Chapter 7 - The American Revolution, 1776-1786

Out of Many

A History of the American People Seventh Edition Brief Sixth Edition

Chapter

7

The American Revolution 1776-1786

Out of Many: A History of the American People, Brief Sixth Edition John Mack Faragher • Mari Jo Buhle • Daniel Czitrom • Susan H. Armitage

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The American Revolution 1776-1786 • • • •

The War for Independence The United States in Congress Assembled Revolutionary Politics in the States Conclusion

Chapter Focus Questions • What were the major alignments and divisions among Americans during the American Revolution? • What were the major campaigns of the Revolution? • What role did the Articles of Confederation and the Confederation Congress play in the Revolution?

Chapter Focus Questions • In what ways were the states the sites for significant political change?

North America and Valley Forge

A National Community Evolves at Valley Forge • Approximately 11,000 men and 700 women gathered in Valley Forge. • Men and women at Valley Forge created a common identity and strong bonds among themselves. • Leaving Valley Forge five months later, Washington commanded a much stronger and united army.

The War for Independence

American soldiers during the Revolution

The War for Independence • With vastly greater resources, the British underestimated the American capacity to fight. • The British falsely assumed the colonial rebellion was the work of a small group of disgruntled conspirators. • Resistance was widespread and geography stymied British strategy.

The Patriot Forces • The militia was important in the defense of their homes but fought poorly in major battles. • Final victories resulted from consistent struggles of the Continental Army. • Colonial social gradations in the army, with a wide chasm between officers and enlisted men.

The Patriot Forces (cont'd) • Continentals and militias pressured Congress when shortages of food and pay erupted. • The shared experience developed national community.

The Toll of War • Regiments of the Continental Army suffered casualty rates as high as 40 percent. • More than 25,000 Americans died in the war. • The South suffered more civilian casualties than New England or the midAtlantic states.

Patriot mob torments Loyalists

The Loyalists • Between a fifth and a third of the colonial population remained loyal to the Crown  including African Americans, Indians, ethnic minorities, tenant farmers, British colonial officials, and Anglican clergy.

• Patriots cracked down on Loyalists. • As many as 50,000 fought for the king and 80,000 fled the country after the Revolution, many reluctantly.

The Loyalists (cont'd) • The most infamous British supporter was Benedict Arnold whose name is synonymous with treason.

Women and the War • Women remained at home and ran the family farms and businesses. • Many women joined their men in the military camps. • On rare occasions, women played roles on the battlefields. • While Mercy Otis Warren’s essays brought her fame, other women became folk heroes.

Portrait of Mercy Otis Warren

MAP 7.1 Campaign for New York and New Jersey, 1775–77

The Campaign for New York and New Jersey • The British plan: cut off New England from the rest of the colonies by:  Marching north from New York; and marching south from Canada.

• Washington driven out of New York City and pursued into New Jersey.

The Campaign for New York and New Jersey (cont'd) • After victories at Trenton, and Princeton, he adopted a defensive strategy of avoiding confrontation to insure survival of the Continental Army.

MAP 7.2 Northern Campaigns, 1777–78

The Northern Campaigns of 1777 • In 1777, the British tried to achieve the goal of cutting new England off from the rest of the colonies. • General Burgoyne’s large army was surrounded at Saratoga and surrendered. • Washington lost Philadelphia and was forced to retreat into Valley Forge. • Congress fled Philadelphia but continued to function.

The Northern Campaigns of 1777 (cont'd) • After two years of war, Britain had not been successful in suppressing the rebellion.

A Global Conflict • During the first two years of conflict, French and Spanish loans helped finance the American cause. • The victory at Saratoga led to an alliance with France and later with the Dutch. In 1779 Spain joined the war, though without a formal American alliance. • Both France and Spain worried about American expansion.

A Global Conflict (cont.) • The French entry into the conflict forced the British to withdraw troops from the mainland to protect their Caribbean colonies. • While France provided men and resources, Spain waged campaigns on the Gulf Coast and in the Mississippi Valley.

A Global Conflict (cont.) (cont'd) • The war at sea was mainly fought between British and French vessels, but Continental ships raided the British merchant shipping.

Joseph Brant, the brilliant chief of the Mohawks

MAP 7.3 Fighting in the West, 1778–79

Indian Peoples and the Revolution in the West • Although many Indians preferred a policy of neutrality, their fears of American expansion led many to side with Britain including the Iroquois and Ohio Indians. • Thousands of frontier civilians died at native hands. • American forces launched punitive campaigns against the Iroquois and Cherokee.

Indian Peoples and the Revolution in the West (cont'd) • George Rogers Clark’s victory at Vincennes challenged British control of the West.

MAP 7.4 Fighting in the South, 1778–81

The War in the South • By the late 1770s, the British had shifted their focus to the South, capturing Savannah and Charleston. • Violence between Loyalists and Patriots created unrest. • Patriot militias won battles at Kings Mountain and Cowpens.

The War in the South (cont'd) • General Greene harassed British forces, persuading Cornwallis to march towards the Chesapeake seeking reinforcements.

The Yorktown Surrender • In 1781, Washington led 16,000 French and American troops to southern Virginia. • The French navy trapped Cornwallis at Yorktown. • After weeks of siege, the British surrendered on October 19, 1781. • Word of the defeat put pressure on George III, who reluctantly opened peace negotiations.

Famous moment during the Battle of Cowpens that took place in January 1781.

The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis

The United States in Congress Assembled

The Continental Congress printed currency to finance the Revolution

MAP 7.5 State Claims to Western Lands

The Articles of Confederation • The Articles of Confederation created a loose union of autonomous states. • Congress had limited central power, reserving powers such as taxation to the states. • Maryland held up ratification for three years until the eight states with western land claims ceded them to the national government.

Financing the War • Though benefiting from foreign subsidies, Congress and the states financed the revolution mainly by issuing paper currency that caused runaway inflation. • Secretary of Finance, Robert Morris, met interest payments on the debt, but did not persuade Congress to come up with an independent source of income.

Negotiating Independence • Peace negotiations began in 1782  Resulted separate treaties between Great Britain and the United States, France, Spain

• Spain regained Florida but France was left without reward.

Negotiating Independence (cont'd) • The United States gained:  independence;  the promise of the withdrawal of British troops;  land to the Mississippi River; and  fishing rights off the Canada coast.

The Crisis of Demobilization • Congress had neither paid the soldiers nor delivered the officers their promised postwar bounties or land warrants. • Several officers stationed at Newburgh contemplated action if Congress failed to act, but they were shamed into accepting civilian rule by George Washington, who resigned his commission.

The Crisis of Demobilization (cont'd) • Instead of military dictatorship, civilian control of the military was firmly established.

North America after the Treaty of Paris, 1783 • The map of European and American claims to North America was radically altered by the Revolution.

MAP 7.6 North America After the Treaty of Paris, 1783

The Problem of the West • Western land settlement raised new issues, including:  land losses for several Indian tribes.  tens of thousands of Americans rushing into the newly acquired Ohio River Valley.

American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain, 1783–1785

The Problem of the West (cont.) • Three land ordinances provided for organizing the land for settlement, selfgovernment and eventual statehood. • They also provided for orderly division of land into townships, regular land sales, and the abolition of slavery in the Northwest Territory.

The Problem of the West (cont.) • Despite its weaknesses, the Confederation proved capable of addressing problems in the national interest.

MAP 7.7 The Northwest Territory and the Land Survey System of the United States

• Page 167 insert Chart

The last page of the Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris on September 3, 1783

Revolutionary Politics in the States

the 1776 constitution of New Jersey

A New Democratic Ideology • Most states had greatly expanded the electorate, bringing rural and western farmers and urban artisans into government. • By eliminating Tories from politics, there was a shift to the left.

A New Democratic Ideology (cont'd) • Many Americans accepted a new democratic ideology that asserted that governments should directly reflect popular wishes.

The First State Constitutions • Democrats demanded government by the people. • Conservatives argued for balanced government, fearing majority tyranny could lead to a violation of property rights. • Fourteen states adopted constitutions between 1776 and 1780.

The First State Constitutions (cont'd) • The new state constitutions were shaped by the debates between radicals and conservatives.

The First State Constitutions (cont.) • Democrats had seized power in Pennsylvania in 1776 and drafted a constitution that placed all power in a unicameral assembly elected by all free male taxpayers. • Conservatives controlled Maryland and designed a constitution to keep rulers and citizens separate.

The First State Constitutions (cont.) • Other states drafted constitutions between these extremes.

Declaration of Rights • Virginia’s Declaration of Rights provided the model for other state guarantees of such rights as freedom of speech, assembly, and the press. • State bills of rights were important precedents of the United States Bill of Rights.

Declaration of Rights (cont'd) • Led by Thomas Jefferson, states abolished aristocratic inheritance customs and established religious freedom. • The Revolutionary generation proved better at raising questions than achieving reforms.

A Spirit of Reform • The 1776 New Jersey constitution enfranchised women, but most questions regarding women were related to the family. • The Revolution did more to raise women’s expectations than to change their status. • Led by Thomas Jefferson, states abolished aristocratic inheritance customs and established religious freedom.

A Spirit of Reform (cont'd) • More radical reforms failed, showing the limits of the Revolutionary impulse.

African Americans and the Revolution • Contradiction between a revolution for liberty and the continued support for slavery:  Northern states—abolish slavery; and Upper South relaxed bans on emancipation

• Few Southerners went further than Washington  He only freed slaves in his will

African Americans and the Revolution (cont'd) • A free African American community  Racially defined churches, schools and other institutions

• African American writers  Phyllis Wheatley

African American poet Phyllis Wheatley

Conclusion

The American Revolution, 1776–1786 • Independence was born out of conflict and violence. While a national political community began to emerge in the Revolutionary era, state and local community loyalties remained strong, pointing to future challenges.

Chronology