1. + The American Revolution

2. + Causes Britain needs money. Why?

3. + Causes – Britain/France Rivalry Seven Years’ War (a.k.a. “The French and Indian War”)

4. + So how does Britain get more money? TAXES! Sugar Act Stamp Act Tea Act Etc.

5. + “No taxation without representation!” Americans rebel – inspired by Enlightenment thinkers

6. + Declaration of Independence “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…”

7. + Timeline of the American Revolution 1775 – Battles of Lexington and Concord (“The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”) 1775 – Americans capture Fort Ticonderoga 1775 – Battle of Bunker Hill 1776 – Declaration of Independence 1776 – Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton (that famous painting) 1777 – Americans win the Battle of Saratoga 1777-1778 – Winter at Valley Forge 1778 – Americans ally with France 1779 – Spain allies with France 1781 – British surrender at Yorktown 1783 – Treaty of Paris officially ends the Revolution

8. + How were the tiny 13 Colonies able to defeat the mighty British?

9. + The American Revolution was actually a world war. Once France got involved, other European countries saw this as an opportunity to weaken the mighty British empire. The countries of Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Prussia, the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and the Ottoman Empire all created the League of Armed Neutrality to promote “neutral” shipping across the Atlantic (Who did it hurt – Britain or the American colonists?) After the surrender at Yorktown, the British could have kept fighting but they decided to cut their losses. Think of the American Revolution as Britain’s Vietnam War.

10. + What changed on a global scale as a result of the American Revolution? Materially: very little The American Revolution is called a “conservative” revolution (as opposed to the French Revolution in a few years… watch your neck…)

11. + The Founding Fathers were the first to articulate the principle of universal human rights?

12. + The U.S. was the first modern republic? “As it is apparent to all that a prince is constituted by God to be ruler of a people, to defend them from oppression and violence as the shepherd his sheep; and whereas God did not create the people slaves to their prince, to obey his commands, whether right or wrong, but rather the prince for the sake of the subjects (without which he could be no prince), to govern them according to equity, to love and support them as a father his children or a shepherd his flock, and even at the hazard of life to defend and preserve them. And when he does not behave thus, but, on the contrary, oppresses them, seeking opportunities to infringe their ancient customs and privileges, exacting from them slavish compliance, then he is no longer a prince, but a tyrant, and the subjects are to consider him in no other view. And particularly when this is done deliberately, unauthorized by the states, they may not only disallow his authority, but legally proceed to the choice of another prince for their defense. This is the only method left for subjects whose humble petitions and remonstrances could never soften their prince or dissuade him from his tyrannical proceedings; and this is what the law of nature dictates for the defense of liberty, which we ought to transmit to posterity, even at the hazard of our lives.” - Act of Abjuration (United Provinces of the Netherlands)

13. + The American Revolution DID inspire other revolutions to follow. French Revolution (1789-1799) – partly because France was broke after helping us…and we broke our alliance by not helping them fight the British before the War of 1812… Whoops! Sorry guys… Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821) South American Wars of Independence (1806-1825)

14. + So, some of our ideas about the Revolution are inflated, because, you know…

15. + But, luckily, our Founding Fathers were philosophers and men of the Enlightenment – which is why we have a stable form of government that has lasted 225 years and has been an example for countries around the world.