revolutionary war overview

Lecture: American Revolution Overview
You’ll need a
pen or pencil
and three
colored
pencils:
yellow, blue,
and red.
When you see this image, it’s time to be silent.
What was the colonists’ battle cry?
NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION
Turn to your table mate and discuss what that means!
The King and Parliament decided what to tax in
the colonies. The colonists wanted to be part of
the decision-making process.
What was an example of something the
colonists thought was unfair?
Your example could be:
Stamp Act
Sugar Act
Tea Act
Navigation Acts (buy only from England)
Quartering Act
1660s Navigation Acts (England’s economic plan)
Colonies provide raw materials
for England
•Colonies provide market
for English manufactured goods
England had the favorable
balance of trade.
They SOLD more than
they bought.
Draw a circle of 13 stars
to represent the colonies.
Discuss with your table mates
what the colonists thought of the
balance of trade.
It’s so
unfair that we can
only trade with
England
Yeah,
these trade
restrictions
are too
severe.
Turn to your table mate and discuss:
What was the French and Indian War
(1754-1763) about?
What were the consequences of that war?
1754-1763 French and Indian War
•England won land
•War was expensive
Proclamation of 1763
•England prohibited colonists from moving west
into newly won territories
•Too expensive to protect settlers from
conflicts with Native Americans
• Colonists ordered to respect Native American
hunting grounds and land.
1763-1775 England shifts tax burden
•
Parliament and King George III enforced new tax
programs to make the colonies help get England out of
debt.
•
Colonists resented paying taxes when they hadn’t been
part of the decision-making process.
When the colonists believed they could no longer
tolerate being ruled by England, they wrote a famous
document.
1776: Colonists declare independence from England
In the Declaration of Independence,
Jefferson lists the reasons why the
13 colonies must break away.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men
are created equal.
We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal...
that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights....
that among these are
LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Make your key:
Patriots (Whigs)
Loyalists (Tories)
Undecided
What percentage of colonists were loyal to
England? wanted independence? were undecided?
40
40
20
Loyalists (Tories)
Patriots (Whigs)
20%
40%
40%
Undecided
Looking at Differences
13 Colonies
military
untrained
undisciplined
no war ships
Great Britain
military
strongest army and navy in world
well-equipped
trained and disciplined
Looking at Differences
13 Colonies
Leadership
Washington’s greatness:
•his ability to keep men
together in the face of all
odds (no experience, no
supplies, few wages)
•Tire, don’t fire
•Power of retreat; rarely
surrendered
Leadership
Great Britain
•fighting on foreign soil
•traditional techniques
•poor communication with head
office
•could conquer but not hold
•hard to blockade the entire coast
Support
13 Colonies
•Benjamin Franklin persuaded
France to loan $, send troops, provide a navy
•French stopped British navy from sending
reinforcements to General Cornwallis, so
Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at
Yorktown,VA. in 1781
Looking at Differences
Great Britain Support
•Loyalists in the South (strategy to move war south)
•Mercenaries (Hessians)
•Indians (promise of land)
Money $$$$$$
13 Colonies
•Had very little money
•Problematic that 13 separate colonies were printing 13
different currencies!
•Had to borrow money from France
Great Britain Money
Had enough money to hire
30,000 German mercenaries
(Hessians)
13 Colonies
Motivation
The colonists knew what they were fighting for; fighting to
make their OWN laws about everything, including trade
and taxes
Great Britain
Motivation
•Far from home (3000 miles)
•They had 30 other colonies besides the 13 colonies in
North America.
Treaty of Paris 1783
•Official recognition as a Separate Nation
•Set western boundary of U.S. at Mississippi River
•Set northern boundary at Great Lakes
•All foreign troops ordered to withdraw from U.S.
•These pages should already be trimmed.
•Separate them and attach to notebook.
•Title the page:
Lecture notes: American Revolution Overview