American Revolution

1
American Revolution

• From Resistance to Revolution

2
Resistance Becomes Revolution

• French and Indian War aftermath
• Acts and Intolerable Acts
• Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party
• Samuel Adams

3
More Trouble in Massachusetts

• King George III creates military government in
  Massachusetts
• Gen. Thomas Gage
• Began arming a royal militia and fortifying
  Boston against rebellion
• Seizure of food and ammo from Concord

4
Lexington and Concord (1775)

• April 19, 1775, British march on Lexington and
  Concord, Massachusetts from Boston
• Paul Revere and William Dawes
• 700 British troops vs. 70 farmers
• British ordered to disarm, not engage
• 8 militamen dead
• British march on to Concord.
• The revolution had begun
• 73 British dead and 200 wounded 49 Massachusetts
  militiamen dead and 43 wounded

5
Battles in Eastern Massachusetts
6
Shot Heard Round the World
7
The First Battles

• Lexington and Concord (April 1775)
• Bunker (Breeds) Hill (June 1775)British victory
  outside Boston
• 226 British dead, 828 wounded
• 140 Americans dead
• Fueled hatred toward the British.
• Second Continental Congress met in May 1775.
  Offered peace, but prepared for war.

8
Second Continental Congress

• 1775, delegates unwilling to support
  independence.
• George Washington made commander-in-chief of the
  Continental army
• Attracting support of southern colonies and
  slaveowners
• Olive Branch Petition to George III
• An open and avowed rebellion.
• Parliament cut off trade with colonies

9
Taking Sides

• Colonists find themselves having to choose sides
• Class antagonisms sometimes determined side
• African American support on both sides
• Lord Dunmores proclamation, Nov. 1775
• Women support cause in many ways
• Thomas Paines Common Sense (1776)
• Continental Congress ratifies Declaration of
  Independence in July 4, 1776
• Thomas Jefferson
• In mid-July, adopted Articles of Confederation
• Confederation of sovereign states
• Congress conducted foreign affairs
• Congress had no power to tax or raise troops

10
Antoine de Vergers sketch of American army
uniforms
11
Deborah Sampson
12
Molly Pitcher
13
Thomas Paine

• Born in England.
• Came to Philadelphia in 1774.
• Wrote pamphlet in January 1776 called Common
  Sense.
• No more compromise
• Economic independence
• Political independence
• Plain language
• 100,000 copies sold

14
Declaration of Independence

• June 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia
  suggested that colonies should be free.
• Congress finally voted to declare independence in
  July.
• John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman,
  Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson appointed
  to come up with a declarationJefferson did most
  of the writing.
• Included Enlightenment thought and a list of
  grievances.

15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
What the Declaration Says

• Enlightenment ideals
• Equality life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.
• Why the colonies were declaring their
  independence
• Suspension of local governments laws.
• Keeping standing armies and quartering.
• Taxation without consent.
• Goings-on in Quebec.
• Hiring of foreign mercenaries.
• We are no longer British subjects, but American
  citizens.

18
The War

• Stalemate for much of the period.
• Most major cities captured by British.
• Continental army often defeated and poorly
  equipped.
• Turn of events when France, Spain, and
  Netherlands joins fight against British.
• Slaves in the South joined both sides.
• Forces surrounded British at Yorktown in 1781 and
  surrender.

19
Peace Settlement

• Treaty of Paris (1782) ends hostilities but
  leaves problems
• New nation extends from Atlantic coast to
  Mississippi River, and from Canada to 31st
  parallel
• Britain agrees to remove troops promptly, then
  fails to do so
• Loyalists are assured of protection, but many
  face discrimination and leave the country
• 20,000 slaves freed by British left with them,
  over protest of Americans
• War of Independence was a success, but left many
  unresolved issues

20
Transatlantic Revolutions

• American Revolution (1776-1783)
• French Revolution (1789-1799)
• Haitian Revolution (1794-1804)
• South America (1806-1824)