AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR (1775 - 1783)

American War of Independence

ENGLAND vs. FRANCE (18-th century)

• the French occupied Canada and Louisiana (Louis XIV)

• north and middle of the continent (along the Mississippi - English expansion was limited)

• New Orleans was set up by the French

• French exploration of the continent (Samuel de Champlain and Rene La Salle)

• several Anglo-French wars in Europe (did not have much influence on the colonial America, e.g. Treaty of Utrecht 1713)

• The Seven Year's War in Europe (1756 - 1763) in America is called The French and Indian War (1754 - 1763)

• Britain vs. France (many Amerindians allied with France) for territories in NA

• George Washington led British soldiers

• England finally won

• 1763 - Peace of Paris

• Canada and territories east of the Mississippi were ceded by France to Great Britain

• territories west of the Mississippi were ceded by France to her ally - Spain

• British “colonial empire” in NA was created

1763 - KING GEORGE II'S PROCLAMATION

• colonists could not settle west of the Appalachians until it had not been agreed with the Amerindians

• issued to avoid the war with the Amerindians

• colonists were furious - they had already been living in those territories; they believed the King did not understand their situation

• King George II imposed new higher taxes on goods imported by the colonists (sugar, tea, coffee etc.)

• according to English trade laws colonies could not produce those goods themselves - they constituted a large market for English products

• some products from colonies had to be exported ONLY to England (smuggling)

• before 1763 the taxes had existed but they were lower and ... collected

• colonists believed that only their own colonial assemblies could tax them

1765 - STAMP ACT

• new law passed by the British Parliament

• to get money to pay for the defence of the colonies

• it said that the colonists had to buy special tax stamps and attached them to newspapers, licenses and legal papers (wills, mortgages)

• the colonists objected - “no taxation without representation”

• colonies merchants and shopkeepers refused to sell British goods

• British government was forced to withdraw the Stamp Act

• but Parliament passed another law called the Declaratory Act (1766) - it said that British government had full power and authority over the colonists and people of America

1770 - “BOSTON MASSACRE” was a street fight between a "patriot" mob and of a British soldiers in 1767 the British placed new taxes on the tea, paper, paint and various other goods imported from abroad a special British office was set up in Boston the colonist refused again to pay new taxes the riots broke out in Boston - the British send soldiers to keep order finally British removed all the taxes except the one on tea

1773 - “BOSTON TEA PARTY” colonists did not want to pay the tax on tea imported from England a group of colonists boarded British ships and threw over 300 cases of tea into the sea consequences: British pass a set of laws to punish Massachusetts colonists Boston port was closed to all trade British troops were stationed in colony powers of the colonial assembly were greatly reduced

1774 - First Continental Congress

• 12 colonial leaders (without Georgia) met in Philadelphia

• claimed to be loyal to the British King but agreed that the British parliament had no right to impose taxes on colonies

• called upon all colonists to support Massachusetts (by refusing to import and export British product)

1775 - Outbreak of the American War of Independence

• “Minutemen” - American militiamen (farmers, merchants) who gathered weapons and ammunition and were ready to fight in a minute.

• First battles in Concord and Lexington

• British soldiers were to destroy the colonists' store of ammunition

• Paul Revere warned the colonists (national hero) that the British were coming

• British troops return to Boston but many of them were killed by the colonists

1775 - Second Continental Congress

• all colonial leaders met in Philadelphia

• they began to act as an American government

• they set up an army (under the command of George Washington)

• they asked Europe for help (especially France)

• initially colonists did not want independence - were loyal to the British King

Thomas Paine's “Common Sense” (1776)

• Common Sense - was a written pamphlet that supported complete break with Britain

• was written by Thomas Paine

• contained clear arguments based on Bible

• influential ideology - many people believed in American independence

• fighting spread beyond Massachusetts

4^th July 1776 - Declaration of Independence

• issued by the Second Continental Congress

At the battlefield

• colonist were losing - the British captured New York and Philadelphia (economic blockade)

• 1777 - Battle of Saratoga - New York

• the turning point: colonist won

• Kosciuszko's participation and help

• defeated British soldiers were sent back to England

• France: decided to aid the colonists (money, weapons, soldiers, ships) - in 1778 Louis XVI sign the alliance with Americans

• other European powers (Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark): allied against the English

• fighting in the south

• 1779 - Battle of Savannah, GA

• Kazimierz Pułaski - was called `the father of American cavalry' was killed

• general in the continental Army

• saved the life of George Washington

• 1781 - Battle of Yorktown, VA

• British general Cornwallis surrounded his army to George Washington (American and French solders)

• the end of fighting

1783 - Treaty of Paris

• Britain recognized United States as an independent nation

• borders were defined: Great Lakes, Atlantic, Florida, Mississippi River

• Britain stopped trading with US - Americans could not sell their products

---