The Road to Revolution

Unit II: Revolutionary War

Between 1763 and 1783, the British attempts to exert control over the colonies led to a violent, organized, and ultimately successful revolution.

Who’s to blame???

Proclamation of 1763

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Revenue Act (1762)

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Currency Act (1764)

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The Sugar Act (1764)

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Stamp Act 1765

 Colonists felt that they a right to that land because they helped defeat the French.

Colonists will suffer from loss of French trade. (Brit army in colonies) Colonists have difficulty paying in gold/silver.

Colonists begin to grumble about taxes needing to “originate with the people.” New England smuggling continues.

Sons of Liberty/Open resistance Stamp Act Congress (Oct. ’65)  Parliament responds!

Open Challenge  What is it about the Stamp Act that angers the colonists??

 Meeting of Stamp Act Congress  9 colonies sent delegates to NY in Oct. 1765 to protest “loss of American rights and liberties”  Challenged the constitutionality of the Stamp Act  B. Franklin – seeks actual representation for English colonies.

 British response – virtual representation

Resistance Grows • Sons of Liberty – less diplomatic/angry mob led by Sam Adams • Used raw energy and emotion against British tax measures • Encouraged boycotts, harassed stamp collectors, etc.

Parliament Responds •

Repealed Stamp Act!

• BUT issued the Declaratory Act — What message did this send to the colonists??

 Stated Parliament’s “full power and authority to make laws and statutes . . . to bind the colonies and people of America . . . In all cases whatsoever.”

Tensions Escalate

Townshend Act 1767

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tax on paper, paint, glass —what was the political purpose of this act??

Restraining Acts 1767

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Parliament threatened to disband NY legislature if they did not fund previous Quartering Act (NY backed down)

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committees of correspondence

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more non-importation (hitting GB in the pocketbook)

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Daughters of Liberty/”homespuns” Britain responds by sending more troops to the colonies . . .

The Boston Massacre March 1770

Boston Tea Party

(1773)

What were colonists reacting to when they dumped that tea in Boston Harbor??

First Continental Congress

     Met in Philadelphia in 1774 Led by Patriots Patrick Henry, Sam Adams, John Adams and George Washington Issued the Declaration of Rights which, in written form, protested the actions of Great Britain • • accepted Britain’s right to control trade called for the removal of British troops • called for the repeal of the Intolerable Acts Also decided to form a militia, impose a colonial wide boycott on British imports & exports Agreed to meet again in Spring 1775 if grievances not addressed Parliament’s response: refused to negotiate . . .

Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 1775  British Action  700 British troops advanced toward Concord to seize the colonists’ military supplies.

 Colonists’ Reaction  In Lexington, about 70 minutemen fight the British and in Concord hundreds of colonists forced the British troops to withdraw. It is the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

Ultimately, 73 Brits were killed, 174 wounded, 26 missing. 49 Americans were dead, 39 wounded.

The Shot Heard ’Round the World!

Lexington & Concord – April 19,1775

Compromise Fails: The Second Continental Congress  The Situation: - June 1775 • Lexington & Concord • Colonial tensions are high • Most feel there is no turning back – and Bunker Hill (June) strengthens their resolve.

 War or Peace?????: • General George Washington – chosen to head the Continental Army • • “Olive Branch Petition” . . .

King

declares the colonies to be in rebellion!

Thomas Paine:

Common Sense

Declaration of Independence

(1776)

On the Eve of the Revolution

Phase I (1775-1776) : The Northern Campaign

• Howe would invade in New York, take the Hudson River, and isolate NE from the rest of the colonies.

• Washington’s Army would flee to Manhattan, then back across the Delaware just as winter set in in 1776.

• Howe sought to convince GW to surrender . . . Washington evaded Howe & fought a defensive war.

Phase II : NY, NJ & PA [1776-1778]

• By winter 1776 the Continental Army was desperate —and the British had “relaxed” for the winter.

Washington Crossing the Delaware December 1776- Significance??

October 1777 • Why does this matter??

• Meanwhile, Gen. Burgoyne led a large British force south from Quebec —to converge with forces from the West and South —to capture Albany.

• Howe’s troops never arrived —Burgoyne was surrounded by American troops led by Horatio Gates.

Phase III : The Southern Strategy [1780-1781] Britain thought Loyalists in the South would rise to their aid.

The British win a number of small victories, but cannot “conquer” the countryside [similar to U. S. failures in Vietnam!]

The Battle of Yorktown (1781)

The Defeat of the British: Treaty of Paris (1783)  Key reasons for British Defeat: • French assistance • Became a war of attrition/ lack of public support from England people & Parliament • Patriot commitment to their cause 

Provisions of the Treaty:

• Americans gained independence • Americans gained fishing rights around Nova Scotia • Americans gained the interior continent to the Mississippi River

North America After the Treaty of Paris, 1783