us history the war for independence

THE WAR FOR

INDEPENDENCE

Why can’t Britain leave the colonies alone?

Stamp Act (1765)

Required to buy stamped paper Affected elites – (publishers & lawyers) Widely hated in colonies

Sons of Liberty

Organized to protest Stamp Act Boycotts Threatened & harassed customs officers Samuel Adams Patrick Henry Benedict Arnold John Hancock Paul Revere Benjamin Rush

How is the Stamp Act protested?

Colonial assemblies refuse to cooperate Colonial merchants refuse to import British goods Parliament repeals

What are the effects of the Stamp Act?

- Colonies bound together against Britain- Britain bends, but believes it can still assert authority

Townshend Acts (1767)

Taxes on imports 3 cents tax on tea Boycotts of British goods English goods fall out of fashion 2,000 British soldiers in America to stop

smugglers

The Boston Massacre (1770) Growing tension

between soldiers and citizens Why?

clash between a mob and soldiers

Shots ring out: five dead

Committees of correspondence

Tea Act (1773)

British East India Company can sell tea without paying taxes

Violent protests result Boston Tea Party: 18,000 lbs of tea dumped

into Boston Harbor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eytc9ZaNWyc&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s&index=6

(4:50)

Intolerable Acts (1774)

Boston Harbor shut down Quartering Act: British

soldiers housed in private homes

Martial law declared in Boston

First Continental Congress: supports protests & asserts colonial rights

Lexington & Concord

British attempt to destroy munitions stockpile in Concord

Colonists organize to meet the soldiers British soldiers destroyed marching back to

Boston

Separation vs. Reconciliation

John Adams John Dickinson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCBgYMRBe-M

Second Continental Congress Debating separation vs.

reconciliation Arguments:

Militiamen are now “Continental Army”

Prints money Sends delegates to foreign

governments

Olive Branch Petition

What does it mean to “extend an olive branch”?

Urges a return to “the former harmony”

Rejected by King George III Declares colonies in revolt Orders blockade

Declaring Independence

June 7, 1776: Richard Henry Lee moves an independence resolution

Thomas Jefferson writes a formal declaration.

Why is it important to include Virginians?

July 2: Congress votes for independence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ0Nkdi-GpE

Declaration of Independence Draws from Locke’s theory of “natural rights” Government’s power comes from the people What did “all men are created equal” mean?

Declaration of Independence Intro: “We have a right to declare independence.” Preamble: “Revolution is just when natural rights are harmed.” Indictment: “These are the ‘repeated injuries’ of the king.” Conclusion: “Our case is made; the fault lies with Britain.” We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created

equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Taking Sides

Loyalists Patriots

Taking Sides

Native-Americans:

African-Americans:

Revolutionary War

Four Questions Who’s fighting?

Who won?

Where is it fought?

Why?

Advantages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EiSymRrKI4 (3:13)

Continental Army

British Army

Battle of Trenton https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwT_eLpdrmI

Winter, 1776: Britain winning war Continental army less than 8,000 men Dec. 25, 1776: Americans surprise attack at

Trenton Eight days later, victory at Princeton

Burgoyne’s Plan

Burgoyne marches down from Canada Plans to meet up with Howe in Albany Goal:

Burgoyne’s Plan (American Story of US)

Why does Burgoyne’s Plan fail?

Aftermath of Saratoga

The Home Front During the War Over printing of money causes inflation Continental army poorly equipped Profiteering a problem

Women during the War

left to run farms, shops, and families Make clothing, ammunition Some women fought in battles

European Help

Friedrich von Steuben whips colonial troops into shape.

Marquis de Lafayette lobbies for French aid

Surrender at Yorktown

French navy block British at Chesapeake Bay

French & Americans converge on British at Yorktown

Siege of Three Weeks; British surrender

Treaty of Paris 1783

Adams, Franklin & Jay: American Independence or bust.

US: Atlantic to Mississippi – Canada to Florida Unresolved issues of the Treaty?

Aftermath of War

Rise of egalitarianism…for some

Now what…

How Revolutionary Was It?