HN+Chapter+7+Notes

Chapter 8: America Secedes from the Empire (1775-1783) -May 10, 1775 Second Continental Congress meets and selects George Washington, a distinguished Virginian, to lead Continental Army -May 1775 Americans under leadership of Ethan Allan and Benedict Arnold captured British forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point in NY -June 1775 Battle of Bunker (Breed's) Hill; colonists retreat but British suffer heavy casualties -July 1775 Continental Congress creates the Olive Branch Petition, which calls for peace; it is rejected by King George III -George III hired Hessian mercenaries to put down rebellion -October 1775 British set fire to Falmouth, Maine -Fall of 1775 colonists invaded Canada in order to gain French support; failed in attempt -many colonists did not desire independence -January 1776 British burned Norfolk, VA -March 1776 British forced to leave Boston -1776 colonists achieved two victories in North Carolina and Charleston -Americans still saw themselves as part of the British empire -//Common Sense// by Thomas Paine called for an American republic; appealed to common man -republicanism would destroy hereditary aristocracy; some Patriots feared it would threaten social hierarchy as well -July 2, 1776 Philadelphia Congress passes motion that the colonies should be independent states; proposed by Virginian Richard Henry Lee -July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence, drafted by Virginian Thomas Jefferson, approved by the Congress -Declaration justified colonists' rebellion by listing examples of British violating natural rights; most influential American document -Declaration used to enlist foreign support and legitimize rebellion -within colonies, Loyalists ("Tories"-loyal to the king) and Patriots ("Whigs"-rebels) conflicted -most colonies indifferent to rebellion -militiamen used political persuasion to turn colonists against Britain -many Loyalists wealthy and of older generation -Loyalists strong in strongly Anglican areas, except for Virginia; little Loyalism in New England -Loyalists faced brutality and persecution in colonies; many left, but several hundred thousand stayed -1776 British established headquarters in NY -Americans suffered defeat at Battle of Long Island; barely escaped across Delaware River -December 26, 1776 Washington crosses the Delaware River and achieves victories at Trenton and Princeton -1777 British had plan to capture Hudson River Valley with the combined forces of Burgoyne, Howe, and St. Leger; prevented by Benedict Arnold's stalling of Burgoyne -instead of joining Burgoyne, Howe attacked Philadelphia in order to provoke the Continental Army; Washington suffered two defeats at Brandywine Creek and Germantown -Washington's army spent the winter of 1777 at Valley Forge, learning drills from the Prussian military man Baron von Steuben -surrounded and unable to make a move, Burgoyne surrended to the colonial commander Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777 at Saratoga -France hoped to end England's dominance and get revenge for losses in Seven Years' War -Americans sought commercial relationship with France as opposed to a political or military one -Ben Franklin, with his humble attitude and simple demeanor, was adored by the French commoners; came to France to create the Model Treaty -after loss at Saratoga, Britain offered colonists home rule -February 6, 1778 France established an alliance, mainly military, with Americans in order to prevent a reconciliation between the colonists and the British; promised to fight war until Americans had independence -1779 Spain and the Netherlands joined war against England -1780 Armed Neutrality established by Russian Catherine the Great; organized neutral European powers into a position of restrained hostility toward England -war became worldwide conflict that eventually overwhelmed the British; the French supplied the colonists with money, supplies, and troops -June 1778 in order to avoid French naval forces, English concentrated all strength on New York; with exception of Yorktown, Washington remained in that area for the rest of the war -1780 Comte de Rochambeau brought French army to support the colonists -1780 Benedict Arnold betrayed the Americans by plotting to sell strategic position of West Point to British; he was discovered and subsequently fled to the British. -1778-1780 British captured Georgia and Charleston; 1781 General Greene won most of South Carolina and Gerogia from British with a strategy of delay -Oneidas and Tuscaroras sided with Americans; Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagas, and Cayugas supported the British, led by Anglican Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant; stopped in 1779 -1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix signed between Americans and pro-British Iroquois; forced Indians to give up most of their land -frontiersman George Rogers Clark captured many British forts in Illinois from 1778-1779 -American navy was only really able to attack British trading ships -privateers attacked British merchant ships; while they took attention away from the central war effort, they obtained gold, annoyed the British, and improved American morale -1780-1781 colonial gov bankrupt due to high inflation -General Cornwallis trapped in Yorktown by forces of Rochambeau and Washington and the navy of de Grasse -October 19, 1781 Cornwallis surrenders entire force; war continued even after British defeat at Yorktown -British lost desire to fight after Yorktown -Ben Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams served as ambassadors in France -France hoped for a somewhat independent America in order to deliver on political promises to Spain; Jay reconciled with Britain in order to reach a satisfactory peace -1783 Treaty of Paris Britain recognized the independence of the United States and granted them large amounts of land in North America; America promised to treat Loyalists well and to repay war debts to Britain -Americans only victors of war: Britain suffered huge defeat and France was left with huge debts, which directly led to the French Revolution