History 2055 Notes Test 2 Initial goals for the colonists trying to win independence Most Americans wanted autonomy o That it you re related to another country you are in charge of your own laws taxation etc but you still help the other country crown o Spanish American war was another example There was no clear road of independence but there was war and it was bad o British had every reason to be confident that they could put this rebellion down Have most effective powerful navy they can close the entire eastern seaboard Can move troops around Have a professional army Red Coats British soldiers were more scared of their officers than the enemy in war well trained and tough Money Bank of England etc The colonists were not alone troops were there People started to feel what they were doing was unpatriotic by starting this rebellion where Patriots came from The views of the colonists on the rebellion differed Loyalists were going to help put down the rebellion Colonies were NOT united the British were going to take advantage of that o The British military army was not large recognized that if they were going to put down the rebellion they knew they needed to hire German mercenaries to put it down o Most Native American tribes wanted to side with the British east of the MS they were already allied against the French with the British o To punish the royal slave holders the king declared the slaves be set free the people against the king o The British have strengths and weaknesses Weakness they are very far away takes 8 12 weeks to get across There s no single core of the colonists rebellion The cities keep fighting they British have to occupy a lot of places if they want total control British military leadership was not good officers made a lot of mistakes promotion was often based on whether you rich or an aristocrat not your skills Supposed Advantages The German mercenaries backfires on the Brits it might be like the Germans might want to take over the colonists are wondering why the Germans are doing the dirty work for the king ended up not working out Indians don t work out as their troops Indians start to kill Loyalists and the Patriots which makes it messy regardless if they are for the king or not because they don t know o Looks like George III is turning the savages on them o John Adams starts to make more sense Slaves will start to rebel after they are freed and given privileges they get weapons and property o The slaveholders were angry at King George III Colonists have advantages operate than British Know how to use weapons and have easier weapons to Experience fighting veterans of French Indian War George Washington etc rewarded merit and could move up in the line of duty Motivation for being free Minuteman militia of the colonies poor fighters scared for their lives when actually come face to face with the British good for behind the scenes fighting they were just store clerks and regular townspeople British soldiers didn t need to worry about running out of ammunition Revolutions are often from a government that starts from scratch Both have strengths but more weaknesses a long war 6 years thought that the war would be shorter John Adams knew it would be a long bloody war not many believed him people believed the civil war would be short Iraq war too People s war Throughout the colonies the governors were being overthrown In Boston there were many struggles between opposing forces Stalemate going into 1776 One threat to liberty was that standing army could imperil your freedom George had one Americans needed a militia to be there to fight all the time Who will command this force George Washington southerner from VA because he had experience intelligence confidence believed that British soldiers needed to be killed and believed that they needed a militia intercolonial It would be beneficial that a southerner lead the war He is made commander Acquire guns at Ticonderoga base threaten British British Afraid that as they withdraw what will prevent Washington from attacking them Plan to burn Boston if they retaliate They just want them to leave Believe that God was helping them Americans invade Canada to bring French Canadians into the war They wanted Canadian land but it goes terribly bad forced to retreat People realized that the war was not going to end soon Growing interest that there should be a move toward independence with the fall of Boston Spring Pamphlet had emerged Common Sense by Thomas Pane Great knack for words Key arguments that they shouldn t try to come to peace but more to independence with King George It was mass produced and read by many Sensation people were reading it aloud everywhere debating and discussing it Natural examples to compare political world with natural world how were the Americans supposed to be submissive to an island England nor do when children grow up are they supposed to be hanging on to their parents Understands people need black white arguments if they re are supposed to understand his POV picks on King George to an extent he is right but it is not George alone Parliament Not all of Parliament agrees that King George is right to fight the colonies so Pane only targets George and leaves Parliament out of it would muddy the waters Pane was good at propaganda twisted the truth a little so he picked and chose what truth he would tell to the colonies By early summer congress is seriously considering a declaration of independence and selects a committee of 5 Roger Sherman Robert Livingston Ben Franklin John Adams and Thomas Jefferson the writer not a good speaker Voted yes on July 2 July 4 1776 is accepted by congress The bulk of the document is a legal argument against the crown over 20 crimes directed at George III It was bad for the British to have Indians on their side bad propaganda for them names this in the declaration British wanted New York and everything in it Washington tried to defend NY The Revolution didn t look like it was succeeding Washington needs to make his troops believe in him again so they head to NJ Moved at night during the winter dangerous Trenton NJ moved onto the Hetians on the day after Christmas Taken completely by surprise captures some soldiers strikes at a British settlement and captures some at Princeton Were small battles and not really strategic but boosted Washington s troops moral The Continental army farmers merchants artisans were mostly too old and had too much other stuff so they The sons of