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John Li Chapter 8
Congress Drafts George Washington
 Second Continental Congress (May 10th, 1775)
o Selected George Washington the lead the American army
 Had never been promoted above the rank of colonel in the Virginia militia
 Largest force he commanded was 1,200 men
 Bestowed with leadership and strength of character
 A symbol and rallying point
 He kept an expense account that was 100,000

Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings

 In the first year of the war, the colonists maintained loyalty to the king while gunning down British soldiers
 Green Mountain Boys
o Led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold
o The force captured the British forts of Crown Point and Ticonderoga
 They sent the massive supply of gunpowder and artillery back to Boston, where it was
used to lay siege to the British soldiers
 Bunker Hill
o It was also known as Breed’s Hill
o The redcoats decided to charge directly at the Americans instead of a flanking attack
o 1500 Americans continued to kill rows of redcoats, but eventually ran out of powder
 The Olive Branch Petition
o July 1775
o Tried to state the American loyalty to Britain, but also wanted the King to stop the hostile actions
and taxing
o King George III saw the American colonies in full rebellion, and he would send thousands of
additional soldiers to crush the rebellion
 He sent Hessians, who fought for the money and reward
 Many Hessians deserted and became respected citizens

The Abortive Conquest of Canada

 In October 1775 the British burned Portland, Maine
 The Americans responded by launched double attacks into Canada
o It didn’t have as much support as expected because the Americans claimed they were fighting
defensively, but the invasion of Canada was an offensive campaign
o The French Canadians were treated well by the British, so many fought against the colonists
o The invasion nearly succeeded
 General Richard Montgomery, who served in the British Army, captured Montreal and was joined by
Benedict Arnold, whose men were starving after a march through Maine
 The attack on Quebec (Dec 31, 1775) failed, and the men scattered up the St. Lawrence River
 Norfolk was burned in Jan 1776
 The British evacuated Boston in March of that year
o Evacuation Day is a holiday in Boston
 In 1776 the colonists had to major victories in the South that slowed the British Army’s advance
o Moore’s Creek Bridge in NC
o Naval Battle in Charleston Harbor held off the British landing fleet
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Thomas Paine Preaches Common Sense

 Common Sense- 1776
 He stated that the republican government was much better than a monarchy because it represented the
people, and a monarchy was full of corruption that couldn’t be stopped
 In a few months, 120,000 copies were sold

Paine and the idea of “Republicanism”

 He argued that all government officials like governors, senators, and judges, not just representatives, should
be voted by popular consent.
 Civic Virtue- individuals in the republic had to sacrifice personal goals for the good of the public good. The
collective good of “the people” was more important than the private rights of individuals.
o Inspired people to view America as a good place to test and enforce civic virtue
 Wasn’t the first person with the idea of a republic
o Greece and Rome
o Appealed to British politicians who thought that the king had too much power
o Many colonists appealed to Paine’s ideas
o In New England, this form of government had been used for a long time
 Some Patriots instead wanted a “natural aristocracy”
o It was an aristocracy which comes out of work and competition rather than birth, education, or
special privilege

Jefferson’s “Explanation” of Independence

 Members of the 2nd Continental Congress slowly wanted to break away from Britain
o Richard Henry Lee of Virginia led the freedom movement in the meeting
 “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states”
o Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence
o Declaration of Independence was approving don July 4th, 1776
 Global Impact
o Lafayette hung a copy in his home, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man was
influenced by the DOI

Patriots and Loyalists

 American colonists took both sides in the war
o Loyalists- fought and supported the king
o Patriots- fought against the king and for independence
o Loyalists called Tories in Britain, Patriots were called Whigs
 The British could only control areas where there were many loyalists
 The Loyalist
o Many were conservative
 Some families split over the issue
o Many were in the South, where the Anglican Church had power
o Less common in the North, where Presbyterianism and Congregationalism dominated the
landscape
 The Patriot
o Younger, many were born in the colonies, not Europe
o They were loyal to nearly any church except for the Church of England
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o Annoyed British formations and often protested British occupation

o Patrick Henry- famous Virginian Patriot
 “Give me liberty or give me death!’’
 Others
o Some people didn’t very care
 Many people were more about profit than any cause
 Merchants during the war would sell much-needed supplies to the highest bidder,
drawing in massive profits

The Loyalist Exodus

 Very divided after DOI
 Patriots would capture Loyalist properties and resell them for a profit
 Many Loyalists were captured and sent to prison, where they would be interrogated, badly treated, and
occasionally hanged
 Around 80,000 Loyalists were forced to flee their homes, but hundreds of thousands could remain after
hostilities ended in 1783
 50,000 Loyalists volunteers helped the British during the Revolutionary War
o Fought in combat, spied, gathered Indian allies, etc.
o Many Loyalist were committed to keeping the colonies under the rule of Britain, so the British
made a mistake by not using them more often and in important roles

General Washington at Bay

 After the evacuation of Boston in 1776, the base of operations for the British military became New York
o Many strategic advantages
 Good ports
 Located in an area with many loyalists
 George III sent a fleet of 500 ships with 35,000 men commanded by General William Howe to New York
in July 1776
 Washington had 18,000 poorly trained men defending the area
 The Battle of Long Island
o The Americans were defeated in a decisive victory for the British
o Outgeneraled and outmaneuvered, Washington and other officers lost control of American
formations
 Panic spread through the ranks, and men ran to the Hudson River so they could get on
boats and escape
 The Americans got lucky as a fog set in and limited the visibility, giving Washington and
his surviving men time to escape overnight
o There were questions over why Howe didn’t destroy the weakened and demoralized American
forces after the battle
 Howe had commanded the British Army at Bunker Hill and didn’t want another
onslaught if he went to Washington, so he was cautious and set up camp
 Crossing of the Delaware River and Princeton
o The Battle of Trenton
 He crossed on the night of Christmas Day
 The next morning, December 26, 1776, Washington led a surprise attack on the Hessian
garrison at Trenton
o A week after Trenton Washington crossed the Delaware again and defeated a British force at
Princeton
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Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion

 London officials set a plan forward for capturing the Hudson River Valley, which led to New York City
o If successful, it would split the colonies in two
 3 British forces set out, planning to meet at Albany
o The main British force moving down the Hudson River from Lake Champlain was commanded by
General John Burgoyne
o General Howe would push North from NYC
o Colonel Barry St. Leger would move in from the Mohawk Valley and Lake Ontario
 The flaw in the plan was that the commanders had not accounted for Benedict Arnold, who had regrouped
his army near Lake Champlain
 Initial Fall Campaign in 1776
o Burgoyne’s forces could not get past the American forces at Lake Champlain
 The Lake provided an area where the British could transport heavy equipment, such as
artillery
o Burgoyne’s forces decided to build a fleet, but at the same time Arnold took all the boats available
and attacked the British
 Arnold’s fleet was eventually destroyed
 However, he succeeded in holding off the British before winter
 It forced Burgoyne to return to Canada and wait until the spring to launch a new
campaign into New York
 1777 spring campaign
o Burgoyne’s army
 His forces numbered 7,000 men
 He also had a baggage train with many wives of the soldiers
 Axemen had to constant cut down trees so the force could move through the woods
 American forces slowly started to follow the British and assemble to attack
o Howe’s army
 Instead of heading up the Hudson River as planned, Howe decided to capture
Philadelphia
 The British defeated Washington twice, at Brandywine Creek and at Germantown
 Howe settled in Philadelphia, leaving Burgoyne out to dry
 St. Leger’s force had been stopped at Oriskany
o The Battle of Saratoga
 As Burgoyne’s forces neared Albany, the American force, led by Generals Horatio Gates
and Benedict Arnold, attacked
 Stuck in the woods and being attacked in many places by the Americans, Burgoyne
surrendered to Gates on October 17, 1777
 This battle was an important factor that led to a major French intervention into
the war, on the side of the Americans
o They provided supplies, military forces, and experienced battlefield
commanders

Revolution or Diplomacy
 France wanted revenge on Britain and wanted to increase hostilities between the colonies and Britain
 The colonies sent Benjamin Franklin to Paris in hopes of signing a treaty with them
 In the summer of 1776, the Model Treaty was written for the ambassadors going to France
o Wanted no political or military connection, only a commercial connection
o Ben Franklin dressed in homespun clothes and a simple fur cap, to represent a new America
 After the British defeat at Saratoga, the French were finally convinced to help the Americans
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o The British offered the Americans everything they wanted (home-rule) except for complete
independence
o France offered everything Britain offered, as well as complete independence
 The Americans took it but were cautious with the French at first because of their Pro-
Catholic policies

The Colonial War Becomes a Wider War

 Many countries joined the side of the Americans to fight against the British, which dominated the seas
o France in 1778
o Holland in 1779
o Spain in 1779
 The Spanish and French fleets combined were larger than Britain’s, and at certain times
in the war Britain seemed under threat from the combined fleet
o Catherine the Great organized the Armed Neutrality in 1780
 Alliance of many powerful European nations that declared a passive hostility toward
Britain
 France’s involvement
o Supplied the Americans with weapons, money, equipment, ships, and soldiers
o Its powerful navy threatened a blockade of North America, preventing British supplies from
reaching its soldiers
 The British evacuated Philadelphia and massed their forces at New York
 On the way, Washington attacked at Monmouth, NJ
o Many men died from heat stroke
o Indecisive battle, although 1/3 of the surviving Hessians deserted

Blow and Counterblow

 In 1780 six thousand French troops under the command of General Comte de Rochambeau landed in
Newport, Rhode Island
o Occasional minor fights occurred between the Americans and French
 Benedict Arnold’s betrayal
o He was unhappy and felt that he wasn’t being appreciated by Washington and his commanding
officers
 The British offered him 6,300 pounds and an officer's commission to sell West Point and
join the British army
 On the night of the exchange, his spies were luckily caught by American troops,
but he escaped
 British campaign in the South
o A British army was sent to the south, commanded by General Cornwallis
o Georgia was taken over in1778-1779
o Charleston fell in 1780
 The Americans lost a large part of their army
 5,000 men, 400 artillery pieces
o There were many loyalists in the south, and many took up arms against the British
o In 1781 the Americans led by General Nathaniel Greene scored 2 major victories
 King’s Mountain- a British formation was wiped out
 Cowpens- smaller British force was beaten
 Greene employed the shoot and scoot strategy, forcing Cornwallis to tire his men out by
chasing Greene’s troops
 Greene was known as the “Fighting Quaker”
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o Eventually, Greene took back most of South Carolina and Georgia from the British

The Land Frontier and the Sea Frontier

 1777- “The Bloody Year”
 Indians supported the British
o They didn’t want the Americans to have the freedom to push west, and eventually into their land
o Joseph Brant, the chief of the Mohawks, converted into Anglicanism (Church of England)
 Brant, his Indian allies, and the British swept through the Pennsylvania and New York backcountry until
American soldiers defeated them in 1779
o The Treaty of Fort Stanwix
 First treaty between the US and Indian nations
 The Indians were forced to give up most of their land
 Western Expansion
o Even during the war many colonists continued to move west
 Many places were named after important people or places during the war
 Lexington- first battle
 Louisville- French ally Louis 16th
 Western Front of the Revolutionary War
o British forts and forces in modern-day Illinois were extremely vulnerable, and the outposts
captured from the French were not sufficiently reinforced defensively
o George Rogers Clark, a frontiersman, decided to attack the forts, but by surprise
 He led 175 men onto boats, where they floated down the Ohio river, attacking forts on the
way
 The forts of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes were captured quickly
 The captured territory influenced the British into giving the Ohio River to the
US at the Treaty of Paris
 The creation of the US Navy
o The navy consisted of many small boats, where they utilized hit and run tactics
 Led by John Paul Jones
 They didn’t do much damage to the main British battle fleet, but decimated merchant
shipping, and forced the British into bringing ships back near the British Isles to defend
home territory
o Privateers
 Legalized pirates
 Congress authorized them to attack British shipping
 Win-win
o British troops lost supplies- good for war effort
o The Privateers took any loot- profit
 Many ships were captured, and the British resorted to convoy tactics to ward off the navy
and privateers

Yorktown and the Final Curtain

 1780-1781 were terrible years for the revolution
o Inflation skyrocketed
 Government would only pay debts at 2.5 cents on the dollar
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o Unity slowly disintegrated

 The Battle of Yorktown
o Cornwallis was trapping himself
 After several failed operations in Virginia, he retreated to Yorktown, near the Chesapeake
Bay, and waited for supplies to arrive
 The British supplies couldn’t get through because of a blockade of French ships
led by Admiral de Grasse blockaded the entrance to the bay
 George Washington and Rochambeau led their armies down from New York to
Yorktown, where they bottled up the British army in the town
 Washington blocked the British on land, and de Grasse blocked them off by sea
o Cornwallis surrendered his entire army of 7,000 men on October 19, 1781
 The band played “The World Turn’d Upside Down”
 Lord North thought that the war was over after Yorktown, but George III wanted to continue
o He still had 54,000 men in North America, 32,000 in the US
o Fighting continued for a year, but mostly in the south

Peace at Paris

 Many Britons did not want to continue toe war

o Heavy losses in the West Indies and India
o Minorca in the Mediterranean fell
o Gibraltar was barely hanging on
 3 American representatives went to Paris to negotiate peace talks
o John Adams, John Jay, and Ben Franklin
 John Jay thought France would betray America in support of Spain, and prevent America
from expanding over the Allegheny region
 He made secret negotiations with the British, who quickly accepted their terms
 Draft of the Treaty was signed in 1782
o The Treaty of Paris (1783)
 British recognized American independence
 Gave large amounts of land to the US
 Borders were Mississippi River to the West, Great Lakes to the North, and
Spanish Florida in the south
 The Americans kept some share in the fisheries in Newfoundland
 Americans could not persecute Loyalists for their role in the war
 Congress could recommend legislature that would give back or pay for the land
taken away from them

A New Nation Legitimized

 Britain gave away a lot of territories to get America to leave the French alliance
o George Rogers Clark had only captured a small piece of land near the Ohio River
 Whigs were friendlier to the Americans that the Tories
o Policy of liberality
 Heal the wounds from war
 Reopen trade routes and channels
 Prevent wars over the Appalachian region
 The Paris Foreign Office approved the Treaty of Paris, so it wasn’t a separate agreement with the British
o They were happy to end the conflict because they had so many unachieved promises that were
given to the Spanish crown
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