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Securing Independence, Defining Nationhood 1776-1788
Chapter 6 Securing Independence, Defining Nationhood
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Prospects of War Loyalists and British Sympathizers
About 20% of whites were opposed to the Revolution, they were called loyalists or Tories Greatest concentration of loyalists was in New York and New Jersey Recent immigrants tended to be loyalists Most Indian tribes joined the British Southern slaves escaped to join the British, Northern African Americans tended to side with Americans
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Opposing Sides British Advantages- British Disadvantages-
Population 11 mil to 2.5 mil Worlds largest Navy Worlds best Army British Disadvantages- Hessians Distance/Supplies Financing the war
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Opposing Sides American Disadvantages American Advantages
Little experience in battle Few Officers 1/3 of population were slaves or loyalists American Advantages Easier to mobilize population behind the war Did not have to conquer only to outlast Fighting at home
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George Washington Virginia tobacco farmer Member of House of Burgesses
Continental Congress Field experience in the French and Indian War
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War and Peace 1776-1783 Shifting Fortunes in the North 1776-1778
British evacuate Boston in March 1776 Move to New York where the greatly outnumber Washington Winter , Washington strikes back at Trenton and Princeton British pull back to New York and New Jersey America’s best hope for winning to draw the French into the conflict but Louis XVI is reluctant
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War and Peace General Horatio Gates defeated General Burgoyne and the British Army at Saratoga French are impressed and in Feb of 1778 declare war on Britain Spanish and Dutch also declare war on Britain Fall of 1777 Washington is defeated at Brandywine and Germantown in Pennsylvania Washington and Continental Army spends the winter of 1778 at Valley Forge June British are defeated and Monmouth near New York
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War in the West 1776-1782 Cherokees attack from Virginia to Georgia
Cherokees are eventually defeated by George Rogers Clark and John Bowman and forced to give up lands in North Carolina and Tennessee Daniel Brodhead defeats the Ohio Indians Joseph Brant leads the Iroquois against settlers in New York and Pennsylvania Defeated near Elmira New York and the Iroquois population is greatly reduced
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American Victory in the South 1778-1781
1778 British focus on the South 1780 Charles Town falls to the British General George Cornwallis leads the British into North Carolina Americans led by Nathaniel Greene inflict heavy casualties on Cornwallis and he decides to return to Virginia Washington surrounds Cornwallis at Yorktown and with the help of the French Navy, Cornwallis is forced to surrender, October 1781
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Peace at Last John Adams, John Jay and Benjamin Franklin represent America in the peace negotiations in Paris British agree to recognize American independence and remove British troops Mississippi River is western border Spain gets New Orleans and Florida Agreement to repay loyalists and British merchants for wartime losses, not paid As a result the British refuse to give up forts in the Northwest
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Revolution and Social Change
Egalitarianism among Whites “All men are created equal” Form of mutual respect among men Does not include women or slaves
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Revolution for Black Americans
1776 African American population was 20% of the colonies Northern states issue laws concerning the gradual emancipation of the slaves Southern states do not follow suit 5% of Virginia and Maryland slaves were eventually freed
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White Women in Wartime Women were dependent upon fathers and husbands
Women did actively participate in the Revolution
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Native Americans and the Revolution
Nearly 50% of the Indian population had been reduced Americans saw it as their right to move West to the Mississippi Many adopted white culture and assimilated
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Forging New Governments
From Colonies to States Whigs thought voting rights should be tied to land ownership No political parties Wanted to balance power to prevent absolute power Most colonies had property qualifications for voting By 1784 all state constitutions contained a Bill of Rights Early governors were stripped of power in favor of legislative power By 1781 this trend is reversed
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Formalizing a Confederation 1776-1781
1777 Continental Congress drafts the Articles of Confederation Articles are ratified in 1781 Unicameral congress Weak central government Each state had one vote No executive or national court system Only voluntary taxation No regulation of trade or commerce All states were sovereign
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Finance, Trade and the Economy 1781-1786
Confederation is too weak to put the countries finances on sound footing Congress could not pay off Revolutionary War debt Continental Currency was worthless Congress under Confederation was weak in front of British diplomacy Declining exports brought on economic depression
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The Confederation and the West 1785-1787
Indian tribes forced to sign treaties ceding their lands to settlers and speculators Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set up a pattern of surveying and distributing western lands as well as provided ways to become states Northwest Ordinance banned slavery in new territories
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Toward a New Constitution 1786-1788
Shay’s Rebellion Massachusetts Daniel Shays led a rebellion against the government of Mass because of unfair taxes against small farmers Americans began to fear they need stronger government to enforce laws and regulate trade Meeting in Annapolis Maryland 1786, called for a National meeting to amend the Articles of Confederation
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The Philadelphia Congress 1787
55 delegates meet in Philadelphia All states represented except Rhode Island Closed session, delegates agree to write a New Constitution Virginia Plan- James Madison New Jersey Plan- William Patterson Connecticut Compromise Constitution was finish in September of 1787 9 states would have to ratify to become law
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The Struggle Over Ratification 1787-1788
Federalists John Jay Alexander Hamilton James Madison Federalists papers Anti-Federalists Patrick Henry George Mason James Monroe Mercy Otis Warren George Clinton Bill of Rights North Carolina and Rhode Island ratify and join the Union
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