves.

Europe’s View of The Colonies • Europeans viewed the colonies as their property. • The colonies existed in order to serve their home nation. • The colonies produced crops and goods that could then be shipped back to their mother country in order to enrich those who lived there. • The colonies were expected to remain loyal to their mother country. • Colonies were controlled by governors which were appointed by the crown.

Colonies’ View of Europe • Many of the inhabitants of the colonies had come to the Americas in order to escape persecution (bullying), for their religious or extreme political views. • Many of the colonists had been born in the Americas, and had never visited Europe. • They considered themselves Americans, and not Europeans. • Increasingly their loyalty was to the colony, and not to the distant mother country. • Colonies began to tire of the restrictions placed on them by their mother countries. These restrictions favoured their parent nations, but made life more difficult for the colonies.

The British Empire Goes To War • In 1760 a new king came to power in Great Britain named King George III. • King George III used the powerful British Navy to conduct war with France. • These wars brought the British Empire vast new territory, including all of Canada, as well as all the land in North America East of the Mississippi River. • This war, which greatly enlarged the territories of Great Britain proved to be very costly, and nearly bankrupt the national treasury. • As a result King George III was in desperate need of raising funds to keep his government operating. To do this, he looked to the colonies in the Americas.

The Stamp Act • To help cover the cost of the war between Great Britain and France, British officials began to establish new taxes in the Colonies. • In 1765 a tax was passed by Great Britain known as The Stamp Act. • This law required all colonists to pay a tax to Great Britain on all of the printed materials that they used: newspapers, magazines, and even playing cards. • Colonist were outraged, and responded by boycotting all British goods. • They also attacked officials who were sent by Great Britain to enforce The Stamp Act, and burned the stamps in the street. • Many of the colonies sent representatives to a special meeting in New York, which they called The Stamp Act Congress. • As a result, the British Parliament repealed The Stamp Act just one year later in 1766. • Parliament in Great Britain had lost the battle over The Stamp Act.

Summary - Revolution • Who are the colonies and colonists? • Why did the colonists migrate to the Americas? • Describe how life was for the colonists? • Describe how the colonists viewed Europe and Europeans. • Describe how Europe and the Europeans viewed the colonists. • Why did King George III introduce the Stamp Act?

Summary - Revolution • Who are the colonies (place) and colonists (people)? • Why did the colonists migrate to the Americas? • Describe how life was for the colonists? • Describe how the colonists (teenagers) viewed Europe and Europeans (parents). • Describe how Europe and the Europeans (parents)viewed the colonists (teenagers). • Why did King George III introduce the Stamp Act? • How did the Americans (colonists) react to the Stamp Act? WHY?

The Boston Massacre • The Parliament in Great Britain was determined to assert their control over the colonies. • In 1766 they passed a new decree that reaffirmed their right to pass laws regarding the colonies. The next year they passed a number of new taxes, including a tax on glass, lead, paper, and tea. • The colonies were again outraged, and many refused to pay them. • In order to enforce these new tax laws, British officials requested military troops to aid them. • These military troops outraged the colonists. • In the Winter of 1770 a small group of colonists in Boston were taking out their frustration with the troops by taunting them, and throwing snowballs at them. In retaliation, these soldiers opened fire, killing four of the Bostonians. This event became known as the Boston Massacre. • The events of the Boston Massacre were spread quickly by newspapers throughout the colonies further angering colonists. • As a result, Great Britain was forced to once again repeal all of the new taxes they had enacted. However, in order to send a message that they were still in charge, they left the tax on tea in place.

The Shot Heard Around The World • As the two armies faced each other, someone fired a shot. No one knows who fired it, or which side they were on. This shot became known as the shot heard around the world, and it touched off a conflict that would help further the tensions between Great Britain and her colonies. • As the British Troops began advancing towards where the ammunition and weapons were being stored, Paul Revere, and William Dawes rode ahead of them, shouting ‘The Redcoats are coming’. • Their warning allowed the colonists the time they needed to get the minutemen in place along the route. Hiding behind trees, and buildings, these minutemen were able to easily defeat the British soldiers who were marching in formation, in the open. • The defeat of the British military humiliated Great Britain, and energized the colonists, showing them that it was possible to win their independence militarily.

The Boston Tea Party • The tax on tea that Parliament had passed greatly effected the tea business in the colonies. • The price of tea in the Americas increased, making it more difficult for tea growers, producers, and shippers to survive. • In order to ensure that British companies would not be hurt by this new tax, Parliament passed a law that excluded British companies from having to pay the tax. • This meant that these companies could sell their tea cheaper, almost guaranteeing that companies based in the Americas would go out of business. • In protest a group of individuals dressed up as Native Americans boarded a cargo ship in Boston Harbor, and dumped its entire load of tea into the harbor waters. This event became known as the Boston Tea Party. • In response to the Boston Tea Party the Parliament in Great Britain passed a number of new laws. • These new laws became known by the colonies as the Intolerable Acts.

The First Continental Congress • As a result of the Intolerable Acts colonists in the Americas become increasingly convinced that they needed to take more aggressive steps in order to protect themselves, and their liberty. • On September 5 , 1774 56 delegates were sent from each of the 13 colonies to meet in Philadelphia as representatives of The First Continental Congress. For the first time in history, the 13 colonies were working as a group, and not as individual colonists. • The First Continental Congress passed resolutions stating that the British Parliament did not have the right to pass laws in the colonies, and only had the right to regulate trade between the colonies and Great Britain. • They further resolved that by December of the same year they would cease importing any goods from Great Britain, and that by September of the following year, they would cease exporting any goods to Great Britain.

Loyalist Strongholds Only 1/3 of the colonists were in favor of a war for independence [the other third were Loyalists, and the final third were neutral].

Tensions Build • In April of 1775 tensions in the Colonies were very high. Many of the 13 colonies begun to raise armies in order to defend themselves against the possibility of war with Great Britain. Colonists in Boston suffered more than many of the other colonists. • In response to the Boston Tea Party, Great Britain closed down the Boston Harbor. The result was that life in Boston became very difficult. Many who lived there lost their jobs. British troops were also sent to Boston in mass. In order to house these troops, Bostonians were forced to let them live in their homes, and eat their food. • As tensions rose, officials in Great Britain ordered the governor of Massachusetts to send troops to Boston. • The British soldiers were the best trained military force on Earth. They also had superior weapons. • Colonists in Boston prepared themselves for any military actions by Great Britain. They formed a group of soldiers known as Minutemen.

Summary - Revolution • What continued to build the tension between Britain (parents) and the colonies (teenagers)? • What type of goods did the British keep taxes on? • Why was the Tea Act important? What did it try and make the colonists do? • What occurred on the night of December 16, 1773. • Why was it important for representatives from each colony to attend the First Continental Congress? • What were the intolerable acts? • In 1774, did the representatives want to be separated from Britain? • What advantages did the British hold in the military battles? • What advantages did the Americans have?

Battles of the Revolution • Major battles and events of the American Revolution include: • Washington crossing the Delaware RiverBattle of Trenton • Battle of PrincetonBattle of Brandywine • Battle of GermantownBattle of Oriskany • Battle of BenningtonBattle of Saratoga Battle of Monmouth • Winter at Valley ForgeBattle of SavannahBattle of Charleston • Battle of Camden Battle of King's Mountain • Battle of Cowpens Battle of Guilford • Battle of Eutaw Springs Battle of Yorktown • Battle of Lexington and ConcordCapture of Fort Ticonderoga • Battle of Bunker HillOlive Branch Petition • British Evacuation of BostonInvasion of Quebec, Canada • Battle of Long IslandBattle of White Plains • Battle of Fort Washington

Battle of Lexington and Concord • The first shots starting the revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. • On April 18, 1775, British General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition the colonists had stored in the town of Concord, just outside of Boston. • Paul Revere promised to warn the colonists when the British soldiers started to march. • He made plans to alert people by putting lanterns in the Old North Church steeple. He would light one lantern if the British were coming by land, and two • lanterns if the British were coming by sea. • When the British soldiers reached Lexington, Captain Jonas Parker and 75 armed Minutemen were there to meet them. • The Minutemen were greatly outnumbered. • By the time the soldiers reached Boston, 73 British soldiers were dead and 174 more were wounded. • In the days fighting, 49 patriots were killed, and 39 more were wounded.

Military Hostilities • The Battle of Lexington and Concord took place April 19, 1775, when the British sent a force of roughly 1000 troops to confiscate arms and arrest revolutionaries in Concord. They clashed with the local militia, marking the first fighting of the American Revolutionary War. The news aroused the 13 colonies to call out their militias and send troops to take Boston. • The Battle of Bunker Hill followed on June 17, 1775. While a British victory, it was at a great cost; about 1,000 British casualties from a garrison of about 6,000, as compared to 500 American casualties from a much larger force

The Shot Heard Around The World • As the two armies faced each other, someone fired a shot. No one knows who fired it, or which side they were on. This shot became known as the shot heard around the world, and it touched off a conflict that would help further the tensions between Great Britain and her colonies. • As the British Troops began advancing towards where the ammunition and weapons were being stored, Paul Revere, and William Dawes rode ahead of them, shouting ‘The Redcoats are coming’. • Their warning allowed the colonists the time they needed to get the minutemen in place along the route. Hiding behind trees, and buildings, these minutemen were able to easily defeat the British soldiers who were marching in formation, in the open. • The defeat of the British military humiliated Great Britain, and energized the colonists, showing them that it was possible to win their independence militarily.

The Olive Branch Petition • In May of 1775 The Second Continental Congress met to discuss the ongoing problems between Great Britain and the Colonies. • A small group of radicals, lead by John Adams felt that war with Great Britain was inevitable. However, in an effort to avoid war, they passed a resolution known as the Olive Branch Petition. • This petition was sent to King George III, and addressed the wrongs that had been committed against the colonies. • King George III refused to even read the petition, and declared that the colonies had come out in open rebellion against the crown, and against Great Britain.

Common Sense • In January of 1776 a man by the name of Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet entitled Common Sense. • It outlined the reasons that he felt why the colonies should part company with Great Britain and form their own independent nation. • Common Sense helped greatly to change the opinions of important and influential colonists who had been holding out hope for resolving the conflict with Great Britain without going to war.

The Declaration of Independence • The Second Continental Congress charged Thomas Jefferson with the responsibility of writing a declaration of independence that would be sent to Great Britain. • On July 4th, 1776 this declaration was officially adopted by the Continental Congress, and a new nation was born. • The Declaration of Independence stated the belief that a government had a responsibility to the people it governed, and that if they abused their responsibilities, that the people who were ruled had the right to rebel.

A Revolutionary War • The American Colonies who were among the poorest and weakest nations on Earth, had decided to take on the most powerful of the day. The Continental Congress appointed General George Washington as their commander. • A long, difficult war would follow, which would devastate the colonies. They were simply not equipped to fight such a powerful military force. Many times, it appeared as though the British were just a few steps away from wining the war. However, the American soldiers held out.

The war continues • As the war carried on year after year, the Americans began to win important battles, embarrassing the British. • As this happened, the French, who were upset about the territory they had lost to Great Britain became convinced that the Americans could win, and sent ships and supplies to help the colonists. • Spain who had also lost territory to Great Britain also sent aid to the colonies. • By August of 1781 the British were forced to surrender in Yorktown Virginia.

The Articles of Confederation • After wining their independence in 1781 the Continental Congress established the Articles of Confederation. • These articles stated that: • each colony was to act as an independent state • that each state had the right to pass laws within their territories. • This central government had very little authority. It could not pass taxes, and as a result, the nation amassed massive amounts of debt, which it could not pay off.

The Constitution of the United States • After debating the problems with the Articles of Confederation, the representatives in Philadelphia decided they would create a new constitution, that would form a new central government. • After several months they signed the Constitution of the United States into law, creating the United States of America. • This constitution guaranteed certain rights to the people, helping to insure that they were treated fairly. • Shortly after the constitution was signed, 10 amendments were added to it, known as the bill of rights, which granted even more freedoms to the people of The United States. • This new nation was to be headed by a President, rather than a monarch. This President would be elected by the legislature, which was in turn elected by the people. This type of government is known as a republic.

Bibliography • http://www.kidport.com/reflib/usahistory/americanrevolution/amerrevolution.htm • http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0355-american-revolution.php • http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/ • http://www.national-anthems.net/US

The American Revolution