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American Revolution

American Revolution. Those Crazy Colonials (OR, This is Just About All the American History You’re Getting in this Class.). The Backstory. It’s all about economic policy, benign neglect, and a war that jumps the Atlantic.

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American Revolution

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  1. American Revolution Those Crazy Colonials (OR, This is Just About All the American History You’re Getting in this Class.)

  2. The Backstory It’s all about economic policy, benign neglect, and a war that jumps the Atlantic.

  3. English colonization of the Americas begins in the 16th century, for several reasons. • Some colonists flee to the Americas for religious freedom (Pilgrims, for example) • Most, however, have purely economic goals • Mercantilism: The idea that the power a country has is equal to its overall wealth • Therefore, the wealthier the country, the more powerful it is. The Backstory

  4. American colonies were a way to generate income for Great Britain. • They provided raw materials (like timber and cotton) • They provided a market to sell finished manufactured goods • Great Britain passed a set of laws (The Navigation Acts) that prohibited the American colonies from trading with anyone else. The Backstory

  5. By the 1700s, Great Britain had a number of American colonies: • Southern colonies– plantation agriculture • Middle colonies– subsistence and cash crop agriculture • New England colonies– shipbuilding, whaling, and fishing (originally religious separatists) • Some colonies in the Caribbean and Atlantic The Backstory

  6. While the Navigation Acts were technically law, they were rarely enforced. • This was largely because Britain was busy with the English Civil War and several periods of upheaval. • This period of “benign neglect” allowed the colonies to develop pseudo-independent legislatures. The Backstory

  7. Powder Keg You won’t like us when we’re angry.

  8. Between 1754 and 1760, Great Britain was involved in the Seven Years War with France. • The war would spill across the Atlantic, and be fought in North America over land claims for each country. • In North America, this conflict is known as the French and Indian War. • Britain used its own troops, as well as the colonial militias, to fight the war. Causes of the War

  9. As a result of the war, Great Britain: • Gained a huge portion of land in Eastern Canada and the lands west of Appalachian mountains to the Mississippi River. • Ran up enormous debts which they could not repay. • Forbade the American colonists from moving past the Appalachian Mountains, in an attempt to appease the Native Americans. Causes of the War

  10. The British government felt that the colonies ought to assist Britain in paying off the war debt. • Therefore, the British government actively began enforcing the long-dormant Navigation Acts. • They also passed a law taxing all printed paper goods, called the Stamp Act. Causes of the War

  11. These acts were intensely unpopular with American colonists • Colonist began boycotting British goods • Some attacked Stamp Act agents • Due to the ferocity of the colonial reaction, the British repeal the Stamp Act in 1766. • Britain begins sending troops to the American colonies to quell protests. Causes of the War

  12. In 1770, a mob provoked a regiment of British soldiers into firing at it, killing five. • This becomes known as the Boston Massacre • This, along with a series of taxes on goods such as tea, glass, lead, and paper, led to more resentment of British rule. Causes of the War

  13. In 1775, fighting broke out around Boston. • This leads to a meeting of delegates from all thirteen colonies, called the Second Continental Congress. • This meeting produces the Continental Army, and makes a last ditch effort at avoiding a full-scale war by writing the Olive Branch Petition. • The Petition is declined by Great Britain. Revolutionary War

  14. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress. • The document borrows heavily from Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Revolutionary War

  15. The early portion of the war goes badly for the Continental Army. • It isn’t until they defeat the British at the Battle of Saratoga that it appears the colonials have the upper hand. • This military victory prompts Britain’s traditional enemies, Spain and France, to help fund the Revolutionary War. • The British surrender in 1781, and the United States of America is recognized as an independent nation in 1783. Revolutionary War

  16. International Effects Remember, this is a World History class.

  17. The American Revolutionary War will be the first independence movement in the Western hemisphere. • The United States becomes the first (successful, so far) experiment of the ideas of the Enlightenment. • Will influence: the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the Latin American revolutions– just to name a few. International Effects

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