Winning Freedom

The Road to Rebellion

New British Policies

The British government faced large debts because the French and Indian War had cost a great deal of money. Many British leaders thought the colonies should help pay part of the war debts. These leaders said that the war had been fought in large measure to protect the colonies from the French and their Indian allies.
Several groups of Indians in the Ohio Valley rose against the British in 1763. This was called Pontiac's Rebellion, after the chief of the Ottawa who led it. Many British forts were captured before peace was made in 1766. The fighting showed the fear of the Indians of further loss of their land to the British colonies.
The British placed restrictions of Western movement, trade, and manufacturing on the colonies after 1763.

The Grenville Acts

King George III called for the enforcement of laws in the colonies. George Grenville first enforced the Navigation Acts which required colonists to trade with Great Britain only.
Sugar Act: a tax on sugar, wines, and coffee set up to raise money from the colonists. It was strictly enforced.
Stamp Act and Quartering Act: Stamp- people had to buy a stamp to put on all newspapers, pamphlets, contracts, wills, and certain other printed materials. The money raised would pay for British troops stationed in the colonies. Quartering- required colonists to provide barracks and supplies for British troops.
The colonists objected British taxes as they felt the British actions were improper and illegal and an attempt to ruin the colonial economy.

Colonial Response

Representation: Colonists favored direct representation because they believed they were not represented by virtual representation.
Stamp Act Congress: The colonists organized a boycott by which they refused to buy British goods. Patrick Henry argued that "taxation without representation is tyranny!"
Patriots tarred and feathered loyalists who did not support the boycott of British goods.
Repeal of Stamp Act: British merchants began complaining that Americans were not buying their goods so Parliament repealed the Stamp Act; however, they also passed the Declaratory Act which let the colonists know that it had the right to pass laws for the colonies in all cases.

Townschend Acts

Continued Protests: groups like the Sons of Liberty were formed to enforce the boycott of British goods and to scare British officials stationed in the colonies.
Boston Massacre: On March 5, 1770, a British soldier got into a brawl with a civilian workman. This triggered an evening of protests by bands of colonists who roamed the streets. Finally, a squad of Redcoats, led by Captain Thomas Preston, fired into a small mob agitating in front of the hated Customs House. Three colonists died instantly, and two others were mortally wounded. British authorities promptly withdrew the troops from Boston.

Boston Tea Party

To protest a tax on tea, on the night of December 16, 1773, a band of Bostonians--lamely disguised as Indians--boarded three ships in Boston harbor and dumped a cargo of tea chests overboard. The act triggered similar "tea parties" in ports up and down the coast.

The Intolerable Acts

Intended to restore order to Massachusetts, the Intolerable Acts boomeranged, leading the colonies to recognize their common cause and to convene the First Continental Congress.

Continental Congress

The Congress met in Philadelphia during September 1774, and only Georgia failed to send delegates. The 56 delegates who convened represented the full spectrum of colonial thought, from radicals who wanted to sever all ties with England, to conservatives who wanted to find a way to heal the breach with England.
The Congress took two major steps. As some delegates wished, a letter of grievances was sent to the king. The letter accepted Parliament's right to govern colonial trade, but it asked Parliament to repeal laws that had been passed since 1763. These were the laws to which the Americans objected.

The Final Break

Events that led to the outbreak of war include an attempt by English soldiers to seize the patriot's military supplies; and resulted in fighting with minutemen at Lexington and Concord.
Lexington and Concord: "By rude bridge that arched the flood,/ Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,/ Here once the embattled farmers stood,/ And fired the shot heard round the world."--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Second Continental Congress: For those still hoping for peace, the delegates sent King George III one last appeal--the Olive Branch Petition. George III turned it down and declared the Americans to be rebels. The time for appeals was over. The Second Continental Congress became a government for the Patriots in revolt.

War for Independence

Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence cast the American struggle for independence in a noble light as a profound gesture "in the course of human events." Inspired by the great English political philosopher John Locke, Thomas Jefferson listed the "inalienable rights" of humankind. These included life and liberty, but where Locke had listed property as the third right, Jefferson specified "the pursuit of happiness." The purpose of government, Jefferson declared, was "to secure these rights." When government ceased to serve its just purpose, it was the right and duty of "the governed" to withdraw their allegiance. And that is what the colonists had done. Jefferson's document was adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776.

The Early War

The commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution was George Washington.
Battles in the Northeast: early fighting took place in New England, especially around Boston. In June 1775, the Americans narrowly lost the Battle of Bunker Hill. In early 1776, Washington moved his troops to New York; however, after a series of battles the British forced Washington to withdraw his troops to Pennsylvania by winter 1776. Washington launched a surprise attack on Christmas night. His forces crossed the Delaware river into New Jersey and captured the British garrison at Trenton. They defeated a second British force at Princeton on January 3, 1777.
British Strategy: The British hoped to gain control of the Hudson River Valley of New York. They could then cut off New England from the rest of the colonies and secure British control of New York and Philadelphia. The plan was a failure as some British commanders did not follow their orders and left each other unprotected. British General John Burgoyone was then defeated at Saratoga in October 1777.
Significance of Saratoga: The Battle of Saratoga was important to Americans because it brought France into the war on the side of the colonies.

Organizing the War

The Continental Congress had a hard time raising money to continue the war. They borrowed as much as $10 million from friendly countries like France, Spain, and Holland.
The Continental Army was held together largely through the leadership of General Washington. They seldom had the food and supplies they desperately needed. Some 300,000 colonists served in the military during the war. Washington had experienced field commanders, and he had a number of soldiers who helped from other countries.
The part women played in the American Revolution: some women served in the Continental Army; others cooked and cared for the ill near battlefields; most remained at home to run farms and businesses.

War in the West

The British and their Indian allies attacked American settlers along the frontier. The Kentucky militia, led by George Rogers Clark, swept through what is today Illinois and Indiana and overran British posts in the summer and fall of 1778. By 1779, the Americans controlled the area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.

War at Sea

The British depended on Britain's ability to keep lines of trade and supplies open.
In 1775, Congress authorized the building of 13 warships to patrol rivers and harbors.
This navy was no match for the British; however, private ships disrupted the British supply lines.
France's entrance into the war on the side of the Americans shored up the American "navy."
Captain John Paul Jones made raids on the British coast which forced the British to keep part of their navy at home.

War in the South

At the end of the war most of the fighting took place in the South (loyalist support was strong in the South). The British controlled the ports of Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia and all of Georgia by 1778. Charleston surrendered to the British in 1780.
As the British moved inland they were constantly attacked by colonial militia.
By 1781, British General Cornwallis retreated to Virginia. He moved to Yorktown (the site of the last major battle during the American Revolution) on the Atlantic coast to rest his soldiers and get supplies.
General Washington saw a chance to trap Cornwallis and sent a large force to block the British by land. Lafayette's French soldiers joined with the Americans. In August 1781, a French fleet of warships blocked the British from the sea. Cornwallis surrendered which virtually ended the Revolutionary War.
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the war between the colonies and Great Britain and established American Independence.
Great Britain recognized American independence. The boundaries of the new nation were set at Canada in the north, the Mississippi River in the west, and Florida in the south. Spain was given Florida, and both the United States and Great Britain were granted trading rights on the Mississippi. America also got fishing rights in the waters off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
With the conclusion of the War for Independence, the 13 British colonies had become the United States.

The Meaning of Freedom

Political Results

Each of the 13 colonies had formed state governments during the American Revolution. These governments took over when British officials lost their control.
Americans limited the authority of new state governments created during the war because of fear of limitless authority.

Social Results

The American Revolution had no effects on the rights of women.
Many slaves fought in the war, but few benefited from the American Revolution.

Economic Results

Economic problems the government faced after the War for Independence include: it was in debt to its allies; and an abundance of printed money lowered the value of money already in use.

Hokanson's Social Studies

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