The document discusses the key events and causes of the American War of Independence between 1775-1783. It examines the growing revolutionary impulse among colonists based on ideas of natural rights and limits on government power. Tensions increased as Parliament imposed various taxes on the colonies without representation. Major events like the Boston Tea Party and Intolerable Acts led the Second Continental Congress to formally declare independence in 1776. The war involved various military campaigns and turning points until British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, leading to American independence.

1. War for Independence1775-1783 Organizing Principle: Prove how after 1763 attempts by the British to exert control over the colonies led to violent, organized and successful resistance. Task: Evaluate the importance of the causes that impelled the colonists to rebellion

2. Evaluate the relative importance of the causes that impelled the colonists to rebel Parliamentary Taxation Violation of civil liberties British military measures Colonial legacy of religious and political ideas

3. I. Revolutionary Impulse Whig Political ideology Tory: loyalist Whig: patriot 4 Basic Principles: 1. liberty a natural right 2. government protects liberty 3. power corrupts liberty 4. civic virtue protects liberty (self interest sacrificed for the common good) Example: Colonist James Otis -arbitrary taxes= seeds of tyranny Social Contract Theory (Consensus) vs. Absolutism (External Force) Enlightenment Political Philosophers (John Locke) Natural Rights of men are inherent, not granted Governments exist to protect inherent rights, not grant Natural Rights to life, liberty and property Conscience as the most sacred of all property (James Madison) What recourse do the people have if a government loses its legitimacy?

4. I. Revolutionary Impulse Rhetoric of LIBERTY: Power to win hearts and minds Ex. Patrick Henry “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” What is freedom (liberty)? Definitions Condition of being free from constraints Liberty of the person i.e .slavery Political independence: civil rights Exemption from unpleasant circumstances Capacity to exercise choice; free will Why is freedom important? Central values in which war was fought Still used today to describe and define America Conscience of mind- Christianity Limits to liberty? Would it apply to non whites? To women? To the lower classes? Will this be a social as well as a political revolution? Professor Warner

5. II. Road to War-When is Independence Declared? A. Parliamentary reforms Series of direct taxes Stamp Act: sparks widespread protests Constitutional argument over sovereignty: parliamentary or colonial? Unitary form of government throughout Empire B. Colonial Response 1) Address grievances: Ex. James Otis : arbitrary taxes= seeds of tyranny Stamp Act Congress Ex. Patrick Henry: VA Resolutions Tax. w/o rep.= tyranny Constitutional Argument: Actual v. Virtual Representation 2) Sons of Liberty (Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock…) Rouse anger of articulate lawyers, merchants & printers 3) Protests: intimidation, looting, effigies, Non-Importation, Circular letters C. Crown Repudiates tax not principle

6. II. Road to War-When is Independence Declared? D. Townsend Acts: tax on paper, tea, glass Admiralty Courts, colonial assemblies dissolved… E. Influence of Whig political ideology F. Circular Letter- agitation from MA I. Key City Boston: Seeds of Revolt Samuel Adams: Father of the Revolution

7. III. Boston: Seeds of Revolt What happened? (March 5, 1770) How was this event remembered? Similar incidents of provocation- Hancock’s Liberty Gaspee Affair When is Independence Declared?

8. III. Boston: Seeds of RevoltWhen is Independence declared? Boston Tea Party (1773) Colonists boycotted taxed tea Matter of principle 10,000 pounds docked in Boston Protest: 150 board ships and dump How does this launch the revolution?

9. IV. Launching a RevolutionWhen is Independence declared? Parliament’s response to Tea Party: Intolerable Acts Boston under martial law Quebec Act Colonist’s response: MA: de facto government at Concord Stockpile weapons Organize First Continental Congress Congress (1774): To rebel or not to rebel…? Non importation strongly enforced

10. Side Note Paul Revere's Ride-(1775) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Listen my children and you shall hearOf the midnight ride of Paul Revere,On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;Hardly a man is now aliveWho remembers that famous day and year… “one if by land and two if by sea…”

11. V. Course of WarWhen is Independence Declared? 1775- Lexington & Concord British march on L. & C.- face minutemen Significance: first shots fired in course of war “Shot Heard Around the World” Poem by Humiliating retreat for the British

12. V. Course of the War Strategies British: Need to crush will of the people Northern & Southern Strategy: Take the South: Loyalist support strongest Freed slaves to fight for the British North: land and sea invasion (divide & conquer) Americans: 1)sustain will by avoiding crushing conflicts 2) gain international alliances

13. V. Course of WarWhen is Independence Declared? 1775 April: first shots fired May: Second Continental Congress June: George Washington (Continental Army) June: Battle of Bunker (Breed’s) Hill Technical defeat, psychological victory 1776 January: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense Attacked notion of ruler above corruption Urged to sever ties Question of legitimacy addressed 3 Committees formed: alliances, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence July 1776

14. V. Course of War Is the Declaration Lockean? Locke’s Second Treatise on Government Addresses question of legitimacy When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation…” “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 the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…” July 4, 1776

15. V. Course of War “that, to secure these rights…” “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” “it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it…” Document identifies: 1st : the violation of natural rights 2nd Lists the violations of British law, rights and traditions Is the Declaration Lockean? Side Note: John Hancock July 4, 1776 Professor Guezlo

16. V. Course of War 1776 Turning Points Winter retreat- “Times that try men’s souls” Thomas Paine (Dec.) Trenton: Washington Crosses the Delaware 1777 Turning Points (Oct.) Battle of Saratoga Turning point leading to French alliance- Lafayette 1781 Victory Southern Campaign Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown American victory

17. VI. Outcome of the War Peace Treaty signed in Paris (1783) Provisions: Recognized American Independence Western border at Mississippi Legacy: Debate: Conservative Or radical revolution?

18. Evaluate the relative importance of the causes that impelled the colonists to rebel? Parliamentary Taxation Violation of civil liberties British military measures Colonial legacy of religious and political ideas