The American Revolution and the Revolutionary War

The Revolution - Reminders

If needed, click here for the chronology through 1776
What changed the British government
- under King George I, II, III?
- with the challenges of the victory of the Seven Years’ War (known in the colonies as the French and Indian War)?

1.    Reminders of colonial government
- power of the purse
- 3-way structure of colonial government
- PLUS virtual representation vs. direct representation

2.     Trade relationships between colonists and merchants—and the dominant power in the Parliament

3.    What made the shift (1763 to 1776) from pro-empire to some favoring an American Revolution?
- - Why do boycotts work?
- What is the voice of the revolution? (Jefferson and Paine)

Key lines from Jefferson form the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, [text converted to bullets to help you notice issues]

§  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.

4.    Why a Declaration of Independence?

 

The War and the Peace
Click here for the key terms in yellow to help you focus on the war.

1.    Government during the war
- Major type of government in Europe
- Articles of Confederation and its type of government
- Powers and lack of 2 key powers

Something that will help some of you understand how very different are the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. (The issue is don’t assume what you know about in the Constitution was in the Articles.) The Primary Sources include a copy of the Articles of Confederation and a letter indicating the suffering of our troops.

Link for Self-Testing: Comparison tables showing the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution
Link with Answers:
With answers

2.    Types of war
- Civil war - Loyalists versus Patriots (AKA Tories versus Whigs)
- Revolutionary war –British & Hessians versus Patriots
- Indian war – Indians & British versus the new Americans

3.    What were the odds for the British and new Americans?
Examples: supplies (and the George Washington primary); Africans/African Americans; differences in new American south and north and what happens with slavery

Tom Paine again in service to chosen country during the war from the American Crisis: These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country, but he who stands it now, deserves the loves and thanks of man and woman.

 

4.    What 2 battles change the course of the war?
- 1777 Saratoga – New York (North) – who surrenders?
  French alliance; expanded alliance with the Dutch and Spanish
- 1781Yorktown – Vi rginia (South) – who surrenders?
   French alliance and French navy and army
 

5.    What are the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1783?
- Its parts
- Its western boundary

 

See the next chapter for government during the troubled peace including:

·       State governments and state constitutions (in Chapter 5)

·       No established church, a new development (in Chapter 5)

·       Northwest Ordinance (in Chapter 6)

·       Shays’s Rebellion (in Chapter 6)