The Creation of the United States: 1776-1786
The War for Independence-
- The British had the best equipped army and navy in the world at the time of the American Revolution
- The geography of eastern North America offered no single vital center who's conquest would win the war for the British (This helped the Americans in their war effort greatly)
- The key factor in the outcome of the war for independence was the popular support for the American cause
The Patriot Forces-
- The Continental Army was led by George Washington and served the Continental Congress
- Other Patriots who did not want to enlist in the CA joined the militia companies
- The men of the militias only served near their home areas
- Because of this, states had difficulties filling their quotas for regiments in the Continental Army
- There were also some mutinies among the troops in the Continental Army
- Patriots seized control of the local governments in most communities between 1774-1775
- The Patriot militias were used to force even the most apathetic of Americans to choose sides in the Revolution
- When the men left for war, many women assumed management of the family farm and business
- However, many women left their homes to join husbands, fathers, and brothers; the so-called 'women of the army'
- Well known women like the ones above were Molly Pitcher and Catherine Greene
Loyalists-
- Loyalists accounted for one-fifth of the population of the colonists
- They were called 'Tories' by the Patriots
- Loyalism was strongest in the Lower South and weakest in New England; it also had followers in the middle colonies
- They faced mob violence and persecution by the Patriots
- Benedict Arnold- the most infamous supporter of the British cause; had been a hero in the early battles of the Revolution, but had become a paid informer of the British army
- The British wanted to mobilize the Loyalists and use them for their advantage, but in most areas this was impossible
- Their property was confiscated by the sate and sold at public auction
- They remained Americans however, even though they were opposed to rebellion
The Campaign for New York and New Jersey
- The British developed a strategic plan for war in the winter of 1775-1776 which involved William Howe taking an army to New York City while another British army marched south from Canada to Albany, where they would converge and cut New England off from the rest of the colonies
- Washington anticipated this strategy and shifted his forces toward New York in the spring of 1776
- The Patriots and the British fought the Battle of Long Island, which ended in disaster for the Patriots (this occurred when Congress was taking its final vote on the Declaration of Independence in July)
- The British offered Congress and opportunity to negotiate after this, and Benjamin Franklin and John Adams sat down with the Howe brothers
- The Howe brothers demanded the repeal of the Declaration of Independence, which Franklin and Adams refused
- This caused another round of fighting six days later, when the British invaded Manhattan (where the Americans were stationed)
- By November the Americans were fleeing south across New Jersey in a frantic attempt to avoid the British under General Charles Cornwallis
- Groups of militiamen began to desert Washington's army, but he proceeded with a counterattack against Cornwallis
- Washington's forces defeated the Hessian forces left to guard Trenton New Jersey and drove the British all the way back to New York City
- These victories salvaged American morale
The Northern Campaign of 1777
- British forces commanded by General John Burgoyne were defeated by American forces under General Horatio Gates in Saratoga
- This was the biggest British defeat until Yorktown
- It symbolized to the nations of Europe that the Americans had a fighting chance of winning their Revolution
- However, the British soon captured and occupied Philadelphia
- After this, the Continental forces headed for winter quarters at Valley Forge
- Although the British forces were able to capture the most important city in America, it proved to have little strategic value because central government was virtually nonexistent, and so the unified effort suffered little disruption
The French Alliance and the Spanish Borderlands
- During the first two years of fighting the Americans were sustained by loans from France and Spain who were allies against Britain
- They both saw the American Revolution as an opportunity to win back North American territories that had been lost to Britain in the Seven Years' War
- The American victory at Saratoga convinced France to tie itself to the United States and decided to recognize America's independence
- France agreed to help America in its fight against Britain until independence was achieved; this caused Britain to declare war on France
- Spain entered the war a year later
- However, the French and the Spanish feared the potential power of an independent United States
- Many American leaders had expansionist aspirations and understood that the wartime alliance with France and tacit support of Spain were expedients
- In 1778, Lord North tried to propose a peace commission in America that would pledge to never again impose revenue taxes on the Americans, but Congress declared that any person coming to terms with the peace commission would be labeled a traitor
- For Americans, the only possible topics of negotiation were the withdrawal of British forces and the recognition of American independence
- The British were forced to rethink their military strategy when France entered the war on the American's side
Indian Peoples and the Revolution in the West
- At the beginning of the conflict both the British and the Americans solicited the support of the Indians
- The Americans were wary of the Iroquois Confederacy, as the British tried to press the Iroquois to unite against the Americans
- Many Indian people were reluctant to become involved; however, the British were ultimately more persuasive
- The Indians could see that a Patriot victory would mean the extension of American settlements into their homelands
- Almost all the Indians tribes that engaged in fighting did so on the side of the British
- The Mohawk leader Joseph Brant succeeded in bringing most Iroquois warriors into the British camp
- The war in the West would not end with the conclusion of hostilities in the East
The War in the South
- The most important fighting of the Revolution took place in the South
- In December of 1778 British forces under General Clinton crushed Patriot forces at Savannah and began to organize the Loyalists in an effort to reclaim the colony
- In 1779, Clinton led a campaign against Charleston and forced the most significant American defeat in the war
- The southern campaign was marked by vicious violence between partisan militas of Patriots and Loyalists
- In 1781 Cornwallis became tired of chasing American forces around the country, and moved his forces from the Carolinas to the Virginia countryside; the British withdrawal from North Carolina allowed Greene to reestablish Patriot control of the Lower South
Yorktown
- At Yorktown, Washington and the French general Rochambeau's combined fores locked Cornwallis and the British forces into his camp.
- Cornwallis surrendered after a failed attempt to retreat across the New York River, and then sent his second-in-command, General Charles O'Hara to surrender
- In March of 1782 King George III was forced to accept the American claim for independence
The United States in Congress Assembled
- The Articles of Confederation, the first written constitution of the United States, created a national government of severely limited powers.
- This arrangement reflected the concerns of people fighting to free themselves from a coercive central government
The Articles of Confederation
- The debates of the delegates of the Continental Congress made it clear that the delegates who favored a loose union of autonomous states outnumbered those who wanted a strong central government.
- The Articles (adopted in 1777) created a national assembly called the Congress, in which each state had a single vote
- Votes would require the agreement of nine states
- Congress was granted national authority in the conduct of foreign affairs, matters of war and peace, and maintenance of the armed forces. It was also the final judge of authority in disputes between states
- They explicitly guaranteed the sovereignty of the individual states
- Ratification or amendment was supposed to be required by the agreement of all thirteen states
- Maryland was the last state to vote in favor of the Articles
Financing the War
- Congress financed the Revolution through grants and loans from friendly foreign powers and by issuing paper currency
- Congress called on the states to raise taxes, but most of the states were unwilling to do this and began to print currency of their own
- The Continental currency faced rapid depreciation and runaway inflation
- Congress than chartered the Bank of North America in Philadelphia, the first private commercial bank in the United States
- Robert Morris was the motivation behind the bank and the new gold and silver backed currency
Negotiating Independence
- Peace talks between the US and Great Britain opened in July 1782 when Franklin sat down with the British emissary in Paris
- However, Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams were aware of French attempts to manipulate the outcome of negotiations and to limit potential American power
- They then signed a preliminary treaty with Britain without France in Nov. of 1782.
- The resulting Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783 (we all know what the land divisions after looked like)
The Crisis of Demobilization
- Continental officers feared that the army would be disbanded before they received the provisions for their pensions that Congress had promised them
- However, Washington remedied this problem and began to dismiss the common soldiers
The Problem of the West
- Thousands of Americans migrated west and pressured the Indian country north of the Ohio River; and destructive violence continued along the frontier
- British troops continued to occupy posts in the Northwest and encouraged Indian attacks on vulnerable settlements
- John Jay was sent to negotiate a treaty with the Spanish for American access to the Mississippi, but he messed that up
- In the West, local community interest continued to override the fragile development of national community settlement
- Jefferson set up the "Government for the Northwestern Territory", where the western public would eventually be divided into states equal to the original thirteen as soon as their population grew large enough
- In the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Congress established a system of government for the territory north of Ohio
- The creation of the land system of the United States was the major achievement of the Confederation government
Revolutionary Politics in the States
- Most Americans focused not on the Confederation government in Philadelphia but on the governments of their own states
- Most Americans identified with their local communities and states rather than with the American nation
The Broadened Base of Politics
- Political participation in the states was greatly broadened after 1775
- During these years a greater proportion of the population began to participate in elections
- Conservatives were wary of giving more power to Congress, as they saw the possibility of majority tyranny which might lead to the violation of property rights and to dictatorship
Declaration of Rights
- The thirteen states plus Vermont adopted individual Constitutions that were shaped by the debates between the radicals and the conservatives
- The fifteen articles that were adopted declared that sovereignty resided in the people, that government was the servant of the people, and the people had the right to reform, alter, or abolish the government
- These declarations were important precedents for the Bill of Rights which were the first ten amendments to the federal Constitution
A Spirit of Reform
- The political upheaval of the Revolution raised the possibility of other reforms in American society
- In the aftermath of the Revolution, there was evidence of increasing sympathy in the courts for women's property rights and fairer treatment of women's petitions for divorce
- From a strictly legal and political view, the Revolution may have done little to change women's role in society, but it did seem to help change expectations
African Americans and the Revolution
- Most African Americans did not celebrate in the American victory in the war, for it perpetuated the institution of slavery
- To many white Americans there was an obvious contradiction in waging a war for liberty while continuing to support the institution of slavery
- There was an increase in "manumissions" or grants of freedom to slaves by individual masters
- Perhaps the most important development was the growth of the free African American population, however they were largely excluded from the institutions of white Americans
Economic Problems
- The Revolution produced the worst inflation that Americans have ever experienced
- There was a popular outcry at the incredible increase in prices, and communities and states in the North responded with laws regulating wages and prices
- After the war, inflation was suddenly replaced by depression
- However, the Confederation Congress was not allowed to raise taxes on its own, so it petitioned the states for the funds necessary for debt repayment, but people feared being crushed by the burden of private debt and public taxes
State Remedies
- States erected high tariffs to curb imports and protect infant industries
- However, for these to be effective, local sentiment had to give way to the unity of a national community
Shays' Rebellion
- Farmers in the western part of Massachusetts had been hit particularly hard during the depression, and county jails were filled with debtors who couldn't pay
- Dozens of towns petitioned state governments for relief, but the urban and merchants who wanted to protect their interests, rejected legal tender and paper currency laws
- Farmers throughout the rural part of the state revolted in what became known as Shay's rebellion, named after David Shays who had been a leader in the Revolution
Other stuff you should know
- Know what led to the ratifying of the Articles of Confederation into the Constitution and the inclusion of the Bill of Rights
- Get the Federalists vs. Anti-Federalist sheet from Mr. Matthews that he has somewhere, and read over it before the test
The end! :)
