STUDY GUIDE TEST 2 LECTURE 1 1 to a war for independence The first lecture was designed to explain why our Revolution went from a war for salutary neglect It was the fact that the Americans and colonist felt that once again the British were trying to take away their constitutional rights upsetting them because of England s policy of not interfering with its American colonies leading to another war to fight for independence Therefore colonies sent for aid leaving the king angry once again from hearing of everyone being supportive and celebrating when moral support and supplies had been gathering to the Americans 2 Be sure to understand the importance of the battles of Ticonderoga and Bunker Hill Battle of Ticonderoga sat southern tip of Lake Champlain the leading to colonists worrying that the British would send troops across the lake and surround their soldiers outside of Boston The colonist send Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain boys since no current war broke out and the fort was lightly defended just stationing solider and families When all was asleep troops just walked in waking everyone up and capturing the fort leaving King George pissed Battle of Bunker hill located tip peninsula Boston Key for the British to stay in Boston was due to the fact of the series of hills Bunker hill located up north near Breeds Hill Americans were not able to get guns on those hills to the north if so could have bombarded the Birtish in the city No actual battle on Bunker Hill took place more on Breeds Hill 3 The activity and petitions of the Continental Congress Activity wise had two extreme supporters it was a mix on one hand Americans were proud of the events that took place at Lexington Concord leading to some stoppage of the British from taking away their rights and then on the other hand they were terrified scared of ruining 150 year relationship with the British This lead to John Dickenson who believes Britain will give them independence wanted to figure out how to make it all right Franklin Adams wanted to retreat and break away from the British Started to act like a gov t by sending out diplomats to ask for help from others French Indians other European countries They began borrowing and printing paper money and proclaimed that the mob outside of Boston was their army Continental Army naming George Washington the commanding general Petition to Parliament Declaration of Necessity 1 list of things the colonists thought that Britain has done that the colonists believed infringed on their rights 2 basically they were saying Here s why we re upset let s try and work it out Petition to KG3 Olive Branch petition 2 The Americans believed that King George was not the driving force behind the legislation that they opposed failed to realize that he controlled parliament 3 proclaimed their loyalty to the king 4 said that they wouldn t fire at his troops anymore unless fired upon first Adam Franklin s thought on Petition Strongly suspect that British will help the argument Their happy the petition was sent in the first place 4 the impact of Dunmore s proclamation a Declared that he would set free slaves that rallied to defend the British government b There are 2 ways to view it First was a blow on freedom and second is would do anything he had to in order to keep his position the members of the 2nd Continental Congress started seeing things like Benjamin Franklin John Adams IMPACT and they decided that breaking free from Britain was the best course wanted to be positive that the American people wanted this as well therefore they published Common Sense by Thomas Paine 5 The writings and reasoning of Thomas Paine Author Writer of Common Sense was Thomas Paine When writing his style tone was that he used lots of humor sarcasm biblical agricultural metaphors and made many complex arguments into simplistic arguments He understood the effectiveness of Monarchy and Aristocracy and their major flaws attached Common Sense was that it was only rational for the troops to fight the British to be able to break free gain independence It became 1 topic in the colonies voting males could own a copy and people liked it because it was taken as proof that the colonies supported rebellion LECTURE 2 1 The second lecture was meant to explain the military reasons why the Patriots won the American Revolution Understand the three separate strategies the British used Military Outlook when war started British had every advantage professional army Professional navy and experienced government and able to establish diplomatic relationships with foreign countries Strategy 1 1770 1776 idea was predicated based off that the problems were all l located in Boston Wanted to isolate Mass And wanted to punish rebels that were shooting at them Strategy 2 1776 1778 plan was to bring more troops to NY then ever due to the access of ports Wanted to find and destroy George Washington s army Drove up north up the Hudson River linking with other British forces out of Canada by trying to surround NE colonies to try and cut them off from the rest the colonies Only Success from it the British landed the troops in New York In the end FAILED Strategy 3 1779 1781 Plan was that the British thought most of the loyalists were in the southern colonies They decided to shift their military operations down to the southern colonies We will defeat the patriot forces down there they think there aren t many Having done that we will recruit loyalists into our army With a new super sized army we will be able to destroy GW Only Success was that it was working meaning after they attacked Georgia and South Carolina and successfully capturing them as well as destroying Cont Army at battle of Camden it allowed southern loyalist to get recruited into the British Army 2 The reasons that they The British ultimately failed Think about the British mistakes In particular Howe messed up big time He had Americans on the ropes twice almost defeating them but took 2 winters off cause GW to engage British attitudes were negative condescending rude 3 Washington s strategy the activity of Patriot militia and the help we received from the French Patriot militia the British military can t stay in all the towns in South Carolina Georgia etc When they move on the patriot militia come into town When they come in town people get nervous because they start asking whom the loyalists are The militia kill them burn their homes crops etc they do this so the next time the British come