The American Revolution - Schoolwiresmisdtx.schoolwires.com/cms/lib/TX21000394/Centricity/Domain/112/ch... · The American Revolution 1754 ... 1754 •French and Indian War for control

72

The AmericanRevolution 17541789

1754 French and Indian

War for control ofeastern NorthAmerica begins

1770 British troops

fire on colonistsin BostonMassacre

1748 Montesquieus

Spirit of the Lawspublished

1751 Chinese invade Tibet and control

succession to the throne

1755 Samuel Johnsons Dictionary of

the English Language published

Why It MattersIn the early colonial period, colonists grew accustomed to running their own affairs. When

Britain tried to reestablish control, tensions mounted over taxes and basic rights. In 1775 these tensions led to battle, and in 1776 the colonists declared their independence. With the

help of France and Spain, the colonists defeated the British in 1781; the conflict formally endedwith the Treaty of Paris in 1783. After the war, the new nation drew up a plan of government

that balanced the power of a central government against the powers of the states.

The Impact TodayThe American Revolution and the countrys early experiences had lasting results.

Americans value and protect local liberties and the right to representation in government. The Constitution remains a model for representative government.

The American Republic Since 1877 VideoThe Chapter 3 video, The Power of the Constitution,discusses one of the nations most important documents.

1765 Parliament passes

the Stamp Act,triggering proteststhroughout thecolonies

1769 Steam engine

patented byJames Watt

1750 1760 1770

73

1776 Adam Smiths treatise on

mercantilism, The Wealthof Nations, published

Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1851

1776 Declaration of

Independence signed

1775 The first shots of the

Revolutionary Warfired at Lexingtonand Concord inMassachusetts

1786 Shayss Rebellion begins

1787 Constitutional

Conventionbegins inPhiladelphia

1787 Freed Africans found

colony in Sierra Leone

1778 James Cook lands

on Hawaii

1789 French Revolution begins

1789 George Washington

becomes first presidentunder the Constitution

Washington17891797

17901780

1783 Treaty of Paris signed,

officially ending war

1781 Cornwallis surrenders at

Yorktown

Articles of Confederationratified

HISTORY

Chapter OverviewVisit the American RepublicSince 1877 Web site at

and click on Chapter OverviewsChapter 3 to preview chapterinformation.

tx.tarvol2.glencoe.com

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/tar22003/tx/content.php4/692/1

1754French and Indian War begins;Albany Conference meets

74 CHAPTER 3 The American Revolution

1760 1772

At first, Pennsylvania colonist John Hughes was delighted when his friend Ben Franklinhelped him to get the position of stamp tax collector. By September 1765, however, he fearedhis job might cost him his life. Anti-tax protests had grown so strong that Hughes barricadedhimself inside his house to avoid being attacked. He wrote frantically to Franklin in London:

You are now from Letter to Letter to suppose each may be the last you will receive fromyour old Friend, as the Spirit of . . . Rebellion is to a high Pitch. . . . Madness has got hold ofthe people. . . . I fancy some Lives will be lost before this Fire is put out. . . .

Just a few years earlier, British soldiers and American colonists had fought side by side in asuccessful war against France. After the war ended, tensions between Britain and its coloniesgrew. Britain wanted the colonies to help pay for the war, while the colonists questionedBritains authority to make them do so. Misunderstanding and distrust slowly turned manycolonists against the British, creating situations that would eventually lead to revolution.

adapted from What They Didnt Teach You About the American Revolution

The French and Indian WarThe French and English had been vying for dominance in Europe since the late 1600s,

fighting three major wars between 1689 and 1748. Most of the action took place inEurope, but when France and England were at war, their colonies were at war as well. In1754 a new struggle began.

The Colonies Fight for Their Rights

1766

1763Treaty of Paris endsFrench and Indian War

1765Stamp Actpassed

1770Boston Massacre

1767TownshendActs passed

British revenue stamp

1754

Main IdeaTensions grew as British leaders soughtgreater control over the Americancolonies.

Key Terms and Names Albany Plan of Union, French and IndianWar, Royal Proclamation of 1763, customs duty, Sons of Liberty, Stamp ActCongress, nonimportation agreement,writs of assistance

Reading StrategyOrganizing As you read about the grow-ing tensions between Britain and theAmerican colonies, complete a graphicorganizer like the one below by listing thecauses of the French and Indian War.

Reading Objectives Summarize reasons for colonial

discontent. Explain how the Stamp Act affected

the relationship between Britain and the colonies.

Section ThemeCivic Rights and Responsibilities Thecolonists belief that they had the samerights as English citizens led to a struggleagainst Parliament and the king.

Causes

French and Indian War

The First Skirmish In the 1740s, the British andFrench both became interested in the Ohio River val-ley. By crossing from Lake Ontario to the Ohio Riverand following the river south to the Mississippi, theFrench could travel from New France to Louisianaeasily. Meanwhile, British fur traders were enteringthe Ohio region, and British land speculators beganeyeing the land to sell to settlers.

To block British claims in the region, the Frenchbuilt a chain of forts from Lake Ontario to the OhioRiver. The British decided to counter with a fort oftheir own in western Pennsylvania. Before they couldcomplete it, however, the French seized it and builtFort Duquesne on the site.

In an attempt to expel the French, a youngVirginian, George Washington, led troops towardthe Ohio River in the spring of 1754. After a brief battle with a small French force, Washingtonretreated to a hastily built stockade, Fort Necessity. Alittle over a month later, a large French force arrivedand forced Washington to surrender. Ownership ofthe Ohio River valley was far from settled, however.Within a few years, the conflict would grow into aworldwide war involving several European powers.

The Albany Conference Even before the fightingstarted, the British government anticipated hostili-ties. It urged the colonies to work together to preparefor war and to negotiate analliance with the Iroquois. TheIroquois controlled westernNew York, territory the Frenchhad to pass through to reachthe Ohio River. Accordingly, inJune 1754, delegates fromseven colonies met with 150Iroquois leaders at Albany,New York.

This meeting, known as theAlbany Conference, achievedseveral things. Although theIroquois refused an alliancewith the British, they did agreeto remain neutral. The coloniesalso agreed that Britain shouldappoint one supreme com-mander of all troops in thecolonies. Finally, BenjaminFranklin and others at the con-ference developed the AlbanyPlan of Union, which pro-posed that the colonies unite toform a federal government.

Although the colonies rejected the plan, it showedthat many colonial leaders had begun to think aboutjoining together for defense.

The British Triumph In 1755 the new British com-mander in chief, General Edward Braddock, arrivedin Virginia with 1,400 troops. He linked up with 450local militia troops and appointed Lieutenant ColonelGeorge Washington to serve as his aide. Braddockthen headed west, intending to attack Fort Duquesne.The general disregarded warnings about the NativeAmerican allies of the French. These savages mayindeed be a formidable enemy to your raw Americanmilitia, he told Benjamin Franklin. Upon the Kingsregular and disciplined troops, it is impossible theyshould make any impression.

Braddocks comments later came back to haunthim. Seven miles from Fort Duquesne, French andNative American forces ambushed the British.Braddock was shot and later died. His inexperiencedsoldiers panicked, and only Washingtons leadershipsaved them from disaster. As enemy shots whizzedpast himleaving four holes in his hat and clothesWashington rallied the troops and organized a retreat.

The ambush emboldened the Delaware people ofwestern Pennsylvania to begin attacking British set-tlers on their land. For the next two years, the Frenchand Indian War, as it was called, raged along the

Fatal Meeting The Battle of Quebec in 1759 was one of Britains most dramatic victories over the Frenchduring the French and Indian War. Both commanding generals, the French Montcalm and the British Wolfe,were killed on the Plains of Abraham, the bluffs above the St. Lawrence River. From studying the painting,why do you think it was difficult for the British to invade Quebec?

History Through Art

CHAPTER 3 The American Revolution 75

frontier. In 1756 the fighting between Britain andFrance spread to Europe, where it became known asThe Seven Years War. Other countries entered thefray, and battles were waged around the globe.

In North America, the British fleet quickly cut offthe flow of supplies and reinforcements from France.The Iroquois, realizing the tide had turned in favor ofthe British, pressured the Delaware to end theirattacks. With their Native American allies giving up,the French found themselves badly outnumbered.

In 1759 a British fleet commanded by GeneralJames Wolfe sailed to Quebec City in New France.There the British defeated the French troops ofGeneral Louis Joseph Montcalm. The battle cost bothWolfe and Montcalm their lives, but Britains victorywas the wars turning point in North America.

Elsewhere in the world, the fighting continued.Spain joined forces with France in 1761, but theBritish ultimately triumphed. Under the terms of the

Treaty of Paris in 1763, France lost all claims to main-land North America. Ownership of New France andmost of Louisiana east of the Mississippi went toBritain. Spain lost Florida but retained Cuba and thePhilippines. As compensation for the loss of Florida,the Spanish gained New Orleans and westernLouisiana.

Examining Why were the Frenchand the British interested in the Ohio River valley?

The Colonies Grow Discontented Great Britains victory in 1763 left the country

deeply in debt. It had to pay not only the cost of thewar, but also the cost of governing and defending itsnew territories. Many British leaders thought that thecolonies should share in the costs, especially the costof stationing troops in the colonies. As the Britishgovernment adopted new policies to solve its finan-cial problems, colonial resentment grew.

The Proclamation Act of 1763 In the spring of1763, Pontiac, the chief of the Ottawa people,decided to go to war against the British. After unitingseveral Native American groups, including theOttawa, Delaware, Shawnee, and Seneca peoples,Pontiacs forces attacked several forts and townsalong the frontier before British troops were able tostop them. Pontiacs war did not surprise British offi-cials. They had been expecting trouble since 1758,when reports first indicated that settlers were mov-ing into western Pennsylvania in defiance of thecolonys treaty with the regions Native Americans.

British officials did not want to bear the cost ofanother war. Many officials also owned shares in furtrading companies operating in the region, and theyknew that a war would disrupt trade. They decidedthat the best solution was to limit western settlementuntil new treaties could be negotiated.

When news of Pontiacs raids reached Britain inthe summer of 1763, officials hurried to completetheir plans. In early October, King George III issuedthe Royal Proclamation of 1763. The Proclamationdrew a line from north to south along theAppalachian Mountains and declared that colonistscould not settle any land west of the line without theBritish governments permission. This enraged manyfarmers and land speculators.

Customs Reform and New Taxes At the sametime the Proclamation Act was angering westernfarmers, eastern merchants were objecting to new taxpolicies. In 1763 George Grenville became the prime

300 kilometers0Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

300 miles0

N

S

EW

40N

30N

70W

80W

APPA

LA

CHIA

NM

OU

NTA

INS

ATLaNTICOCEaN

Gulf of Mexico

INDIANRESERVE

LOUISIANA

EASTFLORIDA

QUEBEC

WESTFLORIDA

HUDSO N'S BAYCOM

PANY

MAINE(Part ofMASS.)

N.H.MASS.

R.I.CONN.

N.Y.

PA.N.J.

DEL.MD.

VA.

N.C.

S.C.

GA.

The Proclamation of 1763

Proclamation line of 1763

Original 13 Colonies

Other British Territory

Spanish Territory


1. Interpreting Maps What physical barrier follows theapproximate boundary set by the Proclamation of 1763?

2. Applying Geography Skills Why do you think colonistswanted to settle west of the boundary line?

minister and first lord of the Treasury. Grenville hadto find a way to reduce Britains debt and pay for the10,000 British troops now stationed in NorthAmerica.

Grenville discovered that merchants were smug-gling goods into and out of the colonies withoutpaying customs dutiestaxes on imports andexports. Grenville pushed for a law allowing smug-glers to be tried in a new vice-admiralty court inHalifax, Nova Scotia. Unlike colonial courts, wherejuries often sympathized with smugglers,vice-admiralty courts were run by navalofficers and had no juries, a violationof the traditional English right to ajury of ones peers. Sendingcolonists to distant Nova Scotiaalso violated their right to aspeedy public trial.

Among those tried under thenew system was John Hancockof Massachusetts. Hancock hadmade a fortune in the sugar trade,smuggling molasses from Frenchcolonies in the Caribbean. De-fending Hancock was a younglawyer named John Adams. Adamsargued that the use of vice-admiraltycourts denied colonists their rights asBritish citizens.

In addition to tightening customscontrol, Grenville introduced the American RevenueAct of 1764, better known as the Sugar Act. The actchanged the tax rates on imports of raw sugar andmolasses. It also placed new taxes on silk, wine, coffee,and indigo.

Merchants throughout the colonies complained toParliament that the Sugar Act hurt trade. Many werealso furious that the act violated several traditionalEnglish rights. Merchants accused of smuggling werepresumed guilty unless proven innocent. The act alsolet officials seize goods without due process, orproper court procedures, in some circumstances, andprevented lawsuits by merchants whose goods hadbeen improperly seized.

In many colonial cities, pamphlets circulated con-demning the Sugar Act. In one pamphlet, James Otisargued that taxes could be levied to regulate trade,but those designed to raise money were unjustbecause the colonists had no representatives inParliament. Otis wrote, No parts of His Majestysdominions can be taxed without their consent. . . .His words gave rise to the popular expression, Notaxation without representation.

Parliament soon passed another unpopular meas-ure, the Currency Act of 1764. This act banned theuse of paper money in the colonies because it tendedto lose its value very quickly. Colonial farmers andartisans liked paper money for precisely that reason.They could take out loans and easily repay them laterwith paper money that was worth less than whenthey originally borrowed.

Summarizing How did Britain hopeto solve its financial problems after the French and Indian War?

The Stamp Act CrisisAlthough the Sugar Act had

begun to generate money forBritain, Grenville did not believe itwould cover all of the govern-ments expenses in America. Toraise more money, he persuadedParliament to pass the Stamp Actin March 1765.

The Stamp Act required stampsto be bought and placed on most

printed materials, including newspa-pers, pamphlets, posters, wills, mort-gages, deeds, licenses, bonds, andeven diplomas, dice, and playingcards. Unlike previous taxes, whichhad always been imposed on trade,

the stamp tax was a direct taxthe first Britain hadever placed on the colonists. Parliament then passedone more law. The Quartering Act was intended tomake the colonies pay more for their own defense.The act required colonists to provide barracks forBritish troops or pay to house them in taverns, inns,vacant buildings, and barns.

It was the Stamp Act, however, that triggered areaction. Editorials, pamphlets, and speeches pouredout against the impending tax. The Virginia House ofBurgesses, roused by Patrick Henrys speeches, passedresolutions declaring that Virginians were entitled tothe rights of British people and could be taxed only bytheir own representatives. Newspapers in othercolonies reprinted the resolutions, and other assem-blies passed similar statements. By the summer of1765, groups calling themselves the Sons of Libertywere organizing meetings and protests and trying tointimidate stamp distributors. ; (See page 930 for moreon one of Patrick Henrys speeches.)

In October 1765, representatives from nine of thecolonies met for what became known as the StampAct Congress. Together, they issued the Declaration


George Grenville

of Rights and Grievances. Drafted by a wealthyPennsylvania farmer and lawyer named JohnDickinson, the declaration argued that only thecolonists political representatives, and not Parlia-ment, had the right to tax them. The congress thenpetitioned King George for relief and askedParliament to repeal the Stamp Act.

When the Stamp Act took effect on November 1, thecolonists ignored it. They began to boycott all goodsmade in Britain. In New York, 200 merchants signed anonimportation agreement, pledging not to buy anyBritish goods until Parliament repealed the Stamp Act.

The boycott had a powerful effect on England.Thousands of workers lost their jobs as orders fromthe colonies were cancelled. British merchants couldnot collect money the colonies owed them.

With protests mounting in both England andAmerica, British lawmakers repealed the Stamp Actin 1766. To demonstrate its authority over thecolonies, however, Parliament also passed theDeclaratory Act. This asserted that the colonies were

subordinate to the British Parliament, and that Parlia-ment had the power to make laws for the colonies.

Summarizing What actions didcolonists take in response to the Stamp Act?

The Townshend ActsDuring the Stamp Act crisis, Britains financial

problems had worsened. Protests in England hadforced Parliament to lower property taxes there, yetsomehow the government had to pay for its troops inAmerica. In 1767 Charles Townshend, the newChancellor of the Exchequer, introduced new meas-ures to raise money from the colonies. These came tobe called the Townshend Acts.

One measure, the Revenue Act of 1767, put new cus-toms duties on glass, lead, paper, paint, and teaimported into the colonies. Violators of the RevenueAct could be tried in vice-admiralty courts, where theywere presumed guilty and had to prove their inno-cence. The Townshend Acts, like the Sugar Act, alsoallowed officials to seize private property under certaincircumstances without following due process.

To help customs officers arrest smugglers, theRevenue Act legalized the use of writs of assistance.These were general search warrants that enabled cus-toms officers to enter any location during the day tolook for evidence of smuggling. Writs had been usedbefore, but in 1760 James Otis had challenged them incourt. The issue remained unresolved until theRevenue Act of 1767 declared writs of assistance to belegal.

Action and Reaction The Townshend Acts infuri-ated many colonists. During the winter of 1767 to1768, John Dickinson published his Letters from aPennsylvania Farmer in colonial newspapers. In theseessays, Dickinson reasserted that only assemblieselected by the colonists had the right to tax them. Inaddition, he called on the colonies to become firmlybound together to form one body politic to resistthe Townshend Acts.

Less than a month after Dickinsons first letterappeared, the Massachusetts assembly began organ-izing against Britain. Among the leaders of this resist-ance was Sam Adams of Massachusetts, cousin ofJohn Adams. In February 1768, Sam Adams, with thehelp of James Otis, drafted a circular letter for theMassachusetts assembly to pass and circulate toother colonies. The letter expressed opposition to theTownshend Acts, and British officials ordered the Massachusetts assembly to withdraw it. Whenthe assembly refused, the British government


Causes and Effects of Tensions With Britain

Causes

Effects

1764, Sugar Act 1765, Stamp Act 1767, Townshend Acts 1773, Tea Act 1774, Coercive Acts

Colonists protest that their rights havebeen violated.

Nine colonies hold Stamp Act Congress.

Colonists boycott British goods. Sons and Daughters of Liberty

formed. Tea dumped into Boston Harbor

during the Boston Tea Party. Twelve colonies attend the

Continental Congress.

Parliaments efforts to tax the colonists led to growingprotests in the colonies.

Analyzing Information If you had been a colonist, howwould you have reacted to these taxes? Why?

Writing About History


Checking for Understanding1. Define: customs duty, nonimportation

agreement, writs of assistance.2. Identify: Albany Plan of Union, French

and Indian War, Royal Proclamation of1763, Sons of Liberty, Stamp ActCongress.

3. Summarize the causes of the Frenchand Indian War.

Reviewing Themes4. Civic Rights and Responsibilities

What argument did the colonists use toprotest the Stamp Act ?

Critical Thinking 5. Evaluating Was it reasonable for Great

Britain to expect the colonists to helppay for the French and Indian War andfor their own defense? Why or why not?

6. Categorizing Use a graphic organizerto describe the acts Parliament passedafter the French and Indian War.

Analyzing Visuals7. Analyzing Charts Study the chart on

page 78 of causes and effects of ten-sions with Britain. Then make your ownsimilar chart. Use the causes listed inthe chart you studied as the effects inyour own chart. The causes in yourchart should reflect the reasons Britainpassed these acts.

8. Persuasive Writing Imagine you area member of the Sons or Daughters ofLiberty. Write a pamphlet explainingwhat your group does and urging fellow colonists to join.

ordered the body dissolved. In August 1768, the mer-chants of Boston and New York responded by sign-ing nonimportation agreements. Philadelphiasmerchants joined the boycott in March 1769.

In May 1769, Virginias House of Burgesses passedthe Virginia Resolves, which stated that only theHouse could tax Virginians. When Britain orderedthe House dissolved, its leadersincluding GeorgeWashington, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jeffersonimmediately called the members to a convention.This convention then passed a nonimportation lawthat blocked the sale of British goods in Virginia.

As the boycott spread, the colonists again stoppeddrinking British tea and buying British cloth.Womens groups known as the Daughters of Libertybegan spinning their own rough cloth, called home-spun. Wearing homespun rather than British clothbecame a sign of patriotism. Throughout the colonies,the Sons of Liberty encouraged people to support theboycotts. In 1769 colonial imports from Britaindeclined sharply from what they had been in 1768.

The Boston Massacre In the fall of 1768, as vio-lence against customs officers in Boston increased,Britain dispatched roughly 1,000 soldiers to the cityto maintain order. Bostonians heckled and harassedthese troops, referring to them as lobster backsbecause of the red coats they wore. On March 5,1770, a crowd of colonists began taunting andthrowing snowballs at a British soldier guarding acustoms house. His call for help brought CaptainThomas Preston and a squad of soldiers. Prestondescribed what happened next:

The mob still increased and were more outra-geous, striking their clubs and bludgeons one againstanother, and calling out, Come on you rascals, youbloody backs, you lobster scoundrels, fire if youdare . . . we know you dare not. . . . They advancedto the points of the bayonets, struck some of themand even the muzzles of the pieces, and seemed tobe endeavoring to [fight] with the soldiers.

quoted in American Voices, American Lives

In the midst of the tumult, one soldier wasknocked down. He rose angrily and fired his weaponinto the crowd. This triggered a volley of shots fromthe rest of the troops, who thought they were underattack. When the smoke cleared, three colonists laydead, two more would die later, and six more werewounded. According to accounts, the first person todie was a part African, part Native American manknown as both Michael Johnson and Crispus Attucks.

The incident became known as the BostonMassacre. Colonial newspapers portrayed the Britishas tyrants who were willing to kill people who stoodup for their rights. Further violence might haveensued, had not news arrived a few weeks later thatthe British had repealed almost all of the TownshendActs. Parliament kept one taxon teato uphold itsright to tax the colonies. At the same time, it allowedthe colonial assemblies to resume meeting. Peace andstability returned to the colonies, but only temporarily.

Identifying Who led resistance toBritish taxation in Massachusetts? In Virginia?

Act Year Key Features


Comparing Accounts ofthe Boston Massacre

On the night of March 5, 1770, Captain Thomas Preston sent Britishtroops to protect the Customs House in Boston from a group ofcolonists who had gathered nearby. Twenty minutes later, thetroops had killed or wounded 11 people. The tragedy became known asthe Boston Massacre. What happened that night? Youre the historian.

Read the two accounts of the Boston Massacre below. One is Captain Prestons report of the event. The other is a colonists account that quotes eyewitness SamuelDrowne. After reading the accounts, answer the questions and complete the activitiesthat follow.

The Bloody Massacre, engraving by Paul Revere, 1770

On Monday night . . . about 9some of the guards came to andinformed me the town inhabi-tants were assembling to attackthe troops. . . . In a few minutesafter I reached the guard, about100 people passed it and wenttowards the custom house wherethe kings money is lodged. Theyimmediately surrounded the sen-try posted there, and with clubsand other weapons threatened toexecute their vengeance onhim. . . .

I immediately sent a noncommis-sioned officer and 12 men to pro-tect both the sentry and the kingsmoney, and very soon followedmyself to prevent, if possible, alldisorder, fearing lest the officerand soldiers, by the insults andprovocations of the rioters,should be thrown off their guardand commit some rash act. . . .

Nay, so far was I from intendingthe death of any person that I suf-fered the troops to go . . . with-out any loading in their [guns];nor did I ever give orders forloading them. . . .

The mob still increased and weremore outrageous, striking theirclubs or bludgeons one againstanother, and calling out come onyou rascals, you bloody backs,you lobster scoundrels, fire if youdare. . . .

At this time I was between thesoldiers and the mob . . . endeav-oring all in my power to per-suade them to retire peaceably,but to no purpose. Theyadvanced to the points of thebayonets, [and] struck some ofthem. . . . A general attack wasmade on the men by a great num-ber of heavy clubs and snowballsbeing thrown at them, by which

all our lives were in imminentdanger, some persons at the sametime from behind calling out,damn you bloodswhy dontyou fire. Instantly three or four ofthe soldiers fired, one afteranother, and directly after threemore in the same confusion andhurry. . . .

The whole of the melancholyaffair was transacted in almosttwenty minutes. On my askingthe soldiers why they fired with-out orders, they said that theyheard the word fire and sup-posed it came from me. Thismight be the case as many of themob called out fire, fire, but Iassured the men that I gave nosuch order; that my words were,dont fire, stop your firing. Inshort, it was scarcely possible forthe soldiers to know who said fire,or dont fire, or stop your firing.

Samuel Drowne [a witness]declares that, about nine oclockof the evening of the fifth ofMarch current, standing at hisown door in Cornhill, he sawabout fourteen or fifteensoldiers. . . . [The soldiers] cameupon the inhabitants of the town,then standing or walking inCornhill, and abused some, andviolently assaulted others as theymet them; most of them werewithout so much of a stick in theirhand to defend themselves, as heclearly could discern, it beingmoonlight, and himself being oneof the assaulted persons.

All or most of the said soldiers hesaw go into King Street (some ofthem through Royal Exchange

Land), and there followed them,and soon discovered them to bequarreling and fighting with thepeople whom they saw there,which he thinks were not morethan a dozen. . . .

The outrageous behavior and thethreats of the said party occa-sioned the ringing of the meetinghouse bell . . . which bell . . .presently brought out a number ofthe inhabitants, who . . . were nat-urally led to King Street, where[the British] had made a stop but alittle while before, and where theirstopping had drawn together anumber of boys, round the sentryat the Custom House. . . .

There was much foul languagebetween them, and some of them,

in consequence of hispushing at them with hisbayonet, threw snowballsat him, which occasionedhim to knock hastily at thedoor of the CustomHouse. . . .

The officer on guard wasCaptain Preston, who withseven or eight soldiers,with firearms and chargedbayonets, issued from theguardhouse, and in greathaste posted himself andhis soldiers in front of theCustom House, near thecorner aforesaid. In passingto this station the soldierspushed several persons

with their bayonets, drivingthrough the people in distur-bance. This occasioned somesnowballs to be thrown at them,which seems to be the onlyprovocation that was given. . . .

Captain Preston is said to haveordered them to fire, and to haverepeated the order. One gun wasfired first; then others in succes-sion, and with deliberation, tillten or a dozen guns were fired; ortill that number of dischargeswere made from the guns thatwere fired. By which meanseleven persons were killed orwounded.

The site of the Boston Massacrein present-day Boston

Crispus Attucks, the first colonistto die in the Boston Massacre

Understanding the Issue1. On what events of the night of

March 5, 1770, do the two accountsexcerpted here agree?

2. On what descriptions of the eventsdo the two accounts differ?

3. As the historian, how do you assessthe credibility of the two accounts?

Activities1. Investigate What happened to

Captain Preston after the events ofMarch 5? What were the immediateresults of the Boston Massacre?Check other sources, including thoseavailable on the Internet.

2. Mock Trial Role play a mock trial ofthe Boston Massacre. Includewitnesses, a prosecutor, a defenseattorney, a judge, and a jury.


1773Boston TeaParty

Massachusetts Defies BritainFor more than two years after the Boston Massacre, the repeal of the Townshend Acts

had brought calm. Then, in the spring of 1772, a new crisis began. Britain introducedseveral policies that again ignited the flames of rebellion in the American colonies. Thistime, the fire could not be put out.

On the night of December 17, 1773, a group of men secretly assembled along a Bostondock to strike a blow against Britain. One of the men was George Hewes, a struggling Bostonshoemaker, who had grown to despise the British. Initially, Hewes had taken offense whenBritish soldiers stopped and questioned him on the street and when they refused to pay himfor shoes. After the Boston Massacre, which Hewes witnessed, his hatred grew more political.

So, after he daubed his face and hands with coal dust, in the shop of a blacksmith, hegladly joined the other volunteers on that cold December night as they prepared to sneakaboard several British ships anchored in Boston Harbor and destroy the tea stored on board:

When we arrived at the wharf . . . they divided us into three parties for the purpose ofboarding the three ships which contained the tea. . . . We then were ordered by our com-mander to open the hatches and take out all the chests of tea and throw them overboard, andwe immediately proceeded to execute his orders, first cutting and splitting the chests with ourtomahawks, so as thoroughly to expose them to the effects of the water. . . . In about threehours . . . we had thus broken and thrown overboard every tea chest . . . in the ship.

quoted in The Spirit of Seventy-Six

The Revolution Begins

1774First ContinentalCongress

1775Battles of Lexington and Concord;Second Continental Congress

1776Declaration of Independencedrafted and signed

17751774

Tea chest

1773 1776

Main IdeaAfter years of escalating tensions and out-breaks of fighting, the colonists declaredtheir independence from Britain on July 4, 1776.

Key Terms and Namescommittee of correspondence, BostonTea Party, Intolerable Acts, SuffolkResolves, minuteman, Loyalist, Patriot,Olive Branch Petition, Common Sense

Reading StrategyTaking Notes As you read about theescalating tensions between the colonistsand Britain and about the colonists dec-laration of independence, use the majorheadings of the section to create an out-line similar to the one below.

Reading Objectives Summarize the first battles between

Britain and the colonies. Explain the circumstances under

which the colonies declared theirindependence.

Section ThemeGovernment and Democracy As ten-sions between Britain and the coloniesescalated, the colonial leaders began toact like an independent government.

The Revolution BeginsI. Massachusetts Defies Britain

A.B.

The Gaspee Affair After the Townshend Acts wererepealed, trade with England had resumed, and sohad smuggling. To intercept smugglers, the Britishsent customs ships to patrol North American waters.One such ship was the Gaspee, stationed off the coastof Rhode Island. Many Rhode Islanders hated thecommander of the Gaspee because he often searchedships without a warrant, and he sent his crew ashoreto seize food without paying for it. In June 1772,when the Gaspee ran aground near Providence, some150 colonists seized and burned the ship.

The incident outraged the British. They sent acommission to investigate and gave it authority tobring suspects back to England for trial. Thisangered the colonists, who believed it violated theirright to a trial by a jury of their peers. RhodeIslands assembly sent a letter to the other coloniesasking for help.

In March 1773, the Virginia House of Burgessesreceived the letter. Thomas Jefferson suggested thateach colony create a committee of correspondence tocommunicate with the other colonies about Britishactivities. The committees of correspondence helpedunify the colonies and shape public opinion. Theyalso helped colonial leaders coordinate strategies forresisting the British.

The Boston Tea Party In May 1773, Britains newprime minister, Lord North, made a serious mistake.He decided to help the struggling British East IndiaCompany. Corrupt management and costly wars inIndia had put the company deeply in debt. At thesame time, British taxes on tea had encouraged colo-nial merchants to smuggle in cheaper Dutch tea. As aresult, the company had over 17 million pounds oftea in its warehouses that it needed to sell quickly tostay in business.

To help the company, Parliament passed the TeaAct of 1773. The Tea Act refunded four-fifths of thetaxes the company had to pay to ship tea to thecolonies, leaving only the Townshend tax. East IndiaCompany tea could now be sold at lower prices thansmuggled Dutch tea. The act also allowed the EastIndia Company to sell directly to shopkeepers,bypassing colonial merchants who normally distrib-uted the tea. The Tea Act enraged these merchants,who feared it was the first step by the British tosqueeze them out of business.

In October 1773, the East India Company shipped1,253 chests of tea to Boston, New York, Philadelphia,and Charles Town. The committees of correspon-dence decided that the tea must not be allowed toland. When the first shipments arrived in New York

and Philadelphia, the colonists forced the agents forthe East India Company to return home with theircargo. In South Carolina, the ships sat in the harboruntil customs officers seized the tea and stored it in alocal warehouse, where it remained unsold.

The most dramatic showdown occurred inDecember 1773, when the tea ships arrived in BostonHarbor. On the night before customs officialsplanned to unload the tea, approximately 150 menboarded the ships. They dumped 342 chests of teaoverboard, as several thousand people on shorecheered. Although the men were disguised as NativeAmericans, many Bostonians knew who they were. Awitness later testified that Sam Adams and JohnHancock were among the protesters. The raid cameto be called the Boston Tea Party.


Tea Tantrum In December 1773, colonists in Boston took matters into theirown hands and dumped hated British tea into Boston Harbor. Why did Bostontea merchants object so much to the Tea Act?

History

The Coercive Acts The Boston Tea Party was the laststraw for the British. King George concluded that con-cessions were not working. The time has come forcompulsion, the king told Lord North. In the spring of1774, Parliament passed four new laws that came to beknown as the Coercive Acts. These laws applied onlyto Massachusetts, but they were meant to dissuadeother colonies from also challenging British authority.

The first act was the Boston Port Act, which shutdown Bostons port until the city paid for the tea thathad been destroyed. The second act was theMassachusetts Government Act. Under this law, allcouncil members, judges, and sheriffs were appointedby the colonys governor instead of being elected.This act also banned most town meetings. The thirdact, the Administration of Justice Act, allowed thegovernor to transfer trials of British soldiers and offi-cials to England to protect them from American juries.The final act was a new quartering act. It requiredlocal officials to provide lodging for British soldiers,in private homes if necessary. To enforce the acts, theBritish moved several thousand troops to NewEngland and appointed General Thomas Gage as thenew governor of Massachusetts.

The Coercive Acts violated several traditionalEnglish rights, including the right to trial by a jury ofones peers and the right not to have troops quarteredin ones home. The king was also not supposed tomaintain a standing army in peacetime withoutParliaments consent. Although the British Parliamenthad authorized the troops, colonists believed theirlocal assemblies had to give their consent, too.

In July 1774, a month after the last Coercive Actbecame law, the British introduced the Quebec Act.This law had no connection to events in the Americancolonies, but it also angered the colonists nonetheless.

The Quebec Act stated that officials appointed by theking would govern Quebec. The act also extendedQuebecs boundaries to include much of what is todayOhio, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Ifcolonists moved west into that territory, they wouldhave no elected assembly. The Quebec Act, coming sosoon after the Coercive Acts, seemed to signal Britainsdesire to seize control of colonial governments.

The First Continental Congress As other colonieslearned of the harsh measures imposed onMassachusetts, they reacted with sympathy and out-rage. The Coercive Acts and the Quebec Act togetherbecame known as the Intolerable Acts.

In May 1774, the Virginia House of Burgessesdeclared the arrival of British troops in Boston a mil-itary invasion and called for a day of fasting andprayer. When Virginias governor dissolved theHouse of Burgesses for its actions, its membersadjourned to a nearby tavern and issued a resolutionurging all colonies to suspend trade with Britain.They also called on the colonies to send delegates to acolonial congress to discuss what to do next.

In New York and Rhode Island, similar calls for acongress had already been made. The committees ofcorrespondence rapidly coordinated the differentproposals, and in June 1774, the Massachusettsassembly formally invited the other colonies to ameeting of the First Continental Congress.

The Continental Congress met for the first timeon September 5, 1774, in Philadelphia. The 55 dele-gates represented 12 of Britains North Americancolonies. (Florida, Georgia, Nova Scotia, and Quebecdid not attend.) They also represented a wide rangeof opinion. Moderate delegates opposed theIntolerable Acts but believed a compromise could

Causes and Effects of the American Revolution

Causes Effects Colonists tradition of self-government Americans sense of a separate identity from Britain Proclamation of 1763 British policies toward the colonies after 1763

United States declares independence A long war with Great Britain World recognition of American independence

The conflict between Britain and America grew worse after the passage ofthe Intolerable Acts of 1774.


Analyzing Information Why do you think the tradition of self-governmentplayed a role in the colonists decision to declare independence?

be worked out. More radical delegates felt the timehad come for the colonies to fight for their rights.

The Congresss first order of business was toendorse the Suffolk Resolves. These resolutions,prepared by Bostonians and other residents ofSuffolk County, Massachusetts, urged colonists not to obey the Coercive Acts. They also called on thepeople of Suffolk County to arm themselves againstthe British and to stop buying British goods.

The Continental Congress then began to debate aplan put forward by Joseph Galloway of Pennsylvania.Galloway proposed that the colonies remain part of theBritish Empire but develop a federal government simi-lar to the one outlined in the Albany Plan of Union.After the radicals argued that Galloways plan wouldnot protect American rights, the colonies voted to putoff consideration of the plan.

Shortly afterward, the Congress learned that theBritish had suspended the Massachusetts assembly. Inresponse, the Congress issued the Declaration ofRights and Grievances. The declaration expressed loy-alty to the king, but it also condemned the CoerciveActs and stated that the colonies would enter into anonimportation association. Several days later, thedelegates approved the Continental Association, aplan for every county and town to form committees toenforce a boycott of British goods. The delegates thenagreed to hold a second Continental Congress in May1775 if the crisis had not been resolved.

Examining How did the Britishreact to the Boston Tea Party?

The Revolution BeginsIn October 1774, while the Continental Congress

was still meeting, the members of the suspendedMassachusetts assembly gathered and organized theMassachusetts Provincial Congress. They thenformed the Committee of Safety and chose JohnHancock to lead it, giving him the power to call upthe militia. In effect, the Provincial Congress hadmade Hancock a rival governor to General Gage.

A full-scale rebellion against authority was nowunder way. The Massachusetts militia began to drillin formation and practice shooting. The town ofConcord created a special unit of men trained andready to stand at a minutes warning in case ofalarm. These were the famous minutemen. Allthrough the summer and fall of 1774, colonists cre-ated provincial congresses, and militias raided mili-tary depots for ammunition and gunpowder. Theserebellious acts further infuriated British officials.

Loyalists and Patriots British officials were notalone in their anger. Although many colonists dis-agreed with Parliaments policies, some still felt astrong sense of loyalty to the king and believedBritish law should be upheld. Americans who backedBritain came to be known as Loyalists, or Tories.

Loyalists came from all parts of American society.Many were government officials or Anglican minis-ters. Others were prominent merchants andlandowners. Quite a few backcountry farmers on thefrontier remained loyal as well, because theyregarded the king as their protector against theplanters and merchants who controlled the local gov-ernments. Historians estimate that about 20 percentof the adult white population remained Loyalist afterthe Revolution began.

On the other side were those who believed theBritish had become tyrants. These people wereknown as Patriots, or Whigs. Patriots also repre-sented a wide cross section of society. They were arti-sans, farmers, merchants, planters, lawyers, andurban workers. Historians think that 30 to 40 percentof Americans supported the Patriots once theRevolution began. Before then, Patriot groups bru-tally enforced the boycott of British goods. Theytarred and feathered Loyalists who tried to stop theboycotts, and they broke up Loyalist gatherings.Loyalists fought back, but they were outnumberedand not as well organized.

The Patriots were strong in New England andVirginia, while most Loyalists lived in Georgia, theCarolinas, and New York. Everywhere, however,communities were divided. Even families weresplit. The American Revolution would not be a warsolely between the Americans and the British. Itwould also be a civil war between Patriots andLoyalists. Caught in the middle were manyAmericans, possibly a majority, who did not sup-port either side. These people simply wanted to geton with their lives.

Lexington and Concord In April 1775, GeneralGage received secret orders from Britain to arrest themembers of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.Gage did not know where the Congress met, so hedecided to seize the militias supply depot atConcord instead. On April 18, 700 British troops setout for Concord on a road that took them past thetown of Lexington.

Patriot leaders heard about the plan and sent twomen, Paul Revere and William Dawes, to spread thealarm. Revere reached Lexington by midnight andwarned the people there that the British were coming.


Revere, Dawes, and a third man, Dr. Samuel Prescott,then set out for Concord. A British patrol stoppedRevere and Dawes, but Prescott got through in time towarn Concord.

On April 19, British troops arrived in Lexingtonand spotted 70 minutemen lined up on the villagegreen. The British troops marched onto the field andordered them to disperse. The minutemen hadbegun to back away when a shot was fired, no one issure by whom. The British soldiers, already nervous,fired into the line of minutemen, killing 8 andwounding 10.

The British then headed to Concord, only to findthat most of the military supplies had already beenremoved. When they tried to cross the North Bridgeon the far side of town, they ran into 400 colonialmilitia. A fight broke out, forcing the British toretreat.

Having completed their mission, the Britishdecided to return to Boston. Along the way, militiaand farmers fired at them from behind trees, stonewalls, barns, and houses. By the time the Britishreached Boston, 73 of their men had been killed, andanother 174 were wounded. The colonists had 49men dead and 46 wounded. As news of the fightingspread, militia raced from all over New England tohelp. By May 1775, militia troops had surroundedBoston, trapping the British inside.

The Second Continental Congress Three weeksafter the battles at Lexington and Concord, theSecond Continental Congress met in Philadelphia.The first issue under discussion was defense. TheCongress voted to adopt the militia army sur-rounding Boston, and they named it theContinental Army. On June 15, 1775, the Congressappointed George Washington as general andcommander in chief of the new army.

Before Washington could get to his troops, how-ever, the British landed reinforcements in Boston.Determined to gain control of the area, the Britishdecided to seize the hills north of the city. Warned inadvance, the militia acted first. On June 16, 1775, theydug in on Breeds Hill near Bunker Hill and beganbuilding an earthen fort at the top.

The following day, General Gage sent 2,200troops to take the hill. His soldiers, wearing heavypacks and woolen uniforms, launched an uphill,frontal attack in blistering heat. According to leg-end, an American commander named WilliamPrescott told his troops, Dont fire until you see thewhites of their eyes. When the British closed towithin 50 yards, the Americans took aim and fired.


1 April 19, 1775, fighting beginson Lexington Common: eightAmericans die, 10 wounded.

3 Colonial militia inflict14 casualties on British atConcord's North Bridge.

4 In retreat to Boston, Britishsuffer over 250 casualties and Americans suffer 95.

2 Revere captured;Dawes turned back.

5 kilometers0

5 miles0

N

S

EW

Lambert Equal-Area projection

MinutemenMinutemen

Prescott

Revere

Dawes

Gage

Mys

tic

Riv

er

Charles River

Su

db

ury

Riv

er

BostonHarbor

NorthBridge

MASSACHUSETTS DORCHESTERHEIGHTS

ConcordApril 19, 1775

LexingtonApril 19, 1775

Menotomy(Arlington)

Medford

CambridgeCharlestown

Boston

Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 1775

Colonial messengers

British troops

Colonial troops

British victory

American victory

1. Interpreting Maps Which side suffered the most casualties at Lexington and Concord?

2. Applying Geography Skills About how far wasLexington from Boston?

They turned back two British advances before theyran out of ammunition and had to retreat.

The Battle of Bunker Hill, as it came to be called,helped build American confidence. It showed thatthe largely untrained colonial militia could stand upto one of the worlds most feared armies. The Britishsuffered more than 1,000 casualties in the fighting.Shortly afterward, General Gage resigned and wasreplaced by General William Howe. The situationthen returned to a stalemate, with the British trappedin Boston, surrounded by militia.

Interpreting Why was the Battle ofBunker Hill important to the Americans?

The Decision forIndependence

Despite the onset of fighting, in the sum-mer of 1775 many colonists were not preparedto break away from Great Britain. Most mem-bers of the Second Continental Congresswanted the right to govern themselves, butthey did not want to leave the British Empire.The tide of opinion turned, however, whenBritain refused to compromise.

Efforts at Peace In July 1775, as the siege ofBoston continued, the Continental Congresssent a document known as the Olive BranchPetition to King George. Written by JohnDickinson, the petition asserted the colonistsloyalty to the king and asked him to call offhostilities until the situation could be workedout peacefully.

In the meantime, radical delegates con-vinced the Congress to order an attack on theBritish troops based in Quebec. They hopedtheir action would inspire the French inQuebec to join in fighting the British. TheAmerican forces captured the city ofMontreal, but the French did not rebel.Moreover, the attack convinced British officialsthat there was no hope of reconciliation. Whenthe Olive Branch Petition arrived in England,King George refused to look at it. Declaringthe colonies to be open and avowed ene-mies, he issued a proclamation ordering themilitary to suppress the rebellion in America.

With no compromise likely, the ContinentalCongress increasingly began to act like anindependent government. It sent people to

negotiate with the Native Americans, and it estab-lished a postal system, a Continental Navy, and aMarine Corps. By March 1776, the Continental Navyhad raided the Bahamas and begun seizing Britishmerchant ships.

The Fighting Spreads With fighting under way,Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, organized twoLoyalist armies to assist the British troops inVirginiaone composed of white Loyalists, and theother of enslaved Africans. Dunmore proclaimed thatAfricans enslaved by rebels would be freed if theyfought for the Loyalists. The announcement convincedmany Southern planters that the colonies had todeclare independence. Otherwise, the planters mightlose their labor force.

Colonial Confidence Artist Alonzo Chappel painted The Battle of Bunker Hill. The battleshowed the colonists that they could win against the British. How does the artist portraythe colonists courage?

History Through Art


Southern Patriots increased their efforts to raisea large army. In December 1775, their troopsattacked and defeated Dunmores forces nearNorfolk, Virginia. The British then pulled their sol-diers out of Virginia, leaving the Patriots in control.In February 1776, Patriots in North Carolina dis-persed a Loyalist force of backcountry farmers atthe Battle of Moores Creek. In South Carolina, the

local militia preventedBritish troops from captur-ing Charles Town.

Meanwhile, in the North,Washingtons troops seizedthe hills south of Boston.From that vantage point,they intended to bombardthe British with cannons. TheBritish troops fled Boston byship, however, leaving thePatriots in control.

Everywhere, the Britishseemed to be on the run.Nonetheless, despite their

defeats, it was clear that they were not backingdown. In December 1775, the king issued theProhibitory Act, ending all trade with the coloniesand ordering the British navy to blockade the coast.The British government also began expanding itsarmy by recruiting mercenariespaid foreign sol-diers. By the spring of 1776, the British had hired30,000 Germans, mostly men from the region ofHesse, or Hessians.

The Colonies Declare Independence As the wardragged on, more Patriots began to think the timehad come to formally break with Britain althoughthey feared that most colonists were still loyal to theking. Even radicals in the Continental Congress wor-ried that a declaration of independence might costthem public support.

Things began to change in January 1776, whenThomas Paine published a lively and persuasivepamphlet called Common Sense. Until then,everyone had regarded Parliament, not the king, as the enemy. Paine attacked the monarchy instead. King George III, he said, was responsible


The Declaration of IndependenceHad Condemned Slavery?

In 1776 the Continental Congress chose a com-mittee to draft the Declaration of Independence.The committee included Thomas Jefferson, JohnAdams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, andRobert Livingston. Jefferson later recalled the fol-lowing in his memoirs: [The committee members]unanimously pressed on myself alone to under-take the draught. I consented; I drew it; but beforeI reported it to the committee I communicated itseparately to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams request-ing their corrections. . . .

Franklin and Adams urged Jefferson to deletehis condemnation of King Georges support ofslavery. The two realized that the revolutionneeded support from all the colonies to succeed,and condemning slavery would alienate pro-slav-ery colonists and force them to support the king.Jefferson modified the draft accordingly. If theDeclaration of Independence had included

Jeffersons condemnation of slavery,which is excerpted below, the historyof the United States might have beenvery different.

He [King George] has wagedcruel war against human natureitself, violating its most sacredrights of life and liberty in thepersons of a distant peoplewho never offended him, cap-tivating and carrying theminto slavery in another hemi-sphere, or to incur miserabledeath in their transportation thither. . . . Hehas [stopped] every legislative attempt to pro-hibit or to restrain this execrable commercedetermining to keep open a market where[people] should be bought and sold. . . .

Student WebActivity Visit theAmerican RepublicSince 1877 Web site at

and click on StudentWeb ActivitiesChapter 3 for anactivity on theAmerican Revolution.

HISTORY

tx.tarvol2.glencoe.com

http://www.glencoe.com/qe/qe35tx.php?&st=692&pt=2&bk=21

for British actions against the colonies. Parliamentdid nothing without the kings approval. Paineargued that monarchies had been established

by seizing power from the people. George III was a tyrant, he proclaimed, and it was time to declareindependence:

Everything that is right or reasonable pleadsfor separation. The blood of the slain, the weep-ing voice of nature cries, Tis Time To Part. . . .Every spot of the old world is overrun withoppression. Freedom hath been hunted roundthe globe . . . [and] England hath given herwarning to depart.

from Common Sense

Within three months, Common Sense had soldover 150,000 copies. George Washington wrote,Common Sense is working a powerful change in theminds of men. One by one, provincial congressesand assemblies told their representatives at theContinental Congress to vote for independence.

In early July, a committee composed of JohnAdams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, RobertLivingston, and Thomas Jefferson submitted alandmark document Jefferson had drafted, inwhich the colonies declared themselves to be inde-pendent. On July 4, 1776, the full ContinentalCongress then issued this Declaration ofIndependence. The colonies had now become theUnited States of America, and the AmericanRevolution had begun.

Analyzing How did Thomas Painehelp persuade colonists to declare independence?

Checking for Understanding1. Define: committee of correspondence,

minuteman, Loyalist, Patriot.2. Identify: Boston Tea Party, Intolerable

Acts, Suffolk Resolves, Olive BranchPetition, Common Sense.

3. Explain why the First ContinentalCongress met.

Reviewing Themes4. Government and Democracy After

King George III refused to consider theOlive Branch Petition, in what ways didthe Continental Congress begin to actlike an independent government?

Critical Thinking 5. Synthesizing What role did the com-

mittees of correspondence play in thecolonists move toward independence?

6. Organizing Use a graphic organizersimilar to the one below to indicateways in which colonists defied Britainafter the repeal of the Townshend Acts.

Analyzing Visuals7. Analyzing Art Study Chappels

painting, The Battle of Bunker Hill, onpage 87. What elements of the paintingshow that the artist was sympathetic tothe American cause?


Writing About History8. Descriptive Writing Imagine that you

were a member of the Sons of Libertyand a participant in the Boston TeaParty. Write a diary entry describing theevent. Be certain to use correct spelling,grammar, and punctuation.

Colonists Acts of Defiance

1. Why do you think Thomas Jefferson, who was a slave-holder, wanted to include this paragraph?

2. Would the course of American history have changedsignificantly if the Declaration of Independence hadincluded Jeffersons statement? If so, how? If not, why not?

90 CHAPTER 3 The American Revolution90

In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declarationof the thirteen united States of America,

[Preamble]When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one

people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them withanother, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate andequal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Natures God entitlethem, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they shoulddeclare the causes which impel them to the separation.

[Declaration of Natural Rights]We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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 theseends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institutenew Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizingits powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect theirSafety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governmentslong established should not be changed for light and transient causes; andaccordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed tosuffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing theforms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses andusurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design toreduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, tothrow off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their futuresecurity.

[List of Grievances]Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now

the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems ofGovernment. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history ofrepeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establish-ment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts besubmitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessaryfor the public good.

impel force

usurpations unjust uses of power

What It MeansThe Preamble The Declarationof Independence has four parts.The Preamble explains why theContinental Congress drew upthe Declaration.

What It MeansList of Grievances The thirdpart of the Declaration lists thecolonists complaints against theBritish government. Notice thatKing George III is singled out forblame.

90 The Declaration of Independence

What It MeansNatural Rights The second part,the Declaration of Natural Rights,states that people have certainbasic rights and that governmentshould protect those rights. JohnLockes ideas strongly influencedthis part. In 1690 Locke wrotethat government was based onthe consent of the people andthat people had the right to rebelif the government did not upholdtheir right to life, liberty, andproperty. The Declaration callsthese rights unalienable rights.Unalienable means nontransfer-able. An unalienable right cannotbe surrendered.

despotism unlimited powerendowed provided


He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressingimportance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should beobtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large dis-tricts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right ofRepresentation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formida-ble to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfort-able, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the solepurpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing withmanly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others tobe elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation,have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remainingin the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, andconvulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for thatpurpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing topass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditionsof new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assentto Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of theiroffices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms ofOfficers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

relinquish give upinestimable priceless

annihilation destruction

convulsions violent disturbances

Naturalization of Foreigners processby which foreign-born personsbecome citizens

tenure term

The Declaration of Independence 91


He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without theConsent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior tothe Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to ourconstitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to theiracts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of troops among us:For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders

which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring

Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging itsBoundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument forintroducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, andaltering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves investedwith Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of hisProtection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, anddestroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries tocompleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun withcircumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most bar-barous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas tobear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of theirfriends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeav-oured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless IndianSavages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destructionof all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress inthe most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered onlyby repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every actwhich may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We havewarned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend anunwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circum-stances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to theirnative justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties ofour common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, wouldinevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too havebeen deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore,acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them,as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

quartering lodging

render make

abdicated given up

perfidy violation of trust

insurrections rebellions

petitioned for redress askedformally for a correction of

wrongs

unwarrantable jurisdictionunjustified authority

consanguinity originating fromthe same ancestor

92 The Declaration of Independence


[Resolution of Independence by the United States]

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, inGeneral Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of theworld for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and byAuthority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish anddeclare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free andIndependent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to theBritish Crown, and that all political connection between them and the Stateof Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free andIndependent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Thingswhich Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on theProtection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other ourLives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

John HancockPresident from Massachusetts

GeorgiaButton GwinnettLyman HallGeorge Walton

North CarolinaWilliam HooperJoseph Hewes John Penn

South CarolinaEdward RutledgeThomas Heyward, Jr.Thomas Lynch, Jr.Arthur Middleton

MarylandSamuel ChaseWilliam PacaThomas StoneCharles Carroll

of Carrollton

VirginiaGeorge WytheRichard Henry LeeThomas JeffersonBenjamin HarrisonThomas Nelson, Jr.Francis Lightfoot LeeCarter Braxton

PennsylvaniaRobert MorrisBenjamin RushBenjamin FranklinJohn MortonGeorge ClymerJames SmithGeorge TaylorJames WilsonGeorge Ross

DelawareCaesar RodneyGeorge ReadThomas McKean

New YorkWilliam FloydPhilip LivingstonFrancis LewisLewis Morris

New JerseyRichard StocktonJohn WitherspoonFrancis HopkinsonJohn HartAbraham Clark

New HampshireJosiah BartlettWilliam WhippleMatthew Thornton

MassachusettsSamuel AdamsJohn AdamsRobert Treat PaineElbridge Gerry

Rhode IslandStephen HopkinsWilliam Ellery

ConnecticutSamuel HuntingtonWilliam WilliamsOliver WolcottRoger Sherman

rectitude rightness

What It MeansResolution of IndependenceThe Final section declares thatthe colonies are Free andIndependent States with thefull power to make war, to formalliances, and to trade withother countries.

What It MeansSigners of the Declaration Thesigners, as representatives of theAmerican people, declared thecolonies independent from GreatBritain. Most members signedthe document on August 2, 1776.

The Declaration of Independence 93

Colonel Henry Beckman Livingston could only watch helplessly the suffering aroundhim. A veteran of several military campaigns, Livingston huddled with the rest of GeorgeWashingtons army at its winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The winter of 1777to 1778 was brutally cold, and the army lacked food, clothing, and other supplies. Huddledin small huts, soldiers wrapped themselves in blankets and survived on the smallest ofrations. Livingston described the armys plight in a letter to his brother, Robert:

Our troops are in general almost naked and very often in a starveing condition. All mymen except 18 are unfit for duty for want of shoes, stockings, and shirts. . . . Poor Jack hasbeen necessitated to make up his blanket into a vest and breeches. If I did not fear starveingwith cold I should be tempted to do the same.

adapted from A Salute to Courage

1776Battle of Trenton


1778 1782

The War forIndependence

1783Treaty of Parisis signed

1777The British surrenderat Saratoga

1780Patriots defeat Loyalistsat Kings Mountain

1781Cornwallis surrendersat Yorktown

Troops at Valley Forge

17801776

Main Idea After a war lasting several years,Americans finally won their inde-pendence from Britain.

Key Terms and NamesRobert Morris, guerrilla warfare, JohnBurgoyne, letter of marque, CharlesCornwallis, Nathaniel Greene, FrancisMarion, Benedict Arnold

Reading StrategySequencing As you read about the warfor independence, complete a time linesimilar to the one below to record themajor battles and their outcomes.

Reading Objectives List the advantages and disadvantages

of each side at the beginning of the war. Discuss the roles of France and Spain

in the war, and explain how the warended.

Section ThemeGlobal Connections Hostility betweenthe French and British caused France tosupport the colonies.

1776 1781

The Opposing SidesThe struggle at Valley Forge was one of the darkest hours in the war for independence.

No one knew if the patriots were strong enough to defeat the powerful British Empire.On the same day that the Continental Congress voted for independence, the Britishbegan landing troops in New York. By mid-August, they had assembled an estimated32,000 men under the command of General William Howe. This was an enormous force

in the 1700s, and the troops were disciplined, welltrained, and well equipped. Given their strength, theBritish did not expect the rebellion to last very long.

The Continental army was comparatively inexpe-rienced and poorly equipped. Although more than230,000 men served in the Continental army, theyrarely numbered more than 20,000 at any one time.Many soldiers deserted or refused to reenlist whentheir terms were up. Others left their posts to returnto their farms at planting or harvest time.

Paying for the war was another challenge. Lackingthe power to tax, the Continental Congress issuedpaper money. These Continentals were not backedby gold or silver and quickly became almost worthless.Fortunately, Robert Morris, a wealthy Pennsylvaniamerchant and banker, personally pledged large sumsfor the war effort and arranged for foreign loans.

In addition to the Continental army, the British alsohad to fight the local militias in every state. The militiaswere untrained, but they were adept at sneak attacksand hit-and-run ambushes. These guerrilla warfaretactics proved to be very effective against the British.

Another problem for the British was disunity athome. Many merchants and members of Parliamentopposed the war. If Britain did not win quickly andcheaply, support for the war effort would erode.Therefore, the United States simply had to surviveuntil the British tired of the economic strain and surrendered.

The European balance of power also hampered theBritish. The French, Dutch, and Spanish were all eagerto exploit Britains problems, which made these coun-tries potential allies for the United States. To defend

against other threats to its empire, Britain had to station much of its military elsewhere in the world.

Identifying What three major dis-advantages did the British face in the American Revolution?

The Northern CampaignThe British knew that a quick victory depended

on convincing Americans that British military supe-riority made their cause hopeless, and that theycould safely surrender without being hanged fortreason. General Howes strategy, therefore, had twoparts. He placed many troops in New York to intimi-date the Americans and to capture New York City.He also invited delegates from the ContinentalCongress to a peace conference, promising that thosewho surrendered and swore loyalty to the kingwould be pardoned.

When the Americans realized that Howe had noauthority to negotiate a compromise, they refused totalk further. Although Howes peace offer wasrejected, his military strategy was initially successful.Washingtons Continental army was unable to pre-vent the British from capturing New York City in thesummer of 1776. In the fall of that year, Washingtonmoved most of his troops from the northern end ofManhattan Island to White Plains, New York.

Reading Check


The Opposing SidesColonial Advantages

Fighting on home ground

Good decisions by generals

Fighting for their rights and freedoms

French alliance: loans, navy, troops

Colonial Disadvantages

Untrained soldiers; small army

Food and ammunition shortages

Weak and divided central government

British Advantages

Well-trained, well-supplied army and navy

Wealth of resources

Strong central government

British Disadvantages

Fighting in unfamiliar, hostile territory

Fighting far away from Britain and resources

Troops indifferent; halfhearted support at home

1. Interpreting Charts Why was fighting for theirrights and freedoms an advantage for thecolonists?

2. Analyzing In what ways would a weak govern-ment be a disadvantage in wartime?

Crossing the Delaware After Howe managed topush Washingtons troops back from New York City,he moved his forces toward Philadelphia, where theContinental Congress was meeting. Caught by sur-prise, the Continental army had to move quickly toget in front of Howes forces before they reachedPhiladelphia.

By the time Washingtons troops reached Penn-sylvania, the weather had turned cold. Both armieshalted the campaign and set up winter camps to con-serve food supplies. Attempting to bolster morale,Washington had Thomas Paines latest pamphlet readto the troops. Paines words reminded all that theharder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph:

These are the times that try mens souls. Thesummer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in thiscrisis shrink from the service of their country; but hethat stands it now deserves the love and thanks ofman and woman.

from The American Crisis

At this point, Washington decided to launch a dar-ing and unexpected winter attack. On the night ofDecember 25, 1776, he and some 2,400 men crossedthe icy Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New


5 British captureSavannah, 1778

6 British capture Charles Townand win the battle of Camden,but are defeated at Kings Mountain in 1780 and at Cowpens in 1781

9 Cornwallis is trapped;the British surrender atYorktown, 1781

7 Washington andRochambeau rushtoward Virginia,August, 1781

1 British captureNew York City, 1776

3 Burgoyne surrendersat Saratoga, 1777

2 Americans attack British atTrenton and Princeton, 1776

4 Howe capturesPhiladelphia, 1777

8 French Admiral De Grassekeeps British ships away

Savannah

Charles Town

Camden

Kings Mt.

Cowpens

GuilfordCourthouse

Yorktown

Brandywine

Germantown

TrentonPrinceton

New York City

OriskanySaratoga Bennington

Ft. Ticonderoga

St. Le

ger

Bur

goyn

e

Arnold

Washin

gto n

Howe(Fro

m Nova

Scot

ia)

How

e

Briti

shFl

eet,

1781Lafayette

De Grasse(From West Indies)C

ornw

allis

British F

leet, 17

80

BritishFlee

t, 1778

Cornwallis

Gr

eene

200 kilometers0Albers Conic Equal-Area projection

200 miles0

N

S

EW

35N

40N

45N

ATLaNTICOCEaN

LakeChamplain

Lake Ontario

Lake E

rie

LakeH

uron

Lak

eM

ichi

gan

MAINE(Part of MASS.)

N.H.

MASS.

R.I.CONN.

N.Y.

PA.

N.J.

DEL.

MD.

VA.

N.C.

S.C.GA.

Quebec

Montreal

Albany Boston

West PointMorristown

PhiladelphiaValley Forge

Wilmington

The Revolutionary War, 17761781

British forcesAmerican and allied forces

British victory

American victory

Indecisive battle

1. Interpreting Maps Name two sites of colonial victoriesin New Jersey.

2. Applying Geography Skills What was the role of theBritish navy in the war?

Jersey. They then marched about nine miles and, dur-ing a sleet storm, defeated a group of Hessian merce-naries at Trenton. Several days later, the Patriot armyovercame three British regiments at Princeton. Afterthese small victories, the Continental army campedin the hills of northern New Jersey for the winter.

Philadelphia Falls In March 1777, British GeneralJohn Burgoyne had devised a plan to combine histroops with General Howes and isolate NewEngland from the other American states. Un-fortunately, Burgoyne did not coordinate this withHowe, who was launching his own plan.

Howe sent about 13,000 men to launch a surpriseattack on Philadelphia. He believed that capturingPhiladelphia and the Continental Congress wouldcripple the Revolution and convince Loyalists inPennsylvania to rise up and take control of the state.

Howes action was a military success but a politi-cal failure. He defeated Washington at the Battle ofBrandywine Creek and captured Philadelphia, butthe Continental Congress escaped. Furthermore, noLoyalist uprising occurred.

TURNING POINT

The Battle of Saratoga Unaware of Howes move-ment to Philadelphia, Burgoyne continued with hisplan. In June 1777, he led an estimated 8,000 troopsfrom Quebec south into New York, believing Howewas marching north to meet him. Burgoynes forceseasily seized Fort Ticonderoga, but American forcesblocked their path by felling trees, and they removedcrops and cattle to deprive the British of food.

Burgoyne eventually retreated to Saratoga, only tobe surrounded by an American army nearly threetimes the size of his own. On October 17, 1777, he sur-rendered to General Horatio Gates. Over 5,000 Britishtroops were taken prisoner. This was an unexpectedturning point in the war. It not only dramaticallyimproved American morale but also convinced theFrench to commit troops to the American cause.

The Alliance with France Although both Franceand Spain had been secretly aiding the Americans wellbefore Saratoga, that battles outcome convinced

France that the Americans could win the war. OnFebruary 6, 1778, the United States signed two treatieswith France that officially recognized the new nationand committed France to fight alongside the UnitedStates until Britain was forced to recognize Americanindependence.

In 1779 Spain allied with France but not with theUnited States. These countries provided vital mili-tary and financial aid to the United States. Theirattacks also forced the British to divert troops andships from their campaigns along the Atlantic coast.

Summarizing What was GeneralHowes two-part strategy to win the war quickly?

Other FrontsNot all of the fighting in the Revolutionary War

took place in the East. Patriots also rallied to the causeon the western frontier, out at sea, and in the South.

The West In 1778, George Rogers Clark took 175Patriots down the Ohio River and captured severaltowns. Although the British temporarily retook oneof the towns, they eventually surrendered to Clarkin February 1779. The United States now had con-trol of the West. American troops soon secured con-trol of western New York as well. In the summer of1779, they defeated the British and the Iroquois,their Native American allies in the region. TheIroquois had allied with the British, hoping that aBritish victory would keep American settlers offIroquois land.

The War at Sea In addition to the war on land,Americans also fought the British at sea. Althoughthe Congress assembled a Continental navy, no oneexpected it to defeat the huge British fleet in battle.Instead, the United States sent its warships toattack British merchant ships. In addition, Congressissued letters of marque, or licenses, to about 2,000privateers. By the end of the war, millions of dol-lars worth of cargo had been seized from Britishmerchant ships, seriously harming Britains tradeand economy.

Reading Check


A Savage Winter William B.T. Tregos painting, TheMarch to Valley Forge, depicts the difficult conditionsthat led to almost 2,500 deaths during the winterencampment of 1777 to1778. Why did the British andContinental armies stop fighting to camp during thewinter months?

History Through Art

Perhaps the most famous naval battle of the warinvolved John Paul Jones, American commander ofthe Bonhomme Richard. While sailing near Britain inSeptember 1779, Jones encountered a group of Britishmerchant ships protected by two warships. Jonesattacked one of them, the Serapis, but the heavierguns of the British ship nearly sank the BonhommeRichard. When the British commander called on Jonesto surrender, he replied, I have not yet begun tofight. He lashed his ship to the Serapis so it could notsink and then boarded the British ship. After morethan three hours of battle, the British surrendered.

The Southern Campaign After the British defeat atSaratoga in 1777, General Howe had resigned. Hisreplacement, Sir Henry Clinton, began a campaign inthe South, where the British believed they had thestrongest Loyalist support. British officials hopedthat even if they lost the Northern states, they mightstill keep control of the South, which produced valu-able tobacco and rice.

In December 1778, 3,500 British troops capturedSavannah, Georgia. They seized control of Georgiasbackcountry, while American troops retreated toCharles Town, South Carolina. Soon afterwardGeneral Clinton attacked Charles Town. Nearly14,000 British troops surrounded the city, trappingthe American forces. On May 12, 1780, the Americanssurrendered. Nearly 5,500 American troops were takenprisoner, the greatest American defeat in the war.Clinton returned to New York, leav-ing General Charles Cornwallis incommand.

Patriots Rally Cornwallis movednext to Camden, South Carolina,where he stopped a Patriot forcefrom destroying a British supplybase. After winning the Battle ofCamden, the British found the tideturning against them in the South.Although many Southerners sym-pathized with Britain, they objectedto the brutal tactics of some Loyalistforces in the region.

One such group, led by a Britishcavalry officer named PatrickFerguson, finally went too far intrying to subdue the people livingin the Appalachian Mountains. Aband of overmountain men, asthey were known, assembled amilitia force. They intercepted

Ferguson at Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780, anddestroyed his army. The Battle of Kings Mountainwas a turning point in the South. Southern farmers,furious with British treatment, began to organize theirown militias.

The new commander of American forces in theregion, General Nathaniel Greene, organized themilitias into small units to carry out hit-and-run raidsagainst British camps and supply wagons. The mostfamous of these guerrilla units was led by FrancisMarion, who was known as the Swamp Fox.General Greene hoped that while militia destroyedenemy supplies, the regular army could wear downthe British in a series of battles.

Greenes strategy worked. In 1781 the Americansengaged the British at Cowpens and Guilford CourtHouse, and both battles resulted in hundreds ofBritish casualties. By late 1781, the British controlledvery little territory in the South except for the cities ofSavannah, Cha

Documents

The American Revolution - Schoolwiresmisdtx.schoolwires.com/cms/lib/TX21000394/Centricity/Domain/112/ch... · The American Revolution 1754 ... 1754 •French and Indian War for control