-
Founding Fathers: Jonathan Trumbull Sr.
- Connecticut governor (1769-1784)
-
Founding Father: Benjamin Rush
- 1773: Essays about Patriot cause
- 1776: Represented Philadelphia/ Signed Dec. of Ind.
-
Second Continental Congress
a) 1775
Philadelphia State House
Delegates from each colony (except Georgia)
b) Need to decide whether or not to support the war
c) Agreed on support but disagreed on purpose
- some favored complete independence
- some wanted modest reforms
- Olive Branch Petition
- Declaration of auses and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
-British began trying to recruit Indians -
George Washington
a) 1775
Commander in chief of continental army
b) Continental army created by American Congress
Most experienced American-born officer
- Early advocate of Independence
- Respected/Admired/Trusted by Patriots
c) Great war leader
- In charge of keeping entire population in high spirits
American victory over England
Washington = 1st president -
Role of French in American Revolution
a) 1775-1783
French alliance/influence
b) Still mad @ Britain for French & Indian War
c) Sent supplies
More funding
More troops
Strong alliance -
Common Sense & Thomas Paine
a) 1776
Thomas Paine
- revolutionary propagandist
Pamphlet that galvanized many Americans
b) Expose folly of continuing to belive in reconciliation w/ Britain
Turn Anger of Americans
c) Galvanized revolutionary drive
"Revalations"
Changed American viewpoint entirely -
Founding Fathers: John Hancock
- Mass. Delegate at 2nd Continental Congress
- President of Continental Congress (1775)
-
Founding Fathers: John Witherspoon
- NJ representative @ Continental Congress
- Continental Congress delegate (1776-1782)
-
Founding Fathers: Charles Carroll
- Maryland representative @ Continental Congress
- Signed Declaration of Independence
- 1775 Provincial Congress
-
Declaration of Independence
a) 1776
Continental Congress
Thomas Jefferson
Philadelphia
b) Congress appointed committee
- formal declaration of independence
Document to state official colonial standpoint
Express ideas voiced throughout colonies
John Locke contract theory
- gov'ts protect life, liberty, and property
King George 3 alleged crimes
c) French Revolution
- Declaration of Rights of Man
Increased foreign aid
Divisons w/n American society -
Abigail Adams' Plea
a) 1776
Abigail Adams (wife of John Adams)
Asked John to grant rights to women in new code of law
b) Husbands previously had "unlimited power"
Called for modest expansion of womens' rights
- Wanted protection against tyrannical and abusive men
c) Some went further
- Judith Murray: wimen as good as men & deserve = edu.
- Mary Wollstonecraft: Vindication of the Rights of Women -
Battle of Saratoga
a) 1777
British Surrender
John Burgoyne/ William Howe
b) Continuous British losses
- Short of materials
- British mistakes
c) Major turning point
Alliance bt U.S. and France
Iroquois setback -
Founding Fathers: John Jay
- NY representative @ Continental Congress
- President of Continental Congress (1778)
-
Changes Made In State Constitutions Regarding Slavery Post Rev. War
- 1780: Pennsylvania gradual-emancipation act
- 1783: Mass. ruled ownership of slaves impermissible
- Every state (except SC & Georgia) prohibited importation of slaves
- South Carolina: Temporary war-time ban on slavery
- Racism
- Economic investments
- Inability to imagine/envision life w/o slavery -
Articles of Confederation
a) 1781 (proposed in 1777)
Provided national political strucure
b) Need for gov't/ ruling body
c) - Weak central / strong state gov't.
- Congress= central & only institution of national authority
- Gov't can:
- Conduct wars / Foreign relations
- Approproate/Borrow/Issue $$
- Gov't cannot:
- Regulate trade
- Draft troops
- Levy taxes -
Articles of Confederation Accomplishments & Strengths
a) Conducted Rev. War Successfully
- Easier control
b) Negotiated Treaty of Paris (1783)
- Central gov't made decisions for greater good of colonies
c) Ordinances of 1784 & 1785
- Orderly settlement in East & West states
- Permitted Congress to make policy for national domain
d) 1787 Northwest Ordinance
- Law concerning western settlement
- Made land easier to control -
Articles of Confederation Weakneses
d) - Couldn't pay Revolutionary War debt/vets
- No way to raise $
- Congress could not levy taxes
e) Shay's Rebellion
- showed need for stronger gov't
- Standing army necessary
f) Weak As A Central Gov't
- Could not exercise any control over colonists
- Could not defend/protect colonists
- Could not raise taxes to generate revenue -
1783 Treaty of Paris
a) 1783
Versailles
Ended Revolutionary War
b) British surrender @ Yorktown
- Spanish/French hostility
c) Colonies officially free
End of Spanish/Frecnh hostility
American triumph -
Effects of American Revolution on Economy
- No longer dependent on Britain
- No longer protected by British navy
- Opened up enormous new areas of trade
- Many new markets
- Industrial expansion
-
Changes States Made Concerning Establishment of Relgion After Rev. War
- Moved in direction of complete religious freedom
- NY & Southern states disestablished Church of England
- New England stripped Congregational Church of special status
- Virginia: Statute of Religious Freedoms (1786)
- Called for complete separation of Church and State
- Written by Thomas Jefferson
-
Assumptions of Republicanism/ Ideology Underlying Creation of Govt's
- Republican forms of gov't = a must-have
- Power comes from people
- Success of gov't depends on citizentry
- Equality
- " all men are equal"
- Social graduations not envisioned
- Revolutionary ideology
-
Founding Fathers: John Peter Muhlenberg
- Vice President of Supreme Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- Elected to 1st Congress (1789-1791)
-
Reasons Americans Fight Britain
- Common Sense by Thomas Paine
- revolutionary propagandist
- changed American outlook on war
- Olive Branch Petition
- Dec. of Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
- Continental Congress
- Common Sense by Thomas Paine
-
Effects of Revolutionary War On:
a) Loyalists/Tories
- Losers ( 1/5 of colonial white pop.)
- Hounded by Patriots
- Harrassed by legislative/judicial action
- 100,00 fled
b) Anglicans
- Identified with England
- Church disestablished
- No more clergymen
c) Roman Catholics
- Supported Patriot cause
- Met with gratitude / Eroded hostility
d) African Americans
- Freedom for some
- Thousands emancipated and helped to escape
- Increased exposure to Liberty -
Effects of Revolutionary War On (Continued):
e) Native Americans
- Joined English cause
- Series of attacks
- Iroquois continued to wage war against Western Whites
- Weakened position of Native Americans
- Changed white attitudes -
English Commmon Law Rights of Colonial Women
Unmarried Women Had Rights to:
- Own property
- Enter contracts
Married Women Had Rights to:
- NOTHING; everything owned & earned belonged to husband
- Could not even obtain a divorce Revolutionary Changes:
- Easier for women to get divorces
- Right to vote in NJ (repealed in 1807)
- Widows' lost right to regain dowries from late husband's estate -
Effect of American Revolution on Women
- Few challenged patriarchal norms
- Subtle alteration of women's expectations
- Reevaluated contributions of women to familial/societal well-being
- Women valued more
- New kind of citizen