The document provides an overview of key events and figures during the American Revolutionary War. It discusses the formation of the Continental Army in 1775, the rejection of the Olive Branch Petition by King George III, and the impact of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" pamphlet in 1776. It also summarizes the signing of the Declaration of Independence that same year and profiles some of the major leaders and groups involved in the Revolutionary War, including Washington, Franklin, soldiers, Indians, enslaved people, and women.

1. US History survey
8th lecture
American Revolutionary War

2. 13 colonies revolted
• can you locate colonies
on map of N. America?
• can you locate colonies
on map of current US?

3. 2nd Continental Congress, 1775 - 1776
• created Continental Army & elected
Washington commander-in-chief, 6/1775.
• sporadic fighting, 1775 – 1776.

4. drama escalates
• Olive Branch Petition to George III,
7/1775, to prevent further hostilities.
• George III rejected Olive Branch & declared
colonists were “in open & avowed rebellion,”
8/1775.
• France & Spain shipped supplies to rebels.
• 2nd Cont. Congress declared ports open to all
except British, 1776.

5. Thomas Paine
“Common Sense”
• anonymous pamphlet by Englishman, 1776.
• argued in language of common people, not erudite
language of elite leaders.
• aristocracy & monarchy inappropriate for America.
• appealed to millennial, Protestant spirit: “We have it
in our power to begin the world over again.”
• sold 500,000 copies in 1st year.

6. Declaration of Independence, 1776

7. Declaration of Independence
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. That to
secure these rights, Governments are instituted among
Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed. That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

8. signing Declaration
• Declaration was all about King George, when
Parliament had been enemy.
• myth that all signed July 4, 1776.

9. “Spirit of ‘76”
• famous image of
Revolution, in pubic
building, Marblehead,
Massachusetts.
• notice characteristics of
3 musicians.
• who is not present in
the painting?
• painted for Centennial,
1876.

10. “redcoats” in orderly columns

11. North American actors in Rev.
• famous white men: Franklin, Washington,
Adams, Jefferson: leaders, politicians,
negotiators, writers, diplomats. Wealthy or at
least upwardly mobile.
• soldiers – white men, boys, some women,
common people.
• Indians – playing British and Americans against
each other.
• enslaved people – hoping for freedom.
• women – running homes, farms, businesses in
absence of men. Following troops to assist them.

12. Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)
• printer, journalist,
inventor, scientist.
• author, Poor Richard’s
Almanack.
• Philadelphia, Pennsylv.
• postmaster general.
• diplomat -- envoy to
British & French.
• signed Declar. & Const.

13. George Washington (1732 – 1799)
• wealthy planter & slave
owner from Virginia.
• elected Commander in
Chief of Continental
Army.
• fought in French &
Indian War.
• land speculator.
• lived at Mount Vernon.

14. John Adams (1735 – 1826)
• lawyer & farmer,
Massachusetts.
• first involved in
opposing Stamp Act.
• Continental Congress.
• helped draft Declaration
• diplomat to France.

15. Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
• wealthy planter & slave
owner from Virginia.
• designed his home,
Monticello.
• main author, Declara-
tion of Independence.
• author, Virginia Statue
for Religious Freedom.
• diplomat to France.

16. Revolutionary soldiers

17. who?
• 200,000 troops out of 350,000 eligible men.
• Continental Army & local militia companies.
• highest casualty rate of any Am. War, except
Civil War.
• called themselves Patriots.
• Loyalists/Tories – loyal to Great Britain. Some
fought for king. Most left after Revolution &
settled eastern Canada. Southern planters
more likely to be Loyalists.

18. battle locations

19. warfare
• no major center of importance.
• both sides solicited Indians.
• Indians mostly sided with British, because
they understood Patriots would extend farther
west into Indian lands.
• Patriots & Indians fighting for same goals
– political independence
– cultural integrity
– protection of lands & homes.

20. African Americans
• fought on both sides, but not for
independence, nor against Parliament, nor to
support King George.
• fighting for their own interests: freedom.
• promised freedom by Virginia royal governor.
• irony of revolutionary rhetoric of colonies
“enslaved” by Britain.

21. African Americans
• enslaved people in South deserted plantations
in huge numbers.
• some free people of color in the north fought
as Patriots.
• all had to weigh possibilities re British,
Loyalists, & Patriots
• all treated less well than white soldiers.

22. women

23. wartime conditions
• sporadic fighting
• harsh winters
• good conditions for officers, not for soldiers.
• lack of food, clothing, shelter, ammunition.
• promises of pay – no $$.

25. adversaries
• British had support of king,
Parliament, and mercenaries from
Hesse (Germany). Adequate $$.
• Patriots got support from France & Spain,
enemies of England.
– troops & navy from France.
– trade & supplies with both countries.

26. British surrender at Yorktown, 10/1781