British Strengths
Chapter 6
Making War
and Republican
Governments
British Strengths
Colonial Strengths
Numbers
11 million British
 2.5 million colonists

Wealth
Military Power
Colonial Strengths
British Weaknesses
leadership
g aid
foreign
defensive war
self--sustaining
self
moral advantage
1
British Weaknesses
Colonial Weaknesses
Whig Party
distance
troop problems
size of America - cities
MUST WIN!
Colonial Weaknesses
no unity – no government
lack of financial resources
lack of supplies
militia unprepared
Country Divided
40% - Patriots
20% - Loyalists
40% - apathetic or neutral
“seldom have so few done so much
for so many”
Gen. William Howe
New York City
g
Battle of Long
Island – Aug. 1776
GW retreated
2
Colonial Victories
George Washington
Washington
18,000 troops
forced into NJ
and PA
keep an army in
the field!
Crossing the Delaware
British Plan of Attack
Trenton, NJ
Christmas night 1776
 1000 Hessians

1777
3 pronged attack

Princeton, NY

Jan. 1777
isolate New England
Burgoyne – down Hudson River
St. Leger – Lake Ontario
Howe – up Hudson River
Howe’s Plan
attack Philadelphia

end rebellion!
Brandywine Creek

Sept. 11, 1777
Germantown

Oct. 4, 1777
3
Burgoyne Fails
no aid from
Gage
bogged down
in upstate NY
Battle of Saratoga
Oct. 17, 1777
No Howe!
No St. Leger!
Burgoyne defeated
by Horatio Gates
Economy
shipping, exports declined
g
pp y
goods in short supply
women more involved

clothing, farming
Turning Point
Victory at Saratoga brought
much needed foreign aid
FRANCE!!
states printed money
Continental Congress also printed
currencyy
value dropped
led to social upheaval
goods scarce, prices still high
4
Valley Forge
lack of food,
clothing, morale
deaths
d th and
d
desertion
Baron von Steuben

better training
Valley Forge – Winter 1777-1778
Treaty of Alliance
FRANCE - Feb. 1778
no separate treaties
weapons navy,
navy money
weapons,
colonists uneasy
Britain – allow home rule

REJECTED!!
War in the South
Early British victories
Henry Clinton
 Charles Cornwallis

Loyalist support
controlled much of GA, SC
5
Tide Turns
Colonial victories in the South
French aid arrives
M
Marquis
i d
de L
Lafayette
f
Nathanael Greene
 Francis Marion – “Swamp
Swamp Fox
Fox”
 Daniel Morgan

Benedict Arnold
uncertain of promotion
felt unappreciated
planned
l
d tto b
betray
t
West Point
plan exposed
aided Cornwallis
Cornwallis Retreats
Yorktown – 1781
Washington,
Rochambeau

marched from NYC
Adm. de Grasse
– Navy
Cornwallis
Treaty of Paris
Cornwallis surrendered

October 19, 1781
Lord North

“Oh God! It is all over!”
2 more years of fighting
Sept.
p 1783
secret treaty
J. Adams, Franklin, John Jay
 France angry

6
Provisions
State Constitutions
Britain kept Canada
US control to Mississippi River
S i ttookk Florida
Spain
Fl id
Colonists
Most drafted new ones
RI,
RI CT just revised charters
Mass. – state convention
Return land to Loyalists
 Britain to collect pre
pre--war debts

Similarities
bill of rights
strong legislatures

annual election
weak executive, judicial
Economy
more manufacturing
trade affected
worse than before war
hatred for taxes
7
Women’s Rights
Abigail Adams
more marital rights
right to education
could not vote
Loyalists
100,000 fled America
property seized
lost prominent positions
Articles of Confederation
weak confederation
declare war, treaties, state disputes,
money
changes?
1781 - ratified
Weaknesses
Could not enforce taxes
Could not regulate trade
Northwest Territory
Land Ordinance of 1785

36 section townships
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Need for New Government
no slavery!
 60,000 people to become state

8
Conservatives
maintain wealth
exaggerated problems
States Problems
Shays’ Rebellion
Daniel Shays
high taxes
angry farmers
currency
boundary disputes
Annapolis
1786
tariff, taxation
only
l 5 states
t t
meet again in 1787

Philadelphia
Constitutional Convention
• May 1787
• 55 delegates
g
((No RI))
–propertied men
–lawyers, merchants
• key leaders absent
TeachingAmericanHistory.org
Legislature
Proceedings
•
•
•
•
Washington – President
goal – revise Articles
start over
secretive
• VA Plan – Madison
• NJ Plan – Wm. Paterson
• “Great Compromise”
–CT Plan
9
Executive
• independent
• President
P id t
• various powers
Slavery
• slave trade to end in 20 years
• fugitive
f i i slave
l
clause
l
• 3/5 Compromise
Safeguards
•
•
•
•
checks and balances
Electoral College
fed. judges – life appointments
Senate – state legislatures
Convention Ends
•
•
•
•
Sept. 17, 1787
42 delegates remained
3 refused to sign
no one completely happy
Ratification
•
•
•
•
•
9 out of 13 states
Federalist vs. Antifederalists
promised a Bill of Rights – MA
The Federalist Papers – NY
June 21, 1788 (NH)
10
• VA, NY ratify quickly
• NC – 1789
• RI – 1790
11