Following Lexington & Concord…

Second Continental Congress

• 2nd Continental Congress (May 1775) get together in Philly

  • Division amongst colonists as to whether or not to declare independence

  • Organized the Continental Army with Washington as commander in chief

• Bunker Hill (June 1775) British take hill, but colonists hold their own--Builds confidence!

• At the same time sought peace by sending Olive Branch Petition to King George lll (July 1775)

  • King dismissed the OBP and declared colonies in rebellion

Important: 1775 still no clear consensus for independence

Deep Roots of Revolution

• Enlightenment ideas of John Locke and Rousseau strongly influenced the colonists

  • Locke said everyone has natural rights and the power of government is derived from popular consent

• Thomas Paine's pamphlet “Common Sense" (Jan 1776) argued for independence

  • Radical idea at the time

  • Called for the creation republic (representative govt.) based on natural rights of the people

  • Strongly influenced by the Enlightenment

Declaration of Independence

• Thomas Jefferson drafted the formal Declaration of Independence

• Goals: Justify independence by listing grievances against King George lll

  • Took out the one Jefferson wrote against slavery

• To rally support amongst the colonists

• To get the assistance from foreign nations

• Broad appeal by declaring “unalienable rights" (natural rights) and the power of government rest with the people (popular sovereignty)

Colonial Unity?

England VS America

Strengths and Weaknesses

France

• France hoped to regain its power in North America and Europe

  • Remember the bad defeat in the 7 Years War

• Other reasons for France to support the colonists:

  • End of British mercantile policies means free to trade with colonies

  • Caught up in the idealism and Enlightenment ideas

• Benjamin Franklin helped negotiate the treaty

• Formal alliance (1778) followed the Battle of Saratoga

  • Colonists receive money, weapons, naval support, and soldiers

Significant Battles of the Revolution

• Lexington & Concord (April 1775)

• Bunker Hill (June 1775)

• Trenton (Dec. 26 1777) Washington crossed Delaware river and captured 1,000 Hessian soldiers

• Battle of Saratoga (Oct. 1777) British surrender

  • France joins the war on the side of the Americans

• Later in war England focused war effort on the South (loyalist and high slave population)

• Battle of Yorktown (Oct. 1871) General Cornwallis surrenders to American, French troops

  • French blockaded the sea

Treaty of Paris (1783)

• Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay headed to Paris to negotiate an end to the war

• Treaty of Paris (1783)

  • England recognized United States independence

  • Boundary of the U.s. would extend to the Mississippi river to Great Lakes to Spanish Florida

• American Concessions:

  • Must respect rights of loyalists

  • Debts owed to British creditors would be paid

Political Impact of the American Revolution

• State constitutions abolished many old European laws and traditions

  • No titles of nobility could be granted

• Different ideas of what republicanism would mean

• Many states eliminated property requirements for voting-(e.g. Pennsylvania)

• However the colonial elitee remained and other states restricted political involvement

  • Most states did not have full democracy

• American Revolution inspired revolutions in France, Haiti, and Latin America

Social Impact of the American Revolution

• Women played significant roles: maintaining farms & businesses while men away, nurses, cooks, etc.

• Impact**: Abigail Adams "Remember the Ladies**" called for greater rights for women

• Ideal of "republican motherhood" which called on women to teach republican values within the family

• Native Americans oftentimes fought on the side of the British

  • British limited colonial settlement

  • (Iroquois Confederation divided over the issue)

Social Impact of the American Revolution

• African Americans eventually were allowed to fight in the Continental Army

  • Royal Governor of Virginia Lord Dunmore promised freedom to any slave who fought for the British

• Following the American Revolution gradual emancipation in the northern and middle states

  • Pennsylvania Gradual Emancipation Law (1780)

• Later on slavery will expand in the south and adjacent western lands

  • This will create distinct regional attitudes towards slavery

• Slavery will be protected in the constitution