U S History to 1865 09 05 2013Class Notes History 1311 012 Dr Pinkney American Recolution and Creation of 1st National Gov t I 2nd Continental Congress A Reluctance B Reparations C Declaration of Independence II War fo Independence 1775 1783 A British Problems B Decisive Battles C Treaty of Paris 1783 D rolf of Women and African Americans Rough Lecture Notes 2nd contintential congress called in response the the fight between minute men and british in 1775 most of the delegates trying to find a peaceful resolution sam adams john handcock calling for revolution most reluctant to call for revolution most colonials are of english decent they share so much with england share common language history traditions legal system all traditional cultural ties that bound the colonials to british majority of colonials who are delegates are successful men who have made their wealth in the colonies these men are conservative not political radicals conservative political and fiscally the american revolution was lead from the top from the wealthy the leaders of the colonial society lead the american revolution the american revolution is a conservative revolution these men have a lot to lose if they lose every major form of government was a monarchy of some sort the last republic was rome that fell in 50 AD not like the colonials could look out to another example england was the most powerful nation in the world british navy was the most powerful the british army was powerful and experienced colonials only had colonial militias that were poorly trained gave pause in the idea of seeking independence a war would insue against england had to consider the certainty that whatever individuals leading the revolution would either die in the world or die because of treason if they lost the war the consequences were severe the delegates arent eager to jump into revolution but have to consider the possibility decided that it would be prudent to take some steps in preparation just in case war insues on paper called for the creation of the continental army made george washinton the commander and chief of the continental army Washington was from a southern colony and was an imposing character choosing a southern to head the continental army was symbolic that if it came to war a suothern leader would puull together the southern colonists who were much less enticed for war would join authorize a navy and some ships were built called for the printing of money aruond 2 million dollars the continental dollars lose value throughout the war and post war because there is nothing to back it up calles for a post office communication would be key to unite togehter Meeting is called for the second continental congress most of the delegates want a peaceful resolution not coming here to start a revolution sam adams patrick henry and john handcock were hot heads and wanted revolution by july 1775 continental congress decided to send a last effort a petition the olive branch petition sent to king george the third attempt to explain their problems with parliment hoping that king george the third will be a mediator and find a resolution king george the third already thinks that the colonies are in revolt the petition is swept aside emotional tensions are increasing Short Answer 4 Common Sense in the spring of 1776 thomas paine publishes common sense an argument against monarchy the institution of monarchy paine raises the question of whether or not people in general need a monarchy is it a requirement paine s conclusion is that ordinary people can govern themselves comes into question whether colonials need a king or not focus switching from parliment to the king pamphlet was an instant best seller within months hundred thousand copies sold this pamphlet was read aloud for those who could not read thomas paine never earned a dime of royalties in the publication of the pamphlet all proceeds went to the conflict by the early summer of 1776 the second continental congress appointed a five man committee to draft a declarartion of independence the declaration was the work of one man thomas jefferson known as the father of independence those ideas that he discussed were not all his he borrowed those ideals from enlightenment thinkers this is the era of the scientific revolution one of the individuals who jefferson drew arguments from was john locke jefferson takes locke s ideas that humans have unalienable rights locke wrote two treaties of government first locke says that there is no such thing of the divine right of the king jefferson picks it up and argues it in the declaration of independence from the second treatise locke says that government is a social agreement social contract power is put in the hands of the few but they are put there by the governed when the leader is abusing his power they argue that those governed should be able to alter the form of government or abolish the one in power in the declaration of independence jefferson says that everyone is entitled to life liberty and the persuit of happiness says that government exists to protect these ideas the document was officialy approved july 4 1776 by august of 1776 most delegates had signed the document but not all when the document was first printed for the public the signitures were left off the revolutionary war lasted until 1783 this is a civil war englishmen fighting englishmen communities were divided families were divided the most famous example was benjamin franklins family his son william franklin was a loyalist with independence declared war is sure to follow if you looked at this in 1776 on paper you have to ask yourself how did england lose there were some issues on why england did not send their full force to the colonies english debt was still heavy during time of war another element was that england had powerful enemies spanish french and the dutch frequently at war with one another all three of the nations one way or another helped the americans france entered a formal treaty they want to see england defeated not helping because they believe in representative government england still had to protect home island and other colonies around the world england was not able to overwhelm the colonists distance was a huge factor logistics and troops had to cross an ocean to get to the americas generally when the national capital is captured the nation sued for peace the colonies each had a head of government tactics were a huge problem because of this over