AMERICA SECEDES FROM THE EMPIRE

America Secedes from the Empire • The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775 in

Philadelphia. At this meeting, every colony was represented. There was still no well-defined sentiment for independence—merely a desire to keep fighting in the hope that the king and Parliament would consent to rectify their grievances. The congress drafted appeals to the British people and to the King but these appeals were rejected or ignored.

• The most important action of the congress was to select George Washington to head the Continental Army. Washington was gifted with outstanding powers of leadership. He radiated patience, courage, self-discipline, a sense of justice and people instinctively trusted him. He also insisted on serving without pay.

Bunker Hill and the Hessians • The early war was contradictory. On one

hand the Americans were affirming their loyalty to the King and wanting to patch up their differences. On the other hand they were raising armies and shooting British soldiers. This inconsistent period lasted for about 14 months from April 1775-July 1776.

• In May 1775, an American force commanded by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold captured the key locations of Ticonderoga and Crown Point in upper New York.

• In June 1775, colonists seized a hill now known as Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill) and entrenched themselves on top. The British decided that a frontal attack up the hill would dislodge the colonists. They attacked with 3000 men while the colonists had only 1500. The colonists however were very efficient and slaughtered the British as they advanced. They eventually ran out of gunpowder and were forced to abandon the hill.

Bunker Hill and the Hessians • In July 1775, the Continental Congress

adopted the Olive Branch Petition which professed American loyalty to the crown and begged the King to prevent further hostilities. Following Bunker Hill, King George III refused to hear any pleas for reconciliation. In August 1775, King George formally proclaimed that the colonies were in rebellion and any skirmishes with British troops were treason.

• He then hired thousands of German mercenaries called Hessians. Colonists were shocked when they heard of the Hessian mercenaries. They felt that this dispute was a family affair. The Hessians were good soldiers but many were more concerned with booty than duty. Hundred finally deserted and remained in America to become respected citizens.

Thomas Paine and Common Sense • Many Americans had a hard time

agreeing with moving toward independence from Great Britain. Then in 1776 came the publication of one of the most influential pamphlets ever written, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

• Paine had only arrived in the colonies one year earlier but quickly grew to believe in the necessity of the colonies independence. Paine’s pamphlet sold nearly 120,000 copies within a few months.

• Paine’s main argument dealt with the argument that nowhere in nature did a smaller thing control a larger thing (GB= island, US=continent). Paine further argued that the creation of a new type of government for the colonies was needed, a republic where all government officials should derive their authority from popular consent. Needless to say, Paine’s ideas and words fell on receptive ears.

The Declaration of Independence • On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of

Virginia moved that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states…” After considerable debate, the motion was adopted on July 2, 1776. The task of writing the formal declaration fell to 33 year old Virginia lawyer Thomas Jefferson.

• Jefferson gave his document universal appeal by invoking the “natural rights” of humankind. He argued that since the King had flouted these rights the colonists were justified in cutting their connection. He then set forth a long list of the tyrannical misdeeds of King George III. The declaration was adopted July 4, 1776.

Patriots and Loyalists • The war for independence was a war within a war. Colonists

loyal to the King fought the American rebels while the rebels also fought the British redcoats. Those Americans who were loyal to the King were called Tories by the rebels or Patriots.

• Loyalists were about 16% of the colonial population and many families split over the issue of independence. Many people of education and wealth remained loyal. Loyalists were most numerous in the older generation and often included the king’s officers and other beneficiaries of the crown.

• Usually Loyalists were most numerous where the Anglican Church was strongest. Loyalists were least numerous in New England were the Patriots were most numerous. Some 50,000 Loyalist volunteers at one time or another bore arms for the British.

Patriots and Loyalists• Patriots said that “A Tory is a thing whose head is in England,

and its body in America, and its neck ought to be stretched.”• Like many revolutions, the American Revolution was a minority

movement. Many colonists were apathetic or neutral. The opposing forces contended with each other as well as for the allegiance and support of the civilian population. In this effort, the British were terrible. The British military was only able to control those areas where it could maintain a massive military presence.

• Colonial militias convinced many colonists, even those who were indifferent to independence, that the British army was an unreliable friend and that they had better join the Patriot cause. The militias also mercilessly harassed small British detachments and occupation forces. One British officer was quoted as saying that “the Americans would be less dangerous if they had a regular army.”

General Washington• In April 1776, the British settled into their

new headquarters in New York City where they enjoyed strong Loyalist support and where they would remain for the rest of the war. In July of 1776, some 500 ships arrived in New York loaded with nearly 35,000 British troops.

• George Washington could only muster 18,000 ill-trained and equipped troops to meet this new force. Washington and the continental troops were beaten badly at the Battle of Long Island and were forced to retreat to New Jersey near the Delaware River in the late fall of 1776. Here Washington remained until Christmas night.

• That night he and the Continental Army crossed the ice-clogged river in boats. This move surprised the British forces (Hessians) at Trenton, N.J. where he captured nearly 1000 prisoners. One week later he slipped away from the British by leaving his campfires burning and inflicted a large defeat on the British at Princeton, N.J.

Two Major British Defeats • In early 1777, the British decided on a plan that, if successful, would

cut off New England from the rest of the states and paralyze the American cause. The main British force was commanded by General John Burgoyne. General Howe, at New York would aid if necessary while the smallest British force would be commanded by Colonel Barry St. Leger. St. Leger was beaten badly at the Battle of Oriskany.

• Burgoyne began his march with 7,000 troops. Their march was slowed due to the fact that the troops needed to chop their path through the forest. American militiamen began to gather on Burgoyne’s flanks. After a series of pitched battles, Burgoyne was forced to surrender to American general Horatio Gates after the Battle of Saratoga. The victory revived the colonial cause. After news of the victory reached France, Benjamin Franklin was able to achieve an alliance with France for the United States.

From a Colonial War to a World War• With the treaty of alliance in place,

France and England began fighting in 1778. Spain and Holland entered the fight against Britain in 1779 with many other European nations affirming their neutrality but hostility towards Britain from 1780-1783. The war would now be fought not only in North America but in Europe, South America, the Caribbean and Asia as well.

• To Britain struggling for its very life, the fight in the New World became secondary. America did not achieve its independence until the war became a world war that was too big for Britain to handle. Frances entrance into the war forced Britain to change their strategy in America.

The War in the 1780’s • In the summer of 1780, 3000 French

soldiers commanded by Comte de Rochambeau landed in Rhode Island and did much to raise American morale. Later in 1780, however, American morale was gravely hurt when General Benedict Arnold turned traitor.

• Arnold felt that he was under appreciated as a commander and decided to sell out the key fort at West Point, New York for $6300 (English Pounds) and an officer’s commission. By accident the plot was discovered and Arnold fled to the British.

The War in the 1780’s • The main British Army in the 1780 had

shifted their efforts to the southern colonies where Loyalists were numerous. Georgia was secured by the British in 1778-1779; Charleston, South Carolina fell in 1780. This loss was a huge one for the Continental Army because 5000 men and 400 cannon were captured and taken prisoner.

• The tide of battle in the south turned in late 1780 and early 1781 with the leadership of American General Nathanael Greene. He used a strategy of delay in which he would stand and then retreat, thus exhausting his enemy, General Charles Cornwallis, in a vain pursuit.

The War in the 1780’s • The west was also a scene of battles during the war. Many

Indian tribes had sided with the British hoping to protect their land from further white settlement. Two nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Oneidas and the Tuscarora’s, sided with the Americans, the Seneca’s, Mohawks, Cayuga’s, and Onondagas joined the British.

• They were led by Mohawk chief Joseph Brant. Brant and the British ravaged large areas of backcountry Pennsylvania and New York until they were stopped by an American force in 1779.

• In 1784, pro-British Iroquois were forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the first treaty between the United States and an Indian nation. In this treaty the Indians ceded most of their land.

Yorktown and the End of the War• 1780-1781 was one of the toughest years of the war.

Inflation of the currency was maintained even though the government was virtually bankrupt. Despair prevailed and the sense of unity suffered.

• Debt: at the rate of only 2.5 cents on the dollar.• Meanwhile, British general Cornwallis had fallen back to

the Chesapeake Bay at Yorktown, Virginia to await supplies and reinforcements that were due to arrive by sea. He assumed that Britain would continue to control the sea. But these few weeks happened to be one of the brief periods during the war when British naval superiority slipped away.

Yorktown and the end of the War• French Admiral de Grasse advised the Americans that his naval

force was free to join them in an assault on Cornwallis at Yorktown. Washington made a swift march of more than 300 miles from N.Y. to the Chesapeake. Rochambeau’s French army and Washington’s Continental Army laid siege to Yorktown by land while de Grasse blockaded the British by sea. This completely cornered Cornwallis and on October 19, 1781 Cornwallis surrendered his 7000 men. This surrender marked the end of the war even though fighting continued for more than a year after the surrender.

• After Yorktown, many Britons were tired of war and ready to come to terms with the colonies. The peace treaty negotiations took place in Paris with Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay representing the United States. These three men had explicit instructions from the Congress to make no separate peace and to consult with their French allies at all stages of the negotiations. The three Americans hated these orders.

Yorktown and the end of the War• During the negotiations, France had their own agenda and it

didn’t necessarily have America’s best interests at heart. John Jay realized this and secretly made contacts with the British government. The British eagerly and speedily came to terms with the Americans with the final treaty coming in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.

• Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States, set the western border at the Mississippi River, the northern border at the Great Lakes, and the Southern border at Florida, which had returned to Spain. America agreed to stop persecuting Loyalists and to recommend to state legislatures that confiscated Loyalist property should be returned.