{"id":149,"date":"2017-08-22T15:07:19","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T15:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/?page_id=149"},"modified":"2017-09-21T15:09:36","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T15:09:36","slug":"the-war-for-independence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/the-war-for-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"The War for Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u2b05 Previous Lesson<\/a>\u00a0Workshop Index<\/a>\u00a0Next Lesson \u27a1<\/a><\/div>\n

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The War for Independence<\/h1>\n

Objective<\/h4>\n

This lesson will review the conditions and causes that led up to the Revolutionary War. The review will also look at people and nations that played key roles in the conflict and examine the ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n

Previously Covered<\/h4>\n

The previous lesson reviewed the era when European explorers and conquerors landed on the North American continent. This lesson also discussed slavery in the colonies and examined some of the major figures of the era.<\/p>\n

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Tensions Across the Atlantic<\/h3>\n

Below are some of the events that eventually led Britain and her colonies to war:<\/p>\n

The Molasses Act of 1733<\/h4>\n

In an effort to force colonists to purchase sugar and molasses from their constituents in the West Indies, the British Parliament started taxing and imposing shipment restrictions on sugar and molasses that were imported into the American colonies from the French West Indies. The higher tax and imposition of economic force by Britain did not sit well with the colonists, who were struggling economically.<\/p>\n

The French and Indian War<\/h4>\n

The last phase of the Seven Years\u2019 War between Britain and France, the French and Indian War began in 1754 as a struggle over which colonial power would control the upper Ohio River valley. Native Americans joined the fight on the French side, but the British were victorious. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ended the war. Britain won the lion\u2019s share of the land, marking Britain as a colonial power. War debts and problems associated with governing vast colonial territories would play a role in bringing about the Revolutionary War during the next decade.<\/p>\n

The Royal Proclamation of 1763<\/h4>\n

British treatment of Native Americans after the French and Indian War touched off Pontiac\u2019s War. This conflict between the British forces and the tribes of the Great Lakes region hastened another decree from Britain, the Royal Proclamation of 1763. This act prohibited colonists from settling in the land beyond the Appalachian Mountains or in any of the lands Britain had captured from France in the French and Indian War. The colonists viewed the act as meddling interference in their affairs; the colonists moved closer to rebellion.<\/p>\n

\"General<\/center><\/p>\n

General Jeffrey Amherst\u2019s unfair treatment of Native Americans after the French and Indian War helped spur on Pontiac\u2019s War<\/p>\n

The Stamp Act<\/h4>\n

In 1765, Britain passed the Stamp Act, which taxed all colonial commercial and legal papers, newspapers, pamphlets, cards, almanacs, and other items. Colonists vigorously resisted and nullified the Stamp Act, which Britain repealed in 1766. The Stamp Act and its defeat bolstered the colonists\u2019 belief in their independence and their faith that they could organize against the crown.<\/p>\n

The Boston Massacre<\/h4>\n

Coined by propagandist Samuel Adams, the Boston Massacre involved British soldiers firing on civilians in Boston. When the merchant ship Liberty was seized on suspicion that it was in violation of the Townshend Acts<\/abbr>, the citizens of Boston protested, prompting British officials to quarter troops in the city. With tensions high, British soldiers fired on a group of Bostonians who were pelting the soldiers with snowballs and debris. Crispus Attucks, a young black sailor, was killed in the incident. This event was yet another that moved the colonies toward open rebellion.<\/p>\n

The Boston Tea Party<\/h4>\n

On December 16, 1773, a group named the Sons of Liberty, led by Samuel Adams and dressed as Mohawk Indians, approached Griffin’s Wharf where three ships loaded with tea, the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver, were anchored. The men boarded the ships and destroyed the crates of tea. By 9 p.m., the men had destroyed and thrown into the Boston Harbor some 340 crates of tea.<\/p>\n

From Resistance to War<\/h3>\n

Convened in late 1774, the First Continental Congress forged an official bond among the thirteen colonies. The main thrust of the First Continental Congress was an organized boycott of British goods and services, as well as the halting of all exports to Britain.<\/p>\n

However, the following year brought open fighting between the colonists and the British in the form of the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April of 1775. The following month, the Second Continental Congress came together and formed the Continental army under the command of George Washington. This same Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence<\/a> on July 4, 1776.<\/p>\n

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One of the most famous and widely taught icons of the United States, it is important to recall the basics of the Declaration of Independence; that it includes: The preamble (“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…”); a list of principles (“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”); and a list of grievances against Britain<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Click here to see some of the key contributors to the Declaration of Independence.<\/a><\/p>\n

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John Adams<\/h4>\n

Oddly enough, he was counsel for the defense for the British soldiers on trial for the Boston Massacre. But Adams became a Massachusetts member of the Continental Congress and was a vociferous advocate of independence for the colonies. He defeated Jefferson to become the country\u2019s second president.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Franklin<\/h4>\n

Revolutionary, inventor, author, and more, Franklin is the only founding father to have signed the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris, and the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n

Thomas Jefferson<\/h4>\n

Considered the primary author of the Declaration, Jefferson later became the third president of the United States of America. He was a man of immense erudition\u2014his 6,000-book library was the basis for the nation\u2019s Library of Congress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Question<\/h4>\n

Which philosopher\u2019s ideas about government contributed to the Declaration of Independence?<\/p>\n

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  1. Locke<\/li>\n
  2. Hobbes<\/li>\n
  3. Nietzsche<\/li>\n
  4. Malthus<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Reveal Answer<\/a><\/p>\n

    The correct answer is A. John Locke wrote extensively on government and was a proponent of the idea that governmental power can come only from the consent of the governed\u2014a key idea in the colonists’ assertion of independence.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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    Question<\/h4>\n

    Signed in 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended which of the following wars?<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The American War for Independence<\/li>\n
    2. Pontiac\u2019s War<\/li>\n
    3. The French and Indian War<\/li>\n
    4. The French Civil War<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Reveal Answer<\/a><\/p>\n

      Answer C is correct. With this treaty, Britain gained control of vast amounts of the North American continent, which Britain won by defeating the French. This particular Treaty of Paris should not be confused with the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War in 1781.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

      The British Defeated<\/h3>\n

      After many pitched battles<\/a> throughout the colonies, the British finally surrendered in Yorktown in 1781. General Lord Cornwallis\u2019s troops were confined to the Yorktown peninsula as French ships blocked his supply lines. He was forced to surrender on October 19, 1781.<\/p>\n

      \n
      \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      Date<\/th>\nBattle<\/th>\nOutcome<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
      May 11, 1775<\/td>\nBattle of Crown Point\u2014Green Mountain Boys and Ethan Allen attacked the British Fort Ticonderoga near Lake Champlain<\/td>\nColonists win.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      June 17, 1775<\/td>\nBattle of Bunker Hill<\/td>\nBritish win.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      March 4-5, 1776<\/td>\nBattle of Dorchester Heights<\/td>\nColonists win.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      August 27, 1776<\/td>\nBattle of Long Island<\/td>\nBritish win.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      September 16, 1776<\/td>\nBattle of Harlem Heights<\/td>\nBritish win.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      October 28, 1776<\/td>\nBattle of White Plains<\/td>\nBritish win.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      December 25\u2013January, 1776-77<\/td>\nWashington’s crossing of the Delaware and Battles of Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey<\/td>\nColonists win.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      October 4, 1777<\/td>\nBattle of Germantown<\/td>\nColonists retreated.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      June 28, 1778<\/td>\nBattle of Monmouth<\/td>\nEnd inconclusive. Both sides claim victory.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      August 16, 1780<\/td>\nBattle of Camden<\/td>\nCrushing defeat for colonists. British general Cornwallis defeats American general Gates near Camden, South Carolina.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      October 19, 1781<\/td>\nBattle of Yorktown<\/td>\nColonists are victorious. Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

      \"Battle<\/center><\/p>\n

      Because Cornwallis could not be present, military tradition required Washington\u2019s subordinate to accept the surrender. Washington is on horseback in the background on the right side of the painting<\/p>\n

      Upon hearing of the defeat, British Prime Minister Lord North resigned. Although sporadic fighting remained, the conflict was effectively over. The British signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which defined the thirteen colonies as sovereign states.<\/p>\n

      Foreign Involvement<\/h3>\n

      France<\/h4>\n

      France entered the war on the side of the colonists in 1778. France\u2019s involvement was crucial to the colonists\u2019 victory. The country sent not only troops but also supplies, medicine, and machinery.<\/p>\n

      Germany<\/h4>\n

      Over the course of the war, Britain hired some 30,000 German mercenaries to fight in North America. These troops were known as Hessians; many came from the German town of Hesse.<\/p>\n

      Spain<\/h4>\n

      Spain sent supplies and medicines to aid the colonists but did not send troops. However, some Spanish colonials did join the fight in the southern colonies.<\/p>\n

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      Question<\/h4>\n

      How did the French and Indian War affect France\u2019s involvement in the colonists\u2019 war for independence?<\/p>\n

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      1. French acquisition of North American land aligned them with the colonists\u2019 cause.<\/li>\n
      2. Native American tribes in the Midwest spurred early French involvement.<\/li>\n
      3. Losing North American land to the British helped usher the French into the war on the side of the colonists.<\/li>\n
      4. With their resources depleted by the French and Indian War, the French sent only supplies and medicine to the colonists.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Reveal Answer<\/a><\/p>\n

        Answer C is correct. Recall that France lost the French and Indian War to the British and lost the bulk of its claim to North American land. This, coupled with Britain’s status as an emerging superpower, led the French to help the colonists. French involvement was key to the colonists\u2019 eventual victory.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

        Review<\/h3>\n