Am. Revolution review

1. History 1301-11
Character is an inside job, and it
is largely determined by the
succession of choices, desires,
habits, and beliefs we built into
our lives and personify.
Chapter 5
The Patriot Movie and
The Final Plunge into Revolution

2. France
• Looking for revenge against Great Britain.
• Saw the potential for a colonial revolt as a great
opportunity. (Louis XVI 1774-1792)
• Key players became: Charles Gravier, the
Count de Vergennes (Ver zjene) who became
the minister of foreign affairs (1774-1787). Pierre
de Beaumarchais, (Bo mar shay) a literary
genius who played at politics and was a French
secret agent. He wrote the Barber of Seville and
The Marriage of Figaro and had great favor in
the French Court.

3. Vergennes & de Beaumarchais

4. Arthur Lee-Colonial agent who
represented Massachusetts
• 1775 met with de
Beaumarchais in
England, informed
him of colonial
intentions for
independence
and sought
French
assistance.

5. Louis XVI-(1754-1793)
Directed that one
million livres (about
$200,000) worth of
munitions be provided
for the colonists from
the royal arsenals. (The
livre was established by
Charlemagne as a unit of
account equal to one
pound of silver.)

6. Charles III of Spain
• Charles III of Spain,
who was the royal
uncle of the King of
France, matched his
nephew’s contribution
with another million.
• French investors gave
another million.

7. Reenter de Beaumarchais
• Beaumarchais now transformed himself
into a fictious commercial house with the
state name of Rodrigue Hortalez
Company. It was through him and his
fictional company that these arms and
munitions would reach the colonies.

8. Silas Deane
• In 1776, they also sent
Silas Deane to negotiate
the purchase of
munitions. Deane was
very paranoid. He was
very paranoid about
spies. Is it paranoia if
what you’re paranoid
about is true? He should
have been concerned
about his secretary.

9. Dr. Edward Bancroft
• Edward Bancroft was a
highly regarded scientist
and writer who was hired
by Ben Franklin to spy on
the British just before the
Revolutionary War.
Nearly 70 years after
Bancroft's death, the
British government
released papers showing
he had also been paid by
the British to spy on the
colonists. Bancroft spied
for the French in 1789.

10. Brown Bess and ammo

11. • The British followed the old European
traditions of war. Rapid volleys generally
aimed by soldiers usually three deep.
• “Three shots a minute, 4 for veteran
soldiers, that was the best fire rate they
could achieve in those days. War was
cleaner then, a game for gentlemen
played with set rules and honour, to some
extent at least.”

12. Real Warfare in the Revolution
• It reflected a class conscious society with
the nobility viewing the battles from afar
while the “common” soldiers fought the
battles.
• Weapons were generally inaccurate.
• Generally, both British and colonists
fought this way with notable exceptions.

13. General Sir Banastre Tarleton
• Is portrayed as a
bloodthirsty
soldier.
• Atrocities
happen in war.
• His atrocities
raise sentiments
for the good
guys.

14. Hollywood Movies…sound
familiar?
• Hollywood movie formula…
• 1) Blow stuff up
• 2) Defy Authority
• 3) Remove clothing

15. ?Problems with THE PATRIOT
Hey, It’s Hollywood, remember.
• Some students of the Revolution get upset about
the sequence of events. (not a doc.)
• Pistols didn’t fire that far. Cannon balls did travel
50-60 mph. Wounds disappear.
• Aunt Charlotte’s costumes were much too
provocative for the time. She‘s a loose woman
• Slavery-Martin had free men working for him.
• Children with guns-trauma?
• The man who shot himself is seen later.

16. Ethan Allen
• 1775-Allen and the
Green Mountain Boys
gained fame for an
early colonial victory
at Ft. Ticonderoga. In
1777 they helped win
the Battle of
Bennington in VT.
Vermont Statehood in
1791.

17. Benedict Arnold
Arnold fought with
Allan at
Ticonderoga. Later
his name became
synonymous with
being a traitor and
a turncoat.

18. Battle of Bunker Hill
the death of Gen. Warren

19. Why Remember Bunker Hill?
• The losses were astounding for the British with more
than 1,000 men lost, wounded or prisoners.
• The Americans only lost about 400 or less.
• By the military tradition of the time, the British won
because at the end of the battle they had possession of
the field. The casualties however, tell a different story.
• This attack was immortalized forever in American
history. First, because it was the first serious defeat for
the British and secondly due to a famous quote
attributed to one of the American commanders. To
preserve the American's gunpowder, he ordered the
patriots, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!"
SUMMER 1775

20. Declaration of Independence
• Thomas Jefferson,
Author.
• Signed July 4, 1776.
• Major change was the
elimination of a long
argument blaming the
kind for slavery in
America.

21. France at War with Britain?
• When news of the Declaration of Independence
reached Vergennes, he went so far as to
suggest to Spain that Spain and France make
War on Great Britain.
• The Spanish Ministry promptly agreed in
principle to Vergennes’ proposal, but Vergennes
withdrew his advances after news arrived of the
British victory over Washington’s troops at the
battle of Long Island.

22. Official Diplomats to Europe
(France)
• Ben Franklin, Arthur Lee and Silas Deane
were sent to Paris. (tough assignment)
• Consider the French position…What if the
colonies arrived at Peace with Britain.
Vergennes wanted some assurances.
• Members felt that the French were so
jealous of Britain that she would not let the
colonists sink.

23. Franklin in Paris
• One cannot overstate the impact that
Franklin had in Paris.
• He spoke French tolerably well and, more
importantly, was gallant in the French
manner. He had great press and an
adoring public. His profile was on every
fashionable lady’s snuffbox.

24. A must have for the women of society in Paris

25. How Franklin Operated
• His diplomacy was overt and covert.
• He waged a public relations campaign, secured
secret aid, played a role in privateering
expeditions, and churned out effective and
inflammatory propaganda.
• One coup involved distributing bogus newspaper
reports of outrages committed by England's
Indian allies on the frontier. Opposition members
in Parliament were duped and used the material
to attack the government.

26. Franklin in Paris
• Franklin's success can be measured
partially by the anxiety his mission created
in England. The British ambassador to
Paris called him a "veteran of mischief."
Franklin knew he was the object of "violent
curiosities." He did all he could to keep the
enemy on edge while he parried with spies
curious about him.

27. Franklin’s Network
• Franklin had a network of agents and friends in
France who provided him excellent information
on British naval force movements.
• On the other hand their secretary Bancroft, was
a British agent.
• He sent vital information written on paper in
invisible ink sealed in little bottles dropped in a
location for pickup by the British spymaster Paul
Wentworth.
• Wentworth ran a very effective espionage
network in Paris targeting American-French
activities.."

28. Franklin’s Charm
• Franklin was our only representative that
had diplomatic experience, having dealt
with the British.
• He also had a penetrating knowledge of
human nature.
• Franklin personified what the French
loved, an underdog fighting against the
much hated British.

29. Washington
• His selection as Commander was resented by several men
with equal, or even more, professional military experience.
This caused some dissension which carried more than
halfway through the war.
• Washington's selection was fortuitous for the rebel cause.
Few of the potential contenders evidenced the special
character and military leadership traits which allowed
Washington to prevail in his unique mission.
• Not only did he have to adapt to irregular and varied
military situations, but he had to pioneer in commanding an
army placed specifically under civilian rule.
• That civilian rule was the newly created Congress -- an
unproven political institution which had not fully defined its
goals and policies. No less a challenge, Washington had to
fight one of the world's finest professional armies.

30. Challenges?
• Enlistments were short. People just left.
• Recruits were raw, few were soldiers.
• Life was gosh awful. No food, no supplies,
little clothing, no money.
• And it was cold. Most armies took the
winter off.
• No government help.
• So how could we win?

31. Well, we have George
Washington
• He understood that to be a nation we
needed a continental army.
• To achieve victory he must keep the army
alive.
• In a strange way, the Continental Army
was the new country. If it died would the
cause die with it? Perhaps so.

32. Not a Cherry Tree kind of guy
• To offset British superiority in firepower and
troops, General Washington made frequent use
of deception operations.
• He allowed fabricated documents to fall in the
hands of enemy agents or to be discussed in
their presence.
• He allowed his couriers—carrying bogus
information-to be captured by the British, and
inserted forged documents in intercepted British
pouches that were then permitted to go on to
their destination.

33. Every trick in the Book
• Washington even had fake military facilities built.
He managed to make the British believe that his
three thousand man army was outside
Philadelphia was 40,000 strong!
• Through deception, Washington fooled the
British in 1781 into thinking a Franco-American
assault on New York was pending. While the
British strengthened positions there and waited
for an attack that never came, Washington and
the Marquis de Rochambeau slipped away to
Virginia, where they defeated Lord Cornwallis at
Yorktown.

34. More trickery
• At Yorktown , James Armistead, a slave who
joined Lafayette's service with his master's
permission, crossed into Cornwallis' lines in the
guise of an escaped slave, and was recruited by
Cornwallis to return to American lines as a spy.
• Lafayette gave him a fabricated order that
supposedly was destined for a large number of
patriot replacements—a force that did not exist.

35. Armistead given FREEDOM
• Armistead delivered the bogus order in crumpled
dirty condition to Cornwallis, claiming to have
found it along the road during his spy mission.
• Cornwallis believed him and did not want to
believe he had been tricked until after the battle
of Yorktown.
• Armistead was granted his freedom by the
Virginia legislature as a result of this and other
intelligence services.

36. Charles Morgan
• Another deception operation at Yorktown found
Charles Morgan entering Cornwallis' camp as a
deserter.
• When debriefed by the British, he convinced
them that Lafayette had sufficient boats to move
his troops against the British in one landing
operation.
• Cornwallis was duped by the operation and dug
in rather than march out of Yorktown.

37. Charles Morgan
• Morgan, in turn, escaped in a British
uniform and returned to American lines
with five British deserters and a prisoner!

38. Meanwhile back at the War
• Things were not
going well for
George. Two
bitterly cold
winters at Valley
Forge took their
toll on the
colonists.

39. General Francis Marion
the Swamp Fox
Colonial Guerrilla
Fighter in South
Carolina.
Fought with that rascal
Red Coat Banastre
Tarleton.
Was often chased into
the Swamps where he
would seemingly
disappear.

40. Heroes to know…Nathan Hale
• Widely regarded as
America’s First Spy.
• Volunteered for
mission.
• Was Captured.
• Prior to hanging said,
“I only regret that I
have but one life to
give for my country.”

41. Thomas Knowlton's statue in
Connecticut.
• Hale belonged to Knowlton's
Rangers. This was a group
which was used by
Washington for spying and
special operations.
Knowlton's Rangers" were
also the first organized
American elite troops,
analogous to a modern
special forces unit. The date
"1776" on the modern U.S.
Army’s intelligence service
seal refers to the formation of
Knowlton's Rangers.

42. John Paul Jones
• “I have not yet
begun to fight.”
• American Naval
Hero.
• To the British he
was a pirate.

43. Marquis de Lafayette
• Young Very Wealthy
Frenchman.
• Was with Washington at
Valley Forge.
• When Lafayette learned
of the struggle of the
Americans in their
endeavor to secure their
independence he
resolved to come to the
colonies to aid them in
their efforts as a
volunteer. He also
persuaded several
French officers to come
with him.

44. The bad guys…
• Hessians-German mercenaries (hired
guns) defeated by Washington, Christmas
Eve, 1776. Why were their Hessians?
• Tories-Named after the Tory party who
were loyal to the King of England. They
were also known as loyalists.
• William Howe-British Commander.
• Lord Charles Cornwallis-surrendered.

45. Saratoga-Turning point of the War

46. Why important?
• First Major Victory
• British Offered colonies “Home Rule,” but
were turned down.
• French, Spanish and Dutch publicly
announced their support for the colonies
with money, munitions and ships.

47. Now France and Spain
could send Real Help
• Loans and subsidies from France totalled
45 million livres, millions of dollars
• Loans and subsidies from Spain
amounted to half a million dollars.
• French armies and fleets in America with
General Washington’s forces brought
about the victory at Yorktown that spelled
doom for the British.

48. Yorktown 1781

49. How different things could have
been…
• Two hundred years before Yorktown a
major sea battle defeated the Spanish,
gave Great Britain control of the seas and
made English our native tongue.
• The defeat of the Spanish Armada

50. Defeat of the Spanish Armada-
1588

51. Question
• Knowing what you know now, what is
your perception of the French today?
• How would our history as a country
have been different without French
assistance?

52. Articles of Confederation
• Wary of strong central governments after
their interactions with Britain, delegates at
the Second Continental Congress made
certain that the new national congress
created under the Articles of
Confederation would have very little
authority over state legislatures. Instead,
drafters hoped that the congress would act
as a collective substitute for a monarch, or
a multiperson executive.

53. The Articles stipulated that the
Congress could do the following:
• Negotiate treaties, declare war, and make peace
• Coin money
• Issue loans
• Maintain an army and a navy
• Operate a postal service
• Negotiate treaties with Native Americans
• Resolve disputes among the states
• Govern western territories for the benefit of all
states

54. Continental Dollars and
Depression
• The new Congress immediately set to printing paper
currency in order to pay for the Revolutionary War. The
money became the standard currency in the United
States during the war, but when hard times hit and
inflation skyrocketed, these Continental dollars became
“not worth a Continental.” Many Americans, especially
farmers, faced hardship as the economy slid into
depression. Congress requested that states increase
taxes to help pay for a new national currency, but most
states refused and printed their own paper money
instead. This, too, quickly succumbed to inflation, and by
the end of the war Americans had fistfuls of a variety of
worthless money.

55. This much was very clear
• The individual states reserved all powers
not specifically granted to congress.
• The new national government had no
taxing authority.

56. The issue of Taxes
• Representative governments in the states
would levy their own taxes and then use a
percentage of the duties collected to pay
their share of national expenditures.
• Did this work? Not hardly. Many states
refused to pay…can you imagine that?

57. Governing Western Lands
• The Land Ordinance of 1785, which helped the
government survey western lands. The law created
townships, each six miles square, that were divided into
thirty-six square-mile sections and auctioned to the
highest bidder so that any American could settle in the
West.
• The Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which
stipulated that a western territory could apply for full
statehood as soon as it had the same number of people
as the least populous of the original thirteen states. The
ordinance made certain that new states would receive
equal footing with older states and that all citizens of the
territories would have the same rights as the citizens of
the states.

58. Effects of Actions
• England had attempted to restrict
westward expansion to appease the
Indians, the new central government
sought ways to promote settlements in the
American West via land laws and Indian
policies.
• Both ordinances were popular because
they opened land to settlers and the
possibility of profits for speculators.

59. FTM
• Income from land sales promised to help
reduce the national debt.
• Slaves their could stay, but no new ones.
• Made area attractive to white farmers who
feared cheap labor.
• Southerners did not complain because
there was still a lot of land.

60. Faulty Assumptions
• During the postwar years the
Confederation acted as if the Indians of
the interior were “conquered” peoples,
allies of England who had lost the war and
thus came under U.S. control.
• Land treaties were imposed. Ft. Stanwix
Treaty in 1784 ceded Iroquois Land.Indian
tribes dwindled, 2 years later repudiated.

61. Indian Raids Started
• Devastating Indian raids now greeted new
settlers. Speculation fell, but land still was
needed.

62. European presence
• Congress also failed to resolve problems
because of Spain in Florida and Gulf
Coast and areas of Mississippi.
• Spanish agents were urging residents to
break away.
• Washington warned that they might. “The
Touch of a feather would turn them away.”

63. National Debt
• Congress was unable to effectively deal with the
$35 Million War Debt. Much owed to French and
Dutch Bankers. Congress had to borrow
additional money to just pay the interest.
• Owed Soldiers.
• By 1780, with the outcome of the war still very
much undecided, the central government had
run out of money and was essentially
BANKRUPT! As a result the paper money it
issued was basically worthless.

64. Robert Morris-1781
• Robert Morris appointed
as Supt. of Finance. He
forged a solution to this
dire dilemma. Morris
expanded existing
government power and
secured special privileges
for the BANK OF NORTH
AMERICA in an attempt
to stabilize the value of
the paper money issued
by the Congress. He went
beyond authorized
powers but stemmed
runaway inflation.

65. Morris
• Urged states to stop issuing paper money and
persuaded Congress to demand that the states
pay their requisitions in gold and silver coin.
(specie)
• Took steps to make Federal Bonds more
attractive to investors.
• In 1781, Congress requested $8 million from the
States. 2 1/2 years later they got less than $1.5.
States would not come through. By 1784 Morris
resigned.

66. Would the Great Experiment
Survive?
• We won the war, but Britain, France and
Spain stood circled like Vultures harboring
imperial ambitions. They had not gone far.
• Britain was still in Canada.
• Spain in Mississippi and South.
• France had proven to be a very
untrustworthy friend.
• Times were tough.

67. Farmers upset
• Frustration with the economic depression boiled
over in 1786. Farmers throughout the colonies
were suffering intensely after the revolution,
mainly due to the worthless Continentals they
were forced to use as money. Most of the state
legislatures refused to provide any assistance to
these impoverished farmers and, in some cases,
even raised taxes. Unable to find any relief, and
still intoxicated from their success in the
Revolution, many farmers grabbed their muskets
once again and marched on the various state
capitals to demand new governments.

68. Shay’s Rebellion
• The most notorious of these small uprising was
Shays’s Rebellion. Led by the Revolutionary
war hero Daniel Shays, protesters attacked
Massachusetts’s courthouses to prevent local
judges from foreclosing on farms. The state
legislature ultimately used militia troops to crush
the uprising. Still, Shays’s Rebellion awakened
legislators in Massachusetts and throughout the
states to the inadequacies of the existing
political system.

69. Tough Times, Buy American
• Not everyone suffered equally. Artisans
and clothing manufacturers did well.
• Government contracts still paid.
• Times were tough, like now.

70. Congress had to Act
• But what to do, my my, what to do?