4.4

Assess why the British failed to win the war in the South. Describe how the British were finally defeated. List the terms of the peace treaty. Explain how the war and the peace treaty affected minority groups and women. Assess the impact of the American Revolution on other countries.

British Invade the South The War Ends The Revolution Impacts Society Revolutionary Ideas Spread

As the war continued the British expected Loyalist support in the South. The British missed their opportunity of supporting Loyalist militias, they just continued to wage conventional war. In the South the British won most of the battles and captured leading seaports. When they captured Charleston they also captured 5,000 Patriot troops.

As the British gained momentum in the South, Spanish forces under Bernardo de Galvez made key attacks on British forts in the Gulf Coast region. These attacks diverted the British attention and momentum in the South.

In the South Cornwallis did not control the countryside. The Patriots and loyalist militia would fight very cruel battles, until the Patriots end up crushing the loyalist militia and execute most of the prisoners. This causes farmers and citizens to start siding with the Patriots and taking up their cause.

This greatly frustrated Cornwallis, because the Continental Army of the South was small but led by two great commanders. Nathanael Greene and Daniel Morgan. They inflicted heavy losses on the British at the Battle of Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse in Cornwallis takes his army north to Virginia despairing of winning the Carolinas, however he doesn’t realize he is moving into a trap.

Initially it seemed very unlikely the Patriots would win the war. There were four factors that contributed to their success. First, the British made tactical mistakes because they initially underestimated the Patriots. Second, the British misunderstood the political nature of the conflict.

Third, the Patriots were highly motivated and benefited from George Washington’s shrewd leadership. Fourth, the Patriots received critical assistance from France.

During the late summer of 1781 Washington boldly and rapidly marched most of his troops south. He planned to trap Cornwallis’s army at Yorktown, Virginia. For his plan to succeed the French Fleet would have to arrive to block the British Fleet.

Luckily for Washington the French fleet appeared at just the right moment to block the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Given the lack of efficient long distance communication, this coordination was incredible. This trapped the British army on land and sea. Cornwallis surrendered his army of 8,000 at Yorktown on October 19.

The loss of 8,000 soldiers was a crushing blow to the British war effort. The British people were also tired of the taxes and the casualties. Under new administration the British met with an American Delegation including Benjamin Franklin, they negotiated a treaty and secured far more territory than the Patriots had won in the war.

The British left the Indians to fend for themselves and the colonist moved westward taking a great sum of land from the Indians. The loyalist were victims of mob violence and not allowed to return to their homes, most moved to Canada or the British West Indies.

Women gained few political or legal rights as a result of the war, but they won respect based on the new conception of women as “republican mother.” This allowed women to speak on their ability to raise virtuous children that intern become virtuous citizens. In 1776 Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her husband asking her to “remember the Ladies” in the new nations laws. Adams respected his wife but he dismissed her request.

The winning of the war brought up the point that slavery seemed inconsistent with the ideals of the Revolution. Patriots spoke of liberty and owned slaves, they viewed it as natural and understood a Patriot governor of New Jersey confessed that slavery was utterly inconsistent with the principles of Christianity and humanity.

Slaves began to demand freedom Some received it from their masters called manumission, while others were still trapped in bondage. The north decided to emancipate the slaves and make them free, however most slave owners sold their slaves to the South before they could gain their freedom.

After the American Revolution the idea of “all men created equal” spread in England, France, women, and slaves. Over the next three centuries the Patriots’ principles inspired revolutions around the world.