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The American Revolution
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The Battle at Lexington and Concord
- British General Thomas Gage ordered British troops to Boston to seize all Patriot artilary ~ Then ordered soldiers to capture colonial leaders and supplies at Concord
- Paul Revere warned leaders and Patriots, and the town responded to warning ~ Minutemen - Colonial militiamen who stood ready to mobilize on short notice ~ First defended at Lexington, then chase British to Concord
- Americans killed 1/3 of the Gage's dispatched army
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Second Continental Congress
- Philadelphia: the most praised colonial men were present
- Meeting in respnose to the British occupying colonies
- Created Continental Army ~ Which was to be led by George Washington
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"Common Sense"
- Thomas Paine publishes "Common Sense"
- rousing call for independence and republican government ~ Assaulted monarchy and the British system
- Influenced many Americans to fight for the Patriot cause
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Thoughts on Government
- Written by John Adams to counter the Pennsylvania constitution
- Adapted theory of mixed government: a sharing of power among the monarch, the House of Lords, and the Commons) to a republican society
- insisted on separate institution legislatures would make laws, the executive would administer them, and the judiciary would enforce them
- Demanded bicameral legislature: upper and lower houses proposed elected governor and appointed judiciary
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Declaration of Independence
- Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence
- Composed of three sections: statement of beliefs, list of indictments, and resolution
- Linked American Independence to popular sovereignty, individual liberty, and republican government
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Battle of Long Island
-George Washington in charge of Continental Army
-General WIlliam Howe in charge of British Army
-Patriots embarrassing lost
~British, plus the help of Hessian soldiers, surrounded Continental Army
~Americans retreated toTrenton -
Pennsylvania constitution of 1776
- Insurgents of the current Pennsylvania government kicked every officeholder of the Penn family's proprietary government, abolished property ownership as a qualification for voting, and granted all taxpaying men the right to vote and hold office
- Created a unicameral legislature with complete power; there was no governor to exercise a veto
- Patriots opposed the constitution
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Battle of Trenton
-George Washington's "Hail Mary" attempt
-Christmas night, when Hessians are intoxicated
-Americans surprise attack Hessian and British soldiers
-British Army surrender and Patriots capture 1,000 Hessian soldiers -
Battle of Saratoga
- Lord North and Lord George Germain of Britain launch military campaign: three-pronged attack on Albany, New York ~ General Burgoyne coming from Quebec, Colonel St. Leger and Iroquois from the west, and General Howe from New York City
- Howe instead decided attack Philadelphia and took the home of the Continental Congress
- Because of Howe's decision and Burgoyne's stalling, British were surrounded by American forces led by Horatio Gates ~ Forced Burgoyne to surrender to Patriots
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Valley Forge
-George Washington's Army marching through Valley Forge
-Lack of resources: food, shoes, warm clothing
~Farmers refused to provide
-Army lost 25% in 3 months: Army went from 12,000 to 8,000
~1,000+ deserted
~200+ officers deserted
- Baron Von Steuben - A former Prussian military officer
~ instituted a drill system and created a professional army
- Valley Forge - Spring 1778: tougher and more disciplined army -
Treaty of Alliance 1778
-Official Treaty confirming French and American alliance
- Neither partner would sign a separate peace without the "liberty, sovereignty, and independence" of the Americans
-Granted French recognition of West Indies if Americans won -
British Capture Savannah, Georgia
- Sir Henry Clinton launch seaborne attack on Savannah, Georgia ~ One of the crucial ports of the South ~ mobilized hundreds of African Americans to transport supplies
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Spain Declares War
- Spain declares war against Britain ~ This causes the American Revolution into a world war
- Wanted to regain Florida and the fortress of Gibraltar
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Philipsburg Proclamation
-Sir Henry Clinton, British General, established the Philipsburg Proclamation
-Any slave that escaped their master would gain British protection, freedom, and land
~ 30,000 African Americans take refuge behind British lines -
British Take Charleston, South Carolina
- Sir Henry Clinton forced surrender of 5,000 southern troops
- Charleston is one of the most important ports in the South ~ British has control of the major ports in South, giving them advantage
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Battle at Camden
- Lord Charles Cornwallis assumes control of British Army
- Absolutely crushes the American force, who was commanded by famous hero, Horatio Gates
- British take control of South Carolina ~ Which confirms the British southern strategy was working (defend West Indies, capture the rich tobacco, and use Americans' fear of slave uprisings against them)
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Nathanael Greene
- George Washington appoints Nathanael Greene as commander of Southern Army
- Helped win Battle at King's Mountain
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Marquis de Lafayette
- French diplomat who aided American army
- Persuaded King Louis XVI to send French troops of 5,500 to Newport, Rhode Island ~ Threatened British forces that held New York City
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Battle of Cowpens
-General Daniel Morgan defeat Britains
~ Gradually helping Americans regain the South -
Articles of Confederation
- Approved by Continental Congress in 1777
- Provided for loose union in which "each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence"
- could declare war, make treaties with foreign states, adjudicate disputes between states, borrow and print money, and requistion funds from the states
- didn't have executive or judiciary and lacked power to tax
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Battle at the Guilford Court House
- Greene's Army fights Cornwallis's forces
- Both heavy casualties -------> draw
- Weakened by war of attrition, Cornwallis concedes Carolians to Greene
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Battle of Yorktown
- Cornwallis's Army completely surrounded at Yorktown by American and Allied forces ~ Greene and Morgan's army from the south ~ Washington's army coming from the north (tricked British forces in New York City to stay there) ~ French fleet took control of Chesapeake Bay
- Cornwallis surrenders
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Treaty of Paris of 1783
- Britain formally recognizes American independence and withdraws its claims to lands south of Great Lakes and east of Mississippi RIver
- Cherokees forced to give up 5 million acres, and the Iroquois and Ohio Indians gave up lands as well
- Granted Americans fishing rights off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and also guaranteed freedom of navigation on the Mississippi ~ In return, British merchants allowed to pursue legal claims for prewar debts -
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Treaty of Versailles
- Britain makes peace with France and Spain
- France receives the Caribbean island
- Spain regains Florida
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The Ordinance of 1784
- Under "Old Northwest"
- Written by Thomas Jefferson
- Established the principle that terrtories could become states as their populations gre
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The Land Ordinance of 1785
- Under "Old Northwest"
- Mandated a rectangular-grid system of surveying and specified a minimum price $1 an acre
- Rquired half of the townships be sold in single blocks of 23,040 acres each, which only large-scale speculators could afford ~ Rest in parcels 640 acres each - restricted their sale to well-to-do farmers
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The Philadelphia Convention
- 55 delegates gather in Philadelphia to address the revision of the Articles of Confederation
- Some esteemed leaders missed the Convention: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were serving as American ministers, and others opposed a national government
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The Great Compromise
- Connecticut delegates suggested possible solution to the problem pertaining to the representation of large and small states
- Proposed that the national legislature's upper chamber have two members from each state,and seats in the lower chamber be proportional to the population of each state
- Led to creating the Supreme Court
- Refused to set a property requirement for voting in national elections
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The Virginia Plan
- Devised by James Madison
- It rejected state sovereignty in favor of the "supremacy of national authority", + power to overturn state laws
- Called for national gov. to be established by the people and for national laws to operate directly on citizens of the various states
- Proposed a three-tier election system: voters would elect only lower house of the national legislature, then the lower house would select the upper house, and both houses appoint executive and judiciary
- Won over NJ Plan
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Shays's Rebellion
- Revolt against taxes opposed by an unresponsive American government led by Danial Shays
- Massachusetts's new constitution placed power in hands of a mercantile elite; increased taxes five times to pay off wartime debts ~ immense burden onfarmers - could not pay taxes and debts ~ called for extralegal conventions to protest high taxes, but then led to angry mobs that tried to close the courts by force
- To stop rebellion, the Riot Act was passed and a fighting force stopped rebellion
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New Jersey Plan
- In response to the Virginia Plan, William Paterson of New Jersey wrote the New Jersey
- Gave the Confederation the power to raise revenue, control commerce, preserved the states' control of their own laws and guaranteed their equality ~ each state would have one vote in a unicameral legislature
- Response: delegates from the more populous states vigorously opposed
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The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
- Under "Old Northwest"
- Ceated territories that would eventually become states
- Prohibited slavery and earmarked funds from land sales for the support of schools
- Specified that Congress would appoint a governor and judges to administer each new territory until population reached 5,000 free adult men - citizens could elect a territorial legislature ~ Populations reached 60,000 - legislature could devise a republican constitution and apply to join the Confederation
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Federalists and Antifederalists
- Federalists - nationalists who supported a federal union (a loose, decentralized system) and hid their commitment to a strong national government
- Antifederalists - those who opposed the Constitution
~ feared that state governments would lose power and that the central government would be run by wealthy men
~ stated that the Constitution lacked a declaration of indvidual rights
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"The Federalist"
- 85 essays written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton ~ Influenced political leaders throughout the country and won acclaim as an important treatise of practical republicanism ~ Denied that centralized government would lead to tyranny
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The Ratification of the Constitution
- Difficult to obtain the 9 out of the 13 convention quota in order to ratify the Constitution ~ Eventually won them with close winning votes
- Created a national republic and popular borad support
