The American Revolution 1776-1786

The American Revolution 1776-1786 The War for Independence The United States in Congress Assembled Revolutionary Politics in the States Conclusion The American Revolution 1776-1786

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 Jean Baptiste Antoine de Verger, a French officer serving with the Continental Army, made these watercolors of American soldiers during the Revolution. Some 200,000 men saw action, including at least 5,000 African Americans; more than half of these troops served with the Continental Army.

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 mid-Atlantic states.

Patriot mob torments Loyalists Patriot mob torments Loyalists in this print published during the Revolution. One favorite punishment was the “grand Tory ride,” in which a crowd hauled the victim through the streets astride a fence rail. In another, men were stripped to “buff and breeches” and their naked flesh coated liberally with heated tar and feathers.

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 John Singleton Copley’s portrait of Mercy Otis Warren captured her at the age of thirty-six, in 1765. During the Revolution, her home in Boston was a center of Patriot political activity. SOURCE: John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815), Mrs. James Warren (Mercy Otis), ca.1763. Oil on canvas. 49 5⁄8 ✕ 39 1⁄2 in. (126 100.3 cm). Bequest of Winslow Warren. Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (31.212). Reproduced with permission. © 2000 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All Rights Reserved.

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 Joseph Brant, the brilliant chief of the Mohawks who sided with Great Britain during the Revolution, in a 1786 painting by the American artist Gilbert Stuart. After the Treaty of Paris, Brant led a large faction of Iroquois people north into British Canada, where they established a separate Iroquois Confederacy.

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. In 1845 Artist William Ranney depicted a famous moment during the Battle of Cowpens that took place in January 1781. Lieutenant Colonel William Washington, leader of the Patriot cavalry and a relative of George Washington, was attacked by a squadron of British dragoons. As Washington was about to be cut down, he was saved by his servant William Ball, who fired a pistol that wounded the attacker. Nothing more is known about Ball, but he was one of a number of African Americans who fought on the Patriot side in the battle. SOURCE: William Ranney, The Battle of Cowpens. Oil on canvas. Photo by Sam Holland. Courtesy South Carolina State House.

The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis

The United States in Congress Assembled

The Continental Congress printed currency to finance the Revolution The Continental Congress printed currency to finance the Revolution. Because of widespread counterfeiting, engravers attempted to incorporate complex designs, like the unique vein structure in the leaf on this eighteen-pence note. In case that wasn’t enough, the engraver of this note also included the warning: “To counterfeit is Death.”

MAP 7.5 State Claims to Western Lands The ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 awaited settlement of the western claims of eight states. Vermont, claimed by New Hampshire and New York, was not made a state until 1791, after disputes were settled the previous year. The territory north of the Ohio River was claimed in whole or in part by Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. All of them had ceded their claims by 1786, except for Connecticut, which had claimed an area just south of Lake Erie, known as the Western Reserve; Connecticut ceded this land in 1800. The territory south of the Ohio was claimed by Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; in 1802, the latter became the last state to cede its claims.

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 map of European and American claims to North America was radically altered by the results of the American Revolution.

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 American artist Benjamin West never completed his painting of the American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain, 1783–1785, but left this study. It features portraits of (left to right) John Jay, John Adams, Henry Laurens, Benjamin Franklin, and William Temple Franklin, who served as secretary for his grandfather. West intended to include the British commissioners, but the death of one and the uncooperative attitude of the other aborted the project.

The Problem of the West (cont.) Three land ordinances provided for organizing the land for settlement, self-government 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 The Land Ordinance of 1785 created an ordered system of survey (revised by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787), dividing the land into townships and sections.

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The last page of the Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris on September 3, 1783 The last page of the Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris on September 3, 1783, by David Hartley for Great Britain, and for the United States by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay.

Revolutionary Politics in the States The Peoples of America Before Columbus

the 1776 constitution of New Jersey By giving the vote to “all free inhabitants,” the 1776 constitution of New Jersey enfranchised women as well as men who met the property requirements. The number of women voters eventually led to male protests. Wrote one: “What tho’ we read, in days of yore, / The woman’s occupation / Was to direct the wheel and loom, / Not to direct the nation.” In 1807, a new state law explicitly limited the right of franchise to “free white male citizens.”

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 This portrait of the African American poet Phyllis Wheatley was included in the collection of her work published in London in 1773 when she was only twenty years old. Kidnapped in Africa when a girl, then purchased off the Boston docks, she was more like a daughter than a slave to the Wheatley family. She later married and lived as a free woman of color before her untimely death in 1784.

Conclusion 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 Chronology