VSC 2.7: American Revolution

D. Hales
Swansea High School
US History

​American Revolution

Students will be able to analyze and explain the advantages and disadvantages each side had during the American Revolution and discuss the strategies each side used.

​Learning Objective

Standard 1: Demonstrate an understanding of the influence of the Atlantic World on the regional and national development of republicanism and federalism from 1607–1815.

​Standards

SC Social Studies College and Career Ready Standards--2019

The colonies organize against the British​

1st Continental Congress--​ 1st organized act of resistance in the colonies: 12 of 13 colonies (not Georgia) meet in Philadelphia to protest the Intolerable/Coercive Acts. Called for a new boycott on British goods, and urged the colonized to organize their own militias. Asked king to overturn the "Intolerable" Acts--king refuses, so they plan to hold a 2nd Congress

2nd Continental Congress--​Met again in Philadelphia a month after the Battle of Lexington/Concord to coordinate the war effort by raising an army (Continental Army) under the leadership of General George Washington. This organization would direct strategy, appoint diplomats to negotiate and sign treaties on behalf of the colonies. First de facto national government.

One of the most famous members of the 2nd Continental Congress--Patrick Henry

Gave speech to the ​2nd Virginia Convention; "Give me liberty or give me death!"

Ironic--Patrick Henry owned 67 slaves, ​and an "insane" wife he kept locked in the basement!!!!!

​

https://rvaghosts.com/sarah-henry-patrick-henrys-basement-kept-wife/​

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Subject | Subject

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Multiple Choice

Met in Philadelphia; the first organized act of resistance in the colonies--the purpose was to respond to the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)

• Committees of Correspondence

• Articles of Confederation

• First Continental Congress

• Second Continental Congress

Multiple Choice

Met in Philadelphia in 1775 after the war had already started; their job was to create an army and coordinate the war effort among the colonies to get supplies to the soldiers

• Committees of Correspondence

• Articles of Confederation

• 1st Continental Congress

• 2nd Continental Congress

Multiple Choice

Term for the Patriot army created by the 2nd Continental Congress

• Army of Northern Virginia

• Continental Army

• Army of the Potomac

• New Model Army

Multiple Choice

44 year old Virginia military officer, hero of the French and Indian war who became the commander of the Continental Army

• George Washington

• John Adams

• Thomas Jefferson

• Patrick Henry

Multiple Choice

Virginia delegate to the 1st and 2nd Continental Congress and orator (speech maker) famous for his "give me liberty or give me death" speech--also had 67 slaves and kept his wife a prisoner in his basement!!!!!

• George Washington

• John Adams

• Thomas Jefferson

• Patrick Henry

British vs. Patriots--Advantages and Disadvantages​

British--​ Larger trained army and navy, more money and supplies, existing government to move the supplies (disadvantages--far from home, didn't know the land, weak leadership of Charles Cornwallis, many British people debated whether the war was necessary)

Patriots--Close to home, ​knew the land better so could use guerrilla warfare, leadership of George Washington, stronger belief in their cause, (disadvantages--few supplies like weapons and food, had to create a government and military from scratch, difficulty raising funds)

Subject | Subject

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UbNlp0ul8c

Multiple Choice

Pair the correct advantage to the correct side in the American Revolution

• British--knew the land better and had a more inspiring cause

• Patriots--larger army and navy

• Patriots-knew the land better and had a more inspiring cause

• British--better leadership under George Washington

​Declaration of Independence

Author--Thomas Jefferson, (influenced by John Locke, Thomas Paine, other Enlightenment writers) Audiences--King of England, colonists, the world

Goals--​ Explain the reasons for independence through a list of grievances (complaints) against king George III whom Jefferson accuses of violating the colonists' natural rights, protest monarchy, rally the troops, win foreign allies, announce the creation of a new country.

​July 2nd--2nd Continental Congress votes to declare independence (John Adams thought this would be the day future generations celebrate)

July 4th--​The day the actual Declaration of Independence text was approved to be printed and distributed

Subject | Subject

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Multiple Choice

Which is NOT true about the Declaration of Independence?

• It was written by Thomas Jefferson and influenced by Enlightenment ideas by John Locke and Thomas Paine

• Its main purpose was to suggest ways George III and the American colonists could compromise and return to salutary neglect

• The intended audience was George III, the colonists themselves and the outside world

• The purposes of the document was to protest monarchy, rally the troops, win foreign allies and announce the creation of a new country

Multiple Choice

The commanding British general during the American Revolution

• George Pershing

• Charles Cornwallis

• George Washington

• Bernard Montgomery

​Split among the colonists

--In many areas, there was a real split among the colonists as to whom they should support

--​Loyalists: wanted to remain loyal to the British crown. They may not have agreed with the policies, but they valued their British citizenship and heritage; they believed that revolution was an act of treason. Historians estimate that about 20% of colonists remained loyal to Great Britain.

--Patriots​: Felt the British government was violating their natural rights and favored independence. About 45% of the population.

35 percent were neutral, but many would switch over to the Patriots as they got the upper hand by the end of the war​

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​Valley Forge

​--20 miles NW of Philadelphia (our capital at the time), 11,000 troops under George Washington camp for the winter. New government can't provide supplies. George Washington writes Governor Clinton of New York and other politicians to supply food, but it was hard to move those goods in the winter because of a lack of roads, the high cost of food and the falling value of colonial paper money ("not worth a continental")

--Problem--They run out of food, water, medicine); 2500 die of disease (typhus, dysentery), cold and starvation. Survivors melt snow to drink and some are eating grass. Danger that conditions could get even worse.

--Oneida​ Indian chief Han Yerry arrived with corn (carried over 400 miles) to feed the troops; conditions improve, they survive the winter

Result--The shared suffering brought the troops closer together and sealed their dedication to the cause. Also they are better trained, under the eye of Marquis de Lafayette​ from France, Baron von Steuben from Germany

Subject | Subject

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Multiple Choice

20 year old French nobleman who helped train George Washington's troops at Valley Forge; he was like a son to Washington and fought in several battles

• Marquis de Lafayette

• Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire

• Baron Montesquieu

• Jean Jacques Rousseau

Multiple Choice

What is NOT true about Valley Forge?

• It is where Washington and his troops camped in the winter of 1777-78

• Almost 25 percent of his troops died of disease, malnutrition and cold

• The poor state of Washington's troops led to the French refusing to offer assistance, and the British were able to put down the rebellion

• Hann Yerry and the Oneida Indians brought corn to save the army; the army became much better trained and tougher afterwards

​Important Battles in the Revolution

​Lexington​ and Concord April 1775--First battle, still unknown who fired the first shot. Patriots hold their ground; British retreat

Bunker Hill June 1775--British win, but barely, against poorly trained Massachusetts militia (Minutemen); gives colonists hope

Trenton Dec 1776--Washington crosses the Delaware River to attack; first significant victory over the British

Saratoga Oct 1777--Even greater Patriot victory convinces the French to provide us assistance!

Charleston March 1780--British victory burns the city, 5000 Patriots missing or captured; British hope to make South their base

Kings Mountain Oct 1780--Colonists use guerrilla warfare defeat British; destroys British hope of using South as their base

Yorktown​ Oct 1781--French assistance helps "seal the deal": British General Cornwallis surrenders to George Washington

Subject | Subject

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Multiple Choice

Identify--First battle of the American Revolution; the British try to confiscate Patriot weapons and hope to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock. Paul Revere warns "The British (regulars) are coming." No one knows for sure who fired first, but the Patriots hold their ground. Nickname--"The shot heard around the world"

• Battle of Trenton

• Battle of Saratoga

• Battle of Concord and Lexington

• Battle of Yorktown

Multiple Choice

Identify--Defining Patriot victory over the British in NY in October 1777; convinces the French to provide the decisive help that allows the Patriots to win

• Battle of Trenton

• Battle of Saratoga

• Battle of Lexington and Concord

• Battle of Yorktown

Multiple Choice

Battle that allowed the British to take over a major city in the Southern colonies, which they hoped to use as a base to trap the Continental Army and force Washington to surrender

• Battle of Trenton

• Battle of Bunker Hill

• Battle of King's Mountain

• Battle of Charleston

Multiple Choice

Identify--Last battle of the American Revolution. Patriots win and Cornwallis n to George Washington. October 1781.

• Battle of Bunker Hill

• Battle of Charleston

• Battle of Yorktown

• Battle of King's Mountain

​Treaty of Paris

​--Signed in September 1783

--The US is now a free, independent country!

--Besides the 13 colonies, the new country also gets all of the territory the British had won from France in the French and Indian War, except Canada (all the area stretching from the 13 colonies to the Mississippi River)

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Subject | Subject

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Multiple Choice

Which is NOT true about the Treaty of Paris?

• It gave Texas, California to the new US

• It took almost two years to put together

• The US acquires all British territory below Canada to the Mississippi River

• It overturned the Proclamation of 1763 and allowed settlers to take Native American territory

Multiple Choice

Which group benefited the most from the American Revolution?

• Native Americans

• Enslaved Africans

• Wealthy white elite and male settlers

• Women

​American Revolution: Winners and Losers

First point--More of a war of independence, rather than a revolution since there is little change

Winners--White settlers, wealthy elite

Losers--British, Native Americans, women, African Americans​

​Native Americans--Proclamation of 1763 overturned, new states are going to allow their settlers to move across the Appalachians, take Indian land and form new states

Women--Still under the control of their husbands, but they are encouraged to learn how to read since they will be the ones at home teaching their children, helping them learn patriotic republican values (the values of a people without a king, electing their leaders)--Republican motherhood. US ignores Abigail Adams' pleas to "remember the ladies" and their rights

African Americans--Slavery ​gradually ends in the North (due to Enlightenment ideas, appreciation for African American service in the war, and the lack of plantations in the North) but within twenty years, slavery expands even more in the South with the invention of the cotton gin.

1833--British outlaw slavery in their remaining colonies such as Canada, South Africa and its Caribbean islands

Subject | Subject

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Open Ended

Explain two purposes of the Declaration of Independence.

Open Ended

What were the advantages the British had in the Revolution? What were the disadvantages?

Open Ended

What were the advantages the Patriots had in the Revolution? What were the disadvantages?

Reorder

Put the following events in chronological order:

• Treaty of Paris

• Battle of Yorktown

• Battle of Lexington and Concord

• Stamp Act

• End of Salutary Neglect

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5