Strengths & Weaknesses

of the Continental & British Armies

CONTINENTAL ARMY / BRITISH ARMY
STRENGTHS:
-Strong military leadership
-Soldiers fighting for a cause they believed in
-Fighting on home territory / STRENGTHS:
-Well-trained military
-Ample resources
-Alliances with Native Americans, colonial Loyalists, and some American slaves
WEAKNESSES:
-Small, untrained military
-Shortages of resources
-Weak central government / WEAKNESSES:
-Fighting in unfamiliar territory
-Fighting far from home
-Soldiers fighting for a cause they didn’t necessarily believe in

Supplying the Continental Army

When Washington was appointed commander of the army, there was no existing army and there were no resources to support one. Due to economic conditions in the colonies during the Revolutionary War, Washington faced the continual challenge of obtaining and paying for his soldiers’ basic needs.

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE COLONIES:

LEFT THE ARMY IN NEED OF:

LEFT THE ARMY IN NEED OF:

  • Battle of Saratoga – Considered a turning point of the Revolutionary War. By mid-1777, the British were waging a campaign in upper New York. British General Burgoyne was to invade from Canada and move south, while General Howe’s forces would sail up the Hudson and meet them. The British hoped this would cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. Initially it worked but General Howe changed plans without notifying General Burgoyne and the colonists were able to surround Burgoyne in Saratoga, New York. He surrendered in Oct. 1777. The colonists’ victory encouraged them. General Howe later resigned, in part because of his role in the British defeat.
  • Valley Forge – In the winter of 1777 – 1778, Washington and his exhausted troops settled into winter quarters at Valley Forge, 20 miles north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That winter was a low point for the Americans. The weather was bitterly cold, men were housed in tents, food was scarce, and soldiers had worn, ragged uniforms. Thousands became ill, and more than 2,500 died from the cold and disease. Valley Forge was a tough test of Washington’s leadership, but he met the challenge. His firm character and common sense helped hold his troops together. Washington enforced his discipline strictly.
  • Battle of Yorktown – The last major battle of the Revolutionary War. The battle lasted about three weeks. General Lafayette pushed British General Cornwallis’ troops to the coast as Washington established a blockade in Chesapeake Bay to prevent the British ships from rescuing Cornwallis’ men. The British were trapped.

Questions to Consider:

  1. How do you think Washington’s military experience prepared him for the presidency?
  2. In what way did General Howe contribute to Britain’s defeat at the Battle of Saratoga?
  3. Why was Valley Forge so important in Washington’s career?
  4. What was the significance of the Battle of Yorktown?

In January 1776 many colonists were divided about their future relationship with Great Britain. Then colonist Thomas Paine published Common Sense, a pamphlet that stated in clear, easy-to-understand terms why the colonies should break free from British rule. This widely read document strengthened support for the American Revolution.

“Any submission to, or dependence on, Great Britain, tends directly to involve this continent in European wars and quarrels, and set us at variance [odds] with nations who would otherwise seek our friendship, and against whom we have neither anger nor complaint. As Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no partial connection with any part of it. ‘Tis the true interest of America to steer clear of European contentions, which she can never do while by her dependence on Britain she is made the weight in the scale of British politics.”

Questions to consider:

  1. According to Paine, what is a major problem with remaining under British rule?
  1. What is the purpose of the document?
  1. What is occurring at the time that caused this document’s creation? (What is the OCCASION?)
  1. Why do you think Paine named his pamphlet Common Sense?

Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration in a little more than two weeks. In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,

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 Law 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 (force) them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed (provided) 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… But when a long train of abuses and usurpations (wrongful seizures), pursuing invariable the same Object evinces (clearly displays) a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism (unlimited power), it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. – Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny (oppressive power exerted by a government or ruler) over these States.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused … to cause others to be elected.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for their tenure (term) of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

For quartering (housing) large bodies of armed troops among us:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

  1. Who is the primary author? When was the document written?
  1. What is the purpose of the document? (Why was it written?)
  1. Who is the intended audience? (Who do you think was meant to see/hear/ or read the document?)
  1. What is the tone of the document? (What feelings are associated with the content? How can you tell?)

The Federalist Papers were a series of essays written in favor of ratifying the U.S. Constitution written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. In Federalist paper No. 10, Madison addressed critics who said that the U.S. was too large to be governed by a strong central government. Critics claimed there were too many interest groups, or “factions,” to be ruled by a democratically elected government. Madison acknowledged the presence and problem of factions. He argued however, that the republican form of government under the Constitution was best able to deal with the problem by helping different factions negotiate solutions.

THE RATIFICATION DEBATE

ANTI-FEDERALISTS – Objections to the Constitution / FEDERALISTS – Defense of the Constitution

Shays' Rebellion — a sometimes-violent uprising of farmers (led by Daniel Shay) angry over debt and taxes in Massachusetts,1786 — prompted Thomas Jefferson to express the view that "a little rebellion now and then is a good thing" for America. Unlike other leaders of The Republic, Jefferson felt that the people had a right to express their grievances against the government, even if those grievances might take the form of violent action. Jefferson airs his sentiments in a letter to James Madison on January 30, 1787, expressing justification for the series of protests led by Daniel Shay and a group of 1,200 farmers. (source: Archiving Ameirca)

Paris, January 30th, 1787

Dear Sir,

I am impatient to learn your sentiments on the late troubles in the Eastern states. So far as I have yet seen, they do not appear to threaten serious consequences.

Societies exist under three forms, sufficiently distinguishable: (1) without government, as among our Indians; (2) under governments, wherein the will of everyone has a just influence, as is the case in England, in a slight degree, and in our states, in a great one; (3) under governments of force, as is the case in all other monarchies, and in most of the other republics.

It is a problem, not clear in my mind, that the first condition is not the best. But I believe it to be inconsistent with any great degree of population. The second state has a great deal of good in it. The mass of mankind under that enjoys a precious degree of liberty and happiness. It has its evils, too, the principal of which is the turbulence to which it is subject. But weigh this against the oppressions of monarchy, and it becomes nothing…

I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical…It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.

Yours affectionately,

Th. Jefferson

THE GREAT COMPROMISE 1786:

Frustration with drafting the Constitution mounted at the Constitutional Convention. The major issues at the Convention centered on how to find a balance between large and small states and between northern and southern interests. One of the first issues to be resolved was representation to the new government. The Articles of Confederation had allowed each state equal representation and equal say, despite size or population and this did not sit well with the largest states (Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania). The smaller states feared losing say in the federal government and so continued to support equality in representation.

Treaty of Paris 1783

Article 1:
His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.

Article 2:
And that all disputes which might arise in future on the subject of the boundaries of the said United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are and shall be their boundaries….

Article 5:
It is agreed that Congress shall earnestly recommend it to the legislatures of the respective states to provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties, which have been confiscated belonging to real British subjects…

Article 6:
That there shall be no future confiscations made nor any prosecutions commenced against any person or persons for, or by reason of, the part which he or they may have taken in the present war…

Article 8:
The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States.

Done at Paris, this third day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.

D. HARTLEY (SEAL)
JOHN ADAMS (SEAL)
B. FRANKLIN (SEAL)
JOHN JAY (SEAL)