Major Issues on the War and Peace

The first 6 issues are information selected from Revolution in Action. (Click here if you want to see the complete Revolution in Action or if you want an explanation of the column headings used.) Revolution in Action uses current abbreviations for states to identify the equivalent colony; for example, MA is used for Massachusetts. These specific abbreviations are used:

Br.= British - Those in the colonies who favor the British are called Loyalists or Tories.

Pat. = Patriot (also called Whig), those who favored the American Revolution

 

Issues:

1776 and Beyond – Essential Foreign Help. 1

1776 and Beyond – Government and Funding and Troops and Supplies. 2

1775 and Beyond – What Happened to Slaves in the Revolutionary War and After the War 2

1777 - Saratoga and Its Significance. 3

1781 – Yorktown and Its Significance – and the Essential Role of the French. 4

1782 - Terms of the Peace (and What Happened to the Loyalists) 5

Bringing Issues Together: Comparing the Two Sides – Click here for the version with answers to think about.) 6

General Comparisons of the British and Patriot Vulnerabilities and Strengths. 6

British Specific Strength and Weakness. 6

Patriot Specific Strength and Weakness – The Articles of Confederation are part of that weakness. 6

Final Outcomes: Economy and Religion. 6

 

1776 and Beyond – Essential Foreign Help

 

If Military Event  

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When?

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Casualty Status 

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Where?/Who?

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What?

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Victor  

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Significance OR General Event

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1776-05

 

 

 

 

 

 

¾

 

 

¾

 

French secretly give munitions to Pat.–Ex: 80% of gunpowder 1776-77 [Question: Why is France helping the Pat.? Remember also the old line “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”]

-

-

1776-07

 

 

 

 

 

 

¾

 

 

¾

 

2nd Continental Congress, Declaration of Independence passed. 

Subsequent: Benjamin Franklin to France as lobbyist

-

-

1776-07 +

 

 

 

 

 

 

¾

 

 

¾

 

Foreign experts such as:

Marquis de Lafayette (unpaid)

Thaddeus Kosciusko - engineer

Baron von Steuben

[Question: What does it tell you about the goals of this war that foreigners will come to fight? The Marquis de Lafayette will be instrumental not just in the American Revolution, but in the French one as well.]

-

-

 

1776 and Beyond – Government and Funding and Troops and Supplies

 

If Military Event  

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When?

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Casualty Status 

4

 

 

 

 

 

Where?/Who?

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Type 

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What?

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Victor  

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Significance OR General Event

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1780-05

 

 

 

 

 

 

NJ: no supplies at Washington’s camp

 

 

Continental currency worthless, soldiers receiving 1/8 of regular rations

 

Soldiers demanding back pay, but blocked by PA troops. [Question: What do these events and the vulnerability of the Continental currency tell you? Scan down to the similar events of 1781 and 1783. How vulnerable is the Pat. army?]

-

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1781-01

 

 

 

 

 

 

PA: mutiny by 1500 out of 2400 veteran soldiers

 

 

New recruits were getting currency not paper. 1/1779 – 8 to 1; 12/1779 -40 to 1

 

Put down militarily; 2 executions. (See also 1780-05 and 1783-03.)

-

-

1783-03

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat. mutiny, pay

 

 

¾

 

Washington calms the mutiny

-

-

 

1775 and Beyond – What Happened to Slaves in the Revolutionary War and After the War

 

If Military Event  

4

 

 

 

 

When?

6

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Casualty Status 

4

 

 

 

 

 

Where?/Who?

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Type 

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What?

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Victor  

4

 

 

 

 

 

Significance OR General Event

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1775-12

 

 

X

 

X

 

VA: Br. governor – martial law, slave and Loyalist recruitment.

VA: Great Bridge

 

 

Raised a slave regiment (promise of freedom).[1]  Br. defeated by Virginians, North Carolinians

 

Obviously led to planter class concerns [Question: Southern = strongest probable British allies (why?) but what about this?]

 

X

1777 - Saratoga and Its Significance

 

If Military Event  

4

 

 

 

 

When?

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Casualty Status 

4

 

 

 

 

 

Where?/Who?

6

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Type 

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What?

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Victor  

4

 

 

 

 

 

Significance OR General Event

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1777-08 (1st)

 

X

X

 

X

 

Br. plan - Burgoyne, one wing

NY: Oriskany

Leader: Mohawk Joseph Brant (alliance of 3 remaining Iroquois nations…)

 

H

Successful ambush of the Pat. and a near defeat of them, but Br. wing retreats.

 

Adds to the anti-Indian view of colonists

Adds to volunteers joining Pat. to defend their region from violent Indian attack

Blocks a wing of Burgoyne’s forces

 

X

1777-08 (2nd)

 

 

X

 

X

 

Br. plan - Burgoyne - a force sent to get supplies followed by another force sent to reinforce them

VT: Bennington

H

 

Pat. volunteers + veterans defeat Br. in multiple engagements

 

Burgoyne withdraws to Saratoga

Pat. volunteers (citizen soldiers) coming forward

 

X

1777-10

 

 

X

 

X

 

PA: Germantown

Gen. George Washington

 

H

Washington’s attack unsuccessful

 

Washington to Valley Forge for winter

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1777-10

 

 

X

 

X

 

Br. plan - Burgoyne

NY: Saratoga but also on the Hudson with Br. fleet burning a city

H

 

Pat. had entrenched position and had multiple engagements

 

Burgoyne surrenders 5,700.soldiers–a turning point in the war because it leads to French support

 

X

1777-12

 

 

 

 

 

 

¾

 

 

¾

 

News of the Pat. victory at Saratoga …

Br. Lord North: offer of home rule (by April)

French…: offer of open support by treaty (Feb.)

 

French will provide:

§  navy

§  expeditionary force

§  money

§  munitions

 

Implication:

international support for Pat. by the enemies of Britain:

§  France

§  Spain

§  the Netherlands

-

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1781 – Yorktown and Its Significance – and the Essential Role of the French

 

If Military Event  

4

 

 

 

 

When?

6

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Casualty Status 

4

 

 

 

 

 

Where?/Who?

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Type 

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What?

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Victor  

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Significance OR General Event

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1781-03

 

 

X

 

X

 

NC: Guilford Courthouse

H[2]

 

Additional guerrilla warfare by Francis Marion. Tartleton (of Tarleton’s quarter–see 1780-08)- 350 killed after surrender.

Y

Blocks Cornwallis Southern campaign-needs reinforcement.

X

 

1781-05

 

 

X

 

X

 

VA: Cornwallis campaigns

 

 

Tarleton (see 1781-03) almost takes Jefferson (then governor of VA) and the legislature.

 

Cornwallis retreats to Yorktown

-

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1781-05 +

 

 

 

 

 

X

Major force of French navy, expeditionary force arrive

 

 

Washington leaves a deceptive force in North and heads South.

Y

 

-

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1781-10

 

 

X

 

X

X

NY: Yorktown

 

 

¾

 

Cornwallis surrenders 7,500

 

X

1782-02

 

 

 

 

 

 

Br. Lord North’s ministry fails

 

 

 

 

 

-

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1782 - Terms of the Peace (and What Happened to the Loyalists)

 

If Military Event  

4

 

 

 

 

When?

6

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Casualty Status 

4

 

 

 

 

 

Where?/Who?

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Type 

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What?

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Victor  

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Significance OR General Event

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1782-02 +

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat. negotiators: Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Adams

 

 

¾

 

Pat. negotiators are Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. Treaty (Preliminary peace in November)—separate negotiation with Britain (Spain wanted Gibraltar); Franklin keeps peace with Vergennes. The peace terms included:

·         Recognition of the independence of the U.S.

·         Territory from Canada to Florida and the Atlantic to the Mississippi –Why? ( Br. did not rapidly leave the territories.)

·         Recommendation to the States of restoration of Loyalists’ rights and property (American states did not.)

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1783-03

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat. mutiny, pay

 

 

¾

 

Washington calms the mutiny

-

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1783-04

 

 

 

 

 

 

NY: 7,000 Loyalists leave

 

 

 

 

Total: 100,000 leave for Europe or Canada because of the animosities (An estimated 1/5 to 1/3 of the colonists are Loyalists.)

-

-

 

 

Bringing Issues Together: Comparing the Two Sides – Click here for the version with answers to think about.)

 

 

General Comparisons of the British and Patriot Vulnerabilities and Strengths

 

Issue

British

Patriots

Battlegrounds

 

 

Power, relative

 

 

Public position

 

 

Requirement for victory

 

 

British Specific Strength and Weakness

Repeatedly, the British seem to fail because they don’t think through how their actions will look to others or how the enemy may act in innovative ways. Bottom line: It is a strength to have a self-righteous enemy.

 

Issue

Strength

Weakness

Experienced, trained army

 

 

Experienced, trained naval force

 

 

Need for soldiers in the region

 

 

 

 

 

Patriot Specific Strength and Weakness – The Articles of Confederation are part of that weakness.

 

Issue

Strength

Weakness

Citizen-soldier

 

 

Funding

 

 

Government in foreign relations

 

 

Government in general

 

 

Navy

 

 

Final Outcomes: Economy and Religion

The economy was vulnerable. Both states and the national government had large war debts. The new nation entered a three-year recession. Some new trading patterns were established with China and with other previously restricted regions.

 

Religion, which had been a key factor since the 1600s, changed. The Anglican Church was no longer an established church, financially subsidized by the government; it reformed as an independent Protestant Episcopal Church after the Revolution. Quakers, with their pacifist position, were weakened, but those supporting the Patriot cause–the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists, and somewhat the Catholics–were strengthened.


 

Copyright C. J. Bibus, Ed.D. 2003-2016

 

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or cjb_classes@yahoo.com

Last Updated:

2016

WCJC Home:

http://www.wcjc.edu/

 


[1] The blacks recruited to this and other service had a mixed fate. Some were sold into slavery; some were settled in Nova Scotia by the British; and some migrated to Sierra Leone (West Africa). (Source: Brendan McConville, essay in the Oxford Companion to American History, p. 668)

[2] Br. 100 dead, 400 wounded