The Revolutionary Period

1
The Revolutionary Period 1760 - 1790
2
What is it all about?
Prior to the 1760s, America was an undisputed
colony of Great Britain. As Great Britain
increased the taxes on the colonies to support
their battles with the French in Europe, America
rebelled claiming No taxation without
representation. This treasonous attitude
brought on harsh relations with the mother
country. The writings of the great minds of
America fueled the resistance against Great
Britains heavy hand of taxation and oppression.
Writers like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,
Thomas Paine, Crévecoeur, and Phillis Wheatley
presented America as a place of growth and
freedom. Their writings inspired men to fight
for a life worth dying for.
3
The Instigators of the War

• Thomas Jefferson
• Benjamin Franklin
• Thomas Paine
• Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crévecoeur
• Phillis Wheatley
• Patrick Henry

4
Thomas Jefferson 1743-1809

• Known for the Declaration of Independence
• Third President of the United States
• Brilliant inventor, architect, scientist, and
  carpenter
  
• Home in Virginia named Monticello

5
Thomas Jefferson (continued)
At the tender age of thirty-three, due to his
felicity of language, Jefferson was made the
chairman of the Declaration writing committee.
Under the direction of Jefferson, Benjamin
Franklin, Roger Sherman, John Adams, and Robert
Livingston met together to draft the Declaration
of Independence. Jefferson sought to make the
Declaration an expression of the American mind.
Looking into the hearts of the people and
finding it indelibly inscribed there,
Jefferson wrote a statement that will affect the
ideals of mans freedom for the longevity of
mans existence. It begins We hold these
truths to be self-evident, That all men are
created equal . . .
6
Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790

• Commonly known as the first American
• Author of Poor Richards Almanac, a book of smart
  quotes and facts
  
• Great scientist, printer, diplomat, inventor, and
  creative mind

www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/
7
Benjamin Franklin (continued)
Franklins influence went well beyond his wealth.
His assistance in the printing of Common Sense
and his letter of recommendation for Thomas
Paine, which landed Paine a job in Pennsylvania
with fellow patriots, perhaps aided more to the
struggle of focusing the minds of the American
people than could any amount of economic promise
or influence. However, Franklins contribution t
o the advancement of the American freedom known
today was more than just support to the real
freedom fighters. He was on the Declaration
drafting committee and he diligently sought
support for the revolution from France, work
which proved to be priceless.
8
Thomas Paine 1737-1809

• Wrote Common Sense in January of 1776 in order to
  rescue man from tyranny and false systems . . .
  And enable him to be free. Common Sense spoke
  of the necessity to separate from England leaving
  no alternative

www.mediapro.net/cdadesign/paine/
9
Thomas Paine (continued)
Common Sense is Paines most well-known work but
it is not his only work. In fact, Common Sense
is Paines first of several published works.
Paines second most influential work, The Rights
of Man, expounded upon the argument for
Republicanism stressed in Common Sense. The
Rights of Man defended the acts of the
revolutionaries and insisted that the American
man had an opportunity and a responsibility to
confront the suppression of mans rights before
the whole world. The question was not one of
possibility of victory, but of necessity of
action. Everything that is right or reasonable
pleads for separation. The blood of the slain,
the weeping voice of nature cries, Tis time to
part.
10
Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crévecoeur 1735-1813

• Letters from an American Farmer redefined the
  criteria to be an American
  
• Portrayed America as a land of opportunity for
  anyone who could do an honest days work

11
Phillis Wheatley (1753?-1784)

• In her Letters to George Washington Wheatley
  developed a clear argument as to why she
  considered the revolution a war not only against
  the British, but against slavery on the whole

www.accd.edu/sac/english/bailey/amerlit1.htm
12
Phillis Wheatley (continued)
Inspired by the actions of General George
Washington and the pursuit of the colonies for
freedom, Wheatley wrote poems from her masters
house to General Washington praising him as an
advancer of the great cause. Wheatleys white
contemporaries did not notice her underlying tone
that correlated the revolution to slavery, thus
praising her work as inspired. Wheatley was
considered an honorable Negro. She wrote, as the
whites perceived it, of the colonial struggle
against the British. Had her white
contemporaries caught on to her anti-slavery
theme she may have been lynched.
13
Patrick Henry (1736-1799)

• First publicly expressed colonial discontent with
  the imperial oppression in his Stamp Act Speech
  of 1765
  
• Most noted for his Liberty or Death speech of
  1775 to the Virginia House of Burgesses

www.redhill.org/
14
Patrick Henry (continued)
Patrick Henrys fame reached a pinnacle as he
spoke out against the rising amount of British
force used against the colonies in 1775. The
following year, Henry was elected as governor of
Virginia until 1779 and again in 1784 through
1786. His fame as a orator was widely known
throughout the United States and in Europe.
Coming from a wealthy line, he was well educated
and received by the leaders of the colonies. So
when he spoke to the Virginia House of Burgesses
his words were not taken lightly. His famous
line, Give me liberty, or give me death, rang
true in the ears of those present, sparking a new
flame of revolution for the freedom of the
colonies.
15
Works Cited books

• Foner, Eric. Tom Paine and Revolutionary
  America. New York Oxford UP, 1976.
  
• Howard, Ted. Voices of The American Revolution.
  New York Bantam Books, 1975.
  
• Hodgins, Francis, Kenneth Silverman, Milton R.
  Stern, and Rolando R. Hinojosa-Smith, ed.
  Adventures in American Liturature. Ed. Pegasus.
  Orlando Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989.

16
Works Cited books (cont)

• Lauter, Paul, ed. The Heath Anthology of American
  Literature. New York Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
  
• Tyler, Moses Coit. The Literary History of the
  American Revolution. New York Barnes Noble,
  1941.
  

17
Works Cited websites

• Benjamin Franklin A Documentary History. Lemay,
  J.A. 1997. University of Delaware 5 Nov. 1999
  
  
• The San Antonio College LitWeb American
  Literature I Index. Bailey, Roger Blackwell ND.
  San Antonio College 11 Nov. 1999.
  tm

18
Works Cited websites (cont)

• Red Hill Patrick Henry Memorial. Netstar Design
  Inovations. 7 June, 1999. Red Hill. 12 Nov. 1999.
  
  
• Monticello The Home of Thomas Jefferson. 25 Oct.
  1999. The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation. 4
  Nov. 1999.