On the Road to War

1. On the Road to War Today we will identify several events leading up to the Revolutionary War

2. Pontiac’s Rebellion 1763 • Uprising of 18 western tribes • Led by Pontiac of the Ottawa • Results in Proclamation of 1763

3. The Stamp Act Congress 1765 • Representatives from 9 colonies meet in New York City • Meet to protest the direct tax on all printed materials • James Otis, “no taxation, without representation!”

4. Stamp Act Congress con’t. • Declaration of Rights issued • Sam Adams, Sons & Daughters of Liberty will enforce colonial boycott • Parliament repeals Stamp Act

5. Boston Massacre 1770 • Unrest vs. the Townshend Acts • British troops & colonial mobs on the streets • British sentry assaulted • 5 colonists die when soldiers fire into mob

6. Reenactment

7. The Facts

8. Massacre results • Soldiers put on trial • Defended by John Adams • 2 will be found guilty & have their thumbs branded • Townshend Acts will be repealed, except Tea Tax

9. The Committees of Correspondence 1772 • Formed by Sam Adams & James Otis • Share information between colonies • Keep the fire of liberty burning

10. The Boston Tea Party 1773 • Violent protest over the Tea Tax • Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks destroy 342 chests of British Tea • Boston Harbor is closed with the Intolerable Acts

11. First Continental Congress • 56 men w/ various viewpoints meet in Philadelphia • Protesting Intolerable Acts • Express loyalty to England • Wont follow all English laws

12. Bravery • Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

13. Congress con’t. • Colonial boycott will continue • Call for armed militias/minutemen • Issue the Declaration of Resolves • Agree to meet again • King George III – “colonies are in a state of rebellion” • The Avalon Project : Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress

14. PATRICK HENRY • STATESMAN FROM VIRGINIA

15. The Shot Heard Around the World • Lexington and Concord • Paul Revere, William Dawes & Samuel Prescott make a “Midnight Ride” • British are coming • Minutemen make ready

16. Blood is Spilled, April 19, 1775 • British will attempt to seize colonial war materials & arrest Sam Adams & John Hancock • On Lexington Green 70 minutemen meet 700 British regulars • Colonists are ordered from the “King’s Green” • Gun fire erupts

17. The March to Concord • Eight colonist die at Lexington • British move on to Concord • Destroy colonial supplies • 4,000 minutemen materialize • British return to Boston • Colonists use guerilla warfare to kill and wound over 300 British soldiers

18. The Retreat

19. The Battle of Bunker Hill • British occupy Boston after fighting at Lexington & Concord • Americas occupy high ground Breeds Hill • June 17,1775 British led by Gen. Wm. Howe assaults the hill three times • 1st assault – British dead and wounded lie “as thick as sheep in a field” • 2nd assault more of the same, colonists getting low on ammo

21. Bunker Hill • 3rd assault, a bayonet charge by the British • Colonists driven from the hill

23. People & Results • Americans led by Colonel Wm. Prescott • Quote, “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes” • British led by Generals Howe, John Burgoyne & Henry Clinton • Over 1,000 British casualties • Over 500 American casualties • Battle shows American willingness to fight and British lack of tactics • The Decisive Day is Come: The Battle of Bunker Hill | Introduction

24. After Bunker Hill • King George III declares the colonists rebels • Sets up a Naval Blockade of colonies • Hires 10,000 German mercenaries (Hessians)

25. The British Leave Boston • 1776 Washington occupies Dorchester Heights • Places cannons on high ground surrounding Boston • mid-March 1776 British evacuate Boston • Fighting in New England comes to an end

26. Abigail Adams • From a letter • “a town which we expected would cost us a river of blood” • “every foot of ground which they obtain now they must fight for, and may they buy it at a Bunker Hill price.”

27. Common Sense • Written by Thomas Paine, January 1776 • Plea for separation • Expresses 2 ideals of American Revolution • Power struggle • Role of citizens in their gov’t. • Acts as a “spark in a keg of gunpowder” • W/in a year 500,000 copies sold

28. Advantages of Independence • Captured Patriots would be POW’s not traitors • Seize loyalist property • Obtain foreign aid

29. Common Sense Quotes • Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one… • To say, they will never attempt it again is idle and visionary, we thought so at the repeal of the stamp-act, yet a year or two undeceived us… • Why is it that we hesitate? From Britain we can expect nothing but ruin. If she is admitted to the government of America again, this continent will not be worth living in. • Until an independence is declared the continent will feel itself like a man who continues putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it must be done, hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is continually haunted with the thoughts of its necessity.

30. The Declaration of Independence Today we will identify factors that led to the writing of this historic document

31. A Celebration

32. Setting the stage • British blunders – taxes,acts, spilling of colonial blood • Common Sense • Pro-Independence group in the Continental Congress ( Patrick Henry, John Adams, Sam Adams, & Richard Henry Lee) • Rejection of John Dickinson’s The Olive Branch Petition by King George • Ideas of the Enlightenment • Writings of John Locke

33. The Ideas of the Declaration • The Declaration is divided into 4 sections • First – The Preamble – why are we doing this – “When in the course …” • Second – Theory of Government – Ideas on Rights, who protects them, right to rebel

34. Ideas con’t • Third – List of 28 abuses perpetrated on the colonist by King George • Fourth – Actual Declaration of Independence

35. Footnotes • Jefferson originally blamed slavery on the King • This passage will be removed to gain Southern support • Declaration lays the foundation for the future government of the United States

36. Reactions to the Declaration • Mixed • Rejoicing Patriots • Fear & Uncertainty among Tories or Loyalists, 20% to 33% of population • Who cares element of society

37. Undisciplined troops Lack of unity (Tories) No real central government to tax or raise troops Small number of troops Little or no money profiteering Home field advantage Motivation African American soldiers Indian allies Foreign aid Leadership Guerilla warfare Colonial weaknesses & strengths

38. Professional army & navy More people More money Stable government Loyalist (TORIES) support Geography/location Must fight an offensive war Problems of leadership & supply Mercenary soldiers Fighting in Europe Unpopular in England British strengths & weaknesses

39. Washington crosses the Delaware

40. Surprise Attack

41. War in the Middle Colonies

43. Battle of Princeton • Washington again in Trenton, New Jersey • Leaves Trenton when word of a Cornwallis approach is received • On January 3, 1777 the sides clash at Princeton • 45 minute battle, British lose over 500 men, Americans lose over 20 men • Washington declares the battle, “A foxhunt!” • Continental Army will move to Morristown, New Jersey and spend the winter of 1777 there

44. Washington at Princeton

45. Princeton

46. Saratoga • Turning point in the war • American victory • French will begin officially aiding the American cause • British plan to end the war will fail • Following the battle the British will make a peace offering • They will agree to suspend the Coercive Acts, pardon Patriot leaders • Peace offering is rejected by the Americans

47. Jane McCrea

49. Saratoga • Actually two battles: September 19, 1777 and October 7, 1777 • British will be severely mauled by Continental Army • British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army and will never command again • Daniel Morgan’s riflemen target British officers, British General Frazer ,"My duty forbids me to fly from danger“, the next moment he fell.

50. Saratoga