Ch 2 Sec 2

1. Ch 2 Sec 2 The War for Independence

2. The War Begins • Loyalists and Patriots • Loyalists: those opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king. • Thought British were going to win and they wanted to avoid punishment as rebels. • Thought Crown would protect their rights better than a government • Patriots: supporters of independence • Wanted political and economic opportunity in an Independent America. • Many Americans remained were neutral • African Americans fought with both sides • Most fought with Patriots • Some with Loyalists because they had promised them freedom if they fought for the Crown • Native Americans fought for Britain because saw colonists as a greater threat

3. The War Begins • Early Victories and Defeats • New York 1776 • Britain sent a force of 32,000 soldiers • German Mercenaries (Hessians) • Colonists untrained and unprepared • Pushed Washington and colonists back to Delaware River into Pennsylvania • Christmas 1776 • Washington took colonists across Delaware River for surprise attack • They beat Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey • September 1777 • Britain captured American capital in Philadelphia

4. The War Begins • Saratoga and Valley Forge • One of the most important events in the war • British plans: General Burgoyne wanted to lead the army down the lakes from Canada to Albany to meet British troops who were arriving from NYC. • Troops from New York didn’t come because they were focused on keeping Philadelphia • Continental Army gathered and fought Burgoyne in the forest. • Britain surrendered in Saratoga • France believed colonists could win so they became allies • 2,000 soldiers died in Valley Fort due to starvation and lack of supplies • Primary Source: “It may be said that no history…can furnish an instance of an Army’s suffering uncommon hardships as ours have done…To see the men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lie upon, without shoes,… and submitting without a murmur, is a proof of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarcely be paralleled.” –George Washington

5. Life During the Revolution • Continental Congress was unable to pay the troops • Printed money called continentals. • Inflation: increase in prices caused by increase in the supply of money • Affect on Women: • Wives have to step into husbands job • Followed men to battlefield to cook and wash for the troops • Thousands of slaves escaped to freedom in the chaos of war • Most native Americas did not participate

6. Winning the War • Marquis de Lafayette: foreign military leader • Arrived to give help to Colonists

7. Winning the War • The British Move South • After Saratoga left began to shift their operations to the South. • Took over Savannah, Georgia • Their greatest victory of the war: • Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis capture Charles Town, South Carolina in May 1780. • Cornwallis continued to conquer in the South • Colonists kept fighting hindering Cornwallis’ effort • Cornwallis wanted to take Virginia • Led army of 7,500 to Yorktown

8. Winning the War • The British Surrender at Yorktown • Lafayette and Washington moved south towards Yorktown • By late September, about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown peninsula • After a month Cornwallis surrendered. • Peace talks started in Paris in 1782. • Negotiating team: John Adams, John Jay, and Benjamin Franklin • September 1783: Signed Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. independence and set the boundaries of the new nation. • US stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida border.

9. The War Becomes a Symbol of Liberty • Social distinctions blurred as wealthy wore homespun clothing and as military leaders showed respect for all the soldiers • Led to Egalitarianism: • A belied in the equality of all people • Believed ability, effort, and virtue, not wealth or family background, defined one’s worth

10. The War Becomes a Symbol of Liberty • African Americans • still enslaved • those who were not were still discriminated against • 1804 many New England and Middle states taken steps to outlaw slavery • Native Americans • More communities destroyed and/or displaced • Population of Natives living east of Mississippi declined by 50% • Settlers began taking tribal lands left unprotected by Treaty of Paris • New motto for Americans: • Novus Ordo Seclorum: A New Order of the Ages

11. Experimenting with Confederation • Trying to decide what type of government to have. Republic: a government in which citizens rule through their elected representatives. Democracy- government directly by the people.

12. Experimenting with Confederation • The Articles of Confederation • New plan of government • Alliance among the 13 colonies • Each state had 1 vote regardless of the population • Power divided between states and national government • National government could: • Declare war, make peace, sign treaties • Borrow money, set standards for coins and for weights and measures • Establish a postal service • Land Ordinance of 1785 • Plan for surveying the land of Northwest Territory, lands west of the Appalachians • Northwest Ordinance of 1787 • Procedure for dividing land into no fewer than 3 and no more than 5 states • Set requirements for the admission of new states • Overlooked Native American land claims

13. Experimenting with Confederation • Problems with the Confederation: • Each state functioned independently pursuing their own interested rather than interests of the nation as a whole • Government had no means of raising money or reinforcing laws • No national court system to settle legal disputes • Weak central government and little unity among the states

14. Experimenting with Confederation • Shays’ Rebellion • In 1786 farmers in Massachusetts were upset about increased state taxes • Shays’ rebellion • January 1787 Daniel Shay led 1,200 farmers to Springfield, Massachusetts • State officials called in the militia to head off the army • Killed 4 rebels and scattered the rest • Persuaded twelve states to send delegates to a convention in Philadelphia in May 1787

15. Creating a New Government • decided to create a new form of government to replace the Articles

16. Creating a New Government • Conflict and Compromise • Didn’t know how to give fair representation to both large and small states • Virginia Plan • Created by James Madison • Bicameral-two-house, legislature, with membership based on population • Small states didn’t like because gave more power to bigger states • New Jersey Plan • Single-house congress • Each state had equal vote • Small states supported this plan • Great Compromise • Two-house congress • Equal representatives in the Senate, upper house • Size of population influences House of Representatives, or lower house • Voters of each state choose members of the House • State legislatures choose members of the House • Decided slaves were 3/5 of a person in population count

17. Creating a New Government • Division of Powers: • Form of federalism • Power divided between a national government and several state governments • Delegated powers (National government): • Control of foreign affairs • Regulation of trade • Reserved powers (state): • Supervising education • Shared powers: • Right to tax • Establish courts • Separation of Powers: limited the authority of the national government • 3 branches: • Legislative: Make laws • Executive: Carry out laws • Judicial: interpret the laws and settle disputes • Created a checks and balances to prevent any one branch from dominating the other 2

18. Creating a New Government • Changing the Constitution • Means to change the constitution via amendments • Making it flexible made it able to pass the test of time

19. Ratifying the Constitution: Ratification: approval • Federalists and Antifederalists • Federalists: supporters of the new constitutions balance of power • Felt having a strong central government was superior to the weal Congress created in the Articles • Antifederalists: opposed having strong central government and against the constitution • Felt constitution had no guarantee that the government would protect the rights of the people or of the states. • Demanded a Bill of Rights • Formal summary of citizens rights and freedoms

20. Ratifying the Constitution • Adoption of a Bill of Rights • Ratification of 10 amendments to the Constitution • First amendment: Guarantees rights to freedom of religion, speech, press, and political activity • 2nd and 3rd: Government cannot deny citizens the right to bear arms and no housing troops in private homes at times of peace • 4th: Prevents search of citizens’ homes without proper warrants • 5th and 8th: guarantee fair treatment for individuals accused of crimes • 9th and 10th: impose general limits on the powers of the federal government • Did not apply to all Americans at the time • Native Americans and slaves excluded • Women also not mentioned

21. Continuing Relevance of the Constitution • Constitution oldest written national constitution still in use. • Living document • In more than 200 years, on 27 amendments has been added

22. Bill of Rights Activity • http://edsitement.neh.gov/ConstitutionDay/default.asp • http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/conday/lwbr-standalone/index.html • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_TXJRZ4CFc