Chapter 07 - The American Revolution

 

·         The War For Independence

o   Introduction

§  At the start of the war Britain had the best-equipped and most disciplined army, along with a navy that was unopposed in American waters

§  Due to the native officer corps and considerable experience in colonial wars, the Patriot forces proved formidable

§  Initially the British thought they could regain political control by having one military victory

§  This strategy did not work due to the geography on eastern North America

§  Patriots had the advantage of fighting on their own land and the popular support for the American cause

o   The Patriot Forces

§  Forces include:

·         350,000 eligible men

·         Over 200,000 saw action

·         No more than 25,000 were engaged at one time

·         Over 100,000 served in the Continental Army under George Washington and the Continental Congress

·         The rest served in Patriot militia groups

§  Militias played a vital role in defending their own areas, but they alone did not win the Revolutionary War

·         This was due to lack of discipline, short terms of enlistment, and appalling rates of desertion

·         The victory of the war resulted from the constant struggle of the Continental Army

§   Washington and his officers wanted a force that could directly engage the British, but Congress initially refused to invoke a draft or mandate army enlistments lasting over one year

·         This was due to the fear of a standing army

§  After the militias failed in early battles of the war congress enlarged state quotas for the Continental Army and extended the enlistment term to three years

§  To spur enlistments Congress offered bounties, regular wages, and promises of free land after victory

§  Discipline was important in the Continental Army because men fired at close range, charged with bayonets ready, and engaged in hand-to-hand combat

§  At the end of the war 25,324 American men died

·         About 6,800 from wounds suffered in battle

·         About 8,000 from disease

·         The rest as POWs and MIA

§  The Continental Army and militias played a major political role by creating a powerful nationalist sentiment

§  Food and pay shortages resulted in multiple mutinies

§  Patriot gained control of most local governments during the period of committee organization in 1774 and 1775

§  As men left for war, women took up the management of family farms and businesses

§  Women also followed both armies; some were prostitutes, wives, cooks, launderers, and nurses

§  Women also dressed up as men and enlisted in militias or the Continental Army

o   The Loyalists

§  Some half a million to a million Americans, called Loyalist or Tories, remained loyal to the British crown

§  Loyalists were often newcomers to America, royal officeholders, people dependant on the British for a salary, or members of a minority

§  Patriots passed state treason acts that prohibited speaking out against the Revolution

§  Patriots punished Tories by using the “grand Tory ride” or by tarring and feathering

§  Benedict Arnold was a hero of early American battles, but in 1779 he became a paid informer to British General Henry Clinton

·         In 1780 the Patriots found him out and he fled to the British and helped them

§  The British strategy was to mobilize Loyalists and many Loyalists did

·         About 50,000 Loyalist fought for Britain during the war

§  During and after the war many Loyalist fled to England, the British West Indies, or Canada

o   The Campaign for New York and New Jersey

§  In the winter of 1775-76 the British developed the strategy of having Sir William Howe work his way up from New York and have another army head south from Canada

§  Washington anticipated this strategy and set up fortifications in Brooklyn

§  In July of 1776 The Battle of Long Island ended in disaster for the Patriots giving the British New York City

§  On September 6, 1776 Ben Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge engaged in peace talks with General Howe and Admiral Richard Howe

·         These talks ended when Admiral Howe asked for the repeal of the Declaration of Independence

§  The British invaded Manhattan and only an American stand at Harlem Heights prevented the destruction of a large part of the Patriot forces

§  The British then had some victories that pushed Washington back at White Plains and overran the American posts at Fort Washington and Fort Lee

§  By November the Americans were fleeing south across New Jersey

§  With morale low and many people deserting or announcing the end of their terms Washington and his officers feared the dissolution of the Continental Army and the war effort

§  On Christmas night 1776, Washington lead 2,400 troops back across the Delaware in a surprise counterattack defeating the Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey

§  The Americans also pushed the British back and inflicted heavy loses at Princeton

§  The victories had little strategic importance, but they allowed Washington to realize he needed to stick with a defensive strategy and avoid direct confrontation with the British

o   The Northern Campaigns of 1777

§  Fighting with American forces had stopped Howe from heading north and the British forces from Canada were stopped by American resistance at Lake Champlain

§  In 1777 the British retried the strategy sending 8,000 British and German troops under General John Burgoyne from Canada and Howe was to move his troops north

§  Fort Ticonderoga fell to Burgoyne on July 6, but he was bogged down by Patriot militia in the rough country south of Lake George

§  After several defeats by Patriot forces under General Horatio Gates, Burgoyne retreated to Saratoga

§  At Saratoga Burgoyne and his forces were surrounded by Patriot forces and on October 19, he surrendered his nearly 6,000 men

§  The British General Howe had many victories like:

·         September 11 at Brandywine Creek

·         September 21 at Paoli

·         September 26 at Philadelphia

·         October 4 at Germantown

§  The Continental Congress fled to the town of York while the British occupied Philadelphia

§  Washington and his forces settled in at Valley Forge for the winter after the various victories

§  Though the British won many victories during the two years of war their strategy for suppressing the Revolution was judged a failure

o   The French Alliance and the Spanish Borderlands

§  During the first two years of fighting Americans were sustained by loans from France and Spain

§  Ben Franklin was sent by Congress to Paris as a delegate for America and he was successful in negotiating recognition of American independence,  a Franco-American alliance, and multiple loans

§  In England Whig opposition argued against the war

o   Introduction

§  The Articles of Confederation was the first written government of the US

§  It created a weak government with almost no power

o   The Articles of Confederation

§  In the November of 1777, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Articles of Confederation

§  The Articles set up a national assembly called Congress in which each state had one vote and one representative who was chosen in a manner determined by the state legislatures and that representative could serve no more than three years out of six

§  A presiding president was picked by Congress every year and could only serve one year out of three

§  All issues would be decided by a simple majority, except for major issues which required 9 votes

§  Congress had authority in:

·         The conduct of foreign affairs

·         Matters of war and peace

·         Maintenance of the armed forces

§  Congress could:

·         Raise loans

·         Issue bills of credit

·         Establish coinage

·         Regulate trade with Indian nations

·         Be the final authority in jurisdictional debates between states

·         Establish a national postal system

·         Establish a weights and measures system

§  12 state legislatures voted for the Articles, but ratification was held up for 3 years by Maryland

·         Maryland demanded that 8 states with western claims cede the land to Congress “for the good of the whole”

·         The States refused to do that

·         In 1781 when Virginia, who had the most westward claims, promised to cede its land Maryland ratified the Articles

§  The Articles took effect in March of 1781

o   Financing the War

§  Congress borrows $9 million from allies

§  Prints $200 million in paper money

§  Asks the states to raise taxes to cover the debt

§  The states refuse to raise taxes and print altogether $200 million of state currency

§  Robert Morris becomes secretary of finance in May 1781 and persuades Congress to create a “Bank of North America” funded $30 million by Holland and France to deal with the crisis

o   Negotiating Independence

§  Peace talks between Britain and the US open in July 1782 when Ben Franklin sat down with the British emissary in Paris

§  Congress issued its first war aims in 1779 asking for:

·         The largest territorial limits, including Canada

·         Withdrawal of British troops

·         Recognition of American independence

·         American rights to fish in North Atlantic waters

§  In June 1781 due to French pressure Congress issued a new set of instructions: to settle for only the removal of British troops and the recognition of independence and for the peace commissioners to be subject to the guidance and control of the French during negotiations

§  Britain and the US negotiate a preliminary treaty in Paris behind France’s back to ensure that the US gets better negotiation terms

§  France signed a treaty with Britain when it hear of the agreement fearing an American-British alliance

§  Spain claimed sovereignty over much of the trans-Appalachian territory granted to the US and made a separate treaty with Britain to regain Florida

§  The actual Treaty of Paris—many separate treaties between the US, France, Spain, and Britain—was signed at Versailles on September 3, 1783

o   The Crisis of Demobilization

§  During the two years between surrender at Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris there was still wartime tensions and many soldiers had long awaited pay and were worried about postwar bounties and land warrents promised to them by Congress

§  In January 1783 some prominent senior officers, associated with General Horatio Gates, petition Congress to get a bonus equal to 5 years pay and plan a military coup

§  Washington calls a meeting of his officers, gives an emotional speech talking them out of a military coup, and urges Congress to pay the bonuses

§  In May 1783, Congress pays the bonuses equal to 3 months pay, the Continental Army disbands, and by the start of 1784 the Army was no more than a few hundred men

o   The Problem of the West

§  After Yorktown, the British left the West for the new United States, abandoning their Indian alllies. The Iroquois and the Ohio tribes, who had fought with the British, did not consider themselves defeated, but the US thought that their victory extended over the natives as well. The US began to press these tribes for land, including tribes that had fought with the Patriots, such as the allied Oneida.

 § Thousands of settlers migrated even during the war, and afterwards thousands more poured over the Appalachian mountains and down the Ohio River. They clashed with Indan tribes in the country north of the Ohio River, and British troops still stationed in the Northwest encouraged Indian attacks on the settlements. Spain, who refused to accept the territory settlements of the Treaty of Paris, closed the Mississippi to Americans, enraging traders.

 § John Jay, appointed secretary for foreign affairs by the Confederation Congress of 1784, tried to negotiate with the British to withdraw from the Northwest and with the Spanish for guarantees of territorial sovereignty and commercial relations. The British said they could not until outstanding debt from before the war was settled and the Spanish insisted the US give up free navigation of the Mississippi. Congress would agree to neither. Many Westerners considered leaving the Confederation, some advocating joining the British, and others such as George Rogers Clark and General James Williamson worked for the Spanish as spies and informants. In the west, local interests took precendence over national community sentiment.

§ In 1784, Congress drafted legislation (primarily written by Jefferson) to provide for the "Government of the Western Territory" that would allow the territories to draft their own constitution and government once its population reached 20,000 and become a state once its population reached the smallest of the original thirteen, provided it forever remain a part of the Confederation. Congress accepted these proposals, but rejected by a vote of seven to six a clause prohibiting slavery in the West.

§ The Land Ordinance of 1785 provided for the survey and sale of western lands, dividing the land into townships of 36 sq. miles (640 acres) each. Jefferson argued that the land should be given to settlers, but the land was instead to be auctioned for no less than one dollar per acre. The treaties of Fort Stanwix in 1784 and Fort McIntosh in 1785 forced the Iroquois and Ohio Indians to cede some of their land by seizing hostages and forcing the tribes to comply. Congress, desperate for cash, sold 1.5 million acres for 1 million dollars to the Ohio Company before the lands went up for sale tp the public.

§ Thousands of Westerners did not wait for the official opening of the land north of the Ohio River and instead illegally settled. Congress forced them off the land in 1785 after raising troops and evicting them, but the squatters returned after the troops left, leading Congress to revise Jefferson's territorial plan.

§ In the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Congress created a governemnt for the Northwest Territory. Three to five states were to be carved from the territory. Slavery was prohibited. However, self-governance was replaced by the rule of congressionally appointed court of judges and a governor until the population had grown to 5,000 free white males, who could then petition for an assembly, though the governor would retain absolute veto power. This territory included the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Congress chose Arthur St. Clair, president of the Ohio Company, to be the Territory's first governor.

·         Revolutionary Politics in the States

o   The Broadened Base of Politics

§  The political mobilization of 1774 and 1775 greatly broadened public participation. A greater proportion of the population began to participate in elections, and the new state legislatures contained more men from rural and western districts compared to colonial assemblies. In Massachusetts, for example, many delegates were men from farming communities who lacked formal education and owned little property.

§  The political debate, which once revolved around the Tories (pro-monarchy) and the Whigs (pro-republic), changed to radical democrats challenging Whig positions, the Tories having lost legitimacy following the Revolution.

§  The 1776 pamphlet The People are the Best Governors argued that power should be vested in a single elected assembly with no property qualifications for voting or holding office, with the governor serving only to carry out the wishes of the people and the judges popularly elected and reviewed by the assembly. The ideal government was one where people set their own taxes, mustered the local militia, operated their own schools and churches, and regulated the local economy in community or town meetings. National government was necessary only for coordination.

§  Conservatives took on the Whig argument to separate government from popular control by a strong executive and upper house. Political positions would be insulated by instituting property qualifications for office to prevent majority tyranny.

o   The First State Constitutions

§  Fourteen states—the original thirteen and Vermont—adopted constitutions between 1776 and 1780, each shaped by the debate between radicals and conservatives. Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York represented the political range.

§  In Pennsylvania, the majority of conservatives had been Loyalists, so the resulting government was very democratic. There was a unicameral assembly elected annually by all free male taxpayers, open to the public with roll-call votes, and with an elected executive committee instead of a governor. Judges served at the pleasure of the assembly.

§  Maryland’s constitution was written by conservatives, who placed property requirements on office that left only 10 percent of the men eligible to serve in the assembly and 7 percent in the senate. Governors controlled a strongly centralized government. They and judges served for life. Georgia, Vermont, and North Carolina followed Pennsylvania’s example, while South Carolina was much like Maryland.

§  New York’s constitutional convention included many democrats, but conservatives such as John jay, Gouverneur Morris, and Robert R. Livingston produced a document that reflected Whig principles while appealing to the people, creating a bicameral legislature with stiff property requirements for the upper house, which was apportioned by wealth instead of population. This reflected a document that had as much conservative ideals in it as possible. New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Massachusetts also mixed democratic and conservative elements.

o   Declarations of Rights

§  The Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason, ensured certain “inherent rights, …namely the enjoyment of life and liberty” and that sovereignty resided with the people, that government was the servant of the people, and that the people had the right to reform, alter, or abolish their government. It also ensured civil liberties such as trial by jury, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.

 §  Other state constitutions included similar declarations, some incorporating specific  guarantees. These declarations would form the precedent for the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.

o   A Spirit of Reform

§  The 1776 Constitution of New Jersey inadvertently granted women the right to vote, leading to male protests that limited the vote to “free while male citizens.”

§  The Revolution did not change women’s role in society from a legal and political perspective, but it did change expectations.

§  Thomas Jefferson, who joined the Virginia House of Delegates after drafting the Declaration of Independence, introduced a bill abolishing the law of entails (inheritance law) and introducing theBill for Establishing Religious Freedom.

§  Many states maintained a close tie between church and state, supporting certain congregations and retaining religious tests in their legal codes.

§  Thomas Jefferson introduced further reforms, none of which passed. Jefferson and the Revolutionary generation raised questions rather than accomplished reform, leaving penal reform, education, and slavery as problems for later generations to solve.

o   A Spirit of Reform

§  African Americans had little to celebrate in an American victory which perpetuated slavery. Many fled to the West Indies, Canada, and Africa with the Loyalists and British following the end of the war. In Virginia alone, 30,000 slaves fled.

§  The Revolution raised a contradiction of waging a war for liberty while slavery continued. Revolutionary ideals and the shift away from tobacco led to a weakening of slavery, with many freeing their slaves or providing for gradual emancipation. All states except for Georgia and South Carolina prohibited or heavily taxed international slave trading between 1776 and 1786.

§  The free black population grew following the Revolution. Though excluded from white society, the African American community now had enough strength to establish its own schools, churches, and other institutions, though this was opposed by white Americans.

§  By 1804, every Northern state provided for the abolition or gradual emancipation of slaves, though 30,000 African Americans remained enslaved by 1810.

§  A small group of African American writers rose to prominence during the Revolution, such as Benjamin Banneker (astronomer and mathematician), Jupiter Hammon (poet and essayist), and most famously Phyllis Wheatley, celebrated poet.

AP Questions

 

1. E

2. B

3. E

4. E

5. A

6. C

7. D

8. B

9. A

10. C

11. E

12. B

13. A

14. D