Essential Questions: What mistakes did the British make in their attempt to win over the hearts and minds of the
Americans during the early stages of the war? Why was foreign intervention a key in turning the tide of the war?
I. Hearts and Minds: The Northern War (1776-1777).
A. The British offensive of 1776 succeeded in gaining ground
1. After the Declaration of Independence, the British were more determined than ever to subdue the colonies
2. The first setback came in Quebec
a. The Americans, devastated by smallpox, were forced to retreat.
-A fresh British force had sailed up the St. Lawrence in May, driving the Americans back into New York
3. In the spring of 1776, George Washington moved his men from Boston to NYC
a. American morale was high, although they were outnumbered.
-Washington had 19,000 men with little military training
-The British and Hessians had over 30,000 men
b. In September 1776, Washington had to evacuate Manhattan.
-The British crushed the American left flank
B. The Trenton-Princeton Campaign proved to be crucial successes for Washington�s army
1. Washington knew he needed to do something drastic to encourage troop reenlistment
2. Washington crossed the Delaware on 12/25, trapping the Hessians.
3. Washington then marched his army to Princeton in a series of clashes.
a. These two victories had a tremendous impact on morale.
b. In addition, the Hessians and British aroused hatred by looting and raping their way across New jersey.
II. The campaigns of 1777 and foreign intervention
A. Despite the loss of Philadelphia, the Continental Army continued to fight
1. New recruits and incentives added life to the Continental Army.
2. In the winter of 1777, Washington dug in at Valley Forge.
a. European volunteers helped the Continentals become soldiers.
B. John Burgoyne�s army of 7,800 surrendered to American forces under the
command of Horatio Gates at Saratoga on October 17, 1777.
1. This American victory persuaded the French to intervene openly
a. Without French aid, Americans could not have continued
C. French intervention, which proved critical to ultimate triumph, came almost
immediately after the victory of Saratoga.
1. There was no love lost between the French and British.
2. Britain soon declared war on France
D. Spanish expansion and intervention, also in the aftermath of Saratoga, greatly
assisted the America war efforts
1. In 1777, Spain joined France in its war against Britain in order to
stabilize Spain�s North American borders
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Chapter 6: The Revolutionary Republic (Sec 2)
Essential Question: What is popular sovereignty? How would this theory affect blacks and Indians?
III. The Reconstruction of Authority
A. John Adams and his theories in Thoughts on Government on the separation of
powers
1. Adams believed that government should be divided into three branches.
a. Executive with veto power
b. Legislative must be bicameral (two houses)
c. Judicial independent of both
2. Governments should exist to promote the happiness of the people.
a. The people must elect legislatures that mirror society
B. The Virginia Constitution, which contained a declaration of rights drafted by
George Mason, served as a model for other states to follow.
1. People should define their rights before empowering government.
a. Life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness
b. Rotation in office
c. Religious liberty
C. The Pennsylvania Constitution, more radical than Virginia, contained a
unicameral legislature and plural executive
1. As war drew near, the convention that drafted the constitution began to
pass laws
D. John Adams and his colleagues in Massachusetts redefined constitutionalism,
incorporating a unique system of checks and balances
1. No one branch would be more powerful than the other.
E. A palpable lack of power and an instinctive mistrust of central authority
plagued the confederation of the states throughout the revolutionary period.
1. Continental Congress began discussing an American union in 1776
a. The Articles of Confederation, a formal union of the 13 states,
went into effect on March 1, 1781.
-It couldn�t levy taxes or regulate trade
IV. The crisis of the Revolution in the years 1779-1783
A. The loyalists were many in number and often struggled with the fact that they
supported British liberty and simultaneously opposed war.
1. One sixth (19,000) of the white population chose the British side.
B. The fate of loyalist refugees, black and white, proved harsh as many thousands
emigrated under duress to Nova Scotia and England.
1. Most southern slaves sided with the British
C. The Indian struggle for unity and survival during the war ran the gamut from
bitter opposition to England to awesome frontier violence against Americans.
D. Attrition
1. After 1778, George III was determined to continue the war
a. Much of the British public doubted that the war could be won
-Political dissent rose
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Chapter 6: The Revolutionary Republic (Sec 3)
Essential Question: How did the Americans win the war?
V. Perhaps the most gruesome events of the Revolutionary War took place during the
British offensive in the South.
A. In the spring of 1779, General Henry Clinton invaded South Carolina, touching
off a series of successes for Great Britain.
1. While the British navy sealed off Charlestown from the sea, an army of
10,000 closed off the land approaches to the city
a. The British Army trapped 5,000 defenders
2. General Charles Cornwallis then proceeded to take North Carolina.
3. In 4 months, the British had destroyed all the Continental forces in
the deep south.
B. The partisan war frequently pitted native-born Tories against patriots in
vicious confrontations.
1. Washington used the militia as advanced forces, with small Continental
forces to support them.
a. On October 7, 1780, frontier militia defeated loyalists at King�s
Mountain, North Carolina.
-Advancing from tree to tree, the frontier marksmen
overwhelmed the loyalists, killing 160 men and capturing 800.
b. In January 1781, Daniel Morgan sent his militia out front as skirmishes.
-He ordered his men to fire, then retreat.
-When the British charged, they were flanked by Morgan�s cavalry (Battle of Cowpens)
C. The British offensive and the partisan warfare that ensued led to mutiny and
reform in the ranks of the Continental Army as well as in the militias.
1. After the Carolina campaign, army officers demanded reforms to
strengthen Congress and win the war.
a. Congress began to ask for money from the states.
-States, in turn, began to impose heavy taxes on its citizens.
-In addition, Congress tried to ammend the Articles of Confederation to
include a 5% duty on all imports (the states failed to pass it)
b. These new reforms of 1781 barely kept an army in the field
D. The final stages of the war in 1781 included Cornwallis�s ravaging of Virginia,
his surrender at Yorktown, and subsequent peace negotiations.
1. In April 1781, General Cornwallis was retreated to Yorktown, VA
a. Washington led a combined French and American force 400
miles south and trapped Cornwallis�s army of 8,000 men.
2. The Treaty of Paris was ratified in February, 1783.
a. The British recognized American independence.
b. Mississippi would be the western boundary.
c. Congress promised to urge states to give back loyalist property.
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Chapter 6: The Revolutionary Republic (Sec 4)
Essential Questions: Why was there a need to amend or even replace the Articles?
Why was ratification of the Constitution so difficult?
VI. A revolutionary society that few had imagined a decade earlier.
A. Religious transformations which included increasing religious toleration and
the growth of denominationalism.
1. Religious tolerance was admired.
B.The first emancipation.
1. In the lower south, most blacks remained slaves.
C. The challenge to patriarchy.
1. Women were demanding respect.
D. One of Congress�s last acts was the passage of the Northwest Ordinance,
which would ultimately bring Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan into the
Union on equal footing with the original thirteen states.
1. When an area reached a population of 5000, the settlers could elect an assembly.
2. When the population reached 60,000, the settlers could adopt a
constitution and petition Congress for statehood.
VII. Revision of the Articles of Confederation and the creation of a more perfect union.
A. Commerce, debt, currency, and Shay�s Rebellion contributed to the growing discontent with the Articles.
1. Americans didn�t have enough specie (gold/silver) to pay for British
imports, so they bought on credit.
2. The states were buried under their own war debt.
3. Farmers were unable to pay off their debts
a. Daniel Shays and his armed neighbors closed a county
courthouse, where creditors were suing to foreclose on farms.
B. In the course of the summer of 1787, participants at the Philadelphia
Convention drafted the Constitution, scrapping the Articles altogether.
1. Virginia Plan (large states) � proposed two houses with representation
in both houses apportioned according to population.
2. New Jersey Plan (small states) � proposed one house where each state
would get one vote (equality).
3. Connecticut Compromise � One house apportioned by population, the
other house by equality.
4. Bill of Rights was also added (first ten amendments)
C. Ratification was confirmed in favor of the Constitution June 21, 1788.
1. Anti-Federalists (weak) and Federalists (strong) battled for support.
a. Federalist supporters made strong case for ratification in newspapers
2. Ratification controversy turned into debate over what kind of nation the U.S. should be
a. The Federalist Papers, a series of essays, first published in NY
newspapers, defended the Constitution almost clause by clause.
b. All 13 states had ratified the Constitution by 1790