History 1301-11Character is an inside job, and it

is largely determined by the succession of choices, desires, habits, and beliefs we built into

our lives and personify.

Chapter 5The Patriot Movie and

The Final Plunge into Revolution

France

• Looking for revenge against Great Britain.• Saw the potential for a colonial revolt as a great

opportunity. (Louis XVI 1774-1792)• Key players became: Charles Gravier, the

Count de Vergennes (Ver zjene) who became the minister of foreign affairs (1774-1787). Pierre de Beaumarchais, (Bo mar shay) a literary genius who played at politics and was a French secret agent. He wrote the Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro and had great favor in the French Court.

Vergennes & de Beaumarchais

Arthur Lee-Colonial agent who represented Massachusetts

• 1775 met with de Beaumarchais in England, informed him of colonial intentions for independence and sought French assistance.

Louis XVI-(1754-1793)

Directed that one million livres (about $200,000) worth of munitions be provided for the colonists from the royal arsenals. (The livre was established by Charlemagne as a unit of account equal to one pound of silver.)

Charles III of Spain

• Charles III of Spain, who was the royal uncle of the King of France, matched his nephew’s contribution with another million.

• French investors gave another million.

Reenter de Beaumarchais

• Beaumarchais now transformed himself into a fictious commercial house with the state name of Rodrigue Hortalez Company. It was through him and his fictional company that these arms and munitions would reach the colonies.

Silas Deane

• In 1776, they also sent Silas Deane to negotiate the purchase of munitions. Deane was very paranoid. He was very paranoid about spies. Is it paranoia if what you’re paranoid about is true? He should have been concerned about his secretary.

Dr. Edward Bancroft

• Edward Bancroft was a highly regarded scientist and writer who was hired by Ben Franklin to spy on the British just before the Revolutionary War. Nearly 70 years after Bancroft's death, the British government released papers showing he had also been paid by the British to spy on the colonists. Bancroft spied for the French in 1789.

Brown Bess and ammo

• The British followed the old European traditions of war. Rapid volleys generally aimed by soldiers usually three deep.

• “Three shots a minute, 4 for veteran soldiers, that was the best fire rate they could achieve in those days. War was cleaner then, a game for gentlemen played with set rules and honour, to some extent at least.”

Real Warfare in the Revolution

• It reflected a class conscious society with the nobility viewing the battles from afar while the “common” soldiers fought the battles.

• Weapons were generally inaccurate.

• Generally, both British and colonists fought this way with notable exceptions.

General Sir Banastre Tarleton

• Is portrayed as a bloodthirsty soldier.

• Atrocities happen in war.

• His atrocities raise sentiments for the good guys.

Hollywood Movies…sound familiar?

• Hollywood movie formula…

• 1) Blow stuff up

• 2) Defy Authority

• 3) Remove clothing

?Problems with THE PATRIOTHey, It’s Hollywood, remember.

• Some students of the Revolution get upset about the sequence of events. (not a doc.)

• Pistols didn’t fire that far. Cannon balls did travel 50-60 mph. Wounds disappear.

• Aunt Charlotte’s costumes were much too provocative for the time. She‘s a loose woman

• Slavery-Martin had free men working for him.• Children with guns-trauma? • The man who shot himself is seen later.

Ethan Allen

• 1775-Allen and the Green Mountain Boys gained fame for an early colonial victory at Ft. Ticonderoga. In 1777 they helped win the Battle of Bennington in VT. Vermont Statehood in 1791.

Benedict Arnold

Arnold fought with Allan at Ticonderoga. Later his name became synonymous with being a traitor and a turncoat.

Battle of Bunker Hillthe death of Gen. Warren

Why Remember Bunker Hill?

• The losses were astounding for the British with more than 1,000 men lost, wounded or prisoners.

• The Americans only lost about 400 or less. • By the military tradition of the time, the British won

because at the end of the battle they had possession of the field. The casualties however, tell a different story.

• This attack was immortalized forever in American history. First, because it was the first serious defeat for the British and secondly due to a famous quote attributed to one of the American commanders. To preserve the American's gunpowder, he ordered the patriots, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!"

SUMMER 1775

Declaration of Independence

• Thomas Jefferson, Author.

• Signed July 4, 1776.

• Major change was the elimination of a long argument blaming the kind for slavery in America.

France at War with Britain?

• When news of the Declaration of Independence reached Vergennes, he went so far as to suggest to Spain that Spain and France make War on Great Britain.

• The Spanish Ministry promptly agreed in principle to Vergennes’ proposal, but Vergennes withdrew his advances after news arrived of the British victory over Washington’s troops at the battle of Long Island.

Official Diplomats to Europe (France)

• Ben Franklin, Arthur Lee and Silas Deane were sent to Paris. (tough assignment)

• Consider the French position…What if the colonies arrived at Peace with Britain. Vergennes wanted some assurances.

• Members felt that the French were so jealous of Britain that she would not let the colonists sink.

Franklin in Paris

• One cannot overstate the impact that Franklin had in Paris.

• He spoke French tolerably well and, more importantly, was gallant in the French manner. He had great press and an adoring public. His profile was on every fashionable lady’s snuffbox.

A must have for the women of society in Paris

How Franklin Operated

• His diplomacy was overt and covert. • He waged a public relations campaign, secured

secret aid, played a role in privateering expeditions, and churned out effective and inflammatory propaganda.

• One coup involved distributing bogus newspaper reports of outrages committed by England's Indian allies on the frontier. Opposition members in Parliament were duped and used the material to attack the government.

Franklin in Paris

• Franklin's success can be measured partially by the anxiety his mission created in England. The British ambassador to Paris called him a "veteran of mischief." Franklin knew he was the object of "violent curiosities." He did all he could to keep the enemy on edge while he parried with spies curious about him.

Franklin’s Network

• Franklin had a network of agents and friends in France who provided him excellent information on British naval force movements.

• On the other hand their secretary Bancroft, was a British agent.

• He sent vital information written on paper in invisible ink sealed in little bottles dropped in a location for pickup by the British spymaster Paul Wentworth.

• Wentworth ran a very effective espionage network in Paris targeting American-French activities.."

Franklin’s Charm

• Franklin was our only representative that had diplomatic experience, having dealt with the British.

• He also had a penetrating knowledge of human nature.

• Franklin personified what the French loved, an underdog fighting against the much hated British.

Washington• His selection as Commander was resented by several men

with equal, or even more, professional military experience. This caused some dissension which carried more than halfway through the war.

• Washington's selection was fortuitous for the rebel cause. Few of the potential contenders evidenced the special character and military leadership traits which allowed Washington to prevail in his unique mission.

• Not only did he have to adapt to irregular and varied military situations, but he had to pioneer in commanding an army placed specifically under civilian rule.

• That civilian rule was the newly created Congress -- an unproven political institution which had not fully defined its goals and policies. No less a challenge, Washington had to fight one of the world's finest professional armies.

Challenges?

• Enlistments were short. People just left.

• Recruits were raw, few were soldiers.

• Life was gosh awful. No food, no supplies, little clothing, no money.

• And it was cold. Most armies took the winter off.

• No government help.

• So how could we win?

Well, we have George Washington

• He understood that to be a nation we needed a continental army.

• To achieve victory he must keep the army alive.

• In a strange way, the Continental Army was the new country. If it died would the cause die with it? Perhaps so.

Not a Cherry Tree kind of guy

• To offset British superiority in firepower and troops, General Washington made frequent use of deception operations.

• He allowed fabricated documents to fall in the hands of enemy agents or to be discussed in their presence.

• He allowed his couriers—carrying bogus information-to be captured by the British, and inserted forged documents in intercepted British pouches that were then permitted to go on to their destination.

Every trick in the Book

• Washington even had fake military facilities built. He managed to make the British believe that his three thousand man army was outside Philadelphia was 40,000 strong!

• Through deception, Washington fooled the British in 1781 into thinking a Franco-American assault on New York was pending. While the British strengthened positions there and waited for an attack that never came, Washington and the Marquis de Rochambeau slipped away to Virginia, where they defeated Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.

More trickery

• At Yorktown , James Armistead, a slave who joined Lafayette's service with his master's permission, crossed into Cornwallis' lines in the guise of an escaped slave, and was recruited by Cornwallis to return to American lines as a spy.

• Lafayette gave him a fabricated order that supposedly was destined for a large number of patriot replacements—a force that did not exist.

Armistead given FREEDOM

• Armistead delivered the bogus order in crumpled dirty condition to Cornwallis, claiming to have found it along the road during his spy mission.

• Cornwallis believed him and did not want to believe he had been tricked until after the battle of Yorktown.

• Armistead was granted his freedom by the Virginia legislature as a result of this and other intelligence services.

Charles Morgan

• Another deception operation at Yorktown found Charles Morgan entering Cornwallis' camp as a deserter.

• When debriefed by the British, he convinced them that Lafayette had sufficient boats to move his troops against the British in one landing operation.

• Cornwallis was duped by the operation and dug in rather than march out of Yorktown.

Charles Morgan

• Morgan, in turn, escaped in a British uniform and returned to American lines with five British deserters and a prisoner!

Meanwhile back at the War

• Things were not going well for George. Two bitterly cold winters at Valley Forge took their toll on the colonists.

General Francis Marion the Swamp Fox

Colonial Guerrilla Fighter in South Carolina.

Fought with that rascal Red Coat Banastre Tarleton.

Was often chased into the Swamps where he would seemingly disappear.

Heroes to know…Nathan Hale

• Widely regarded as America’s First Spy.

• Volunteered for mission.

• Was Captured.• Prior to hanging said,

“I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”

Thomas Knowlton's statue in Connecticut.

• Hale belonged to Knowlton's Rangers. This was a group which was used by Washington for spying and special operations.Knowlton's Rangers" were also the first organized American elite troops, analogous to a modern special forces unit. The date "1776" on the modern U.S. Army’s intelligence service seal refers to the formation of Knowlton's Rangers.

John Paul Jones

• “I have not yet begun to fight.”

• American Naval Hero.

• To the British he was a pirate.

Marquis de Lafayette• Young Very Wealthy

Frenchman. • Was with Washington at

Valley Forge.• When Lafayette learned

of the struggle of the Americans in their endeavor to secure their independence he resolved to come to the colonies to aid them in their efforts as a volunteer. He also persuaded several French officers to come with him.

The bad guys…

• Hessians-German mercenaries (hired guns) defeated by Washington, Christmas Eve, 1776. Why were their Hessians?

• Tories-Named after the Tory party who were loyal to the King of England. They were also known as loyalists.

• William Howe-British Commander.

• Lord Charles Cornwallis-surrendered.

Saratoga-Turning point of the War

Why important?

• First Major Victory

• British Offered colonies “Home Rule,” but were turned down.

• French, Spanish and Dutch publicly announced their support for the colonies with money, munitions and ships.

Now France and Spain could send Real Help

• Loans and subsidies from France totalled 45 million livres, millions of dollars

• Loans and subsidies from Spain amounted to half a million dollars.

• French armies and fleets in America with General Washington’s forces brought about the victory at Yorktown that spelled doom for the British.

Yorktown 1781

How different things could have been…

• Two hundred years before Yorktown a major sea battle defeated the Spanish, gave Great Britain control of the seas and made English our native tongue.

• The defeat of the Spanish Armada

Defeat of the Spanish Armada-1588

Question

• Knowing what you know now, what is your perception of the French today?

• How would our history as a country have been different without French assistance?

Articles of Confederation• Wary of strong central governments after

their interactions with Britain, delegates at the Second Continental Congress made certain that the new national congress created under the Articles of Confederation would have very little authority over state legislatures. Instead, drafters hoped that the congress would act as a collective substitute for a monarch, or a multiperson executive.

The Articles stipulated that the Congress could do the following:

• Negotiate treaties, declare war, and make peace • Coin money • Issue loans • Maintain an army and a navy • Operate a postal service • Negotiate treaties with Native Americans • Resolve disputes among the states • Govern western territories for the benefit of all

states

Continental Dollars and Depression

• The new Congress immediately set to printing paper currency in order to pay for the Revolutionary War. The money became the standard currency in the United States during the war, but when hard times hit and inflation skyrocketed, these Continental dollars became “not worth a Continental.” Many Americans, especially farmers, faced hardship as the economy slid into depression. Congress requested that states increase taxes to help pay for a new national currency, but most states refused and printed their own paper money instead. This, too, quickly succumbed to inflation, and by the end of the war Americans had fistfuls of a variety of worthless money.

This much was very clear

• The individual states reserved all powers not specifically granted to congress.

• The new national government had no taxing authority.

The issue of Taxes

• Representative governments in the states would levy their own taxes and then use a percentage of the duties collected to pay their share of national expenditures.

• Did this work? Not hardly. Many states refused to pay…can you imagine that?

Governing Western Lands

• The Land Ordinance of 1785, which helped the government survey western lands. The law created townships, each six miles square, that were divided into thirty-six square-mile sections and auctioned to the highest bidder so that any American could settle in the West.

• The Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which stipulated that a western territory could apply for full statehood as soon as it had the same number of people as the least populous of the original thirteen states. The ordinance made certain that new states would receive equal footing with older states and that all citizens of the territories would have the same rights as the citizens of the states.

Effects of Actions

• England had attempted to restrict westward expansion to appease the Indians, the new central government sought ways to promote settlements in the American West via land laws and Indian policies.

• Both ordinances were popular because they opened land to settlers and the possibility of profits for speculators.

FTM

• Income from land sales promised to help reduce the national debt.

• Slaves their could stay, but no new ones.

• Made area attractive to white farmers who feared cheap labor.

• Southerners did not complain because there was still a lot of land.

Faulty Assumptions

• During the postwar years the Confederation acted as if the Indians of the interior were “conquered” peoples, allies of England who had lost the war and thus came under U.S. control.

• Land treaties were imposed. Ft. Stanwix Treaty in 1784 ceded Iroquois Land.Indian tribes dwindled, 2 years later repudiated.

Indian Raids Started

• Devastating Indian raids now greeted new settlers. Speculation fell, but land still was needed.

European presence

• Congress also failed to resolve problems because of Spain in Florida and Gulf Coast and areas of Mississippi.

• Spanish agents were urging residents to break away.

• Washington warned that they might. “The Touch of a feather would turn them away.”

National Debt

• Congress was unable to effectively deal with the $35 Million War Debt. Much owed to French and Dutch Bankers. Congress had to borrow additional money to just pay the interest.

• Owed Soldiers.• By 1780, with the outcome of the war still very

much undecided, the central government had run out of money and was essentially BANKRUPT! As a result the paper money it issued was basically worthless.

Robert Morris-1781

• Robert Morris appointed as Supt. of Finance. He forged a solution to this dire dilemma. Morris expanded existing government power and secured special privileges for the BANK OF NORTH AMERICA in an attempt to stabilize the value of the paper money issued by the Congress. He went beyond authorized powers but stemmed runaway inflation.

Morris

• Urged states to stop issuing paper money and persuaded Congress to demand that the states pay their requisitions in gold and silver coin. (specie)

• Took steps to make Federal Bonds more attractive to investors.

• In 1781, Congress requested $8 million from the States. 2 1/2 years later they got less than $1.5. States would not come through. By 1784 Morris resigned.

Would the Great Experiment Survive?

• We won the war, but Britain, France and Spain stood circled like Vultures harboring imperial ambitions. They had not gone far.

• Britain was still in Canada.

• Spain in Mississippi and South.

• France had proven to be a very untrustworthy friend.

• Times were tough.

Farmers upset

• Frustration with the economic depression boiled over in 1786. Farmers throughout the colonies were suffering intensely after the revolution, mainly due to the worthless Continentals they were forced to use as money. Most of the state legislatures refused to provide any assistance to these impoverished farmers and, in some cases, even raised taxes. Unable to find any relief, and still intoxicated from their success in the Revolution, many farmers grabbed their muskets once again and marched on the various state capitals to demand new governments.

Shay’s Rebellion

• The most notorious of these small uprising was Shays’s Rebellion. Led by the Revolutionary war hero Daniel Shays, protesters attacked Massachusetts’s courthouses to prevent local judges from foreclosing on farms. The state legislature ultimately used militia troops to crush the uprising. Still, Shays’s Rebellion awakened legislators in Massachusetts and throughout the states to the inadequacies of the existing political system.

Tough Times, Buy American

• Not everyone suffered equally. Artisans and clothing manufacturers did well.

• Government contracts still paid.

• Times were tough, like now.

Congress had to Act

• But what to do, my my, what to do?