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Transcript

American Revolution

October 1st, 2020

Overview

The Causes of the Revolution

The roots of the American Revolution can be traced to the year 1763 when British leaders began to tighten imperial reins. Once harmonious relations between Britain and the colonies became increasingly conflict-riven. Britain’s land policy prohibiting settlement in the West irritated colonists as did the arrival of British troops. The most serious problem was the need for money to support the empire.

Attempts through the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts to raise money rather than control trade met with growing resistance in the colonies. Tensions increased further after Parliament passed the Coercive Acts and the First Continental Congress took the first steps toward independence from Britain. Before the colonies gained independence, they had to fight a long and bitter war.

Overview

  • The Revolutionary War

  • The British had many advantages in the war, including a large, well-trained army and navy and many Loyalists who supported the British Empire. But many white colonists were alienated by Lord Dunmore’s promise of freedom to slaves who joined the royal army, and were inspired by Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

  • American advantages included excellent leadership by George Washington and Henry Knox, the aid of such European nations as France; and tactical errors by British commanders which contributed to the American victory. British strategy called for crushing the rebellion in the North. Several times the British nearly defeated the Continental Army. But victories at Trenton and Princeton, N.J., in late 1776 and early 1777 restored patriot hopes, and victory at Saratoga, N.Y., which halted a British advance from Canada, led France to intervene on behalf of the rebels.

  • In 1778, fighting shifted to the South. Britain succeeded in capturing Georgia and Charleston, S.C. and defeatws an American army at Camden, S.C. But bands of patriots harassed loyalists and disrupted supply lines, and Britain failed to achieve control over the southern countryside before advancing northward to Yorktown, Va. In 1781, an American and French force defeated the British at Yorktown in the war's last major battle.

  • Consequences:

  • 1. About 7,200 Americans died in battle during the Revolution. Another 10,000 died from disease or exposure and about 8,500 died in British prisons.

  • 2. A quarter of the slaves in South Carolina and Georgia escaped from bondage during the Revolution. The Northern states outlawed slavery or adopted gradual emancipation plans.

  • 3. The states adopted written constitutions that guaranteed religious freedom, increased the legislature's size and powers, made taxation more progressive, and reformed inheritance laws.

Directions

  • As you go through each section of the assignment, answer the questions and fill in the information on your worksheets. You do not need to go in order, but make sure you are completing the correct section of your worksheet.
  • Any questions, please ask me, don't sit there without an idea of what to do

Directions

Maps

Maps

General Thomas Gage to Lieutenant Colonel Smith

Lieut. Colonel Smith, 10th Regiment Foot

Sir:

Having received intelligence, that a quantity of Ammunition, Provision, Artillery, Tents and

small arms, have been collected at Concord, for the Avowed Purpose of raising and supporting

a Rebellion against His Majesty, you will March with the Corps of Grenadiers and Light

Infantry, put under your command, with the utmost expedition and Secrecy to Concord,

where you will seize and destroy all artillery, Ammunition, Provisions, Tents, Small Arms, and

all Military Stores whatever. But you will take care that the Soldiers do not plunder the

inhabitants, or hurt private property.

Lexington & Concord

Watch from 1:00-3:32

The battle of Saratoga took place on the fields of upstate New York, nine miles south of the town of Saratoga. In accordance with British plans, General John Burgoyne was attempting to invade New England from Canada with the goal of isolating New England from the rest of the United States. Burgoyne had under his command an army of 7,200 troops with which he hoped to establish British dominance throughout the state of New York. Opposing Burgoyne was General Horatio Gates with a force of 9,000 soldiers, later joined by 2,000 additional troops. The ensuing battle was divided into two encounters, the first on September 19 and the second on October 7.

The first on September 19, 1777, also known as the Battle of Freeman’s Farm, took place when the British attacked the

entrenched Americans. Because Benedict Arnold anticipated the British maneuver, however, a significant contingent of American forces had been placed between the British and the main body of the American army. While the British managed in the end to overrun the Americans, their losses were significant. Almost 600 British soldiers were killed or wounded, which was roughly twice the American losses.

Before the second battle occurred, Burgoyne waited in vain for reinforcements, and by October 7, concluding he wait no longer, he launched a second attack. This time, the American forces held against the British assault and were able to counterattack to regain any lost ground. Burgoyne and his troops, defeated, began a march to the town of Saratoga where they entrenched themselves once again in hopes of escaping. Within a fortnight, however, Gates's army had surrounded them and forced them to surrender.

Saratoga

The Battle of Saratoga is often called the turning point of the American Revolution because the defeat of the British encouraged France to enter into a military alliance with the newly formed United States. Although the French were already supplying the Continental Army with weapons, and had been impressed by Washington's resourcefulness and favorable reports by German Johann de Kalb, they were concerned by the capture of Philadelphia. Saratoga convinced the French government that the Americans could fight against disciplined military units and win. On February 6, 1778, the French government signed accords with Benjamin Franklin and the other American envoys in Paris that recognized America's Declaration of Independence and pledged full military and financial support. Had the Americans not won at Saratoga, the French would not have supplied the troops or the French Navy that made victory at Yorktown possible. In bringing France into the war against Britain, Saratoga also brought France's allies, Spain and Holland, into the conflict. The American victory at Saratoga turned the American Revolution into a global war that Britain could not win.

Video

Look at the picture below and answer the questions in your worksheet

Boston massacre

Background

  • After the smoke cleared following the Boston Massacre, the soldiers who were responsible for firing on the crowd were put on trial in Massachusetts. While being defend by John Adams, the soldiers testified that the crowd of colonists was aggressive and violent, causing an accidental firing by a British soldier. Watch the videos, and answer the questions in your worksheet

Trial

https://vimeo.com/227429137

Trial video

Compare the writings between Locke and Jefferson, and answer the questions

Enlightenment & Revolution

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.

-Thomas Jefferson

To understand political power aright, we must consider what state all men are naturally

in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their

possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature;

without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man. . . .

The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason,

which is that law, teaches all mankind, that being all equal and independent, no one

ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions: for men [are] all the

workmanship of one omnipotent and infinitely wise Maker; all the servants of one

sovereign master, sent into the world by his order, and about his business. . . .

-John Locke

Follow the link and answer the questions

http://sageamericanhistory.net/colonies_empire/topics/enlighten.htm

Reading

Video

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