1. Chapter 5 The American Revolution:
From Elite Protest to Popular Revolt, –1783

2. Structure of Colonial Society
1760s an optimistic post-war period
Striking ethnic and racial diversity
60% of population under twenty-one years old
Relatively high per capita GDP 2

3. Structure of Colonial Society
Wealth unevenly distributed
South has richest individuals but also 90% of non-free colonial population
Middle colonies
New England lagged behind because of lack of export products 2

4. No Taxation Without Representation: The American Perspective
Colonists tried to reserve internal colonial authority for their own legislatures
Colonists assumed their legislatures equal in some ways to Parliament
Americans not represented at all in Parliament 4

5. No Taxation Without Representation: The American Perspective
British officials espoused “virtual representation”
Colonists insisted only colonial assemblies should represent Americans 4

6. Ideas About Power and Virtue
John Locke and “Commonwealthmen" shaped colonial political thought
Rebellion against arbitrary government justified
Power must be countered by virtue
Bad government reflects sin and corruption
Colonists saw British officials as sinful and corrupt
Newspapers ensured wide dissemination of political confrontations 5

7. Eroding the Bonds of Empire
Large debt and army left in America from Seven Years’ War
Colonists doubted the army’s value
Pontiac’s War
Exposed the British army’s weakness
Revealed the desperate situation of Native Americans after withdrawal of French
Frontier racism: Paxton Boys 6

8. Colonial Products and Trade

9. Paying Off the National Debt
Prime Minister George Grenville attempted to reduce England’s war debt
Revenue Act of 1764 (the Sugar Act)
Merchants and gentry protested; most colonists ignored the act

10. Popular Protest
1765—Stamp Act required colonists to purchase stamps to validate documents
Patrick Henry and the Virginia Resolves united the gentry and the mass of the population in protest
Stamp Act Congress petitioned the king and Parliament for repeal
Sons of Liberty protests included riots, mob violence, and boycotts 7

11. Popular Protest

12. Failed Attempts to Save the Empire
1766—Rockingham’s ministry favored repeal of Stamp Act
Repeal tied to Declaratory Act of 1766
Parliament sovereign over America “in all cases whatsoever”
Controversy estranged colonists from English officials 8

13. Fueling the Crisis: The Townshend Duties
Charles Townshend: chancellor of the exchequer
1767—Townshend Duties taxed American imports of paper, lead, glass, and tea
American Board of Customs Commissioners created to collect duties 9

14. Fueling the Crisis: Response to the Townshend Duties
Sons of Liberty organized boycott of English goods
Circular letter from Massachusetts House of Representatives urged protest
Ninety-two Massachusetts representatives defied government order to rescind letter 10

15. Fatal Show of Force English government moved 4,000 troops to Boston
Troops clashed with Boston’s population
March 5, 1770—English soldiers fired on civilian crowd, killed five Americans
Incident labeled the “Boston Massacre”
Victims seen as martyrs
Paul Revere engraving a best seller
Townsend Duties repealed 1770, except tea 11

16. Fatal Show of Force

17. The Final Provocation: The Boston Tea Party
1773—Parliament passed Tea Act
Designed to help the East India Company by making the sale of its tea cheaper in America
Americans interpreted this as a subtle ploy to get them to consume taxed tea
December 1773—Boston protestors dumped the tea into the harbor 13

18. The Final Provocation: The Boston Tea Party

19. The Final Provocation: The Coercive Acts
Port of Boston closed until tea paid for
Massachusetts government restructured
Upper house made appointive body
Town meetings permitted only once a year
Accused officials to be tried in England, not America
Army authorized to quarter troops wherever needed 14

22. Steps Toward Independence
September 1774—First Continental Congress in response to Coercive Acts
Congress commended “Suffolk Resolves” urging forcible resistance
Intercolonial “Association” halted commerce with Britain until Coercive Acts repealed 17

23. Shots Heard Around the World
April 19, 1775—skirmish breaks out in Lexington, Massachusetts
Fighting spreads along road between Lexington, Concord, and Boston
English retreat to Boston with heavy losses
June 17, 1775—colonists inflict heavy losses on British in Battle of Bunker Hill 18

24. Beginning “The World Over Again”: Early War Effort
British colonial governments collapsed
Second Continental Congress—action and inaction
June 1775—Congress appointed George Washington commander-in-chief
Congress issued paper money to pay war debts
Debated whether to declare independence 19

25. Beginning “The World Over Again”: Early War Effort
British actions that made compromise unlikely:
December 1775 Prohibitory Act—British blockaded colonists’ trade
German mercenaries hired to put down rebellion
Virginia Governor Dunmore urged slaves to take up arms against their masters 19

26. Beginning “The World Over Again”: Decision for Independence
January 1776—Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
Convinced ordinary colonists to sever ties with Britain
Europe, not England, “is the parent country of America” 20

27. Beginning “The World Over Again”: Decision for Independence

28. Beginning “The World Over Again”: Decision for Independence
Jefferson wrote Declaration of Independence
Acceptance
July 2, 1776—Independence voted by Congress
July 4—Declaration of Independence issued 20

29. Beginning “The World Over Again”: Decision for Independence

30. Fighting for Independence
British confident of victory
Larger population, more resources
Naval supremacy
Britain’s tasks:
Supply troops an ocean away in hostile territory
Crush the popular spirit of independence
British underestimated Americans’ commitment to their political ideology 21

31. The American Revolution, 1775–1781

32. Building a Professional Army
Washington rejected guerrilla warfare strategy
Continental army to be a fighting force and symbol of the republican cause
Militia’s role: compel support for Revolution

33. Building a Professional Army
African Americans in the Revolution
New England militias attracted slaves with promises of emancipation
Southern slaves more likely to side with British

34. Testing the American Will
General Howe replaced General Gage for British
Summer 1776—fighting shifted to New York
American army routed on Long Island
New York City captured
Washington forced to retreat through New Jersey
British thought rebels would soon capitulate 22

35. Victory in a Year of Defeat
British strategy
Cut off New England from other colonies
Lure Continental army into decisive battle
The plan for cutting off New England
Burgoyne’s army moved in from Canada
Howe’s army moved up from New York
They met in Albany 24

36. Victory in a Year of Defeat
Burgoyne defeated at Saratoga
Howe took Philadelphia instead
Washington’s army wintered at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 24

37. The Final Campaign
British believed Loyalists stronger in southern colonies, so fighting shifted there
Spring 1780—English captured Savannah and Charleston
August 1780—American army routed at Camden, South Carolina
Continental army rallied under Nathaniel Greene 26

38. The Final Campaign 1781—Cornwallis moved British into Virginia
October 19, 1781—Cornwallis surrendered to Washington’s combined French and American forces 26

39. The Loyalist Dilemma
More than 100,000 Loyalists left U.S. at war’s end
Loyalists shared basic ideology with Patriots
Loyalists saw rebellion as endangering “life, liberty, and property”
Loyalists treated poorly by both sides
British never fully trusted Loyalists
Patriots seized property; imprison, execute some Loyalists 27

40. Winning the Peace Peace Treaty of 1783 U.S. independence recognized
U.S. gets all territory east of Mississippi River, between Canada and Florida
U.S. secures fishing rights in North Atlantic
U.S. will help British merchants and Loyalists collect debts 28