America Secedes from the Empire Mr. Love

April 1775  Lexington & Concord (Mass.) – War began here, 1 st shots were fired

May 10, 1775  Second Continental Congress – Met in Philadelphia – All 13 colonies represented – Still no real sentiment for independence Wanted King & parliament to consent to a redress of grievances – Delegates began to raise money & create an army & navy – Selected Washington to head the army – Why select Washington as head of army?

George Washington  Actually lost more battles than won  “moral force rather than a great military mind”

War  Fought 14 months before Declaration of Independence was issued  May 1775 – Ethan Allen & Benedict Arnold Surprised & captured British garrison at Ticonderoga & Crown Point (NY) Gunpowder & artillery for seize of Boston secured

June 1775  Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill) – British launched a frontal attack – “Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” – colonists mowed down the Redcoats – Colonials’ store of gunpowder gave out & they were forced to abandon the hill

Olive Branch Petition July 1775  Adopted by the Continental Congress  Professed American loyalty to the crown & begged king to prevent further hostilities  King George III formally proclaimed the colonies in rebellion ( Aug 1775)  “Open and Avowed Enemies”  NO HOPE OF RECONCILIATION

What happens now?  Sept – King hired Hessians to help fight  What/Who are Hessians? – German princes needed money – Colonists felt betrayed

War Heats Up  Oct – British burned Falmouth (Portland), Maine.  Colonists decided to invade Canada – Hoped to add 14 th colony – Deprive Britain of a valuable base for striking at the colonies – Was this necessary? Was it counterproductive?  General Richard Montgomery – Pushed up Lake Champlain & captured Montreal

Dec Quebec  Montgomery joined at Quebec with General Benedict Arnold – Montgomery – killed // Arnold – shot  Remnants retreated up the St. Lawrence River  French had no real desire to help colonists

 Jan 1776 – British set fire to Norfolk, Virginia  Feb 1776 – Colonial victory against Loyalists at Moore’s Creek Bridge, NC  March 1776 – Evacuation Day – colonists forced British to evacuate Boston  June Charleston Harbor – Colonial victory against an invading British fleet

Thomas Paine  1776 – Common Sense – One of the most influential pamphlets ever written – Why write it? – Called for not simply independence but for a democratic republic Power should come from the people – Reject monarchy, embrace an independent republic

Cry for Independence  June 7, 1776 – Richard Henry Lee – Colonies ought to be free & independent states – Motion passes a month later.  July 2, 1776 – Motion was adopted for independence  July 4, 1776 – Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence  Thomas Jefferson – author  Formally approved by Congress  Focused on natural rights – Colonists were justified – List of tyrannous misdeeds of George III p. 148  Foreign aid could now be solicited  Is foreign aid important?

Taking Sides  Patriots  Whigs  Younger  New England  Presbyterians & Congregationalists  Loyalists  Tories  Older  Anglican  20% of population

Loyalist Exodus  Regarded as traitors by Patriots – Estates were confiscated & sold (helped finance the war)  Many joined the British army

General Washington at Bay  July 1776 – British fleet arrives in NY with 500 ships & 35,000 men – Washington – 18,000 ill trained troops – Outgeneraled & outmaneuvered

Battle of Long Island  Washington escaped to Manhattan Island & eventually to the Delaware River  General William Howe (British) – Decided not to pursue Washington  Washington recrossed the ice-clogged Delaware

Battles  Trenton Dec. 26, 1776 – Washington surprised & captured 1000 Hessians  Princeton ( 1 week later) – Surprise attack, victory for America

Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion  Goal – to capture Hudson River Valley (1777)  General Burgoyne was to push down from Canada & he would be joined by General Howe – Howe didn’t show up

Washington  Moves his army to Philadelphia  Defeated at Brandywine Creek & Germantown  Moves his troops to Valley Forge for the winter – Baron von Steuben whipped men into shape

Battle of Saratoga  Oct. 17, 1777 – General Burgoyne forced to surrender at Saratoga to General Horatio Gates  Importance of Saratoga 1. Revived the colonial cause 2. Made possible foreign aid from France

French Aid  Secretly provided Americans with lifesaving amounts of gun powder & other munitions – 90% of gunpowder used  Declaration of Independence & Battle of Saratoga showed France that colonists were serious

 Britain offered colonists American home rule within the empire  1778 – France offered America a treaty of alliance (Good idea?)

Colonial War = World War  1779 – Spain & Holland enter war against Britain  1780 – Catherine the Great of Russia – Armed Neutrality – lined up almost all the remaining European neutrals against England  June 1778 – Britain evacuates Philadelphia to concentrate in NY City – Washington remained in NY  Summer 1780 – Comte de Rochambeau (French) arrived in Rhode Island – Americans still a little suspicious

Traitor  1780 – Benedict Arnold turned traitor – Plotted to sell out West Point for $ & officer’s commission – Plot detected

In the South  British decided to start in the South & move up – Took Georgia (’78-79) & Charleston (’80)  Americans Victorious – Cowpen’s –1/17/1780 – King’s Mountain –  Nathanael Greene (A) & Charles Cornwallis (B) – Greene “Fighting Quaker” cleared British out of Georgia & SC

Elsewhere  Land Frontier  Indians – Paid by King George III to scalp colonists – George Rogers Clark successful in attacks against Britain  Sea Frontier  John Paul Jones – Commanded American navy – Destroyed British merchant shipping  Privateers – very successful

Yorktown  Cornwallis waited at Yorktown for supplies – Washington & Rochambeau arrived by land – Admiral de Grasse arrived by sea  Oct. 19, Cornwallis is forced to surrender  Technically, the war is over – George III continues for more than 1 year – British citizens are ready for war to end

 Peace leaders – Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay  Instructed: make no peace & consult with France  France wanted a weak America (easier to manage)  John Jay becomes suspicious of France & makes a deal with Britain

Treaty of Paris of 1783  Britain recognized independence of US  Increased landholdings: – West- Mississippi – North – Great Lakes – South – Spanish Florida  Share fisheries in Newfoundland  Loyalists were not to be persecuted & land restored – Not followed  Debts owed to British creditors be paid – Not followed