Michael Chiu

AP US History
Period 2
10/1/09

Outline of Chapter 5: The American Revolution

-Two conflicts occurred simultaneously during the Revolutionary War: the military
conflict with Britain and the political struggle within America
-Military conflict was relatively modest
-Americans wondered if they should demand independence from Britain and how to
structure the new nation they had created – first one answered at British surrender at
Yorktown in 1781
-Thomas Paine reflected the opinion of many people
The States United – Defining American War Aims
-Second Continental Congress met after Lexington and Concord – all colonies except
Georgia – all agreed on war, but some disagreed on the purpose
-Some favored complete independence from Britain, such as the Adams cousins
-Another side favored modest reforms in the relationship that would allow reconciliation
with Britain – led by people such as John Dickinson of Pennsylvania
-Most tried to find middle ground between two ideas; adopted two different declarations:
the first being the “Olive Branch Petition”, which was a last, conciliatory appeal to the
king; the second was “Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms” –
said that the Americans could either have “unconditional submission to the tyranny of
irritated ministers or resistance by force.”
-the “Prohibitory Act” blockaded American ports to all overseas trade
-Thomas Paine had great success as a revolutionary propagandist in Common Sense, an
impassioned pamphlet that fired up many Americans – changed outlook on the war
The Decision for Independence
-Continental congress moved slowly toward final break with England; it declared
American ports open to the ships of all nations except Britain; it recommended to the
colonies that they establish new governments independent of the British Empire
-Drafted a formal declaration of independence on July 2, 1776-wrote mostly by Virginia
delegate Thomas Jefferson with help from Benjamin Franklin and John Adams – had two
parts; John Locke’s contract theory and crimes of the king –“all men are created equal”
Responses to Independence
-Loyalists were still held loyalty to the king-were called Tories by supporters of war
-Colonies began to call themselves states after the Declaration of Independence – each
was considered a separate and sovereign entity
-In 1777, Articles of Confederation were adopted-weak policies
Mobilizing for War
-The Continental Congress began to print paper currency because there was a shortage of
money for the war – resulted in inflation; prices rose and value of paper money fell
-The American government had to borrow heavily from other nations to finance war
-Congress created a Continental Army; chose George Washington as commander in chief
-George Washington kept faithfully at his task, despite many difficulties
-He received help from foreign military experts such as Marquis de Lafayette and Baron
von Steuben - Washington provided stability for the army to rally around
The War for Independence
-American advantages: fighting on own ground, while English were far from own land;
they were more deeply committed to the conflict than British; they had more aid from
foreign countries
-The war proceeded in three different phases
The First Phase: New England
-After Lexington and Concord, American forces attacked General Thomas Gage’s army
in Boston – suffered large casualties in the Battle of Bunker Hill (on Breed’s Hill) and
were ultimately driven from there, however British had heavier losses than them
-British realized Massachusetts was a bad place to fight so left there and went to Halifax,
Nova Scotia with hundreds of Loyalist refugees – colonists had temporarily got them out
-The Americans invaded Canada to try to remove British threat and persuade the
Canadians to their cause – led by Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery, who died –
British victory
The Second Phase: The Mid-Atlantic Region
-British troops led by General Howe – captures New York
-On Christmas night in 1776, Washington crossed the icy Delaware River and surprised
and scattered the Hessians, and occupied the town but unable to hold
-the British strategy was to cut the U.S. in two – Howe would move north from New
York City up the Hudson, while another force would go south from Canada to meet him
-This other force was led by John Burgoyne – planned a two-pronged attack
-Howe decided to abandon the plan and launched an assault on the rebel capital
Philadelphia-hoped to discourage Patriots and rally the Loyalists-had little resistance
-Washington brought his troops into Valley Forge-Congress reassembled in Pennsylvania
-On October 17, 1777, Burgoyne surrendered to Horatio Gates at Saratoga-major turning
point of the war-led directly to an alliance between the United States and France
-Britain’s inability to win the war during this time was largely due to their own mistakes
– a lot due to William Howe, who abandoned his own strategy-leaving Burgoyne alone
The Iroquois and the British
-There were many divisions forming in the Iroquois confederacy; only three of the six
nations supported the British
Securing Aid from Abroad
-“Militia diplomats” were people who went to the capitals of Europe to negotiate
commercial treaties with the governments there – had to make crucial decisions on their
own
-Most promising ally to the U.S. was France; King Louis XVI and his foreign minister,
the Count de Vergennes, were eager to see Britain lose part of its empire
-French began to send the U.S. supplies and eventually recognized them as a foreign
nation after the American success at the Battle of Saratoga
-France’s intervention made the war an international conflict – aid was invaluable
The Final Phase: The South
-British strategy was to enlist loyalists in the United States to undermine the colonies
-This strategy failed miserably – British underestimated number of patriots – context
under which the important military encounters of the last years of the war occurred
-British had some successes but were constantly harassed by Patriot guerrillas such as
Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens and Francis Marion
-Lord Cornwallis, the British commander in the South, crushed a Patriot force under
Horatio Gates; Gates was replaced by Nathanael Greene – very good general
-Clinton, British commander, ordered Lord Cornwallis to take up a position on the
peninsula between the York and James Rivers and wait for ships to carry his troops to
New York or Charleston
-George Washington with Count Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau, commander of the
French force in America, set out to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown – caught Cornwallis
between land and sea – surrendered on October 17, 1781 – fighting now over
Winning the Peace
-the Americans and Britain reached a final agreement, the Treaty of Paris on September
3, 1783 – favorable to the U.S. – recognition of independence and territory
War and Society
-Historians have debated about whether the American Revolution was a social and
political revolution
Loyalists and Minorities
-Many loyalists fled the country – harassed by Patriots-some moved to England
-the Anglicans suffered because many members were loyalists – Catholicism benefited
The War and Slavery
-For most African Americans, the Revolution increased their exposure to concept of
liberty – some engaged in open resistance to white control
-Many whites thought that enslaving Africans, whom they considered inferior, would
ensure liberty for white people – feared impact of blacks living alongside whites
Native Americans and the Revolution
-Most Indians tried to stay out of the war – Revolution generally weakened their position
-Patriot victory increased demand for western lands and white attitudes toward the tribes
took a turn for the worst – resented assistance to British and wanted to conquer them
-Revolution increased deep division among the tribes
Women’s Rights and Women’s Roles
-Some women fought alongside men in the war – most soldiers didn’t want them there
-Molly Pitcher carried water to soldiers on the battlefield; Judith Sargent Murray wrote
that women deserved an education
-Many, such as Ben Franklin and Benjamin Rush supported education for women
-Married women had virtually no rights
-Revolution ultimately strengthened the patriarchal structure of American society
The War Economy
-When English imports to America were cut off, there were desperate efforts throughout
te states to stimulate domestic manufacturing of certain necessities Ex. Clothes
The Creation of State Governments
-The Americans agreed that their new governments should be republican, which to them
meant a political system in which all power came from the people, rather than an
authority
-In reality, the U.S., had always been unequal to certain minorities such as blacks
The First State Constitutions
-Americans believed that the constitutions should be written down and that the power of
the executive should be limited
Revising State Governments
-the Constitution of Massachusetts, ratified in 1780, strengthened the executive –
governor one of the strongest in any state
Toleration and Slavery
-the new states moved toward the direction of complete religious freedom
-In 1786, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Statute of Religious Liberty, completely separating
church and state
-In places where slavery was weak, such as New England, it was abolished; however,
survived in all the border and southern states
The Search for a National Government
-many Americans thought that a central government should be relatively weak
The Confederation
-The Articles of Confederation provided for a national government, which was the
Continental Congress; gave it power to conduct wars and foreign relations and to
appropriate, borrow, and issue money – did not have the power to tax
-The Confederation lacked adequate powers to deal with interstate issues or to enforce its
will on the states
Diplomatic Failures
-British forces continued to occupy a string of posts along the Great Lakes even though
the treaty made them evacuate American territory
-Diplomats agreed to a treaty with Spain where Spain accepted the American
interpretation of the Florida boundary – in return Americans accepted limits on the right
of U.S. vessels to navigate the Mississippi for twenty years; Southern states blocked
ratification, weakening the government’s standing in world diplomacy
The Confederation and the Northwest
-The ordinance of 1784 divided the western territory into ten self-governing parts, each of
which could petition Congress for statehood when population equaled smallest state
-the Ordinance of 1785 was a system for surveying and selling western lands
-This established a pattern of dividing up land for human use – most common was the
grid – the division of land into carefully measured and evenly divided squares
-the “North Ordinance” was where the ten districts established in 1784 were abandoned
and a single Northwest Territory was established
Indians and the Western Lands
-Indian tensions rose because many lands were sold that were Indian territory
-Violence reached a high when a group of tribes led by Miami warrior Little Turtle
defeated the U.S. forces in two major battles-the second where 630 whites died in
fighting at the Wabash River – Indians refused to negotiate because of the Miami’s
insistence that no treaty was possible unless it was forbade settlement west of Ohio R.
-General Anthony Wayne defeated the Indians in the Battle of Fallen Timbers
-the Miami signed treaty of Greenville, ceding new lands to the U.S.
Debts, Taxes, and Daniel Shays
-The postwar depression caused an inadequate money supply-congress no power to tax
-A large group of people sought ways to increase the powers of the central government
and to meet its financial obligations – included Robert Morris, the head of the
Confederation’s treasury, Alex Hamilton, and James Madison of Virginia – called for a
“continental impost – a 5% duty on imported goods to be levied by Congress and used to
fund the debt
-Many Americans feared that the plan would give too much financial power to Morris
and his allies in Philadelphia
-Impost was not approved by Congress
-The states also had war debts and generally relied on increased taxation to pay them –
poor farmers considered such policies unfair
-Many mobs of distressed farmers rioted periodically in New England
-In the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts, many rallied behind Daniel Shays, who
issued a set of demands that included paper money, tax relief, halt on debts, the relocation
of the state capital from Boston to the interior, and the abolition of imprisonment for debt
-His rebellion was eventually suppressed–highlighted need for a new national constitution