Name: Circle Period #: 8A / 8B

Colonial Period and Revolutionary War

British Colonial Economies

  • New England: Poor soil, Small farms, lumber, fishing,

◦shipping/trade, some manufacturing

  • Middle Colonies: Rich soil, Grew grains/food: corn, wheat,

◦livestock, some shipping/trade and manufacturing

  • Southern Colonies: Rich soil/hot climate: Slave economy –

◦large slave plantations growing tobacco, rice, cotton

French and Indian War (1754-1763)

  • The British and Americans won, conquering all of France's
  • North American Colonies
  • Very expensive war (after the war Britain wanted the American
  • colonies to help pay for it, causing tension)

Proclamation Line of 1763 (Notes)

  • The British restricted American colonists from crossing the Appalachian Mountains to settle lands just conquered from France
  • The British were trying to avoid fighting between colonists and Native Americans (who lived on much of the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi)
  • American colonists resented this, since they wanted more land to farm

Increasing Conflict (Notes)

  • Quartering Act (1765, 1774): Required colonies to house British soldiers, or pay for housing
  • Sugar Act (1764): Increased enforcement on a tax on molasses (to prevent smuggling)
  • Stamp Act (1765): Tax on all paper documents (newspapers, books, court records)
  • Boston Massacre (1770): A conflict between Bostonians and the British Army leaves 5 colonists dead, and outrages the colonies
  • Tea Act (1773): British gave a monopoly to the East India Trading Company, restricting any other company from selling tea to the colonies

“No Taxation Without Representation” (Notes)

  • One of the traditional rights of an Englishman was that only Parliament could create new taxes-- wealthy Englishmen elected the members of parliament, therefore there was the belief that an Englishman could only be taxed by his representatives in Parliament
  • American Colonists could not vote for members of Parliament, therefore many began to believe that the British could not create new taxes on them

Boston Tea Party (1773) (Notes)

  • A mob of Bostonians boarded a ship in Boston carrying East India Company tea, and threw it all into the harbor
  • Britain responded with the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) (1774), which closed the harbor and brought back the army to Boston

Continental Congress

  • First called together in 1774 in response to the Intolerable Acts- Organized a boycott of British goods
  • Contained representatives from each colony
  • Eventually declared independence July 4th, 1776

Patriots and Loyalists

  • Patriots: Colonists who wanted American independence
  • Loyalists: Colonists who were loyal to Great Britain and the King

British Strengths

  • Strongest nation on earth (Superpower)
  • By far the strongest navy in the world
  • Powerful army

American Strengths

  • Britain is in debt
  • Britain and the colonies are separated by over 3,500 miles of ocean
  • The 13 colonies are huge, and difficult to conquer (about 360,000 square miles, whereas all of Britain is only about 90,000 square miles)
  • Americans are defending land they know, and often have the good will of the people around them
  • Americans are fighting for a cause

Thomas Paine

  • Wrote “Common Sense” (1776), a Pamphlet that argued that it was just common sense that America should separate from the British which was very influential is convincing Americans to start the revolution

Declaration of Independence

  • The Continental Congress wrote the Declaration of Independence (mostly authored by Thomas Jefferson) declaring the independence of the United States from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence declared that “All men are created equal,” that the purpose of government is to protect the natural rights of the people and that since the King was not protecting the rights of Americans the King could not expect Americans to stay loyal to him.

Continental Congress

  • This was the first government of the United States. Delegates from each state were sent to Congress to make decisions for the new country.

George Washington

  • George Washington was the commander of the American Army during the Revolutionary War (also called the Continental Army). He inspired his troops to keep fighting even when the was was not going well. He later became the first president of the United States.

Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775)

  • The first battle of the war-- The British Army marched out of Boston to destroy weapons stockpiles – Americans armed themselves and fought the British off

New York and New Jersey Campaign (Winter 1776/7)

  • The British under Howe inflicted a devastating defeat on Washington's army, capturing New York and later Philadelphia (Washington made some mistakes, and the British were better trained)

Battle of Saratoga, NY (1777)

  • American forces under Gates forced Burgoyne's British army to surrender-- This victory convinced the French to enter the war against Britain on the American's side

Battle of Yorktown, VA (1781)

  • Americans under George Washington surrounded a British Army under Cornwallis by land at Yorktown as a French Fleet blocked his escape by sea-- Cornwallis was forced to surrender his army, effectively ending the war

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